The Things We Do to Our Friends, Heather Darwent
The Things We Do to Our Friends, Heather Darwent
13 Rating(s)
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The Things We Do to Our Friends

Author: Heather Darwent

Narrator: Kristin Atherton

Unabridged: 11 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/10/2023


Synopsis

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • She’s an outsider desperate to belong, but the cost of entry might be her deepest secret in this intoxicating debut about a clique of dangerously ambitious students, “perfect for fans of dark academia stories like The Secret History and If We Were Villains” (Cosmopolitan).
 
“One of the best suspense debuts I’ve read in years . . . Heather Darwent delivers one artful tease after another until you are completely lost in this labyrinth of clever women and obsessive friendship.”—Julia Heaberlin, bestselling author of We Are All the Same in the Dark

Edinburgh, Scotland: a moody city of labyrinthine alleyways, oppressive fog, and buried history; the ultimate destination for someone with something to hide. Perfect for Clare, then, who arrives utterly alone and yearning to reinvent herself. And what better place to conceal the secrets of her past than at the university in the heart of the fabled, cobblestoned Old Town?

When Clare meets Tabitha, a charismatic, beautiful, and intimidatingly rich girl from her art history class, she knows she’s destined to become friends with her and her exclusive circle: raffish Samuel, shrewd Ava, and pragmatic Imogen. Clare is immediately drawn into their libertine world of sophisticated dinner parties and summers in France. The new life she always envisioned for herself has seemingly begun.

Then Tabitha reveals a little project she’s been working on, one that she needs Clare’s help with. Even though it goes against everything Clare has tried to repent for. Even though their intimacy begins to darken into codependence. But as Clare starts to realize just what her friends are capable of, it’s already too late. Because they’ve taken the plunge. They’re so close to attaining everything they want. And there’s no going back.

Reimagining the classic themes of obsession and ambition with an original and sinister edge, The Things We Do to Our Friends is a seductive thriller about the toxic battle between those who have and those who covet—between the desire to truly belong and the danger of being truly known.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Nilufer on September 26, 2024

Dark, intense, complex, absolutely surprising, deliciously twisty debut! And take a look at this breathtaking, fantastic cover which deserves extra five stars! The is the story of a young woman who desires to recreate herself for living a peaceful life. She was an outsider, changing her identity to be......more

Goodreads review by Catherine on February 09, 2023

**Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House-Ballantine, and Heather Darwent for an ARC of this book! Now available as of 1.10!** “If you choose bad companions, no one will believe that you are anything but bad yourself.” ― Aesop Most students head to university to come into their own as adults, to find n......more

Goodreads review by Ceecee on August 09, 2022

In September 2005 Clare arrives in Edinburgh to start an art course at the University. She is desperate to reinvent herself and equally desperate to fit in. Her lack of funds lead her to bar work where she meets Finn but more importantly a group who he nicknames “the shiver“ as he sees them as shark......more

Goodreads review by Southern Lady Reads on December 30, 2022

The beauty in this story is that what you think is happening in the beginning... is absolutely not what you get in the end. 'The Things We Do To Our Friends' is raw violence written with a poetic magnetism, and I loved every deliciously twisted potentially-psychopathic part of it. A SHORT PREVIEW: R......more

Goodreads review by Debra on January 12, 2023

An outsider with a dark secret wanting to fit in, finds a place to belong at the University of Edinburgh. Clare is looking to start over, to reinvent herself. She wants to leave behind her disturbing past and pave a new path. She enters into a friendship with a wealthy circle of friends. But will th......more


Quotes

“Quick, smart, and satisfying.”The Wall Street Journal

“[A] hair-raising debut.”PopSugar

“Darwent has a great career as a thriller writer ahead of her.”Sunday Times

“[A] tantalizingly sinister debut thriller . . . Readers will be on the edge of their seats with this gripping story of codependency and obsession, and fans of Kate Lowe’s The Furies and J.T. Ellison’s Good Girls Lie will devour this—and eagerly await more from Darwent.”Shelf Awareness

“Perfect for fans of dark academia stories like The Secret History and If We Were Villains.”Cosmopolitan

“Clare, an impoverished art history student, is taken under the wing of the glamorous, slightly alarming Tabitha and her friends Imogen and Ava. What they want with Clare (who has her own reasons for keeping a low profile) is gradually shown to be a grisly program of revenge and profit. Such a narrative depends on carefully measured reveals, portents and hints. . . . The plot takes on ever more convoluted turns and the relationships between the girls fracture under the weight of secrecy.”Financial Times

“Dark and gripping. . . a compulsive tale of feminist revenge, toxic friendships, and deadly secrets.”The Independent

The Things We Do to Our Friends is one of the best suspense debuts I’ve read in years. Heather Darwent’s prose is startlingly lovely, like fine, dark silk shivering on your skin. She delivers one artful tease after another until you are completely lost in this labyrinth of clever women and obsessive friendship.”—Julia Heaberlin, bestselling author of We Are All the Same in the Dark

“A heady, tense, intoxicating tale that lurches between the miseries of obsession and the thrills of revenge.”—Elisabeth Thomas, author of Catherine House

“A mesmerizing tale of obsessive friendship . . . dark, twisted, and deliciously menacing. I loved everything about it.”—Emma Rous, bestselling author of The Au Pair

“Menacing and suspenseful with drippings of Donna Tartt.”—Victoria Selman, author of Blood for Blood

“A brilliantly unsettling and memorable protagonist.”—Rosemary Hennigan, author of Blood for Blood

“Smart, sophisticated, seductive, The Things We Do to Our Friends seamlessly blends Gone Girl and Promising Young Woman.”—S. J. Watson, author of Before I Go to Sleep

“Compelling, twisty and surprising, with an intriguing and complex heroine.”—Phoebe Wynne, author of Madam

“What a book. Power, privilege and the most toxic of friendships. All set against the stunning backdrop of Edinburgh. Stunningly written. Thriller fans, run don't walk to get this when it comes out in January. It's a must read.”—Carys Jones, author of The List