Friend Request

A cautionary tale of the perils of today's social networking climate. It is an enjoyable and somewhat predictable mystery reminiscent of Big Little Lies and The Girl on The Train. I can recommend as a fast paced easy read.

Fantastic Book! The cover, the title, and the concept hooked me in like a fish and the story kept me enthralled from beginning to end. Very well done. I'll look for more books by this very talented author.

A friend request on FB from a missing school friend, presumed dead since 1989, opens up a Pandora’s box of suppressed guilt in a number of people.
I enjoyed this book more than “Girl on the Train”, to which it has been compared in the reviews. The heroine is grief stricken by the abandonment of her husband, who she believes is the only person who truly knows her “warts and all”.
A shared secret between them which dates from their shared high school time, hovers across half the narrative, while the story goes back and forth from today to 1989 and their sixth form graduation year. Into the mix comes a missing girl from that time, peer pressure, bullying and some misguided teenage decisions.
The tension is high throughout and for anyone looking for a good , plausible thriller I highly recommend it.

FRIEND REQUEST

Facebook and other types of social media -- just about everybody uses it. And honestly -- it's great to get a a friend request. Except what if you received a friend request from someone who everybody thought has been dead for over twenty five years?

This is exactly what happens to single mom Louise Williams. She works hard, raises her son alone, trying to juggle her life and look toward the future. But the past keeps popping up and dragging her back to 1989 where something horrible happened that involved Louise and a group of others resulting in tragedy for Maria Weston. Lies have been told, stories made up, the truth never told or the truth ever revealed. Then it is 2016 and a class reunion brings all of the involved characters together again. Uh oh, this can't be good!

First time author Laura Marshall weaves a great story. She takes you down a winding and turning road, making you doubt and/or believe characters and their stories along the way. Readers will totally be sucked right into this story! Just when you think you have things figured out, you realize you don't. Just when you think you know who did what to someone back in 1989, you are wrong. This is not a book where you will figure out who-done-it.

The characters are exciting and well rounded out. The story is more than believable. Fitting in with school crowds and bullying are major topics blended into the story. I loved how the format of the book jumped back and forth between past and present. This concept is never confusing. Louise is a great character -- seeming so together, yet constantly questioning her decisions, her mind a hot mess of what-ifs and maybes.

This is the type of book that will leave you guessing, keep you reading, and hold your interest. It is the type of book that makes you want to keep reading, yet you sure don't want the book to end. If you enjoy a good thriller that will keep you reading until the wee hours of the morning, this is a book for you. Highly recommended -- exciting, frightening, and very satisfying.

This book is puzzling in its writing style and earns a mixed review. The first half gets two stars, the second half four.

Louise Williams, the protagonist in this novel, is a forty-one year old single mom with a four year old son. Now several years after her husband walked out on the family, she is proud of her ability to run a successful business and provide for her child. However, there is a big issue looming over her life: a poor choice she made in high school that had, she believes, catastrophic consequences. Her guilt and shame have colored every aspect of her life for the past twenty-five years. As the story begins, Louise discovers that there is a reunion being planned for her class and a long-buried secret surfaces through her social media page that threatens her already-tormented conscience.

The book alternates between events and relationships in 1989, the year that changed everything, and the present (2016). The storyline basically asks: "How far would you go to gain peer approval in high school?" It then proceeds to reveal the long-term impact of the answer to that question.

I gave the first half of the book two stars because I found it tedious with the repetition of Louise's angst while teasing over and over about the mysterious source of her pain. When I reached the midway point, the pace picked up and the writer transformed the story into a taut, psychological thriller. I couldn't put it down at this point and read late into the night to finish it. Thus, four stars for the second half.

In general, the characters were fairly well developed and believable. The plot had a few twists, but for the most part it was predictable.
The final resolution of all the loose ends was satisfying, but I can't give this a strong recommendation because of the slow pace for so much of the content that didn't hold my interest.

Friend Request by Laura Marshall is a thriller about mean girls, teenage pranks, and a friend request from a girl long dead.

I'll be honest, I didn't enjoy this book. Normally I'm a huge fan of thrillers, but this book fell woefully flat for me. The writing in the book was fine, but the book was slow. I prefer thrillers that are either a slow burn or feature rapid-fire events. This book had neither: it was just slow. And the events that did happen never felt exciting--they were just ho-hum. It was hard to stay engaged and interested in the story, because nothing interesting ever seemed to happen.

The main plot is introduced fairly early in the book, and the rest of the book slowly unfolds the layers of the plot. Some of what happens in the book felt unnecessary--filler details, people, and events. It was distracting at times. I had a hard time holding onto the "so what?" of the book when there was so much in the story that didn't seem to matter.

The ending of the book was okay. I didn't guess the big reveal--it's always nice to be surprised when reading a thriller or mystery. I liked that the ending was a little gritty.

The characters in the book were hard to connect with. They felt very shallow and one-dimensional. This was yet another reason why I had a hard time getting into the book.

The voice acting was rough. Anyone who listens to audiobooks knows that the narrator can make or break a book. It's possible that part of the reason why I didn't care for the book is because I didn't care for the narrator. Her voice wasn't pleasant and was hard to listen to.

Overall, this book wasn't for me. If this book is on your TBR, I highly recommend you pick up a physical copy or e-book as opposed to listening to the audiobook.

Louise Williams has spent most of her adult life trying to forget the past and make up for the mistakes she made while in high school. However, when Louise gets a friend request on Facebook from Maria Weston her heart nearly stops as the past comes flooding back into her life and the memories that have haunted her for years are brought back to the surface.

Around twenty five years before Maria had disappeared one night and with a search turning up nothing it was assumed that she had died but the body was never found. Due to peer pressure Louise has blamed herself believing all these years that it was her fault that Maria had died that night…. but had she really? Is there a chance that Maria is really alive? Either way it’s now time for Louise to face the past that has haunted her since high school.

Just seeing the title of this book I knew that I needed to check it out seeing how today’s society is so focused on social media so I figured it would bring that creepy edge to it. I’m happy to say my instinct was correct as far as the use of social media in the story. Louise is like most people these days with being concerned with her Facebook and the friends she has and basically socializing through a computer instead of face to face.

Now the story in here takes a reader back and forth from the present time and the past high school days for Lousie. Adult Louise is dealing with what it means to have a dead girl that she felt responsible for popping back up in her life. Then the flashing back to the high school days shows the reader just what had happened to Maria that night to make Louise live her life full of guilt. I’m not even sure which side of the story had me more engrossed as they both certainly kept the pages turning looking for answers.

As for the ending to this one, I thought the author did a great job keeping it a believable outcome overall while adding in a few extra little twists to the story. Definitely one that I think most fans of thriller will enjoy quite a bit.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Louise Williams is a middle aged, divorced mother. She lives with her four year old son, Henry, and has her own business. In fact, she is re-building her life, after divorcing her childhood sweetheart, Sam, who she met at school. One day, Louise is at home when she receives a friend request on Facebook, from Maria Weston. The only problem with that, is that Maria has been dead for twenty five years….

This psychological thriller switches from the present to 1989, when Louise was at Sharne Bay High School. The friend request from Maria comes at the same time that Louise is invited to a school reunion and these events combine to force Louise to examine what happened all those years ago – memories that she has tried to bury for years. For Louise has spent her life placating others – not believing she was good enough for her husband, Sam, trying to fit in with the popular girls at school and doing things she is ashamed of in order to retain the friendship of Sophie Hannigan.

Fitting in at school involved Louise being involved in the bullying of new girl, Maria, and her old friend from primary school, Esther. Without doubt, this novel will remind everyone of the intense relationships of school years, and this is mirrored in problems that Louise’s friend, Polly, is having with her daughter, Phoebe, who is also being bullied at school. When Louise feels that she is being followed and fears that her son, Henry, is in danger, it forces her to try to find out what happened all those years ago. However, when she does try to speak to those involved, she finds that they are, understandably, defensive about the past.

This is a fast paced, well plotted debut novel. Despite the fact that Louise has behaved unwisely in her life, she is a sympathetic main character and it is obvious that her own lack of self esteem and confidence still affect her as an adult. I thought this was a good read and look forward to reading more from this author.

Louise Williams is a divorced single mother to 4 year old Henry. Like most people Louise Williams uses Facebook to keep in contact with friends from high school, work and family and to post pictures of her son.

Jumping back and forth between present day - 2016 and high school days -1989, Louise explains how the death of Maria came to happen. It was prom, there was pranks, and there were drugs. Louise and her best friend Sophia had a plan to slip Maria some drugs as a prank.

