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paragraphsandpages 's review for:
The Things We Do to Our Friends
by Heather Darwent
I would like to thank the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for the ARC of this book. I read an advanced copy of this book, so the final edition of the book might be slightly different. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.
When I first heard about this book, it sounded fantastic. I was overjoyed when I was approved for the ARC, and couldn’t wait to get started, especially since I was in the middle of a dark academia binge (and I believed this was one, though it unfortunately is not). While this book overall was quite gripping and intense, the ending fell flat for me, making it a 3-star read rather than higher.
I was pulled into Clare’s story quickly, for quite a few reasons. There’s just something constantly off about her, and the narration (done by Clare, in the future), makes nods to this strangeness, dropping small hints here and there to keep you guessing. The friends she makes are also just, extremely intense, but in a way that’s not entirely off-putting, and you can see why Clare is drawn in by them. It’s honestly just a fantastic set-up to this kind of thriller novel. The tension and my excitement were also kept up for most of the book too, but this puts even more pressure on the ending and the final reveals as well, since they need to be able to carry and be worthy of all the build-up that led to it.
For me, this is exactly where the book lost me. Not only did the ending feel off compared to the build-up, but it also felt quite rushed. We suddenly got all the reveals at once: the truth of future-Clare and her current occupation, what happened to Tabitha and why, and what Tabitha and Ava had been hiding from everyone else. I think some of these reveals or some aspects of the ending would’ve worked for me in isolation, but when it was all packed together it didn’t make quite as much sense, nor was everything explored as well as it could’ve been. I felt like the book ended abruptly, with Clare shoving me off a cliff with no time to actually digest or process any of the reveals. At first glance, it just didn’t make sense, and then the story ended before it could try to convince me it did.
Overall, this book was a fun ride, but the ending soured it a bit for me. I still enjoyed my time with it overall, and I can definitely see myself trying more books by this author in the future!
When I first heard about this book, it sounded fantastic. I was overjoyed when I was approved for the ARC, and couldn’t wait to get started, especially since I was in the middle of a dark academia binge (and I believed this was one, though it unfortunately is not). While this book overall was quite gripping and intense, the ending fell flat for me, making it a 3-star read rather than higher.
I was pulled into Clare’s story quickly, for quite a few reasons. There’s just something constantly off about her, and the narration (done by Clare, in the future), makes nods to this strangeness, dropping small hints here and there to keep you guessing. The friends she makes are also just, extremely intense, but in a way that’s not entirely off-putting, and you can see why Clare is drawn in by them. It’s honestly just a fantastic set-up to this kind of thriller novel. The tension and my excitement were also kept up for most of the book too, but this puts even more pressure on the ending and the final reveals as well, since they need to be able to carry and be worthy of all the build-up that led to it.
For me, this is exactly where the book lost me. Not only did the ending feel off compared to the build-up, but it also felt quite rushed. We suddenly got all the reveals at once: the truth of future-Clare and her current occupation, what happened to Tabitha and why, and what Tabitha and Ava had been hiding from everyone else. I think some of these reveals or some aspects of the ending would’ve worked for me in isolation, but when it was all packed together it didn’t make quite as much sense, nor was everything explored as well as it could’ve been. I felt like the book ended abruptly, with Clare shoving me off a cliff with no time to actually digest or process any of the reveals. At first glance, it just didn’t make sense, and then the story ended before it could try to convince me it did.
Overall, this book was a fun ride, but the ending soured it a bit for me. I still enjoyed my time with it overall, and I can definitely see myself trying more books by this author in the future!