Book Review: Thirst Trap by Gráinne O’Hare
Thirst Trap by Gráinne O’Hare
Published: June 12th 2025 by Picador/Pan Macmillan
Rating: ★★★★½ (4.5 stars)
Genres: Adult // Literary Fiction, Contemporary
Quick Thoughts: Devastatingly funny, greatly heartwarming and witty to the core. The friendships in the book were so realistic that I felt as though I knew them, that flickers of the women lived in people I knew.
I was gifted this book via the Publisher. There was no obligation to post/give this book a certain rating. All views are my own. I remain entirely impartial.
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Reader Information: View Content Warnings.
TW: this book contains references of death, grief, drug use, toxic relationships and adult themes. Suitable for 18+.
Grieving A Friend
Relatable Characters
Painfully Funny
Girlhood
About This Book:
Sometimes friends hold you together.
Sometimes they’re why you’re falling apart.Maggie, Harley and Róise are friends on the of triumph, catastrophe, or maybe just finally growing up. Their crumbling Belfast houseshare has been witness to their roaring twenties, filled with questionable one-night stands and ruthless hangovers. But now fault-lines are beginning to show.
The three girls are still grieving the tragic death of their friend, Lydia, whose room remains untouched. Their last big fight hangs heavy over their heads, unspoken since the accident. And now they are all beginning to unravel.
Thirst Trap by Gráinne O’Hare is a blazing, bittersweet, bitingly funny, and painfully relatable story about the friendships that endure through the very best and the very worst of times.
First Thoughts
As soon as I heard about Thirst Trap, I knew it was something I’d love—literary fiction is something I’ve been trying to get more into, and when you throw friendship into the mix, it’s a book that I know is not only going to be a great read, but is going to make me feel deeply, and that is everything I adore in a book.
My Review
Reading this as I have just turned twenty-nine was extremely fitting as, when we begin the story, Róise is entering her thirties, something I am quite nearly approaching. Her friends Harley and Maggie, who are all house-sharing, are coming off the back of the sudden and tragic death of their friend, Lydia, who lived with them. They have not touched her room since she died, and because of the events surrounding her death when they were in a heavy disagreement, things have quite literally been left unspoken.
But things are beginning to unravel in a way none of the friends expected. All trudging through their lives as best they can, some better than others, they go through so many things of girlhood and womanhood that perfectly echo reality: mourning who they used to be (when they might not have met the grown-up versions of themselves just yet), chaotic relationships and friendships, messing up tragically, and learning when to leave something behind for good. And as each of the women begin to unpick their feelings around Lydia’s death and their own lives, it’s not as linear as a wrapped-up, happy-ever-after, more of the sense of, when we are bound by a shared grief and the highs-and-lows of girlhood, what becomes of us?
Overall, Thirst Trap was devastatingly funny, greatly heartwarming and witty to the core. The friendships in the book were so realistic that I felt as though I knew them, that flickers of the women lived in people I knew. Gráinne has this humorous yet emotional way of writing that pulls the reader in with a gentle tug that feels more like a hug. The romances in the book take a backseat to the friendship and overall feeling of growth in the book, which I loved. I felt as though the grief, friendship and taboo subjects such as drug use and toxic relationships (even friendships at times), were all through a realistic lens that really echoed the non-fictional world. Gráinne’s debut novel is nothing short of a read you can sit back and know was superb through-and-through.
RATING:
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Happy Reading!