In 1989 Louise is in High school. After years of being left out in school, Louise is now friends with the popular girl, Sophia and her crew. In comes new student Maria. Transferred from a different school district, with rumors that followed her. Louise and Maria became friends, though Louise was never able to learn the truth behind the rumors following Maria. Being high school kids. the other students are only happy to spread around the rumors. Eventually, Louise harshly breaks off the friendship with Maria. As quickly as high school goes by, it is soon prom time. Louise, Sophia and their group decide that they are going to play a prank on Maria during prom and spike her drink with drugs. They never expected Maria to react badly and run off into the woods, and never be seen again.

One seemingly uninteresting day in present day 2016, Louise gets an email so she checks it as she would any other. It's a Facebook friend request from Maria, except there is no way that Louise can be getting a friend request from her. Maria has been dead since high school. Louise knows this to be certain, after all she was part of the plan.. Louise is startled and confused by the request, but decides to accept to see where it goes. Shortly after, Louise begins to get cryptic, threatening messages from Marias Facebook account. Maria uses the friend request and the messages to connect with high school friends lost through the years in an attempt to find out who else has received Marias friend request and if theirs came with messages also. It is through facebook , and the re-connection of old friends that Louise learns of the planned high school reunion.

While at the reunion a classmate dies, sparking an investigation. Old memories are brought up. Louise is scared of her involvement in the death of Maria coming out, so she scrambles to hide it as best as she can.

In the end, Louise learns the truth about the death of Maria, and the classmate at the reunion and its not at all what she expected.

*** Personal note: This book was an easy read, but I did not find it exactly enjoyable. The characters were hard to connect with, and the story line slow. There was also random entries that could be an blog post or a diary entry, and the writer is never explained. They didn't fit with the rest of the story.

I loved the premise of this book. A friend request on Facebook which stirs memories, emotions, and brings about a gut wrenching fear. And if that request is followed by murder and dead bodies, then that would make the main character shiver and the reader scream in excitement. And this is exactly what happened in this book by Laura Marshall.
Louise gets a Facebook friend request from Maria Weston-super-Mare who had disappeared 25years ago. And that shook her up to her soul. What really happened that prom night? Where is Maria, where has she been in all these years? Who is playing these games? Who is killing off people? What is Louise hiding?
The author Laura has done a fabulous job in keeping readers intrigued, the suspense keeps on adding up as the pages are turned to reach a crescendo. The story told in dual time line, ticks off all the boxes that make it a great read. This book sends a shiver down the spine and I think I am going to think hard before accepting old friends request on Facebook...
A thriller which really thrills. Fabulous read well recommended

In 1989, Louise had the choice between a real friendship or a hollow friendship with acceptance to the cool crowd. She chose the cool crowd and succeeded in making Maria's life hell with cruel pranks. In 2016, Louise is a divorced single mother who works as an independent interior designer and dotes on her son. One day, she receives a friend request from Maria, who has been missing since prom night 1989 and is presumed dead. Threatening messages follow and Louise has to confront her uncomfortable past and the people from it to find out what actually happened to Maria.

Friend Request is a thriller novel about the past coming back to haunt wrongdoers. Louise is pretty insufferable and spends most of her time bemoaning her teenage mistakes and mooning over her ex-husband who replaced her with a younger woman. Right from the beginning, their relationship was creepy because she said they were everything to each other and didn't bother having any friends. The way she spoke, he seemed to tell her (maybe in not so many words) that no one would want her if they knew what she did. She keeps saying how she's changed, but then goes back to those old bad habits and clearly hasn't. Her penchant for lying to police over and over after someone died is really frustrating and does nothing at all to help her.

The novel is told in chapters from 2016 and from 1989, so we get to see first hand just how Louise was as a teenager. I fundamentally don't understand her as she oscillates for real friends and fake popular friends. It's abundantly clear that Sophie, queen bee, only wants Louise as a "friend" to do her dirty work, to make fun of, and to make herself feel better. Maria wanted to be her real friend and support each other, but then Louise would be the target of those same pranks. Maria also had rumors about her swirling around her about what happened at her old school and that she was promiscuous even though she was harassed by a stalker. Louise gets more and more entrenched in the popular crowd until she commits an unforgiveable act.

Friend Request is a frustrating book with a horrible main character. She never seemed to act in her own best interests. I kept reading to find out what the horrible act was in her past and see what other secrets would be revealed. The ending wasn't suprising. I'm surprised I read the whole book and Laura Marshall's next book has to be incredibly intriguing for me to pick it up after this one.

It’s 2016 and Louise Williams’ life is not what she had envisioned at all. She and a former student friend, Sam Parker, had meet years later after graduating, and began to date. Eventually, they married and had their little boy, Henry. Little did she know that he would cheat on her,and the only way she found out was a text message on his phone. Now she and Henry are by themselves. She has built her business as a home designer, and works for an individual, who keeps her busy. Imagine Louise’s surprise, when she received a Facebook Friend request from Maria Weston. This couldn’t be possible, since Maria is dead and had been dead for over 25 years. Louise feels she responsible. She’s kept this secret for years!! There has also been an invitation to the school reunion. She noticed that Sophie Hannigan and Esther Harcourt are also some of Maria’s friends on FB. Louise had followed Sophie around throughout her last few years in high school, solely so that she would be accepted by the in-crowd. Now she is forced to re-connect with Sophie and Esther to find out what is really going on. Esther was the only friend that Maria had, after Louise basically ignored her to follow Sophie around. Louise feels as if someone is following her everywhere she goes, and she’s not imagining it. There is another murder of a woman. Who is it? Will she go to the reunion? What will Sophie and Esther have to tell her? Is Maria really alive? Why would she wait 25 years to want to reconnect and harass Louise? What did Louise do to Maria 25 years previously the night of the Prom? What would you do if this happened to you? This book was a real page turner. The plot was definitely ingenious. The character development was great too. The reader could relate to each of the characters. The ending was not what I expected at all. What a great book! I look forward to the next book from this author!!

FRIEND REQUEST is yet another novel about something terrible that happened when the main character was in high school; that comes to light again years later; that causes serious trauma or detriment to the adult character. In this example, the main character (Louise) did things that contributed to the death of a schoolmate (Maria) some 25 years earlier. Louise is now a single, working mother of a young son (Henry), and she’s struggling to cope with daily life. What she doesn’t need is a Facebook “friend request” from the long-dead Maria.

The story is told in Louise’s first-person narrative, mostly in chapters alternating between things as they are now (2016) and things as they were then (1989). It’s all about teenage relationships (cruel as only these can be), and toxic adult relationships (a high school reunion, domestic violence). Through it all, Louise comes across consistently as fearful, ineffectual, insecure, and woefully eager to please.

The plot moves slowly, through flashbacks, and when the mystery is finally revealed, it isn’t very satisfying. The writing is okay, but there are no likeable or particularly memorable characters. The basic idea (what would you do if you received a “friend request” from a dead person) is intriguing, but the novel itself is extremely disappointing.

Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Jerjen

For those of us on social media, at one time or another, we have all received a friend request. There is some anticipation as to who sent the request, who wants to be our friend? Imagine the horror you would feel if the person who sent the request had been dead for over twenty years. That is exactly what happens to Louise Williams when she opens up her computer and receives the friend request. Then she begins receiving messages that become more threatening in nature and she becomes very scared. You see, Louise has a secret that she has been carrying since she was in high school. Something that she does not want anyone to find out about. She has been dealing with guilt since high school and she is afraid that her whole world is going to come crashing down around her.

The characters are well rounded and three dimensional. Louise has a lot of baggage that she is carrying around from her teenage years. She does not want the events from the past to affect her life with her son now but she is afraid that is exactly what is going to happen. Her ex-husband Sam is not one of my favorite people, but then I think that is the way the author wanted me to feel. And Henry, her son, is just adorable.

The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read. The book was written from two different perspectives, the past and the present. This was a very effective way to let readers learn what happen so long ago and how it affected the present. Sometimes I do not like this writing technique but is really worked for this book. There was also some thoughts from an unknown person, which added to the suspense. Who was this person?

I really enjoyed the fact that the author wrote about current issues, and in some instances, showed how things were not much different back twenty years ago, such as how high school is tough and how bullying affects lots of people. Then there is social media and how anyone can find anyone they want to in this day and age. When you really stop to think about it, that is a very scary thought.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted psychological suspense book. I was pulled into the book from the beginning and I went on a thrilling ride until the end. It is hard to believe this is the author’s debut book. Be sure to check it out.

