Cover Image: I Invited Her In

I Invited Her In

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

I'm a little torn on how I feel about this book. It is the story of two women coming back into each others lives after 17 years of being apart, after one leaves school when she becomes pregnant from a one night stand.

The book is good, but predictable. I liked the twists in the story, but I knew they were coming. The writing seemed to try hard to make you think one thing was happening, but it was really something else. It may have tried too hard.

It is overall a good book, but may be suited better for readers that don't read suspense/thrillers all the time. I don't regret reading the book, and I will definitely read more by Parks, but I just hate that I knew everything that was going to happen, even the ending.

Thank you #NetGalley for an ARC of #IInvitedHerIn

Was this review helpful?

Thanks to NetGalley for the ecopy for my Kindle.
Two college friends reunite in England after one of them discovers her husband is cheating. Mel invites Abi to live with her and her family "as long as she needs." Abi decides to divorce her cheating husband and the plot begins.
It was easy to figure out Abi's personality and what or whom she was after, but I the explicit sexual scenes were just too much for the story.
Although the book wasn't a good one for me, the way the book ended was a good ending to the story.

Was this review helpful?

Keep your enemie close and your friends closer.

This book takes a look a motherhood, friendship, marriage, and trust. Can you be great at all of these at the same time? Should you be?

Mel was great at all of these until an old college friend, Abi, comes back to town. Conflicted with being a good wife and mother and now enjoying her time with her long lost friend is taking a toll on Mel. She is living out a forgotten teenage life which was cut short by the pregnancy of her first born. Mel is starting to become more obsessed with pleasing her friend than being a mother and wife. Will she learn to balance the two or was this Abi’s plan all along? Mel soon finds out and will stop at nothing to get her life back together.

Was this review helpful?

I had high hopes for this book, as I LOVE thrillers. While this one did eventually get pretty thrilling, it was a LONG time coming. If it was not an ARC, I probably would have just put it down. I am glad I didn't though, as it did have a decent twist. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher!

Was this review helpful?

I Invited Her In
Adele Parks
Description
Imagine the worst thing a friend could ever do.
This is worse.
When Mel receives an unexpected email from her oldest friend Abi, it brings back memories she thought she had buried forever. Their friendship belonged in the past. To those carefree days at university.
But Abi is in trouble and needs Mel’s help, and she wants a place to stay. Just for a few days, while she sorts things out. It’s the least Mel can do.
After all, friends look out for each other, don’t they?

I received an advance copy for my review, Thank you NetGalley.

interesting book. I finally got the OMG moment and had to keep reading. Not what I expected at all. I was connected to both Mel and Abi, not in a good way. But, hold on the story gets BIG and INSANE halfway. Well done. No spoilers, but, what enemies lurk as friends.

Was this review helpful?

An enjoyable read. I found this to be a tad slow in places, but still recommend this. Thrillers are always a good way to spend your time.

Was this review helpful?

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this amazing book

wow where to start...

best mates how well do you know them...we normally think very well if we have known them since school days/ uni days

this is the story of two women who were best friends and then they went their separate ways...until one day one sent the other an email asking to meet up after her marriage was over

what happens next is shocking and unbelieveable and well worth a read...great story can see why it would happen....

Was this review helpful?

Took me a lot of perseverance to stick with this book. I didn't find any of the characters interesting enough to greatly care about them. As it turns out it is a really good story. Revenge, is it ever worth it

Glad I stuck with it.

Was this review helpful?

This was a very intriguing read! I was not able to put it down! There were quite a few twists that I didn’t see coming. I really enjoyed this book as it was an engaging book that kept me on my toes!

Was this review helpful?

This book had many twists and I loved reading from all the different character’s perspectives. A very entertaining read!

Was this review helpful?

I’m a thriller girl and I had high hopes for this book because it sounded promising. It, however, did not live up to the hype or any thriller lover’s expectations! This is yet another VERY predictable book pumped out for the masses and will leave many so very disappointed. The thriller genre has become somewhat of a joke lately with everyone seemingly trying to hit on some of the boxoffice fane that VERY few books have had and even fewer have lived up to on the big screen. This book could have played out so much better and not been disappointing, but care and time needed to be taken in order to make that happen and the author, editors, agents, publishers just let this one go to press where it will disappoint many. Thanks to NetGalley for my ARC. I wish I had better things to say.

Was this review helpful?

Well that was a mistake! Mel's life is toddling along- she's got a husband, three kids, a job-nothing exciting but it's good. Then her old university friend Abi gets in touch and asks to stay with her for a bit as she sorts out the mess she's got in her own life. Hah! Abi is a manipulative rotten person. No spoiler there! Can't tell you what else happens, though some of it might not surprise you if you're a regular reader of this genre of novel. This is told from Mel's perspective and she's the most sympathetic character (although I really felt for Ben, for a while anyway). Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this nicely written page turner.

Was this review helpful?

I received a free e-copy of I Invited Her In by Adele Parks from NetGalley for my honest review.

Mel and Abi are best friends that share everything. Mel ends up getting pregnant from a one night stand and then everything changes. Mel drops out of school and then Mel and Abi drift apart, living very different lives.

