I could hardly put this novel down. This is a gripping, often tense drama with a very current theme running through it - Social Media. So if you want a page turning 'guess who' to sink your teeth into then this one is for you.
In many ways the writing style is pretty good, not exceptional, but as this is a debut novel I feel this writer is one to watch in the future. I would read more from her.
Marshall's strengths are in her use of dialogue and scene setting. She creates tension with ease but at times it was a little contrived, especially when she was going for big effects. I think a little less spelling out of the narrator's feelings would have improved my enjoyment. Mostly I liked to be 'shown and not told.
I did like that I didn't 'guess who' until the end which meant the plots and twists worked for me.
Having said that, this is one I would recommend and I know it will be enjoyed by a great number of readers.

Great big thanks to NetGalley, Grand Central Publishing and Laura Marshall for the opportunity to read and review this wonderful debut novel!

This psychological thriller is ripped out of today's headlines and is very relatable to most of us. The story is told in two different timeframes - 1989, when Louise is trying desperately to fit into the "it" group of girls at school, letting go of those friends that felt more like a right fit but definitely weren't popular. Maria was the new girl to school, with a questionable past, who felt like a fast friend to Louise but she let herself go down a path led by her popular friends. 2016 - Louise is a single mother to 4-year-old Henry, building her own design company. She has tried to put her past behind her but one day gets a Facebook message from Maria asking to be Facebook friends. But Maria is dead. Or is she?

Buckle up for a wild ride - this was a great book that will keep you guessing. With the subjects of bullying and being bullied so prevalent in the news as well as how our ever-increasing publicizing of our lives on social media can lead to bad consequences, this book wraps all that into a great thriller.

Kudos for a great debut novel - can't wait to read more from her!

Have you ever done something you are truly ashamed of and there is not a day that passes by where it doesn’t haunt you? Welcome to Louise’s life. It is 2016 and Louise is a single mother, working on her interior decorating business. One day she gets a friend request from Maria Weston. The only problem is Maria Weston died over 25 years ago.

The book then takes us through two timelines: 1989 and 2016. In 1989, Maria transfers to Louise’s school and they quickly become friends. However, jealousy, peer pressure and bullying will lead Louise to make the biggest mistake of her life. In 2016, Louise panics as the messages from Maria Weston grow more frequent. Louise is not the same person she was in high school, she has changed. She feels like she is being followed and does not feel safe. She can’t come forward about her history because she has her son to protect. She will do anything to make sure he is not taken from her.

Friend Request by Laura Marshall is full of twists and turns! It takes social media fear to a whole new level. The fact that it is so easy to find someone and all their information is terrifying. However, the main theme of the book is bullying. Bullying and peer pressure is a huge aspect of Friend Request and it’s deadly consequences.

There were several things that I loved about this book. First of all, Louise is such a relatable character! She is a single mother doing everything she can to make sure her son is protected and has the best possible life. She rarely goes out and has very few friends. Her son is her whole world. My heart squeezed every time Laura talked about how much her son meant to her. Secondly, it’s realistic approach to bullying and how it affects everyone. Lastly, the novel moves at a great pace and smoothly transitions from 1989 to 2016.

I really recommend this novel! It will keep you at the edge of your seat! I was not able to book this book down! It really shows how we all do things that we regret, some worse than others.

I received this book from Netgalley!

4 Stars.

Have you ever gotten a friend request on social media from someone that gave you pause? One from someone that you thought had some nerve in seeking you out? Well wait, it gets even better. Louise Williams doesn't just get a friend request on Facebook from someone she knew years ago and doesn't actually like, she gets a friend request from someone who died twenty-five years ago. (Can you say creepy?).
The curiosity gets the better of Louise however and she accepts. It is a choice she comes to regret.

Flashing back twenty-five years prior, Maria Weston is the new girl in school, and she isn't exactly well liked. The girls are quite cliquey you see and as a newby, Maria just doesn't make the cut. Louise tries to befriend Maria and in doing so, gets the cold shoulder from the girls. Realizing she had been cast aside, Louise will do whatever it takes to get back into the cliques good graces, much to Maria's detriment.

Louise's actions and secrets haunt her years later. Thus, when she gets Maria Weston's friend request she is stunned. And when she starts getting threatening Facebook messages from Maria, she is absolutely is terrified as she has a lot to lose. Louise however, isn't the only one.

