Review of We Were Never Here

If you’re reading all the Reese’s Book Club books, maybe you’ve read We Were Never Here, a psychological thriller about a pair of friends whose vacation turns deadly. Have you read this? Be sure to check out my spoiler discussion post, linked below. For now, check out my Review of We Were Never Here

We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz

Published on August 3, 2021 by Ballentine Books.

Thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

Disclosure: as an Amazon Affiliate I may receive a small percentage of qualifying purchases.

Synopsis: Emily is having the time of her life in the mountains of Chile with her best friend, Kristen, on their annual reunion trip. But on the last night of their trip, Emily enters their hotel suite to find blood and broken glass on the floor. Kristen says the cute backpacker she’d been flirting with attacked her, and she had no choice but to kill him in self-defense. Even more shocking: The scene is horrifyingly similar to last year’s trip, when another backpacker wound up dead. Emily can’t believe it’s happened again–can lightning really strike twice? Back home in Wisconsin, Emily struggles to bury her trauma, diving head-first into a new relationship and throwing herself into work. But when Kristen shows up for a surprise visit, Emily is forced to to confront their violent past. The more Kristen tries to keep Emily close, the more Emily questions her friend’s motives. As Emily feels the walls closing in on their coverups, she must reckon with the truth about her closest friend.

Review of We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz

If you’ve read this and want to talk spoilers, be sure to come over to my Spoiler Discussion for We Were Never Here!

So, We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz is a Reese’s Book Club pick. Did I like it?

I thought We Were Never Here had a cool premise: a woman who suddenly begins to wonder if her bestie is a psycho in disguise. Emily is excited to be in Chile with her college pal Kristen. On the last night of their trip, Kristen starts talking with a cute guy and invites him back to their room. Emily stays at the bar to give the couple their privacy. When Emily returns to the room, she finds Emily standing over the guy’s dead body.

Kristen swears that the guy got rough with her and she had to kill him in self-defense. So Emily is really supportive, except that the same thing happened on their last trip. Wait … what?

I think the main issue I had about We Were Never Here was Emily. Maybe I just have more experience with toxic friendships, but I was seeing red flags with Kristen from the get-go, and honestly, wondering about Emily too.

The tension really lagged in the middle of the book and then the end was so wacky and confusing I didn’t know what to think.

I can’t say more without spoilers, but I guess I loved the idea of this (I’m always up for a Single White Female kind of vibe) more than the reality.

Want to discuss? Need information on the new chapter released online? PLEASE come to my spoiler discussion poster for We Were Never Here and we can hash it all out!