Louise Williams is a divorced mother who works from home as a freelance interior designer. She doesn’t have a lot of friends and devotes much of her life to 4-year old son Henry, living vicariously through the pictures and posts of her Facebook friends. Life’s fairly uneventful until she receives a friend request from Maria Weston, a girl from her high school days...she’s also been presumed dead for over 25 years. And, Louise has lived with the guilt of her role in what may have happened to Maria that fateful night she disappeared.

The story transitions between present day and 1989, that pivotal year when Louise’s life changed radically. Things lead to an upcoming high school reunion as the events of the past are slowly revealed. It was interesting how the challenges of teens two decades ago pretty much are the same today though the bullying methods are different with the introduction of social media. I struggled to have empathy for Louise because the choices she made at 16 years old seem to somewhat continue in the adult woman as she tries to figure out why she’s received a friend request from the dead teen. However, as the story progressed, I developed more understanding for her as she wasn’t a bad person, just someone who got caught up in her desire for acceptance.

The story is thought provoking in its attempt to contrast the human condition of teenagers and their adult selves and how those early behaviors shaped their life choices. Underlying all of that is the mystery of what happened to Maria, who’s behind the friend request and subsequent taunts. I had so many theories in play but none of them came close to the outcome, which was pretty chilling. The storytelling approach was effective, even though the pacing was a little slow. However, this was really very good for a debut novel. 3.5 stars

(I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review)

Okay, so this novel came out in September, right before the same time the movie Friend Request commercials for release in theaters. So I thought I'd lucked up on a super-cool purchase! I was thinking, "I've got the 1-up on people going to see it!"

Man, I was so freaking wrong! This Friend Request, by Laura Marshall, and the movie Friend Request were not the same friend request! I was so darn wrong, but was I disappointed by the book- that's the question, yeah? I am so happy to say, I was very pleased.

It's about Louise, a woman tormented by her high school, ignorance mistakes. The need to be adored and part of the In-Crowd placed her in a situation many readers could probably relate to. Sadly, Louise's ended with a tragedy... So first, I loved their accents- it was so freaking British, and you know me! I couldn't find much on the author herself, but I really walked away from the book, satisfied.

Someone was done terribly wrong, and it was time for the offenders to receive their due. Don't you just love horrific, 'Get yer up-coming' endings? The way the antagonist lurks about is suspense-filled, but the story moved along in such a way, I near sped ahead to see what happened. Louise was a mess and took things to such an extent, I grew weary of her.

But the story isn't about a case of someone being trolled or pursuing an act of revenge. There was a deeper theme, concerning knowing those around you. Being involved in a person's life, in actual person. It was about keeping secrets and honesty and family. How your actions can come back and bite you in the behind and when to open your mouth and speak out. It was also about bullying and being a hypocrite. Yes, there was a great deal involved, and because of those issues, I was able to endure Louise's foolishness and insecurities.

Friend Request didn't connect with me when it came to the social ignorances of social media. It annoyed yet opened my eyes. I found appreciation for the story where it related to knowing the people you see each and every day. How fake people can be, as well as how the smallest thing causes a complete 360 in personality and behavior. The story was good, but not what I'd hoped. Mostly because I'd wanted it to be tied in to the horror movie which released September 22nd. Oh well. If you like stalkers, mysterious texts and Facebook trolls, then this is your dramatic story!

Cheers; I'm off to the next read!

Friend Request
Laura Marshall
Grand Central Publishing
Released September 5, 2017
384 pages

Louise Williams is a single mom and hard-working entrepreneur. With her school-aged son and her interior design business, she doesn't have much time for anything else. So when a few stolen moments on social media turn her life into a nightmare, she's not sure who she can trust or where she can turn. 

It started innocently enough. Maria Weston, a friend from high school, sent her a friend request on Facebook. The only problem with that? Maria Weston drowned when they were in high school. 

Or did she? 

Louise has spent the last 25 years riddled with guilt for what she and her friend did to Maria back then. Maria was a transfer student, the new kid in a school where Louise had just enough social capital to be near the popular group. And Louise was faced with the choice of keeping that capital and shunning Maria or of friending Maria and losing her chance at the popular crowd (and more importantly, at Sam). She chose popularity, and Maria paid the ultimate price. 

And now she's back, and Louise has to figure out who is stalking her on Facebook. This, with an impending high school reunion, a challenging relationship with her ex-husband (also a former high school classmate), and visits to see old friends and places, and Louise realizes that to stop whoever is after her now, she'l have to go back and figure out what really happened that night so many years ago. 

Friend Request is just as creepily amazing as it sounds, with lots of chills and tension that keep you reading straight through. Author Laura Marshall takes us on the ride of a lifetime, with alternating stories of the current time in Louise's life and flashbacks to high school. And the worst part of reading this? Knowing how stupid we all were in high school and realizing any one of these characters could be you. 

For fans of grip lit, Friend Request is a must. Read. It. Now. 

And be careful who you friend online. 

Galleys for Friend Request were provided by Grand Central Publishing through NetGalley.com, with many thanks. 

3.5 Friend Request is Laura Marshall's debut novel.

Here's the premise. 2016. Single mom Louise gets a Facebook friend request from Maria, a girl she went to school with back in 1989. It stops her cold - for you see, Maria is dead. Who would do such a cruel thing? But there's more. Louise was a different person when she was in school. Unsure of herself and desperate to be accepted by the 'cool' kids, she became part of a group that bullied Maria. Could Maria alive? And back for revenge? After all - her body was never found......

I truly detest bullying and found the scenes and passages describing the actual cruelty very hard to read. The full extent of that behavior is only slowly meted out as the plot progresses. Marshall does a good job with younger Louise's reasoning and self justification. It's not pretty, but it is believable. Those events from 1989 have coloured Louise's life ever since. She is a different person today, with much to lose.

Marshall uses a then and now narrative in Friend Request. This was very effective, as I had to keep reading just to 'see' what happened in the past and what was going to happen in the present. There are some italized passages along the way from an unknown author. I wasn't sure how they would fit into the plot. Marshall managed to keep me guessing for most of the book. She throws in some red herrings that make a few outcomes possible, but I truly didn't see the final reveal until it arrived.

Using social media as the means to ramp up the fear factor is very current - and very real. How much of your life is visible to others? Do you really want to get in touch with that person from your past?

Now, here's my only issue. And it's down to my pragmatic nature - why not go to the police and why lie to them when she did? But, without those omissions, the book would not work!

I like the slightly titillating and sensationalistic tone of Friend Request - a Brit book. It made for a great beach read.

Maria Weston wants to be friends on Facebook. Innocent enough, right? WRONG! Maria Weston has been dead for over 25 years.
Ooooooh, that sounds creepy and believe me FRIEND REQUEST is a psychological roller coaster from start to finish.

Louise Williams is a 40-something single mother of an adorable 4 year old boy. She is a reserved, quiet type that prefers to look at the world from the outside in. Especially from Facebook.

Is she really that shy or is something going on here? My suspicious mind is always questioning the main character. I can’t help it! As secrets are revealed about Louise, the story’s only point of view, we find she is carrying a huge amount of guilt from her high school days. Her friend, Maria Weston, went missing that year and was assumed dead. Why does Louise feel so guilty about that? Hmmm.

When Louise receives the friend request from Maria, you can only imagine how freaked out she becomes! Louise is a smart person, computer literate and she goes through all the expected steps to find out who sent the request. She even overcomes her nerves and reconnects with old friends in order to get to the bottom of the increasingly threatening messages. She becomes convinced this is not a “catfish” or a prank. During a high school reunion, a woman is murdered and we start learning even more about Louise and her past.

The author, Laura Marshall, expertly carries Louise’s story in alternating chapters entitled 1989 and 2016. In this style, we are given bits and clues and a red herring or two, and all the reader has to do is put this mystery together. Easy enough.

Except this: Louise may or may not be an unreliable narrator. I can’t say. You will be wondering as I was all through this book and I take my “no spoilers” oath seriously. So I cannot tell you. Sorry/not sorry.

The ending is an ugly surprise, not my favorite ending of all time, but it definitely is a plausible one. I can highly recommend FRIEND REQUEST. Add it to your TBR.

Laura Marshall delivers a twisty and suspenseful edge-of-your-seat debut, FRIEND REQUEST – when a single divorced mother gets the shock of her life when receiving a Facebook friend email request. However, this woman happened to die twenty-five years ago, and Louise still feels the fear and guilt.

Who would guess this is a debut? Enjoyed learning of the author’s journey and her empowering story.

Louise Williams is a divorced middle class, nearly middle-aged woman. Her cheating ex-husband Sam left her for another woman. She runs her own interior design business in London and is raising her four-year-son, Henry. Henry splits time with his two parents. Sam and Louise attended high school together. They have their own secrets.