The story then brilliantly alternates between 1989 and 2016, which the author does quite effectively. It leaves you with a chill down your spine. Mine still tingles.

Thank you to NetGalley, Grand Central Publishing and Laura Marshall for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Published on NetGalley and Goodreads on 9.6.17.

*Will be published on Amazon on 10.5.17.

Louise is a middle-aged single mom and a high-school reunion isn't exactly at the top of her list, but a friend request from a girl from her past makes Louise revisit the years spent in her old school. Maria Weston was the new girl in 1989, but not for long, her death leaving a mark on many lives, but especially on Louise's. She's the girl who drowned and no one knows why, except for Louise and her three no longer close friends. They've promised to keep the secret forever, but haunting messages and an eerie accident take them back to their youth and the consequences could be disastrous.

Louise is, in a word, annoying. She's successful as a mother and as a career woman, but thrust into a scary scenario she turns back into an immature teen. Though she doesn't care what people think of her now, the opinions of her former classmate rule her mind, especially when she starts getting messages that threaten her largest secret. Her inability to let go of the past drives the story line, but it's really the secondary characters that make this book interesting. They are complex, with Laura Marshall examining each adult in an age driven by social media. Their childhood is filled with bullying and partying, marked by popularity or lack of it. With social media being their only connection as adults, it allows Laura Marshall to ask who are they really?

At about the 70% mark I started just scanning the pages, then Laura Marshall tosses the ginormous closing twist in there and I had to go back to find out if there was a hint of it in any of those pages I didn't fully read. There wasn't. There is good suspense and there is bad suspense, there are good twists and there are bad twists, but no good twist ever works how you want it to if the suspense leading up to it is bad. They go hand in hand and unfortunately in Friend Request the hands are not holding onto one another. I had ideas of what I thought the ending would be, what the big twist would be that gave us the final answer as to why, but I could never have predicted the ending due to the lack of clues. Pieces of the book work, absolutely, but the big reveal does not and leaves readers with a phenomenal ending to a lackluster suspense-mystery novel.

I enjoyed the premise of the novel, the mystery is exciting, and the topic of social media and bullying is very relevant, but it all manages to fall flat from the holes in the story.

4 Stars! This was a great suspense novel and a first by Laura Marshall. I'd love to see it be made into a movie. Very good! Characters and plot.

The story begins in 2016 when Louise receives a friend request on FB from old classmate, Maria Weston. Problem is...Maria is dead and has been since high school. Freaked out, Louise slams the laptop shut. What in the world???Restless and worried, but also needing to know, because of the circumstances surrounding Maria's death, Louise logs back on and accepts the request. Wouldn't you?

The story then moves back and forth between 1989, when Louise, Maria, Sophie, other girls, Matt and Sam all went to High School together and present day. We are given some insights into a very bad thing that happened on the night Maria died and how all of these characters played a part. A little Mean Girls, I Know What You Did Last Summer mixed in - I liked it.

Present day we learn that Louise and Sam were married, but now divorced with a 4 year old son, Harry. They know the dirty little secret of the "accident" and while not faithful in marriage, are faithful to one another to keep it all safe. Too much to lose if the truth ever came out. Louise is certainly doubtful that the FB identity and profile of this person who friended her is actually Maria. She is bewildered and feels she cannot tell anyone because of the part she played in what happened that night back in 1989 that resulted in Maria's mysterious death. She lives a tormented life full of fear and doubt.

She contacts popular old school friend, Sophie. They have not been in touch in years. Sophie was the ultimate mean girl in HS. Louise is worried about what this all means and needs to talk about it with someone who was there. A High School reunion is actually in the works at the school where a party happened that fateful night all those years ago. Louise and Sophie meet and discuss going to the reunion. Timid and nervous...Louise could care less about seeing all those people from a not -so- terribly -happy -time in her life...but she has to know who is contacting her and is even now sending her warning messages and threats.

The rest you will need to read and unravel for yourself. It is at times slow but also intense at other times. I fully enjoyed it. Once I got to 50% I wasn't able to do anything else until I knew what happened in 1989 to Maria and who is behind the social media profile...seeking revenge. Is it Maria? Did she manage to escape and survive? If she did...what does she know about the others and how far will she go to punish everyone? There is more than one dark and nasty secret to be revealed. Jealous lovers, not so vanilla sex, obsession, cruel intentions, a dangerous game.

I wanna thank NetGalley, Hachette Book Group, and Laura Marshall for an ARC to read in exchange for review. I'd love to read more by this author. Highly recommended for everyone who likes mystery and suspense.

