herdarklibrary 's review for:

The Things We Do To Our Friends by Heather Darwent

4.0

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This book was all about atmosphere and characters. If you’re looking for plot heavy then this isn’t it. That’s not to say there isn’t a plot because there absolutely is but the focus is more on the relationships and dynamics Clare, our main character, finds herself in.

All of the characters are quite unlikeable in a way you’d expect from a dark academia book. On the note of dark academia, I can see why some would question if this fits the genre because it is quite academia light but it takes place at a university and although it’s not directly related to the school, there is a sort of ‘project’. I’m on the fence about it! 

Because the narration is from Clare’s perspective there is so much unreliability but I loved that! I couldn’t tell what Clare was reading too much into and because we never got to see the other characters without her it made for some reveals later on that were great. This was probably my favourite part because characters who you thought were terrible weren’t as bad as they could be and characters who on the surface looked perfect were so manipulative. Perspective is everything. 

I think the story kind of jumped around like a pin ball machine a little. There wasn’t really a natural flow to it which did throw me off a lot. The thing I hate the most was just how much of a wet lettuce most of the characters were. They just went along with whatever and I was screaming for them all, especially Clare, to grow a back bone.

I really really liked the book as a whole. It was petty, late teen angst. I like the cliqueiness and terrible nature of some of the characters. Also just the general concept of wanting to fit in to a group. This is for sure an acquired taste but it worked really well for me. 

4/5⭐️