When Louise sees the name, Maria Weston, she begins to shake. A blast from the past. She can just delete the email and go to Facebook and decline the request without looking at the page. Don’t think so. . .

A part of her wants to end this here and now, but another part of her wants to see. To know. To understand. So she clicks, "confirm request." Maria stares at her from behind the screen. How can Maria Weston want to be friends with her, when she is dead? More than twenty-five years.

This girl, (would be— woman) . . . "has been hovering at the edge of her consciousness for all her adult life, but she had been good at keeping her out, just a blurred shadow in the corner of her eye, almost but not quite out of sight."

From 1989 to 2016, the author takes us back to the bullying, manipulation, and the secret life of these teens and their high school years. Presently, there is also an upcoming Sharne Bay High School Reunion for the class of 1989. Could this be a coincidence she is getting this the same day?

Who is doing this? Could Maria still be alive? She had drowned twenty-five years ago. Some thought she committed suicide. The party. The last she was seen. Louise has a secret. Who else knows her secret? Desperate frightened teens trying to cover their misdeeds and dark secrets. As adults, they can no longer hide.

The messages become even more threatening and dangerous. This person knows something. Louise is paranoid and fearful. Afraid her secrets of the past will unravel. She must contact the other girls. She desperately needs to find out who is tormenting her. Louise bullied others, and now it is payback.

In between the past and present, the author cleverly inserts another voice. The reader is unsure of the voice. A sick joke? This person is watching her. They know things. A terrible gnawing sense of dread.

“A text: “You don’t deserve to be happy. Not after what you’ve done.”

As the danger gets closer, and someone else is murdered, Louise must find the person before she is next and her son. However, the danger may be closer than she thinks.

“Maybe it’s only be going back that she will be able to move forward.”

Truth. Lies. Secrets. Family Ties. Revenge. Actions. Consequences. Choices. Sins of the past. Justifying actions. Marshall keeps the reader in suspense and just when you think you know the identity— a new twist you did not see coming. Not a lot of likable characters; however, hats off to the author for an accomplished debut.

A riveting psychological suspense thriller which also highlights topics of bullying, peer pressure, fears, insecurities, social media, dangers of the internet, privacy, rape fantasies, BDSM, sexual violence, drugs, sadism, and darker more sinister abuse. In addition, we learn even through generations, teenage girls, especially are desperate to fit in, willing to do or say anything to gain acceptance.

I am not a fan of Facebook. When I first started reading, was unsure if I could get past the drama; however, as the book moves on it becomes more intriguing and mysterious. A whodunit.

A good portrayal of how choices and experiences as teens can carry over to our adult lives. In addition, a nice comparison of how social media and Facebook also can affect adults as well as teens today. Anyone can be anyone on Facebook. It is easy to hide behind a faceless page. Someone lurking, watching your every move.

A solid and entertaining debut. Looking forward to seeing what’s next for this new found talented author! A special thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central for an early reading copy.

JDCMustReadBooks

Louise is a middle-aged, single mother of one young son. Being able to work from home, she likes to take breaks to keep up with her Facebook account... not that she has many friends. Today she has a new friend request ... from Maria Weston. Maria and Louise were friends once in high school, but they didn't remain friends for long. Louise can't understand why Maria would reach out to her now... especially as Maria has been dead for 25 years.

This is a brilliant psychological thriller. The book bounces back and forth between today and those days in high school. I think most of us remember our high school days .. and not always favorably. There were always the cliques, the bad boys, the bullies.

It brings to mind memories of wanting to belong..somewhere... and Louise knows exactly what that was like. Young people don't always make the wisest or safest decisions.

Back to Maria ... is it possible she is still alive? If so, where has she been all this time? Is it someone who knows what happened all those years ago and wants Louise to be afraid? Louise knows that if the truth ever sees the light of day, her life, as she knows its, will be over.

Somewhere along the line, the reader hears an unknown voice .... who is this? Maria? Someone closer to her?

The author has captured the angst of being a teenager ... the self doubts .... Louise, as an adult, is that person who has lived with guilt and regrets her entire life. Will it ever end?

Again, this is a brilliant psychological thriller. Characters have a real feel to them ... I probably knew a few of them myself while in school. The story line is credible .... teens today aren't that much different than 20 or so years ago.

I highly recommend this one! It does not read as a debut novel ...and I can hardly wait to see what the author comes up with next.

Now ... off to post my review in Facebook.

Many thanks to the author / Grand Central Publishing / Netgalley for the advance digital copy. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for a copy of the eARC in exchange for a fair review.

Louise is surprised to receive a friend request from Maria Weston, especially since she disappeared 25 years ago and hasn't been seen since then. Feeling more than a little freaked especially since she has a secret to hide, she searches Facebook for her old friend Sophie and sends her a friend request. She then arranges to meet her because she wants to ask her about the request she received.

Louise begins to feel like she is being followed and watched, and with each passing day, she gets more and more worried that the truth will come out about what she did to Marie. She even reaches out to Esther, whom she had ditched during school as well when she became sort of popular.

During this time is confronted by the fact that she keeps all of her friends at a distance, and the secret is killing her, but when someone dies at the reunion she knows it is only a matter of time before her past comes back to haunt her.

My only real complaint was the fact that took so long for Louise to finally come clean about what she had done to Maria, and clearly, her actions haunted and controlled her life. So many times I wanted to shake her and be like just be honest, just tell someone, and every time she did, if they didn't react well it cemented the feelings she had about herself.

I really enjoyed the exposure of how fake social media is, and how even years after the fact it can tie and make you relive those high school days. Louise really struggled to become a better person, but she always felt defined by her actions as a teenager. While this is a mystery at heart it is also an eye opening perspective on bullying from both points of view. While it may show the motives of all bullies it does show how peer pressure and other factors can make an otherwise decent person do really stupid things.

Louise Williams gets a Facebook friend request. Nothing atypical there, except that it’s from Maria Weston, former high school classmate, and a woman with an agenda. Louise doesn’t need this right now. She’s a single mother, trying to move forward in life. But Maria reemerges like a persistent predator, ready to settle their score. You see, Louise was your typical mean girl, and she had tormented Maria. We discover just how tainted their past is from the moment Louise clicks on the “Accept” button.

Friend Request blew me away. How long has it been since I’ve read a psychological thriller this chilling and unpredictable? Can’t even remember. The suspense comes in waves, and you don’t know what’s in the next room, or in this case, the next Facebook newsfeed. I will never see social media the same way again. Laura Marshall’s debut stands out among the heap of new adult thrillers out there, that’s for sure. She’s not just another Paula Hawkins or Ruth Ware. She’s the real deal.

Reader warning: this novel contains explicit material, including BDSM scenes and rape fantasies. Not for the faint at heart. I admit it: I wasn’t expecting those things. I have read novels with strong subject matters before — Luckiest Girl Alive comes to mind — but this time it was literally a case of whoa-did-not-see-that-one-coming.

If those things don’t bother you, then by all means give it a whirl, and get ready to lose many hours of much-needed sleep. So I give this five Caffè Americanos, with a triple shot of espresso.

Once I got over my initial reservations about main character Louise's behaviour being a little, shall we just say, stupid, I actually enjoyed this book, so much so that I am glad I gave it that chance.
Something happened in Louise's childhood schooldays. Her friend Maria goes missing, presumed dead, at her senior leavers' party. Back in the present day and Louise gets a Facebook friend request from her. Intrigued by the request and wanting to know more she accepts. I guess the reasoning was that it could be someone who knew her secret and, as such, a big threat to her livelihood so her initially dubious behaviour became totally justified and also quite important. Common sense would have been to ignore and block, but who is this person, is it really Maria and, if not, who is it and what do they know? And then when the friend request is followed by an invitation to a class reunion things really hot up for Louise. She tracks down another of her old friends, desperate to find out more about this online "Maria" before making the, again rather unwise, decision to attend.
The book flits between present day and 1989. Being a child of the 80s, I really loved the trip down memory lane that these parts gave me. I really did get lost in my own past a little whilst reading. These past times tell the story of how Louise met Maria and how the fight for popularity reigned the school corridors with social status crucial for survival. Maria's pasts is also a little intriguing and the way that rumours sprung up was very disconcerting and led to quite a lot of bullying behaviour.
In the present, Louise is divorced with a son who she co-parents with Sam, who she was also at school with. They have a tense relationship but get on for their son's sake, and also to a certain extent, the secret they share from their joint past at school.
The whole premise of the rest of the story is centred around Louise's guilt at her behaviour at school. Especially in the days leading up to that night and the part she played. We do not know the truth about that night until towards the end of the book, but the story doesn't just stop there. Just when you think you know the truth, BAM! along comes another slap in the face that basically turned the whole book upside down and inside out! Didn't see that coming, well done Ms Marshall.
Another thing this book highlights is the way someone can expose themselves too much on social media, especially with the "friends of friends" connection. Definitely food for thought and even though I already have my social media settings set for high privacy but after reading this book, I have to admit that I did go back and check... just to be sure.
I believe that this is the author's debut novel. If this is true, I am even more impressed as the quality of writing, characterisation, pacing and indeed balance is very high. So much so that I am literally counting the days until she releases her follow up book.

