Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - The Things We Do To Our Friends

I mostly enjoyed this book, but I think it could have gone further with what it was trying to do. It felt like it was building up to a big moment throughout the whole thing, but by the end there still wasn’t really anything?

The writing was very beautiful, and I think this book definitely has a good idea to it, but I just would have liked to have seen more exploration of the characters and their actions.

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nialiversuch's review against another edition

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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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_tabby_'s review against another edition

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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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naturally's review against another edition

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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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