Reviews with content warning for Violence - What Have We Done

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What Have We Done by Alex Finlay

20 reviews

bekah1210's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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chymerra's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Twenty-five years ago, five teenagers did something terrible but necessary (in their eyes). After their group home was dissolved, the five were separated and went to successful but troubled lives. Jenna is a stay-at-home mom, Nico is a reality TV producer with a massive gambling debt, Donnie is a rock star, Ben is a respected judge, and Artemis is a billionaire. Their lives are good until suddenly, one day, Ben is killed. Shortly after, Donnie and Nico are injured in accidents that turn out to be hits on their lives.

On the other hand, Jenna is set up for an attempted assassination. With the assassins hot on their trail, the three must go back to where it all began-the group home that they lived in. There, they must face the past and what they did that night. Because all is not what it seems, and the enemy might be closer than they think.

I accepted the publisher’s invitation to read this book because it was a thriller and a mystery. Since I enjoy both, I figured I would like What Have We Done. And I did. But I was captivated by how the author spun Jenna, Nico, Donnie, Ben, and Artemis’s stories. I couldn’t get enough of their backstories.

What Have We Done is told from several different points of view. The main ones are Jenna, Nico, Donnie, and the psychotic twins. This book also goes between past and present but does it fluidly. There were only a couple of times when I couldn’t immediately figure out what was happening and who the chapter was focused on.

The characters in What Have We Done were well-written and well-fleshed out. But I couldn’t connect with Donnie or Nico. They were just too damaged and a little self-centered (ok, a lot self-centered). Jenna was the one I connected with, and I couldn’t wait to read her chapters. I loved seeing her rely on her former assassin skills to outwit the twins. Plus, when her family was threatened, she didn’t run. Nope, she made her husband run with their daughters while she laid a trail away from them.

I do want to mention the psychopathic twins. I shouldn’t have laughed at them, but they bungled everything. They couldn’t kill their objectives (but had no issues killing other people). They were almost cartoonish in their mannerisms. The scene at the very end of the book with Jenna, her ex-handlers, and the remaining twin was pretty awesome!

Of course, I liked seeing them get their just deserts.

The main plotline with Nico, Donnie, and Jenna investigating Ben’s death and trying to figure out if someone found out about what they did twenty-five years earlier was exciting and action-packed. Donnie was a little useless in this storyline (he was busy telling his story to a ghostwriter). Nico and Jenna were the ones who pieced together everything that was happening. I saw a twist in this storyline coming, but it still surprised me.

The alternating storyline at the group home (with Ben, Nico, Donnie, Jenna, and Artemis) was alarming. I was horrified at what those kids were going through and the rate at which the girls in the home disappeared. Some were explained (like Jenna), but the others weren’t until the end of the book. It wasn’t until a crucial scene towards the end of the book that things were revealed. And let’s say that it made me sick. But, this plotline has a huge twist revealed during the showdown as adults. My mouth dropped when that confession was made. I did not see it coming, which both saddened and disgusted me.

The end of What Have We Done was exciting and a little bloody. I will not get into it, but Donnie, Nico, and Jenna figured everything out. The book’s climax was pretty good, and I liked the confession.

I would recommend What Have We Done to anyone over 21. There is violence, language, and sexual situations. Also, see the trigger warnings at the top of the review.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, NetGalley, and Alex Finlay for allowing me to read and review What Have We Done. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

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savvyrosereads's review

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Out March 7, 2023 [Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an ARC as part of a giveaway win!]

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Jenna, Donnie, and Nico are all adults leading very different lives—but they remain tied together thanks to their actions in an abusive group home when they were teenagers…and those choices may now be back to haunt them.

Finlay’s previous novel The Night Shift was a top thriller for me in 2022, so I was really looking forward to this one, and unfortunately I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I’d hoped or expected. I’ll start off with the good: this was super fast-paced and had a ton of action, with short chapters that made it easy to keep flying through. Finlay is an engaging writer and that remained true here—the characters were fairly interesting and the prose was crisp and easy to read. Overall, while I wasn’t enthralled, it was a relatively fun read, especially towards the end.

On the other hand, I found the plot to ultimately be pretty lacking—it was hard to follow in the first half, and once it clicked into place it ended up feeling very predictable. There were also some plot holes that I won’t get into due to spoilers, but I found it hard to suspend my disbelief enough to get past them.

All of this said, I’m also not much of a spy/action thriller fan, and that is how I’d primarily characterize this novel. If you’re a fan of those vibes, there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy this a LOT more than I did!

Recommended if you like: spy thrillers; action movies; sins-of-the-past trope (no idea if this is a thing but it’s what I call it)

CW: Blood/violence/death/torture/murder; mentions of pedophilia/trafficking; addiction (including drugs, alcohol, and gambling); grief/loss of loved one

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louisekf's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

4.25

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amobrien's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This is a fast-paced multi-POV thriller and while it is certainly entertaining, I found the characters to be a little hard to believe. They all seemed to have interesting individual lives and I feel like they had so much potential, but they were written one-dimensionally. My favorite perspective to read from was Jenna as we were able to see a bit more from her than the other characters, next was Donnie and last was Nico. If you love a good action story with some mystery, you might really enjoy this, but I prefer more character development in my stories so I found this to be lacking at times.

Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC.

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goatsrsexy's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book was a wild ride! It's definitely the type of story that keeps you up all night reading because you just have to see what happens next. It has multiple POVS and short chapters which is a combination I really like specifically for this genre (thriller) The juxtaposition in this book between some very dark and serious subjects and almost cartoon like villains/ action Scenes shouldn't work and yet it does. There were a few scenes where thought to myself "okay this is too much this is silly" but I was still extremely riveted so guess it wasn't too much. The ending of this book is so sad and melancholy in a brilliant way. I definitely recommend this for a quick read. There's nothing super graphic but l'd still look up trigger warnings.

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onemorepagecrew's review against another edition

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3.5

What Have We Done by Alex Finlay was a decent, fast-paced mystery with multiple POVs that kept my attention, but ultimately landed in ‘liked not loved’ territory. The story centers on a group of friends who met in a group home during their childhood and are now living a wide variety of adult lives. They come back together when they realize someone is trying to unalive each one of them.

The timeline jumps between their childhoods and their adulthoods, but not in the conventional way with clean chapter breaks. There were times when it would jump and I wouldn’t realize it for a few paragraphs. Not a negative, just something that took some getting used to. My favorite character was Jenna – I loved her dual-life of contract unaliver and low-key mom/wife. I wish there had been more about her early adulthood and how she got into that business, or even just more chapters that centered on her character. The others were just okay, and I was less invested in them.

It's worth noting that the childhood timeline is heavy. It sets a grim scene with abuse, abandonment, and generally awful experiences. I don’t know if I would call this a thriller, it felt like a time crunch mystery with a bit of tension and physical combat. If you like a dual-timeline mystery where both timelines have puzzles to solve, this is worth a read. I’d recommend physical or digital editions to keep track of the characters and timelines unless that’s easy for you to do on audio.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for providing an advanced digital copy of this book, I appreciate you!

Content warnings: Child abuse, Child death, Bullying, Addiction, Violence

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kaylasbookgram's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

What Have We Done follows Jenna, Nico, and Donnie as they try to figure out who is trying to kill them and why. They are all linked by meeting at a group home at teens and one big mistake that was made 25 years ago. Will their secret come to light or will they be able to keep the past in the past.

This was my first book by Alex Finlay and I enjoyed it. The beginning was a bit confusing to me but once you got through the 3 POVs a few times things began to line up and make sense. This is a great who dun it mystery thriller.

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rainbowbean's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I received this as an eARC from NetGalley and St. Martins Press in exchange for an honest review. Thank you both for this opportunity! There are no ending spoilers in this review.

I gave this 4.5⭐'s. Rounded up to 5 on Goodreads since they do not allow partial stars like Storygraph does. This was a fast paced excellent mystery.

+1⭐ Writing:

I found the chapters and writing both to flow together well. There's a lot to take in here and the author did a good job of weaving the story without being repetitive or infodumping. Language reads real and current.

+1⭐ World Building:

Excellent job of modern world building and showing not telling. Easy to place myself in the middle of this. Accurately describes the DMV area. lol.

+1⭐ Plot:

Excellent mystery with a very unique and intriguing story.

-.25⭐Plot Hole I was just slightly bothered by the lack of explanation surrounding the disappearance of the person killed in the past and also the whereabouts of the person nextdoor. It didn't ring n the story for me, just felt like that piece was missing.

Plot Twists:

I feel like I saw it coming, however there was enough to make me wonder if the twist would happen so I was still surprised.

+1⭐ Character Development:

Told from multiple POV's and I was here for every one of them. I wanted to put the pieces together so bad. Every chapter the characters' back and current story get even deeper. The character with the writer following him was a clever way to tell the backstory.

I enjoyed getting to know each of them.

-.25⭐ Representation:

A good bit of representation here across several groups. I really could have done without the slurs though. They were unnecessary and lost star points because of that.

+.5⭐Pace:

Full speed ahead this was a rapidly moving story I could not stop. It was so good I finished it the day I started it.

Ending:

Great and tidy but not annoying ending. I liked it.

Overall:

This could be adapted into an excellent mini series. I would watch it for sure. I would recommend reading and buying this. I would be interested in other works by this author.

(As always to be fair: I am extremely picky about purchasing books for my limited shelf space and choose 4-5 stars from my personal ratings and only if I love it, want my children to read some day, or want to re-read.)

Trigger Warnings:

LGBTQIA+ Slurs

Human Trafficking

Rape

Child Abuse

Torture/Violence

EDITING FEEDBACK: Does not affect my rating as this is an eARC that clearly states it is still in the copyedit process.

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maureenmccombs's review

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Not what I was expecting this book to be but still quite good. I could see this being the first in a series- one I would definitely read. Recommend.

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