It’s crazy to think about how blind love can make us. We begin to love someone so much, that we fail to see their true colors and what they are truly capable of.

At first I thought the book was going to focus more on bullying and the effects it can have on children and even their parents, so I was curious as to how this book was going to play out. As someone that was definitely more of an Esther than a Maria or Louise, I was feeling a little angst at the beginning of the book, wondering how much was going to be focused on the effects of bullying and how much would be more of the storyline of the friend request Louise received from Maria.

I felt like I connected with the characters more in this book than in a couple of the past mystery/thriller books I have read. In the book some of the classmates attend their reunion just to show how their life has changed (I may have selfishly wanted to do the same). As is the truth with social media today, many of the characters in the book pretend that their lives are perfect in the world of social media, when in reality, they may be far from.

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.

Firstly, thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a review copy of this book.

As always, I won't dwell too much on the plot and what's happening because you get the general gist of that from the description. But, basically, Louise is sitting on Facebook one day when she gets a friend request from Maria, a girl that she used to go to school with some twenty-five years ago. But there's a twist. Maria hasn't been seen since the school leaving party in 1989 and is long since presumed dead. What's more, Louise discovers that there is about to be a school reunion for the kids from her year. Cue the dragging up of lots of bad memories for Louise.

I think that the author has come up with a really good idea given the modern age of social media and all that is good and bad about it. And I have to say that if I'd got a friend request from somebody who had seemingly been dead for a quarter of a century, I don't mind admitting I'd be pretty freaked out.

The novel itself starts out by trundling along at a steady pace as we delve into the life of Louise, but as she gets more and more Facebook messages from the late Maria her paranoia starts to grow to the point of she's concerned for the safety of herself and her young son, Henry. And as the paranoia grows, so does the speed of the book. By the time you get to the last quarter of the book you feel as though you have to keep reading because you think you might have it figured out but you can never be sure. There are plenty of twists and turns which do more than keep it interesting - bordering on a compulsion to keep reading. And it's those twists that make you think twice just when you think you've got it all figured out. And then you figure it out again and there's another barrage of twists that make you have another rethink. I don't mind admitting that, for all the times I thought I'd had it figured out, I was totally and completely off target.

I would make absolutely no hesitation in recommending this book to anyone who loves a good psychological thriller. The steady pace at the start is enough to keep you from losing interest, while not overwhelming you. And those twists are most definitely worth the wait to get to the second half of the book.

Thank you, Laura Marshall, for an excellent read - I would most certainly read more books by this author. One of my favourite books of the year so far.

Louise meets the new girl in school, Maria, and they instantly hit it off. But the popular girls in school have heard rumors about Maria and want to ostracize her and Louise decides to follow suit.

Flash forward twenty-seven years later and Louis receives and Facebook friend request from Maria. The only problem: Maria's dead. Now Louise must confront her past and talk to her old schoolmates who were involved... no better place than a high school reunion to unearth some skeletons...

In this day and age, it's no surprise that more and more books are coming out about social media and it's every day occurrence of our lives. In our inability to unplug, we leave ourselves vulnerable to vultures who know where we are, what we're eating, who we're dating and otherwise promoting our so called perfect lives. But this transparency has both positive and negative impacts on our lives.

I really thought this book would be more into the social media aspect, but really it was more about a high school incident that Louise just canNOT get over. Louise is a people pleasure - nice enough but wants to be involved in the popular group in school. I think any of us in our teenage years can empathize with this feeling. What's annoying is that 27 years later, she's in her 40s and hasn't changed a single bit! She's basically still the Veronica in a sea of Heathers but doesn't seem to learn. The book did seem to drag in certain areas but I did feel the ending was decent. I think I would've liked it more if I hadn't lost some interest in the middle. By the time I got there, I just didn't care who in this cast of selfish idiots did it.

I wanted to love this, I really did but unfortunately over all it didn't work for me. I think it fits better for those who like a slower paced high school mystery that touches on social media and bullying.

2.5 stars.

Thanks to Grand Central Pub for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I'm instantly intrigued by thrillers and suspense novels that have modern technology or social media involved. It's such a present thing in our lives and we never truly know who is on the other end of that profile. So when I read the synopsis for Laura Marshall's debut, FRIEND REQUEST, I was very excited to start.