My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

The two parallel stories were OK, but there was way too much ramblings and "feelings" discussed at every page. The main story line is going on in 2016, describing a school reunion. The protagonist is reminded of something bad she did as a teenager, and the secondary story line is about that same people being teenagers in 1989, the story leading to that bad night. They go around and around saying how horrible was her bad deed, and how much she regrets it now, and they not tell you what did she do for really long time, over half a book, even though it is quite obvious what had happened. Then of course, after revealing this bad deed they find out that there was something more to the story.
Overall, it was a fast read, and the ending was good and satisfying, the book had too much of teenage angst for a book geared to adults.

This debut novel certainly moves along at a fast pace! Narrator Louise is a single mother haunted by her past – both of her failed marriage and her time in high school at the fringes of popularity and the actions she took to leave her there. With its very modern hook – a Facebook friend request from an old high school friend who went missing in 1989, coinciding with the class reunion, Louise’s story unfolds in both the past and the present.

The events leading up to the climatic leavers’ party in 1989 unwind slowly, but Louise’s modern paranoia and fear help keep the overall pace up – though sometimes her jumpiness is rather frustrating and a bit too over the top. Louise is not a character that is all that easy to like throughout the story – but just like there are plenty of people in real life that you would like to shake some sense into, it does make Louise feel more realistic. The plot does hold some genuine surprises here, though a twist is, of course, expected. The ending is not quite as satisfying as I would have hoped – though there are plenty of red herrings that will keep you guessing until the end. All in all, I did really enjoy this one – much more than I expected to and I am definitely curious to see what the author will follow this book up with!

It’s 2016, and Louise Williams receives an eMail: ‘Maria Weston wants to be friends on Facebook.’ But Louise died, didn’t she, back in 1989? At a school leavers party. The request brings back memories for Louise, memories of a time when she and Maria were becoming friends. Before Louise made a series of choices, which have haunted her ever since.

‘But there are no actions without consequences, are there?’

Louise is now divorced. She’s juggling parenting her son Henry with an interior design business that she manages from home. Her business is successful, Henry is adorable and her ex, Sam shares the parenting.

The Facebook friend request sends Louise back into a past which she thought was safely buried in the past. Louise has a number of guilty secrets which she desperately wants to keep hidden, but she can’t ignore the friend request. So, with the help of Facebook, Louise connects with Sophie - one of the popular girls she chose to be with (instead of Maria).

This is the beginning of a fast-paced novel, with some twists and red herrings, all designed to keep you reading (and guessing) as the story unfolds.

The cruelty of teenagers, the fragility of their relationships, the ease with which they select and bully others: I really disliked some of these teenagers. And as adults?

What really happened to Maria Weston? By the end of the novel you’ll know, and quite possibly you’ll be surprised. I was.

‘I should know better than anyone that things aren’t always what they seem.’

This is an accomplished debut novel. Ms Marshall maintains the tension throughout, and while some of the twists jarred, the story is frighteningly believable.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Australia for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

What starts as an ordinary daily task quickly turns into something down right scary... Louise Williams sets down to check her email and finds something that completely rocks her world, a friend request from someone from her past... a dead someone. She knows that her friend died all those years ago, so how is that she is able to send her a request now, surely it's someone playing tricks on her. Maybe they know the secret that she has been carrying with her all this time, and they want to toy with her, maybe even get a little revenge... or use her vulnerabilities to make her feel weak and helpless?

Friend Request is a pulse pounding thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat the whole way through!! It is one of those reads that makes you think, makes you question everything you do, and opens your eyes a little about the role social media plays in our lives today. I liked the premise of this one, it intrigued me, and it wound up being so unlike anything else that I have read as of late, it was definitely a refreshing change of pace! The story line was well crafted with lots of unexpected twists and turns, and the characters were well drawn and easy to relate to... overall I'd say one of the best reads I've read this year!! Highly recommend this one, it will have you addicted from the first page!!!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this title.

This is really Addictive.........read it until 2am...........could not put it down.
Just when you think that the book has come to an end, ( if you are on Kindle) there is another twist.
I really enjoyed it. Sadly she has not written another book yet!!

The premise is so appealing. Louise has just received a Facebook Friend Request from a girl she knew twenty five years ago in high school--a friend that is dead. Louise's heart stops. Not only did Maria Weston die in high school but Louise has never been able to let go of the guilt she feels for the way she treated Maria.

The friend request from Maria also just happens to coincide with a class reunion. Is Louise just being paranoid or is she really being stalked? Could it really be Maria--not really dead all these years? Who else knows of Louise's guilt? Who else might be messing with her?

Friends Request is a fun thriller from debut author Marshall. It takes on social media and asks the question--do we ever really know the people we interact with from behind the screen. The happy pictures and cheerful statuses don't always tell the whole story.

Friend Request by Laura Marshall is mostly fast paced psychological thriller--it gets a little bogged down in the middle. The characters are interesting and not completely trustworthy. Like any good psychological thriller, doubt is thrown on all the characters and the reader is kept off balance. It has some dark twists and turns that I wasn't expecting with a very exciting and satisfying conclusion.

Friend Request is a quick, entertaining read that will leave you breathless and just a little nervous next time you log in to Facebook.

Louise Williams gets a Facebook friend request. Nothing atypical there, except that it’s from Maria Weston, former high school classmate, and a woman with an agenda. Louise doesn’t need this right now. She’s a single mother, trying to move forward in life. But Maria reemerges like a persistent predator, ready to settle their score. You see, Louise was your typical mean girl, and she had tormented Maria. We discover just how tainted their past is from the moment Louise clicks on the “Accept” button.

Friend Request blew me away. How long has it been since I’ve read a psychological thriller this chilling and unpredictable? Can’t even remember. The suspense comes in waves, and you don’t know what’s in the next room, or in this case, the next Facebook newsfeed. I will never see social media the same way again. Laura Marshall’s debut stands out among the heap of new adult thrillers out there, that’s for sure. She’s not just another Paula Hawkins or Ruth Ware. She’s the real deal.

Reader warning: this novel contains explicit material, including BDSM scenes and rape fantasies. Not for the faint at heart. I admit it: I wasn’t expecting those things. I have read novels with strong subject matters before — Luckiest Girl Alive comes to mind — but this time it was literally a case of whoa-did-not-see-that-one-coming.

If those things don’t bother you, then by all means give it a whirl, and get ready to lose many hours of much-needed sleep. So I give this five Caffè Americanos, with a triple shot of espresso.

Once I got over my initial reservations about main character Louise's behaviour being a little, shall we just say, stupid, I actually enjoyed this book, so much so that I am glad I gave it that chance.
Something happened in Louise's childhood schooldays. Her friend Maria goes missing, presumed dead, at her senior leavers' party. Back in the present day and Louise gets a Facebook friend request from her. Intrigued by the request and wanting to know more she accepts. I guess the reasoning was that it could be someone who knew her secret and, as such, a big threat to her livelihood so her initially dubious behaviour became totally justified and also quite important. Common sense would have been to ignore and block, but who is this person, is it really Maria and, if not, who is it and what do they know? And then when the friend request is followed by an invitation to a class reunion things really hot up for Louise. She tracks down another of her old friends, desperate to find out more about this online "Maria" before making the, again rather unwise, decision to attend.
The book flits between present day and 1989. Being a child of the 80s, I really loved the trip down memory lane that these parts gave me. I really did get lost in my own past a little whilst reading. These past times tell the story of how Louise met Maria and how the fight for popularity reigned the school corridors with social status crucial for survival. Maria's pasts is also a little intriguing and the way that rumours sprung up was very disconcerting and led to quite a lot of bullying behaviour.
In the present, Louise is divorced with a son who she co-parents with Sam, who she was also at school with. They have a tense relationship but get on for their son's sake, and also to a certain extent, the secret they share from their joint past at school.
The whole premise of the rest of the story is centred around Louise's guilt at her behaviour at school. Especially in the days leading up to that night and the part she played. We do not know the truth about that night until towards the end of the book, but the story doesn't just stop there. Just when you think you know the truth, BAM! along comes another slap in the face that basically turned the whole book upside down and inside out! Didn't see that coming, well done Ms Marshall.
Another thing this book highlights is the way someone can expose themselves too much on social media, especially with the "friends of friends" connection. Definitely food for thought and even though I already have my social media settings set for high privacy but after reading this book, I have to admit that I did go back and check... just to be sure.
I believe that this is the author's debut novel. If this is true, I am even more impressed as the quality of writing, characterisation, pacing and indeed balance is very high. So much so that I am literally counting the days until she releases her follow up book.

