Meet the Parents by Emily Shiner

The suspicious start of the thriller with clueless idea of what will be happened just kept me hanging in the air.

I love the writing style and the storyplot. Imagine you went to your boyfriend’s house and meet his parents, and then you felt something strange. The twists and turns were unexpected! The ending was a big good shock.

Many thanks to NetGalley, bookouture and the author for my copy!

Pub date: Aug 28, 2024

Thank you to Bookouture/NetGalley for the opportunity to read Meet The Parents early! Gina is meeting her boyfriend Owen's parents for the first time. She loves Owen but did not intend to fall in love when she first met him. She knows more about his family than she is letting on and she's looking for answers. This story will grip you from beginning to end, you won't want to put it down!

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher/author for providing me with an E-Arc of this book. The following is my honest opinion *

3.9⭐ out 5

Wow! Normally in this genre of books, other characters are clueless. Not this one. The reader is the only clueless one. Every one of the characters had a plan and it was a matter of whose plan prevails! Truly gripping. I could not put this book down! I was grasping at every bit of information that was given to the reader. I don't even know how I feel about the ending. (WHAT!!)

I really enjoyed how the story was told to us through Gina (mostly) and Marta. Marta's POV had me second guessing how I thought things would end for the characters. Truly don't think anyone could guess the ending.

Definitely recommend!

A thriller that kept me reading! I loved the twist at the end… but the book ends on a cliffhanger. Second book? Or forever wondering?

Holy Crap! Talk about a shocking, gripping, and jaw dropping book! Emily Shiner continues to shine with Meet the Parents! I thought I had everything figured out and thought how clever I was, but nope! Emily Shiner showed just how clever she was with the thrilling book with an ending that knocked my socks off!

Whew!

Gina and Owen hit it off when they met. She is the girl of this dreams and he wants nothing more than to put a ring on it! But when he takes her home to meet his parents, his mother, Marta is not too happy. She is not willing to step aside and let another woman into her son's life. She'll play nice but.....

Gina has her secrets and is playing nice as well. She knows more about Owen's family than she has let on. She's playing nice, but.....

Holy Moly! This book was bonkers in the best possible way. Meeting a significant others family can be anxiety provoking but when there are those with secrets, those who lie, and those who manipulate, things can go off the rails fast.

This is one weekend for the books and I was there for every dramatic, suspenseful, twisted, and shocking moment. I had no idea what I was in store for and loved this twist filled roller coaster ride of suspense.

Emily Shiner blew me away with Meet the Parents! I loved the setting of their secluded home surrounded by woods. I loved the tension that permeated throughout the book. There is drama, lies, secrets, and deception galore.

I loved the writing and how the book became more suspenseful as the weekend went on. Emily Shiner did a fabulous job with creating likeable characters and despicable characters. This book had me on the edge of my seat loving every second!

Shocking, jaw dropping, addictive and well thought out!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #Bookouture for the book #MeetTheParents by #EmilyShiner. I absolutely loved this book about revenge that I could not put it down. Owen takes Gina home to meet his parents. What could go wrong? Marta and Grant, the parents don’t seem to like Gina very much. There are so many secrets and such an awesome plot twist. Highly recommend.

Meeting the parents can often be an awkward and tense experience. What if the mother is obsessed with her son? This thriller has you gripped from the start. The battle between the doting girlfriend, Gina, and Owen’s mother, Marta, is tense and gripping.
I loved the authors writing style and the story was phenomenal. From the beginning, there is so much going on between the two main characters.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

I can't sing Emily Shiner's praises loud enough! Meet The Family is the first standalone I've read from her, and both this book and the first two of her Detective Freya Sinclair series have all been five-star reads!

With a full cast of diabolical, deceptive, and cunning characters, this book makes you realize just how normal your own in-laws actually are! The dual point of view allows two cleverly crafted perspectives to play out through both Gina (Owen's girlfriend) and Marta (Owen's mother). The story unfolds and becomes a tug of war over Owen's affections, with both women plotting against and trying to outsmart the other!

I will continue to devour Shiner's books since her well-rounded female characters are ones that stick with me long after I finish reading! I enjoyed seeing how Shiner created characters that come from the opposite side of the tracks from Detective Freya Sinclair, meaning Shiner has a lot of tricks up her sleeve!

This psychological thriller deserves a standing ovation with its twists, turns, and shocking ending!

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the complimentary copy to read and review.

Wow!

Toxic boy mom, toxic parents-in-law, toxic...everyone!

I had a little hint of what was going on, but it was really just a hint and these characters surprised me again and again. And once things come to a head? Oh. My. God.

This is an absolutely entertaining read that's just pure fun!

(Also, thank goodness my; family is blessedly normal lol.)

* ARC via Publisher

I love Emily Shiner’s books, so I was excited to read this one. I love how she writes thrillers that are unique. That’s hard in a genre where many authors write about the same tropes over and over again. Owen is his parents pride and joy, especially his mother Marta. When he brings home his new fiance to meet his parents, will they love Gina as much as he does? Or will his parents stop at nothing to tear Owen and Gina apart?

