I saw that some people didn't like this book because it was really slow and I totally sympathize with that. Even though this book wasn't particularly long, it took forEVER to read because so much of it was build-up (and the pay-off really wasn't as satisfying as it could have been). That said, I can be all about slow-paced books if they are immersive enough, and FRIEND REQUEST is as much a fascinating character study about the cruelty of teenage girl cliques, as it is a murder mystery. Parts of it really reminded me of Megan Abbott, who also writes quite prolifically on the intense and dark dynamics of teen girls at their worst. Obviously, the 1989 parts were my favorites.

The film was released in Germany on 7 January 2016, 20 April 2016 in the United Kingdom and in the United States on 22 September 2017. [6] Reception [ edit ] Box office [ edit ] So, besides just being plain ghoulish, it the request could also have a menacing tone. Is it possible Maria is still alive or could there be someone out there seeking revenge? I have a bit of a hate/love relationship with damaged female characters in psychological thrillers. It's a pretty standard thing, and if you read many psychological thrillers will you encounter a lot of this kind of women that have skeletons in the wardrobe and who is driven to paranoia. However, if it is done well will the woman in question be someone you will cheer along the way. If not, well then you have a problem. I'm a bit torn in this book between liking and being a bit frustrated with Louise. I can honestly say that young Louise did I not like especially much, but I can still understand her situation. I have also been young and school girls are awful. The grown-up Louise is a bit easier to like, although I often just wanted her to go to the police and tell everything, but that had made it too easy and not made it a good story if the character did that. Also, towards the end, I did understand her hesitance to do so. A read-it-in-one-sitting thriller . . . Twisty and gripping but always relatable, Friend Request is the ultimate it-could-happen-to-you read’ - Erin Kelly, author of He Said/She Said Facebook. UGH! I have to say, I do use the social media network more than I care to admit, which is why the title of this book grabbed my attention, mainly because I have been dealing with a spate of weird friend request recently, and they always creep me out.The writing style was good, very easy to read, and I have a feeling I read it faster then my kindle would count. Social media isn’t a race, and the user with the most friends doesn’t end up winning anything. In fact, your experience might be better off with just a small circle of close friends you know and love. narration pull in the narrator really did a fabulous job! However the editing was a bit sloppy, I can’t ever remember reading a book where I heard the narrator clear their throat, and that did happen in this book also a few lines were repeated, clearly this is not the narrator‘s fault, I was just surprised... 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. Although I spent some time discussing these social issues, they are underlying themes the book is based upon. But, I assure you, the story is all thrills, chills, and psychological suspense from start to finish, with some real nail biting scenes and plenty of surprise twists along the way.

a b "Friend Request". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 26 February 2019 . Retrieved 10 December 2021. Don't you just love it when a book surprises you? When you go into a read with expectations down and it completely blows you out the water. That's what Friend Request did for me. As soon as I read the premise I was thinking this is going to be like a cheesy horror thriller in the same vain as all those B-level slasher movies that revolve around social media. So imagine my surprise when this book revealed itself to me as a grounded, smart, nail-biting thriller with a powerfully dark conclusion. And it’s a good thing when these profiles get removed, especially now of all times. In light of the COVID-19 quarantine, cybercriminals and scammers are using Facebook messenger and fake profiles to trap users with phishing links. 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. Actually, I wasn't too happy with the way "grand finale" was resolved, so easily and kind of unlikely.Becher, Björn (8 July 2015). " "Unfriend" – Deutscher Social-Media-Horrorfilm kommt 2016 in die Kinos". Filmstarts (in German). Archived from the original on 15 July 2022 . Retrieved 4 December 2015. 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 goes double for profiles with provocative profile pictures. If it looks like a professionally lit and shot photo of a person in a sexy pose, ignore the request (unless, of course, you’re friends with several models in real life). Louise had always known that when she was at school. But Maria didn’t fit in with the cool crowd, and the rumours that had followed her from her last school made her easy to bully in the summer of 1989.

FRIEND REQUEST (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 15 March 2016. Archived from the original on 16 March 2016 . Retrieved 15 March 2016. 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. The author really knows how to pump up the suspense and tension until your head is spinning, trying to figure out who is telling the truth....who to trust. With excellent twist and turns, especially in the second half of the book. The last few chapters so tense that there was no way you could have pried the book out of my hands. I was desperate to know what happened. I find I can’t look at her for long, and my eyes roam around the kitchen, wanting something mundane to fix on, a break from this bewildering new reality. I get up and make a coffee, gaining comfort from the ritual of putting the smooth shining pod into the machine, pressing the tip of my finger onto the button in the precise way I always do and warming the milk in the frother.Faughnder, Ryan (20 September 2017). " 'Kingsman: The Golden Circle' and 'Lego Ninjago' will battle 'It' for box office victory". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 20 September 2017 . Retrieved 20 September 2017. Thank you to NetGalley, Grand Central Publishing and Laura Marshall for an advanced copy to read in exchange for an honest review.