Book Review: ‘The Things We Do to Our Friends’ by Heather Darwent
I’m always wary of any book that gets compared to Donna Tartt’s ‘The Secret History’, but I’ll get this out of the way now: For ‘The Things We Do to Our Friends’ by Heather Darwent? Fair enough.
This was one of our picks for the podcast (episode streaming now!) and I had a bit of trepidation about it. Not least because when I went to purchase it in Waterstones, I couldn’t find it… Because it was hiding in the Crime section. I only step foot in that section by accident. Sorry Crime fans, the genre just isn’t for me.
Or is it?
If ‘The Things We Do to Our Friends’ is indicative of the whole Crime genre than maybe I could be a fan. But somehow I truly doubt that. This book feels very unique.
There were plenty of things I liked about ‘The Things We Do to Our Friends’, as well as plenty of things I wasn’t as sure about, with a smattering of stuff that I loved which overall made for an entirely enjoyable read.
On ‘The Dark Academicals’ podcast we read a book with the intention of discussing how well it fits into the Dark Academia genre, so I’m not going to talk too much about that here, except to say that the outcome may surprise you.
Instead, what I feel like I need to express is just how special Heather Darwent’s book might be. It’s one of those reads that catches you at the right time, with the right emotions, and the perfect match in terms of writing style. I thnk Darwent captured the complicated, vaguely unwashed and messy, student life experience. It felt very reminiscent of when I went to university. There was prose was unfussy and yet impactful, the characters were flawed and fun to read on the page, and the plot was flirting with my suspension of disbelief, almost to the point that I was going to break, but always always it brought me back in.
Do I think the cast of characters is perfect? No, not at all. In the sense that there could been so much more from them, and in neglecting characters like Samuel and Imogene and Ava, in favour of Clare and Tabitha, I think the text ended up missing the mark in some instances.
For instance, in the beginning chapters I was utterly convinced that Samuel was some kind of serial killer type. He has the coding for it, I felt. But even if that path wasn’t explored, he ended up fading into the background and I couldn’t help but wonder what was the point of him even being there at all. His motivations, and his expositions, did not have enough impact on the plot to secure his place on the page. And that was a shame because being one of the only male presenting characters (which, I’m here for a strong female-led cast) could have led to some interesting commentaries or juxtaposition.
Another place where I think this book sells itself short is on the reveals. I wanted to gasp. Like when the big “OH NO SHE DID NOT” moments occurred in ‘Madam’ by Phoebe Wynne (previously featured on the podcast), this didn’t happen for me with this read. I thought the plot and the twists were interesting, but I thought, again, it could have been pushed that little bit further.
Overall, both me and Sophie enjoyed reading ‘The Things We Do to Our Friends’ by Heather Darwent, and I for one will be keeping my eye on this author for further titles.
Written by Sarah
