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A review by okevamae
What Have We Done by Alex Finlay
4.0
A dark incident in the distant past connects five people, living five very different lives. And then, one of them is murdered, and someone tries to kill the remaining four. These former friends must reunite and face their past to find out who’s after them, and figure out how to save their lives and keep their secret.
This book was pretty good! I liked the characters, the plot was interesting with some clever twists, and the book was fast-paced enough to hold my attention and keep me moving through the pages quickly. I had a few problems with it, though. I had a little trouble suspending disbelief about one thing in particular. Not to be cynical or closed-minded, but kids in the foster system and group homes often have rough lives with limited opportunities, and all five of these characters went on to be hyper-successful – a tech billionaire, a federal judge, a famous TV producer, a rock star, and a highly skilled assassin. For some reason I had a hard time buying that extreme success rate. I’m not saying any of them should have been destitute or trapped in the poverty cycle for it to be believable. But not a single one of them lived a simple, low-profile life? Or rather, the only one who did was an ex-assassin? I also wasn’t a big fan of the fact that the main character of color was the dead one out of the bunch. I’m sure it was not intentional but it’s a trope I've seen often enough that it caught my attention.
Also, I don’t like that the flashbacks are in present tense, it makes it a little hard to track since the rest of the book is in present tense as well. There’s not even a break in the text to signal that it’s moved from past to present. I’m hoping that in the published version there’s at least a break in text, because as it is in the ARC it’s confusing.
All that being said, despite those issues, I still really liked it! Solid 4 stars.
CW: Drug and alcohol abuse, sexual assault, sexual assault of a minor (mentioned)
Representation: POC characters
This book was pretty good! I liked the characters, the plot was interesting with some clever twists, and the book was fast-paced enough to hold my attention and keep me moving through the pages quickly. I had a few problems with it, though. I had a little trouble suspending disbelief about one thing in particular.
Also, I don’t like that the flashbacks are in present tense, it makes it a little hard to track since the rest of the book is in present tense as well. There’s not even a break in the text to signal that it’s moved from past to present. I’m hoping that in the published version there’s at least a break in text, because as it is in the ARC it’s confusing.
All that being said, despite those issues, I still really liked it! Solid 4 stars.
CW: Drug and alcohol abuse, sexual assault, sexual assault of a minor (mentioned)
Representation: POC characters