Present day, 2016, Louise is a newly divorced mother who is trying to live the best life for her son. One day, she receives an email that makes her heart stop - a friend request on Facebook from Maria Weston. There's only one problem, Maria Weston couldn't possibly have sent that request, because she's been dead for 25 years.

Past, 1989, Louise befriends the new girl, Maria, that transferred very late into her senior year. She's drawn to her because she's completely unlike her other friends. They become fast friends, but then one fateful night changed everything.

We got back and forth from 1989 to 2016. Trying to learn what happened 25 years ago to Maria. Who is really behind the Facebook page and why are they now contacting Louise? So many questions to be answered and that kept me flipping the pages. Having to reconnect with friends she severed ties with just to piece together the events of that night. We see everything through the eyes of Louise and in these kinds of suspense novels we have to wonder, is she a reliable narrator? With a red herring or two thrown into the mix, this makes for a compelling read. I will say that the ending wasn't my favorite, but it tied things together for the readers.

Overall, I did enjoy this book and it's a solid debut! The elements of social media were great and the story wasn't predictable. If you like alternating timelines and a potentially unreliable, solo narrator, then this is the suspense novel for you!

I give this one 4/5 stars!

Louise is not over the events of her senior year of school. She played an incredibly mean prank on a girl named Maria, and it escalated to the point that Maria is probably dead.

Except now, in the present day, Maria has sent her a friend request...

8/10s of this book is fantastic. I loved Louise's story (both in present day and in flashback) but the big reveal left me cold. If we could have had a change in villains, I think this would be one of my favorite reads of the year. As it stands, though, if's a solid B. P

EXTRACT: 'Henry seems like a nice little boy. I hope you watch him carefully. It's so easily done, isn't it? You turn your back for a second and they're gone.'

THE BLURB: 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. 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 Louise's other friends 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 with whom she'd severed ties in order 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 is pretending to be her-is known to all.

With her mesmerizing debut, Laura Marshall offers a timely and essential story of how who we were shapes who we become, the hidden cost of our increasingly connected world, and the dangerous shape that revenge can take in our modern era.

MY VIEWS: Firstly, this is an amazing debut novel. I read it in one sitting, totally mesmerized and enthralled. Laura Marshall has taken two topics, common to most of our lives, and written a deliciously twisted psychological thriller that had my heart pounding and my nails dug into my palms.

Most of us have, at some point in our lives, been either bullied or the bully. Just as most of us have an online presence, whether it be FB, Twitter, Instagram or any one of the many other social platforms available out there. And now the two are often combined, so that bullying and stalking have become a common occurrence on social media. And although there was no social media when Louise and her friends were tormenting Maria, this is the means someone has chosen to let her and her friends know that their actions have not been forgotten, and that there will be repercussions.

And now, with the proliferation of people living out their lives in the public arena, it has become almost impossible to hide. Someone always knows where you are, what you are doing and who your loved ones are. And really, how do you know that the person you 'friend' is really who they say they are? 'Anyone can be anyone on Facebook. It is easy to hide behind a faceless page on the Internet.'

Laura Marshall has done a superb job of bringing Louise's guilt over her past behavior and her fear of the impact it could have on her adult life, to life on the page. It is exciting to see such new writing talent emerging. I look forward to another sleepless night when her next book is published. I hope you are writing frantically Laura! 4.5 very bright and shiny ☆ for a gripping debut novel.

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing via Netgalley for providing a digital copy of Friend Request by Laura Marshall for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page for an explanation of my ratings. This review is also published on my blog https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

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 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

Friend Request is a chilling psychological thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end.

Maria Weston wants to be friends. But Maria Weston's dead. Isn't she?

Louise is a single mom to a wonderful little boy, Henry. Louise has spent most of her life trying to forget the horrible mistake she made back in high school. Until tonight... when the past comes back to haunt her. Louise gets a friend request on Facebook from the one and only, Maria Weston. The only problem is Maria has been dead for 25 years. Could it really be Maria? Is she really alive? Or could it be someone playing a very sick joke on Louise? If so, then who?

Friend Request is a fantastic debut novel by Laura Marshall that is full of suspense, social media issues, realistic characters, and an incredible storyline. The author definitely captures the teenage high school life of cliques, bullies, mean girls, and how social media has a big impact on our lives today. Highly Recommend!

*I want to thank NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Grand Central Publishing, and Laura Marshall for providing me with an arc before the release date in exchange for an honest review. 

