With Friends Like These by Alissa Lee #bookreview

Thank you Atria Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of With Friends Like These in exchange for my honest review. 

Publisher: Atria Books

Published: November 4, 2025

Summary:

A group of Harvard alums have played a secret game for decades but as the stakes rise, deadly consequences emerge from old lies. An unputdownable debut thriller for readers of the suspenseful novels of Julia Bartz and Ruth Ware.

Harvard promised them everything.

Ambitious futures, peers who pushed each other toward their absolute best, and an education that would open doors for the rest of their lives. And though they started out as roommates, Sara, Bee, Dina, Allie, Wesley, and Claudine soon became family. They had their whole bright lives ahead of them—until their senior year, when a shocking tragedy changed everything.

Twenty years later, five of the roommates still indulge in a secret tradition they’ve kept alive since their campus the Circus, a harmless elimination-style “killing” game played across the private rooms and hidden alleys of New York City. The game is a nod to their younger selves and a tribute to the sixth roommate they lost too young. But this year, Sara wants out of the game—until she discovers there is a small fortune awaiting the winner of this final round.

As the Circus unfolds, Sara begins to suspect that the others aren’t playing by the rules, and as the danger turns real and the old friends start pointing fingers, she discovers that even those closest to her harbor secrets of their own…secrets that could kill.

My thoughts:

This was a fun, twisty debut that can easily be read in one or two sittings. It’s a tense, atmospheric read with dark academia vibes and I loved the way it was set up, with the backstory fueling the present-day story.

The secrets and mystery surrounding what really happened to the other friend in college kept me frantically flipping the pages, though the thought that the remaining friends willingly agreed to play the game twenty years later boggled my mind. I loved the examination of friendships over time, though…how choices made back in the day still affect them years later.

This character-driven suspense is full of twists and surprises, and I look forward to seeing what Alissa Lee writes next.

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