Review: Friend Request by Laura Marshall

Title: Friend Request

Author: Laura Marshall

Published by: Grand Central Publishing

Released: September 2017

Source: Review Copy from Publisher and Netgalley / Physical Copy from Library

Synopsis: Maria Weston wants to be friends. But Maria Weston is 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. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

My Thoughts: Thank you so much to Grand Central Publishing and Netgalley for letting me read and review an early copy of Friend Request by Laura Marshall.

I really liked this. Friend Request is Laura Marshall's debut thriller book, and I am impressed. She did a great job of writing an interesting and addicting thriller. It was a very fast read. I kept turning the pages because I was interested, and needed to know what was going to happen next. It was a book that I didn't want to put down.

This story switched back and forth, between past and present timelines. It focused on Louise's high school years and then switched to her present day life. I liked how our main character wasn't an innocent victim in this whole situation. It dealt with the subject of bullying and our main character helped take part of it. Louise wasn't the most popular girl, she lived on the fringes, but she did have a popular friend. Louise had to choose between fitting in or being a "loser". Louise helped make a girl miserable in high school and that had a pretty big impact on her life. It was definitely hard to read the bullying scenes because I wanted Louise to do better. I wanted her to not be that girl. Louise definitely struggled with her actions, but ultimately, she wanted to fit in more than she wanted to be a good person. That was just really interesting to read about.

I also enjoyed all the twists and turns in Friend Request. It takes you in one direction only to switch it up later. It also shows how dangerous social media can be. How anonymous it is and how threatening it can be.

I really enjoyed Friend Request. It's a book that kept me on my toes, racing to the last page to see how it would all end. I'll definitely be on the lookout for other books by Laura Marshall. 

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 4/5

Very Good!