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3.29 AVERAGE
3.29 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
This book is about a girl called Clare who is fascinated by a group of wealthy students at Edinburgh University, and the bizarre things she gets up to with them. I said in my review of The Secret History that “literary fiction about a complicated / weird group of friends in their twenties is always going to be a fav for me” and I stand by that. ‘The Secret History’ is weird classics students, ‘If we were villains’ is weird Shakespeare students and ‘The Things We Do To Our Friends’ is weird art history students. All three involve a mesmerisingly close, wealthy group of interdependent students with complicated power imbalances, an observant obsessed outsider who makes their way into the group and some kind of sinister debauchery / thinking they’re above the law. This one had more complicated female characters though which I enjoyed.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an E-ARC. Sorry for the late, review - life has been hectic.
This book was wonderfully written. The Things We Do to Our Friends atmospheric and haunting exploration of friendship, belonging and the spiral of destruction. I'd love to discuss this book in a literature class, in the same vein as The Secret History. It's brutal and unflinching, holding a mirror up to our own voyeuristic nature: how we consume the gruesome and macabre, unable to look away from something disturbing. The characters are expertly crafted.
Though, for me, the book struggled with its pacing at some times. Making the book feel a little janky and disjointed, in an otherwise very well-paced narrative. I also found the ending a little disappointing.
This book was wonderfully written. The Things We Do to Our Friends atmospheric and haunting exploration of friendship, belonging and the spiral of destruction. I'd love to discuss this book in a literature class, in the same vein as The Secret History. It's brutal and unflinching, holding a mirror up to our own voyeuristic nature: how we consume the gruesome and macabre, unable to look away from something disturbing. The characters are expertly crafted.
Though, for me, the book struggled with its pacing at some times. Making the book feel a little janky and disjointed, in an otherwise very well-paced narrative. I also found the ending a little disappointing.
I love the dark academia genre. I recently finished Ruth Ware's It Girl and I was reading the physical copy of The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell at the same time as this e-arc of The Things We Do To Our Friends. That said, I don't think Darwent did this one *as well* as others in the genre. This book dragged for me. TTWDTOF was a little too "vague for the sake of suspense," which is fine for the start, but when I'm halfway through a book and I still feel confused, its irritating.
Darwent definitely knows how to excellently write a flawed main characters, though, and the way she drew Clare in to this troubled group while trying to fit in during her first year at school made the connection between these "friends" feel very real. The need for friendships made sense, but the general obsession with Tabitha was somewhat lost on me and I didn't totally buy that everyone simply went along with all her plans, which seemed far too mature for a group of college freshman. It just felt like some depth or building was missing.
I did definitely connect with Clare's relations and general discomfort with men and her constant feeling/descriptions that she was basically prey in her female body. Darwent captured that uncomfortable aspect of feminine youth very well and also painted a beautiful - if not dark and erie - picture of the city of Edinburgh.
This book is an examination of Nature vs. Nurture with familial relations and friendships as well as a character's ability to adapt to her surroundings. While it felt incomplete, it's still an interesting, twisty read.
Darwent definitely knows how to excellently write a flawed main characters, though, and the way she drew Clare in to this troubled group while trying to fit in during her first year at school made the connection between these "friends" feel very real. The need for friendships made sense, but the general obsession with Tabitha was somewhat lost on me and I didn't totally buy that everyone simply went along with all her plans, which seemed far too mature for a group of college freshman. It just felt like some depth or building was missing.
I did definitely connect with Clare's relations and general discomfort with men and her constant feeling/descriptions that she was basically prey in her female body. Darwent captured that uncomfortable aspect of feminine youth very well and also painted a beautiful - if not dark and erie - picture of the city of Edinburgh.
This book is an examination of Nature vs. Nurture with familial relations and friendships as well as a character's ability to adapt to her surroundings. While it felt incomplete, it's still an interesting, twisty read.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The very start of the book was so punchy, that I was immediately hooked. I just found that after the opening, it never quite got back to that tense level. I liked slowly unravelling Clare’s past as we went on and how it connected to the start of the book. It’s a bit of a controversial topic at the moment but setting a book primarily at the university of Edinburgh and then focusing on posh English students just didn’t quite sit right with me…
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder
i found this a pretty mediocre dark academia novel. didn’t connect to the characters or found the plotline suuuuper interesting. nevertheless, it was enjoyable and i had a fun time
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-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
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
weird & fun to read, reminds me of a more comprehensive version of bunny
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No