Name of Book: Meet the Parents
Author: Emily Shiner
Book Style: Kindle Unlimited
Dates Read: 12th June – 17th June
Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)
My Review No Spoilers Promise
I have a confession to make before we begin.
The cover got me.
I know, I know. We are all supposed to say “never judge a book by its cover” but honestly, please tell me I am not the only one who has spotted a book cover, immediately downloaded it and asked questions later?
Because that is exactly what happened here.
This was my first Emily Shiner book, so I had absolutely no idea what to expect. Unfortunately, it did take me a little while to get into it. But I think that was partly down to me rather than the book itself.
Lately I have been so tired that most nights I have managed one or two chapters before my Kindle has fallen onto my face and I’ve been asleep five minutes later. I also haven’t had as much time on my lunch hour to pick it up, which definitely doesn’t help when you’re trying to get invested in a new story and new characters.
Once I got past those opening chapters though, things started to click.
The story follows multiple perspectives, which I always enjoy in a psychological thriller because it means you’re constantly questioning everyone’s motives. Just when you think you know who to trust, another character comes along and makes you doubt everything again.
The family dynamics were probably my favourite part of the book. There is an underlying tension from the very beginning that makes you feel like everyone is hiding something. Nobody seems completely honest, nobody seems completely innocent, and that creates a really addictive atmosphere throughout.
I also loved how the story gradually revealed information rather than giving everything away too early. Every chapter seemed to raise new questions and kept me wanting to know what was really going on beneath the surface.
By the second half of the book, I was fully invested and flying through the pages.
Final verdict
A slow starter for me personally, but once I got into it I really enjoyed it. Full of secrets, family drama and plenty of suspicious characters, this was a solid psychological thriller and a great introduction to Emily Shiner’s writing.
Will I be picking up another Emily Shiner book? Absolutely.
Let’s be friends on Goodreads
And if judging books by their covers is wrong, I don’t want to be right 📚😂👀✨
The Anxious Book Worm 
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