Seventeen years later. Mel is married to Ben and has a wonderful son (Liam) and two beautiful girls (Abi and Imogen). Abi is married to Rob and they have everything they can dream of, living a life of luxury. Until one day, when Abi finds her husband in bed with his PA. Abi's life is falling apart.

Mel receives an email from her old friend Abi and learns that she and Rob have split up and she is coming back home. Mel invited Abi into her home to help her and be there for her while she heels.

Everything seems to be great. Best friends, reunited, being there for one another. What could go wrong???? But thing go very wrong. What is Abi really up to?

There are lots of twists and turns to this book; an enjoyable read. Two friends with a long past filled with secrets and

Was this review helpful?

A good read, although a little predictable. A well written and recommended read, after all, Adele Parks is a master of plots.

Was this review helpful?

I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC for my honest review.

First I want to mention that this is listed under mystery/thriller but for me there was no mystery or anything thrilling. Unfortunately the story was very predictable and I only finished it in hopes there would be a surprise ending but there wasn't even that. It just wasn't my cup of tea.

Was this review helpful?

I have some mixed feelings about this book.
I wanted to love this book. But for a thriller it failed to thrill me.
Parks' writing style is excellent, that's not up for debate here. The plot is interesting, some of the characters are better developed than others, but they're all overall okay. I liked the story a lot, I think it was well planned out. But the execution of it failed a little. The book seemed like it was dragging on for more than it should've, which in my opinion took away from the suspense it had the potential to convey.
It was still a decent read, but it didn't capture my interest as much as it should've.

Was this review helpful?

What could be better than reconnecting with an old friend, the best friend you'd ever had?  That was exactly how Mel thought when she opened Abi's email.  They'd have a chance to erase all the years between them and make things good again.  For a while, they were.  But then, everything went to hell in a handbasket.  

I Invited Her In is exactly the kind of thriller I enjoy.  Best friends coming together after years apart only to uncover secrets piled on top of secrets.  And let me tell you, both Abi and Mel have boatloads full of secrets between them.  

Melanie was easy for me to relate to.  While I wasn't a teenage, single mother, I am the mother of two girls, one of which is the same age as Liam.  That put me in a place where I could easily understand her rage, her fear, her desperation.  Even when she overreacted and was over the top, I still got it.  That drive to protect your kids at all costs is a strong one.  

Abigail, on the other hand, I did not understand at all.  Mostly because I wasn't ever the popular, glamourous type.  But she's also very self-absorbed and you see this from the very beginning. In the way she never offers to help, constantly monopolizes Mel's time, and other things.  I thought I'd give her the benefit of the doubt but, instead of growing to like her, I wound up despising her.  Which was probably the point, but that's something else entirely.  I did feel some pity for Abi, however, but her actions were way above and beyond the hurt she was feeling.

I'm a very gullible reader, I'll admit to that.  When everyone else sees the ending coming, I'm taken by surprise.  That's okay though, I can live with being gullible in a fictional world.  However, I knew this book would have some kind of twist at the end and I was not expecting either that we got.  The first, I had some inkling that something would happen, I just hadn't expected it to be that.  The other though?  I was definitely shocked, although I probably shouldn't have been.  

I Invited Her In was slow to start but, once you get to the meat of the story, it takes off from there.  As soon as I found out what was really going on, I was hooked.  And that's when the wheels come off and all the secrets start to pour out.  I wish that the author had given some of these tidbits earlier on.  Even hinting at some of them might have made the first part of the book move a little faster.  However, I stuck it out and am not sorry that I did.  What a wild ride this novel was!

Was this review helpful?

I received an ARC of this book for my honest review.
I really enjoyed this book. I was kept guessing and wondering till the end.

Was this review helpful?

The last third (quarter?) of this book raised the rating - I didn't like either of the 2 main female characters which made it hard going!

I liked the storyline and felt it was well-written, although a bit too drawn out at times. There were many twists and turns to this story but I saw each and every one of them coming - right to the last chapter/epilogue. I don't know how but nothing surprised me like I guess it should have which was disappointing as it should not have been so predictable.

I enjoyed the multiple narratives, 4 characters get to lead chapters although it's predominantly the 2 females. I found Abi to be quite unhinged really and Mel a bit of a sop but there is context to this so I will let her off! I wouldn't agree that this was a thriller, or even really a mystery, but it was a good story about betrayal and the lengths some people will go to in order to exact revenge - quite scary really!

My thanks to Harlequin-Mira via NetGalley for providing me with this advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

This book does two of my favorite things. Jumps back in forth in time and has multiple narratives. However, I found the plot twists lacking. At least three times I predicted the outcomes spot on.

The story wasn’t a bad one. If you like a good revenge story, this one is for you. There were times I was angry and wanted to throw my phone. ( I was reading on my kindle app) But the author had me wanting to know how the story ends.

Overall not a bad book but not the best I’ve read. I really enjoyed Parks’s writing style and this will not be the last I read from her.

Thank you NetGalley, The Author and the publisher for this advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.
- [ ]

Was this review helpful?