There are so many secrets in this book! WOW! The lies, deceit and manipulation run rampant in this story. It took me a while to figure out the correlation between all the characters, but when I did, I was mind blown! There were nonstop twists delivered as the plot developed. Shiner dropped pieces of information throughout which kept the reader guessing right up until the ending. And that ending?! EPIC! Another great book by Shiner that I highly recommend.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I knew that Emily would put me through a wringer but that final final final final blow is what did it for me! Jeez! I had an inkling where it might go, as I love Emily's books so I knew we would have a fatal blow, but that last sentence left me breathless.

It's a huge game of cat and mouse, and you are never sure who the cat or the mouse is! It changes so many times, so many red flags and so much behaviour which is deemed normal, where Owen doesn't bat an eyelid!

I would love to have known more about Gina and her past. I would love to know why Aunt B, I have so many questions but I also have a semi-satisfying ending too. What a conundrum!

A strong book for Ms Shiner! She is the Queen on these stingers, these crazy characters who suck you in, who try to make you believe one thing but you can see the truth....but what you don't know is that they are still hiding from you - these characters still hide truths from the reader. Twisted!!!

I am in awe of how she writes each book with a refreshing spin, without losing the story or the addiction to reading her tales of woe - and they are of woe!!

Oh. My. God. With everything in me, I am telling you that you should go read this book. From the very beginning, I was hooked. There was a constant back and forth between the characters that was just so entertaining, and did so well with keeping me engaged with the story and it kept me guessing and obsessed with the story right up until the very end. There was never really a lull in the story that made me want to put this book down. In fact, the only time when I did take a break from reading, was when I needed to sleep but I picked it right back up as soon as I woke up. It was just that good.

I have never read an Emily Shiner book before, but I am very interested in seeing what else she has written and if it is anything like this book, I will be adding it all to my TBR and buying it ASAP.

This is the type of thriller you think you have figured out. You get upset thinking “god this is so predictable” only to be thrown a curveball from left field. WOW. I will admit it to be awhile to get through, simply because I did think I “had it all figured out” but boy was I wrong!

Gina was a little girl who watched her aunt be murdered right in front of her. She spends decades trying to figure out how to avenge her aunt. Will she be successful? Will it blow up in her face? It starts with a trip to her boyfriend’s parents… from there… it all changes. Not quite fast paced, but not slow either. An absolutely great read!

This is a page turner, you will need to have a spare few hours as the pages are easy to turn. Relationships, families and lies, this book was gripping.

Gina has a lovely boyfriend Owen, when he invites her back to his parents, she says yes. His parents have secrets though and Gina knows this.

This book was additive, a great plot that springs into action quickly. I liked that you read the story from Gina’s and Marta (boyfriends mother). Twisty thriller that gets 5 stars.

Gina's life was torn apart when she was younger - an event that has haunted her for her entire lift. Now that she's older, her life is in a good place with a job as a nurse at a hospital, and she has an amazing doctor as a boyfriend. But Gina wants something more than to spend her life as Owen's wife - she wants revenge on the person or people responsible for destroying her family all those years ago. She and her cousin think they have it all figured out, and meeting Owen's parents, Marta and Grant, will solidify what she knows and hopefully fill in any missing pieces. But she's not the only one keeping secrets...

Emily Shiner did an amazing job of creating characters with a ton of depth - ones you want to root for and ones you despise. This book kept me guessing and I couldn't put it down!

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing me with this ARC.

#NetGalley #MeetTheParents #Bookouture

Shiner shines light on sinister secrets that everyone has in this book.
I spent the first part of the book snickering at the petty sniping between Marta and Gina. They were like two dogs fighting over a bone.
I did figure out part of the story but Shiner ended the story with a well played twist that I should have seen but didn’t.
The one person who seemed to be the true victim turns out to be a product of a sordid upbringing.
Russian roulette is the subtitle for this devishly good read!
My advice: elope and skip the parental meets.

Clever and unusual, a roller coaster of a ride with an epic twist at the end.
An excellent read about revenge

5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


✨ Revenge
✨ Family Drama
✨Murder Thriller



✨Gina is the main character in this story. As she was welcomed by her boyfriend’s parents with an open wide moment. If you’ve experienced a in law obsession or witnessed something similar this will keep you awake all night😆

✨ Martha, Owen’s mother’s is a homemaker. I thought she was just looking after her son but no, it’s more like an obsession for the couple.

✨ On the other side, Gina has a traumatic past. So what is it that makes them not go well together?

✨ I thought the ending or the plot will be easily predictable but no. It’s a gripping story and it was worth to read . I would love to listen this on an audible version as the characters are likeable.



✨ Thankyou @bookouture for the opportunity to read this book for a honest review.



✨ Shaye.Reads

Thank you, Netgalley, Emily Shiner, and Bookouture for the ebook! This was a great thriller that had me sitting on the edge of my seat. I love a secluded horse in the woods thriller. Cat and mouse game! Must read!

A captvating spellbinding, thrilling and twisty book.

Thank you netgalley and bookouture.

All thoughts and opinions are my own.