Review: I Invited Her In by Adele Parks

I immediately recognized the name Adele Parks when the book came across my desk for review. I haven’t read any of her books, but it was a name that I had seen before. I had meant to pick up one of her books long before this, but for some reason I just never did.

I decided to remedy that and read her latest thriller, I INVITED HER IN. I liked that this book was not only a thriller, but one that featured two female best friends but late in their friendship.

It didn’t sound like it was going to be one of those ‘I just met this girl and we are friends but she turns out to be crazy’ books. This plot sounded a lot more in-depth and multifaceted than that traditional troupe.

Review

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 Invited Her In is a blistering tale of wanting what you can’t have, jealousy, and revenge from Sunday Times best-seller Adele Parks (summary from Goodreads).

Review

This was a great revenge story. The plot had a lot of twists and I loved how the timelines in the story intertwined. There were flashbacks that helped guide and shape the story which I found enjoyable.

However, at times I felt that the overall plot moved more slowly that I had anticipated plus it was a little overlong. It had all the elements for a fast moving story, but in the end there were just too many places that it stalled or lost momentum and felt longer than necessary. I think what bothered me most was that this book wanted to be a psychological thriller. It was marketed as a psychological thriller, so I went in to it with the idea that it would be a psychological thriller.

But in the end it felt more like a domestic suspense mixed with some women’s fiction themes like marriage, friendship, and motherhood. So in a lot of ways I felt that it was misrepresented.

I did like the family and friendship dynamics in this one. Had this book been marketed as something along the lines of domestic suspense or women’s suspense I think I would have felt different about it. In the end what saved this book for me was the family and friendship dynamics which I felt were original enough to keep me reading.

Over all, this book probably wasn’t for me, but I think the author has a lot of potential based on some of the reviews I have read about her other books. I am probably in the minority when it comes to this one, but in the end it was just ok for me. I have heard a lot of people recommend her books to I think I will try something else by her instead.

Book Info and Rating

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

About Adele Parks

Adele Parks one of the most-loved and biggest-selling women’s fiction writers in the UK. She has sold over 3 million books and her work has been translated into 25 different languages.

1500+ 5 star reviews have kindly been written by her fans on Amazon.co.uk 🙂

She has published 15 novels in the past 15 years, all of which have been London Times Top Ten Bestsellers.

Adele was born in the North East of England, in 1969. She enjoyed a traditional 1970’s childhood, watching too much TV and eating convenience food because nobody minded if kids did that in those days. Since graduating from university, where she studied English Language and Literature, she worked in advertising and as a management consultant. In 2010 Adele was proud to be awarded an honorary doctorate of Letters from Teesside University.

Connect with Adele

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Adele’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS

Monday, February 4th: Jathan & Heather

Wednesday, February 6th: Cheryl’s Book Nook

Thursday, February 7th: Seaside Book Nook

Monday, February 11th: @thecityofdarkclockwork

Tuesday, February 12th: Bewitched Bookworms

Tuesday, February 12th: From the TBR Pile

Wednesday, February 13th: @thepagesinbetween and The Pages In-Between

Sunday, February 17th: Lori’s Reading Corner – Guest Post

Monday, February 18th: @jessicamap

Tuesday, February 19th: @thesaggingbookshelf

Wednesday, February 20th: @novelmombooks

Thursday, February 21st: @girlsinbooks

Friday, February 22nd: @readingbetweenthe_wines

Monday, February 25th: @scaredstraightreads

Tuesday, February 26th: @shereadswithcats

Wednesday, February 27th: A Chick Who Reads

Thursday, February 28th: Books and Cats and Coffee

Friday, March 1st: Rad Babes Read and @radbabesread

Monday, March 4th: Tar Heel Reader and @tarheelreader

Tuesday, March 5th: Books and Bindings

Wednesday, March 6th: Kahakai Kitchen

Wednesday, March 6th: @hollyslittlebookreviews

Thursday, March 7th: The Lit Bitch

Thursday, March 7th: Thoughts from a Highly Caffeinated Mind

Friday, March 8th: Novel Gossip and @novelgossip