Louise Williams is a divorced mom of a four-year-old who has been holding onto a secret since 1989. Now, in 2016, she still lives with the drama and guilt from that night. When Louise receives a friend request on Facebook from a girl that drowned in 1989, what will be brought up about that night from the past? Who can Louise turn to?

This story was absolutely wild from start to finish. This was an amazing debut from Laura Marshall. Her writing style was so riveting that I couldn't put this book down even if I tried. I wanted to know what was going to happen in the end so I felt compelled to sit and read as much as I could in one sitting. I didn't want to do anything before finishing this book.

The characters were my favorite thing about this book. There were so many individual developments with each character as well as their friend groups. If I had to pick a favorite character, it would be Louise. Louise has this dilemma of no friends, ex-husband, a four-year-old, and nothing to show for what life has given her. After dealing with all of this, she puts on this strong facade even though her life is falling apart. She is a really strong character that the reader will definitely latch on to. 

Overall, I want to say great job to Laura Marshall on her debut novel. This was the perfect book to read since we are transitioning into Fall where I live. I honestly would recommend this to anyone, at any age. As crazy as this story was, I feel like it had a very important message about watching what you put on social media.

**Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of FRIEND REQUEST in exchange for my honest review**

GRADE: A-
4.5 STARS

In 1989, Louise epitomizes the term social climber. She longs to be popular, abandoning her good friend Esther to sidle up to Sophie, who's on a higher rung of the ladder, yet still not quite among the inner circle. When newcomer Maria mysteriously arrives midyear carrying rumors of why she left her own school, she proves to be a potential true friend for Louise. Louise, in turn, treats Maria with even worse disregard than Sophie has shown Louise. Tragedy ensues culminating in Maria's death.

In 2016, single mom Louise receives a Facebook friend request from Maria, as well as an invitation to a high school reunion. Louise contacts Sophie for the first time since high school inferring they both know more about Maria's death. Is Maria dead? Or is someone playing a cruel hoax?

Growing up, we all knew Louises and Marias and Sophies. We may have even been one of these teenagers. At nearly every opportunity, Louise makes the cowardly, unkind choice, partly out of extreme insecurity, partly due to lack of moral compass. Hopefully as adults, we've grown up, found our footing and become better people. Louise has not. She's still untrusting and untrustworthy, looking out only for herself. She views social media such bitterness and scorn, projecting her own low self esteem onto others in the form of assuming negativity.

While at times I felt sorry for Louise, more often I disliked her, always I understood her. Debut writer Laura Marshall captured the angst of adolescent insecurity that can follow some of us into adulthood. I wasn't nearly as malleable as Louise as a teen, but I didn't always make the kindest decision out of fear of the reactions of others. I would have had better memories of high school if I had gone with my gut instead of my fears. If I hadn't gone into therapy, I might have become the anxious, fearful, bitter Louise, afraid to own up to my mistakes while carrying the burden of guilt.

Marshall held me interest throughout the book. The mysteries of FRIEND REQUEST held my interest and kept me guessing until the end. I can't wait to read Marshall's sophomore effort.

For those who love thrillers and suspense filled novels like 'Gone Girl' or 'The Girl on the Train': this book is for you. Personally, I liked this one even more than those two novels because I liked the story and the main character of Louise most of the three.

I want to talk about the overall plot and storyline for a second here because it's the most terrifying aspect of this novel. Why? As unlikely as it is for any of these events to occur in real life, it's definitely terrifying how realistic this novel was. The story read as if all of this could ACTUALLY HAPPEN. Probably not to you necessarily but definitely something that's broadcasted about on the news that you never thought could happen.

It also felt realistic because in high school many things happen. Again, not to the extent of this novel, but as a teenager you don't think of the consequences of your actions or the actions of your peers. In this novel, the event is extreme but as a reader, you can understand how it could happen in real life with the web further tangling through panicking and trying to keep things hidden.

The other component of this novel that is extremely terrifying is the social media/Facebook element. Oh boy, this book will have you question your habits on social media! The way the author used social media as an element to increase the suspense and fear was hugely realistic and the author hit the nail on the head by using it as the base for this novel.

I will definitely be recommending this novel to those who love suspense, mystery, and thriller reads. This would be the perfect book to read around Halloween as it's really quite chilling and creepy. An awesome debut novel for this author and I cannot wait to read more from her in the future!

***Thank you to Hachette Book Group for providing me with a electronic copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.***