My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

The two parallel stories were OK, but there was way too much ramblings and "feelings" discussed at every page. The main story line is going on in 2016, describing a school reunion. The protagonist is reminded of something bad she did as a teenager, and the secondary story line is about that same people being teenagers in 1989, the story leading to that bad night. They go around and around saying how horrible was her bad deed, and how much she regrets it now, and they not tell you what did she do for really long time, over half a book, even though it is quite obvious what had happened. Then of course, after revealing this bad deed they find out that there was something more to the story.
Overall, it was a fast read, and the ending was good and satisfying, the book had too much of teenage angst for a book geared to adults.

This debut novel certainly moves along at a fast pace! Narrator Louise is a single mother haunted by her past – both of her failed marriage and her time in high school at the fringes of popularity and the actions she took to leave her there. With its very modern hook – a Facebook friend request from an old high school friend who went missing in 1989, coinciding with the class reunion, Louise’s story unfolds in both the past and the present.

The events leading up to the climatic leavers’ party in 1989 unwind slowly, but Louise’s modern paranoia and fear help keep the overall pace up – though sometimes her jumpiness is rather frustrating and a bit too over the top. Louise is not a character that is all that easy to like throughout the story – but just like there are plenty of people in real life that you would like to shake some sense into, it does make Louise feel more realistic. The plot does hold some genuine surprises here, though a twist is, of course, expected. The ending is not quite as satisfying as I would have hoped – though there are plenty of red herrings that will keep you guessing until the end. All in all, I did really enjoy this one – much more than I expected to and I am definitely curious to see what the author will follow this book up with!

It’s 2016, and Louise Williams receives an eMail: ‘Maria Weston wants to be friends on Facebook.’ But Louise died, didn’t she, back in 1989? At a school leavers party. The request brings back memories for Louise, memories of a time when she and Maria were becoming friends. Before Louise made a series of choices, which have haunted her ever since.

‘But there are no actions without consequences, are there?’

Louise is now divorced. She’s juggling parenting her son Henry with an interior design business that she manages from home. Her business is successful, Henry is adorable and her ex, Sam shares the parenting.

The Facebook friend request sends Louise back into a past which she thought was safely buried in the past. Louise has a number of guilty secrets which she desperately wants to keep hidden, but she can’t ignore the friend request. So, with the help of Facebook, Louise connects with Sophie - one of the popular girls she chose to be with (instead of Maria).

This is the beginning of a fast-paced novel, with some twists and red herrings, all designed to keep you reading (and guessing) as the story unfolds.

The cruelty of teenagers, the fragility of their relationships, the ease with which they select and bully others: I really disliked some of these teenagers. And as adults?

What really happened to Maria Weston? By the end of the novel you’ll know, and quite possibly you’ll be surprised. I was.

‘I should know better than anyone that things aren’t always what they seem.’

This is an accomplished debut novel. Ms Marshall maintains the tension throughout, and while some of the twists jarred, the story is frighteningly believable.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Australia for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

What starts as an ordinary daily task quickly turns into something down right scary... Louise Williams sets down to check her email and finds something that completely rocks her world, a friend request from someone from her past... a dead someone. She knows that her friend died all those years ago, so how is that she is able to send her a request now, surely it's someone playing tricks on her. Maybe they know the secret that she has been carrying with her all this time, and they want to toy with her, maybe even get a little revenge... or use her vulnerabilities to make her feel weak and helpless?

Friend Request is a pulse pounding thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat the whole way through!! It is one of those reads that makes you think, makes you question everything you do, and opens your eyes a little about the role social media plays in our lives today. I liked the premise of this one, it intrigued me, and it wound up being so unlike anything else that I have read as of late, it was definitely a refreshing change of pace! The story line was well crafted with lots of unexpected twists and turns, and the characters were well drawn and easy to relate to... overall I'd say one of the best reads I've read this year!! Highly recommend this one, it will have you addicted from the first page!!!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this title.

The premise is so appealing. Louise has just received a Facebook Friend Request from a girl she knew twenty five years ago in high school--a friend that is dead. Louise's heart stops. Not only did Maria Weston die in high school but Louise has never been able to let go of the guilt she feels for the way she treated Maria.

The friend request from Maria also just happens to coincide with a class reunion. Is Louise just being paranoid or is she really being stalked? Could it really be Maria--not really dead all these years? Who else knows of Louise's guilt? Who else might be messing with her?

Friends Request is a fun thriller from debut author Marshall. It takes on social media and asks the question--do we ever really know the people we interact with from behind the screen. The happy pictures and cheerful statuses don't always tell the whole story.

Friend Request by Laura Marshall is mostly fast paced psychological thriller--it gets a little bogged down in the middle. The characters are interesting and not completely trustworthy. Like any good psychological thriller, doubt is thrown on all the characters and the reader is kept off balance. It has some dark twists and turns that I wasn't expecting with a very exciting and satisfying conclusion.

Friend Request is a quick, entertaining read that will leave you breathless and just a little nervous next time you log in to Facebook.

Teenagers want so badly to be accepted by others that sometimes they will do anything for acceptance that later they will regret. Louise wanted to be popular so badly that she dropped her real friends to follow Sophie, something that will haunt her life forever.

Social media has a way of affecting our lives in unexpected ways. Louise receives a friend request from Maria Weston, who has been dead for twenty-five years Louise thought. Louise is terrified. She knows it’s her fault that Maria disappeared all those years ago, and she has spent every day of her life regretting the decisions she made back in 1989. Divorced for two years, her whole life is devoted to her son Henry but as she searches for clues on the mysterious friend request, she finds out there is a class reunion that has been planned for months and she is hurt that no one included her.

Very relatable characters and story line. In today’s day and age anything and everything seems to be ruled by social media and Friend Request is a prime example of what can happen. The characters were not much older than I am, so I found that their school days brought back memories of how cruel kids can be when dealing with their insecurities. As adults, it is easy to still want others to like us and Louise was no different. Full of surprises you won’t see coming if you are looking for a new book to check out this is the one!

FRIEND REQUEST by Laura Marshall is a very current, fresh, and compelling psychological thriller that will reel you in from the very first line and keep you interested to the very last sentence.

Louise Williams is a divorced, single mum who runs her own business and is slowly building up her confidence after all that she has been through. But when she receives a Facebook friend request from an old school mate Maria Weston, all of her insecurities and fear from the past spring to life again. Louise has tried hard to forget about that time of her life and how is this even possible? After all, Maria has been dead for over twenty-five years...

With the perfect timing of her old school reunion, Louise must revisit her teenage years and all of its ugliness if she is to protect herself and her little boy, but as she starts to delve into the past and what happened to Maria, danger seems to be waiting.

FRIEND REQUEST by Laura Marshall jumps from past to present, giving the reader the full experience of what happened to the characters - from bullying to that desperate search for popularity, we feel it all alongside those that it is happening to. There is a tense atmosphere present on every page and I found myself urging Louise to face the past head on yet there was still something extremely unlikeable about Louise's character, and most of the characters in this novel. If you are a fan of psychological thrillers then FRIEND REQUEST by Laura Marshall is well worth a read.

*I voluntarily reviewed this book from Netgalley.com

Friend Request is a quick and suspenseful read full of twists and turns that are sometimes predictable, but always guaranteed to keep the pages turning. When Louise receives a friend request from an old school mate who was presumed dead, it turns her life upside down as she begins to relive her past and to wonder if her most terrible secret is about to catch up with her.

The author tells this chilling story alternating between 1989 and present day, and slowly rolls out a tale of teenage bullies, bad decisions and guilt. This is a fast paced read and the author does a great job of alternating between time periods without losing any of the driving, relentless energy of the narrative. I could certainly see some things coming, but the final reveal was effective and surprising.

My only problem with this book was with Louise, the main protagonist. By the end of the novel, she had really began to wear on me with her constant complaining. She seemed very self absorbed and her constant whining about her situation, even in the face of the terrible experiences of others left me feeling less than empathetic with her plight. The nature of her whining was far too repetitive as well, distracting from the superb suspenseful pace the author had established. Still, even with a whiny protagonist, this is an enjoyable read and a fine cautionary tale about the perils of over-sharing on the internet.

