Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Things We Do To Our Friends by Heather Darwent

14 reviews

hjb_128's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

chooranoora's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.25

Had very high hopes for this book based on the reviews on the outside. Sadly it didn’t live up to those. Characters fell flat, and the plot - albeit having an intriguing premise - felt like a semi developed stereotype-idea of “girl gangs” and “dark academia”. It is only a first novel and had a lot of the themes I usually gravitate toward so I will read the next book of the author to see how she develops. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Minor: Alcoholism and Confinement

esme_may's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use, Pedophilia, and Medical content

dazzle_spider_reader_1212's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Torture, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Vomit, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

nialiversuch's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual content, and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit

_tabby_'s review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

I havent been able to stop thinking about this book since I finished it. The ending is the most gripping, surprising and unexpected twist that this book holds (and there are a number of twists). The book itself is worth reading simply just to get the full force and shock of the ending.
The theme of deception is vitally important to both the personalities of the characters and the authors writing style. Not only does Darwent use this method to create interesting and surprisingly dark characters but also to give the reader the impression that we're also being deceived from a narration pov. The biased/ unreliable narrator is a very clever technique that this book was perfect for.
However, I couldn't rate it 5☆ simply because the beginning was slow and lacked traction.
Loved this book and I dont think the final plot twist will ever not be on my mind.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Torture, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism

naturally's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.75

the beginning was slow, and i wasn't convinced. nonetheless, this book is like treacle...i sank deeper and deeper into darwent's writing and i couldn't walk away. the things we do to our friends is a real page turner, despite the fact that all the characters are pretty indistinct. what sets each person apart, is their behaviour. clare's POV starts off as very boring, but she is highly oberservant and serves as an excellent narrator. i liked how underestimated she was. even though her secrets and origins were very twisted, heather darwent skilfully makes this heroine a relatable voice...?

i'm dying to read more feminist thrillers now!

(there were a few minor details stopping me from giving TFWDTOF 5 ⭐s...mainly that

there wasn't a full explanation for how ava knew about clare's past. also, i had a hard time believing that samuel, an 18 year old, had so many contacts.

)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Sexual content, Suicide, and Classism

Minor: Pedophilia, Xenophobia, Vomit, and Medical content

aliyachaudhry's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Animal cruelty

ashlislibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Suicide, Torture, Murder, and Sexual harassment

zxphyrean's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

It starts off quite slow-paced but gathers speed as the book goes on. None of the characters are likeable, in fact they're detestable but the kind where you just have to keep reading to find out how it's going to end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Torture, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Toxic relationship, Abandonment, and Classism