Louise Williams is divorced and is bringing up her four year old son Henry on her own. Henry has set days where he see's his Daddy and his new family and Louise is able to work from home which helps her juggle bringing up Henry and work. One day while working at home, Louise receives a friend request on Facebook - Maria Weston wants to be friends. Louise is immediately spooked. Maria Weston died twenty five years ago.....or did she ? This psychological thriller is fast paced and is written well. It deals with both bullying and facebook issues and the consequences both can have. The story alternates between 1989 and 2016 and there are many twists. A good read.

I brought this book and it doesn’t disappoint

This psychological thriller switches from the present to 1989 when Louise was at school and events which would effect her future started then .I thought the story was very good to start off with but as I got further into the book I found it a bit repetitive and Louise quite irrational and annoying .The story picked up near the end and was very gripping ,the ending was surprising and I am not sure I believed it .

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.

"Friend Request" by Laura Marshall was a lovely, uncomplicated and enjoyable read that I devoured in a couple of days reading. 'Maria Weston wants to be friends. But Maria Weston is dead. Isn't she?.....' The story is primarily based around the social media platform Facebook and it was nice to read about something that's a part of your everyday life. Very believable and totally entertaining, the story grips you from the start and keeps you intrigued till the twisty end. I was pleased to see that I'm not the only one who finds Facebook posts often false and over hyped. There was an excellent fast paced storyline to the book which I thought was very well written and thought out. Set between 1989 and 2016 and including in its theme bullying, teenage drug use and vulnerable friendships, this was a very up to date, modern and gripping story which will appeal to many. I'd happily recommend "Friend Request" as a nice summer read and I certainly look forward to the author's next book with eager anticipation.