MARIA WESTON WANTS TO BE FRIENDS. BUT MARIA WESTON'S DEAD. ISN'T SHE?

1989. When Louise first notices the new girl who has mysteriously transferred late into their senior year, Maria seems to be everything the girls Louise hangs out with aren't. Authentic. Funny. Brash. Within just a few days, Maria and Louise are on their way to becoming fast friends.

2016. Louise receives a heart-stopping email: Maria Weston wants to be friends on Facebook. Long-buried memories quickly rise to the surface: those first days of their budding friendship; cruel decisions made and dark secrets kept; the night that would change all their lives forever.

Louise has always known that if the truth ever came out, she could stand to lose everything. Her job. Her son. Her freedom. Maria's sudden reappearance threatens it all, and forces Louise to reconnect with everyone she'd severed ties with to escape the past. But as she tries to piece together exactly what happened that night, Louise discovers there's more to the story than she ever knew. To keep her secret, Louise must first uncover the whole truth, before what's known to Maria--or whoever's pretending to be her--is known to all.

This was a great book all around, as I was lucky enough to win this as a Goodreads giveaway prize, and the story sounded intriguing, so having the book delivered to me on Saturday morning and then reading the book within less than 24 say's it all really!!

Remember the peer pressure at school? You were a nice person really, but those popular girls you so wanted to impress and be part of, they made you say and do things you didn't want to do; do things you knew you shouldn't do. That's just how Louise feels in trying to be best friends with gorgeous and popular Sophie. Then Maria, the new girl at school who quickly became Louise's best friend, she disappears after a party, falls off a cliff into the sea. No body was ever washed up or found.

Twenty-six years later, Louise gets a friend request into her Facebook account from Maria Weston, coinciding with a school reunion in a couple of weeks time. From chapter 2 we go back to 1989 when the group of teenagers were at school and what started as mild bullying and peer pressure started. The two timelines neatly explore the girls personalities and the back timeline answers questions and gives explanations of the present timeline.

I found much of the book to be quite gripping. The question on both the characters and the readers mind continues through to almost the end of the book – is Maria Weston alive and has she come back to seek revenge? There are lots of tense moments, never any dull ones, and the telling of the story, the plot, is very well thought out and realistic. I can hardly believe that Friend Request is Laura Marshall's debut novel, she reads like a seasoned author. I can only expect that future works will be even better.

This is the story of Louise, a single mum recently divorced from the love of her life, Sam.

The timeline is 2016 and Louise is dealing with life as best she can, she runs a successful business and she adores her little boy, Henry. One day she receives a notification on Facebook 'Maria Weston wants to be your friend' and Louise is catapulted straight back to 1989 and the school leavers party where Maria Weston is believed to have been killed and Louise thinks she was partly responsible.

Louise needs to know who is behind the friend request and why now, after all this time? When she hears that there is going to be a school reunion she thinks she may possibly get some answers to what happened that fateful night.

This book is the epitome of social media and makes you question whether the person you know is really the one behind that keyboard. It also shows how far people will go to fit in with their school friends and what effect peer pressure has on us all. Laura Marshall has depicted this story so accurately and makes you realise things are not always as they seem. I tried to second guess who was behind it all but was surprised when it was revealed and the twist when it came was a real shocker.

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more by this author.

Louise is a single mum building up her business as an interior designer. Whilst scanning Facebook she is shocked to find a 'Friend Request' from Maria- who died after their school leavers dance many years ago!

Louise's teenage years had been troubled. She longed to be part of the 'in' crowd with the popular girls- especially Sophie, but she felt uncomfortable with their involvement in drugs. She felt slightly bad about dropping Esther, her Primary school friend and when Maria arrived it seemed they might be friends until the 'in' crowd made her choose. The night of the Leaver's dance and the things Louise was involved with have haunted her ever since.

Louise accepts the request. Soon she is communicating with Sophie. As a school reunion is announced she decides to go even though she feels increasingly threatened by messages she receives.

The story is told across two timelines- the present and the year Louise left school. It was at times an uncomfortable read. I wanted to tell Louse to run from the poisonous 'in' crowd and stick to Maria & Esther- needless to say she wouldn't have listened! As things grew darker I couldn't stop reading! Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for this great read.

The thing about this thriller that somewhat irritated me is that it is a sort of hybrid of two genres: YA and adult thriller. Set in the UK, it has a current-day divorcee and her young son, her ex-husband and his new family, and a sudden appearance - maybe - of a teenage girl from their shared past. If Maria is alive, where has she been all these years? If she's dead, who is using social media to contact her old schoolmates, both friends and enemies? The parts of the book dealing with the past seemed to hit the right notes for me and I think the author got it right about bullying and social networks (in 1989, before Facebook). The parts dealing with the modern day were less convincing. Adults weren't portrayed as particularly adult. By the end of the story, though, the suspense rose and gripped me. It's also a cautionary tale about social media and the way you can't know who someone is by reading their posts. Facebook can also be Fakebook - caveat emptor.

When Louise, a divorced mother, receives a friend request from a dead woman she is wary but intrigued. Accepting the request brings a nightmare from the past into her present. Louise is wound pretty tight and although she has cut ties with her old high school clique, she still carries the guilt from her treatment of the dead woman. Louise's desperate desire for inclusion with a group of mean girls turned her into a bully.but as the pressure from the past builds it is apparent that it is way to late to say sorry.

This book had an intriguing premise and started strong. Louise is rather immature and hasn't matured much from her teen days. She is still filled with angst and insecurity even though she appears to be a competent and loving mother and successful business person. At times this book reads more like a YA novel than an adult mystery. Still the author captured the pettiness and silliness of high school and how bad decisions come back to haunt you. The ending was a bit flat and the pacing is uneven but overall it is an entertaining and timely read.

This book had such a great storyline. It was such a quick and easy read that I flew through. It definitely kept my interest from beginning to end, which always makes for a wonderful thriller. I think a thriller should always be a simple and quick read, that’s what I enjoy.
I found that I was questioning each character quite a bit which I like in a thriller. The only downside is I wish it had more action throughout the whole story instead of sporadically. I liked Louise (the main character) a lot, though I seemed to get super frustrated with a lot of her choices throughout. I liked that in a lot of ways, considering if a main character always did what I wanted them to do there wouldn’t be much of a story.
Overall I enjoyed this book a ton, and thought it was a unique thriller that I would highly recommend to anyone who like a good thriller. It’s such a different read, I’ve never read anything like it and I thought that was great. I can’t wait to see what this author has to come.

Friend Request by Laura Marshall is set in two time periods of the narrator's life. One is in 1989, when she is a teenager awkwardly trying to fit in with a bunch of cruel girls at school (but not quite managing), and one is set in 2016 -- the present. Not terribly happy in either case, Louise has an incredibly awful secret she is harboring. She feels if she divulges it, her life with her four year old son will be destroyed. And so she keeps holding it in, although it is destroying her and keeping her from moving on with her life.
When she gets a sudden friend request on Facebook from Maria Weston, a girl she last saw in 1989 at a party before graduation, the careful little world she has constructed ever since the horror of 1989 begins to fly apart.
This book is a fast paced character driven thriller which will hold your interest right down to the last page. The suspense is electrifying as Louise races to understand what is happening and why.
I was on tenterhooks all the way through as I read Friend Request, and completely recommend it.

Creeeeepy! I had such a hard time putting my Kindle down when reading Friend Request. This was one where I was quite literally on the edge of my chair reading, not sure what was going to happen next, who was actually trust-worthy and when the next plot twist would reveal itself. Switching seamlessly from past to present, I got sucked into the lives Louise and Maria, and I had to find out how this story would end. At one point, I actually jumped up from my chair and shouted “Oh hell no!” with full goosebumps running down my arms. If you are fan of thrillers, don’t miss this one.
I received a review copy

The subject of bullying is making headline news at the moment. Online bullying is at a peak. All forms of bullying are nasty, insidious and can have long term lasting effects on victims of bullying. Those that survive that is.
Friend Request deals with different aspects of bullying both online and off with a former bully Louise Williams as the main protagonist and narrator. Louise is contacted by Maria, an old victim of hers via Facebook. Impossible because Maria is dead, or is she?
The hunter becomes the hunted in this chilling game of cat and mouse.
Who will win in the end?

Great concept and a unique plot. I was immediately drawn into this book and it held my interest throughout, however I did find some of the chapters a bit lengthy, particularly the last one and felt that it could have benefited by a good edit but that could have been me anxious to find out what happened in the end because I galloped through this chilling psychological twister and couldn't put it down.

I used to read psychological thrillers all the time, but feel like I don’t read them very often these days. Other genres used to be my break from psychological thrillers, but now it seems the other way round, and psychological thrillers have become my break from all the emotional books I seem to read these days.

This book didn’t make me laugh or cry. I didn’t want it to. That was the point of choosing this book. However, it did make me think about things. It made me worry about social media, who I’m friends with online, how much I share online. It made me feel concerned and perhaps a little paranoid about social media and the part I play in it.

Friend Request was a thoroughly enjoyable psychological thriller that was tense, twisty, gripping and hard to put down. It kept me guessing throughout, and had a particularly tense ending where I’m certain I held my breath for longer than was good for me. I definitely recommend this book for fans of psychological thrillers.

What a great debut, it hit the ground running and kept up the pace all the way through.
Louise get's a friend request on Facebook from Maria Weston an old school friend but Maria died at a party at school years ago! Louise didn't have a great time at school even though she tried so hard to be one of the popular girls. She isn't proud of the way things went and along with splitting from her husband Sam she really is paranoid when she gets the request, her own part in the sequence of events that left Maria dead plays on her mind and she is sure someone is following her. This novel is on two timeline and the transition between the two is smoothly done. I was constantly on the edge of my seat trying to workout who was behind the sinister messages and what would happen if Louise attends the reunion?
I loved this book from start to finish and recommend it to everyone who loves thrillers. Thank you NetGalley for my copy of the book.

Laura Marshall has written written a marvelous thriller that hits several hot tops from single parenting and online dating to bullying and social media and she doesn't shy away from these vulnerabilities in the least.

In Friend Request, Louise Williams receives a requst from a friend from long ago. The problem is this friend is dead - or is she? Further, Louise and her clique were complicit in this girl's death while they were in high school. It is a secret they all have shared for a decade, a secret that now threatens to come to light.

Marshall examines these secrets with rapid fire prose using a past/ present sequence that works brilliantly. Her writing is taut, the characters are well developed and the twists are never ending. Once you've started reading the book, you won't want to stop until the final page! This is a must read for all suspense fans.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read and highly recommend it to other readers.
Not an edge of your seat thriller although there are some tense moments, especially towards the end. Believeable characters and an intriguing story make this a great read but it was underlying themes and the way they were incorporated that made this book stand out for me.
Some of the themes, such as motherhood will resonate strongly with female readers but there are many universal themes we can all relate to such as popularity and the need to fit-in, the role of social media in our personal lifes, the way we justify our own actions and the lengths we will go to to protect ourselves.
Loved the read and will look out for Marshall's second book.

Laura Marshall’s “Friend Request” has an interesting take on the ‘woman in peril’ theme that runs through all too much women’s fiction. Louise, high school bully (or fellow traveler as she prefers to think of herself), receives a friend request from her victim. The twist is that Louise knows that that can’t be possible. Or, at least, she’s almost convinced that it can’t.

Marshall first novel is in many ways well written. The premise is intriguing. The execution less so. I found my eyes glazing over mid-book and just wanted things to be over. Perhaps true suspense works best in smaller doses. In any case, I got bored and read on only from a sense of duty. Part of my reluctance may well be that Louise isn’t really a sympathetic character.

Marshall the novelist shows promise. Louise, on the other hand, garners no sympathy.

In 1989, Louise's high school classmate Maria Weston died. More than a quarter of a century later, Louise still harbors guilt for what she sees as her part in the death. And she's terrified that her role will come out, affecting her and her young son.

So when she receives a Facebook friend request from someone identifying themselves as Maria Weston, Louisa is terrified. Could Maria still be alive? Then the Facebook messages start to get threatening ...

This is a complex, absorbing mystery with a cast of characters still haunted by Maria's death. The plot unfolds deliberately, sending the reader down one trail and another in an effort to find out both what happened in 1989 and who's making threats in 2016.

This excellent first novel heralds the beginning of a fine career for author Laura Marshall.

This book intrigued me right from the start. The story flips between two time lines, 1989 when the characters were in highschool to 2016 when there is a reunion. Louise has divorced her husband and is raising her 4 year old son, the father being someone she went to school with. A friendship request from someone who allegedly died 27 yrs ago creates the mystery and drama throughout the book. Is she really dead or is she back for revenge? Louise is guilt ridden over the events leading to Maria's death and at the reunion there is another death. Are they related? The story was a page turner and the characters real. I had no idea what the outcome would be. Just when I thought I knew the author threw in a red herring...NO IDEA how did I not see that? Great story and I highly recommend it.

I enjoyed the plot line of this story; however, there were times when the main character reiterated too much about what she did to a classmate 27 years before. Her behavior was built up to be much more than it was, so there was a bit of a let down.

On the other hand, the actual whodunnit caught me by surprise. The ending chapters were where the action really picked up and kept my attention more focused.

This is the first book I have read by this author and it appears to be her debut novel. I like the basic story and will be looking for more books by her in the future. I hope she and her editor(s) tighten up the plots in the future which will hopefully make for a great rather than a good read.

A paranoid single mom is forced to confront the unthinkable act she committed as a desperate teenager in this addictive thriller with a social media twist.

I truly enjoyed Laura Marshall's debut novel Friend Request. The story opened up with Louise who was a high school teenager desperate to fit in. She befriends Maria who's the new girl in town but the friendship quickly soured. Fast forward 20 something odd years later, Maria befriends Louise on Facebook. Once this happened, then secrets buried quickly bubble up toward the surface. I don't want to give away too much. I can tell you that when things picked up in the story it really picked up! Have you ever found yourself speed reading to get to the end? Well that's what I was doing once things picked up around 75% into the story. The beginning of Friend Request was really slow, but this was because the author, Laura Marshall was building suspense. Oh, did it work?! Go pick up Friend Request today.

Wow! This book kept me up all night. It unfolded in my mind like a movie, I anxiously awaited "what happens next" more than a few times. Just when I thought I'd solved the puzzle, the author twisted and taunted me with more questions! Highly recommeded for fans of thrillers that keep you on the edge of your seat.

I decided to post my thoughts and chose leave a review after reading the advance ecopy of this book I received courtesy of Net Galley. Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for sending this book to me and giving me an opportunity to read it before the publication date of September 5 , 2017!

Interesting and puzzling story told in flashback to 1989 and in 2016 .The main theme is that a dead girl has somehow sent a friend request and the book delves into the past and tells the story of Louise and Maria who was bullied and ignored because she didn't fit in at school.But did she die? that is the question and if she did who is pretending to be her.Well I wonder...... This was a well crafted and interesting book I liked the use of flashbacks and didn't have much of an idea well no ideas at all really about what was going on.It kept me page turning and interested.good book.

This was a wonderful debut novel from a new author. It touched on so many things that resonated with me - the way popularity feels crucial in our teens, and the cruel lengths we might go to attain it, but once we become an adult, our teen years suddenly come into perspective, and also how social media has infiltrated our lives to the point where we don't realize that there is nothing that is private anymore. This was an excellent thriller with plenty of red herrings that had me completely in the dark the whole way about what was really going on. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

This was a fun thriller.

I enjoyed trying to figure out exactly what had happened to Maria so long ago…and what exactly was happening now.

Our main character does seem to have survived her entire life without a brain – seriously, dumb as a post – but she sort of grows on you. I found myself worrying for her and definitely invested in whether or not she’d survive this particular friend request.

Not quite as twisty as I expected, but definitely a good popcorn read – suspenseful and fun.

*ARC provided via Net Galley

Reading this book had me questioning today's social media life. Everybody puts up the whole life for everyone to see and it makes it very easy to learn and take advantage of it. And ultimately do a lot of damage in somebody's life. A very relevant story, with a sense of reality made it an easy and enjoyable read. If you like psychological thrillers, you want to read this one. Recommended. I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK!

This is really Addictive.........read it until 2am...........could not put it down.
Just when you think that the book has come to an end, ( if you are on Kindle) there is another twist.
I really enjoyed it. Sadly she has not written another book yet!!

This is a very British mystery. I'm not complaining. I enjoy the British flavor of the nove. It's a captivating suspense thriller set in two time periods: 1989 and 2016. The transition between the two eras is well done. It just might give you a different view of facebook The friend request of the title is rather terrifying since it comes from a woman who's been presumed dead for 27 years.

The writing is indeed skillful and I do hope to hear more from the author.

This is a good modern thriller. Louise is a single parent to Henry, age four. She is an interior designer and is divorced from Sam. He was a friend at school and she met him again ten years later, they were together for fifteen years. Louise receives a Facebook, friend request from a school friend Maria and also gets invited to her High School's 25th reunion. But Maria went missing 25 years ago, she is dead and Louise knows this as she had a part in her death! Read on.