This book blew me away. Perfect for fans of Clue. Super twisty. Kept me guessing throughout the book. The ending was a complete surprise. Run do not walk to read this book.

Mila hosts a writing retreat at J. R. Alastor's manor in Maine. The attendees are fellow mystery authors. Mila and the host plan an interesting week, based on the secrets each author is hiding, including the humongous chip on Mila's shoulder toward one of the authors. Ms. Pliego artfully crafts the foibles of each character into the plot, which becomes interesting as one of the authors is found dead.

If you are a fan of Agatha Christie, Peter Swanson, and mysteries, this is the book for you.

"You are Fatally Invited" by Ande Pliego was such a page-turner. With an eclectic cast of characters all with sordid secrets and a "Clue" like game afoot, readers will be thoroughly entertained. Throw in being trapped on an island and creative murders, and you've got yourself the kind of story that makes you want to ignore responsibilities (sorry to my laundry).

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for gifting me this ARC. It was such a fun read and I can't wait for the next book from Ande Pliego.

This is a great story for those who enjoy locked-room mysteries. Be prepared though, you'll need your thinking cap for the second half of the book.

YOU ARE FATALLY INVITED is a fun, at times gory, tale which paid homage to Agatha Christie and the whodunit genre.

There's also a book-within-a-book setting with crime novelists trapped in a house for a week.

I was totally on board until the last 25 percent of the book. It became too confusing for me and I feel like the plot sort of fell apart.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for an e-copy of YOU ARE FATALLY INVITED to review.

I rate YOU ARE FATALLY INVITED three out of five stars.

WOW! This was one twisty, fast paced mystery. I enjoyed this and was also terrified half the time. For sure look up content warnings if you are a bit of a whimp like me.

Thank you Netgalley, author and Random House Ballentine Publications for the ARC in exchange for honest review.

Mila del Angel is thrilled when she’s hired to coordinate an exclusive mystery retreat at the private island estate of the enigmatic J.R. Alastor—an anonymous, world-famous thriller author whose identity has never been revealed. She carefully curates the guest list, selecting six bestselling thriller writers to attend. But for Mila, this retreat is personal—one of them is someone she has unfinished business with.

The week is set to be a dream event, complete with elaborate mystery games, riddles, and immersive challenges. But when one of the authors turns up dead, the fun ends abruptly. With no way to contact the outside world and bodies beginning to drop, the remaining guests realize they are trapped—and the killer is among them.
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A locked-room mystery where the suspects are all thriller authors? That’s a premise I couldn’t resist. The first half is a slow burn, laying a web of secrets, rivalries, and hidden agendas beneath the surface. Every character has something to hide, and the tension simmers just beneath the glitz of the retreat.

Then—the first body drops. And all bets are off.

From that moment on, the pace is relentless. Twists come fast and brutal, paranoia runs high, and the line between fiction and reality blurs. The reveals? Shocking. I had my theories, but I was wrong every time. The elusive host’s identity? Never saw it coming. The game Mila thought she was controlling quickly spirals into something far more sinister.

The ending packs a punch—almost too much to absorb at once. There were moments of confusion, but in the final chapters, the author pulls everything together in a way that left me reeling.

It's a 4/5 🌟 read for me.

If you love locked-room thrillers with an eerie, cinematic feel—think The Writing Retreat meets Clue with a dash of Agatha Christie—then this one belongs on your TBR. But be warned: once the game starts, there’s no way out.

(Actual: 3.75⭐, rounded up) This was such a fun locked-room mystery read! I know I know what I like when it comes to what I read, yet somehow I always find myself blown away in surprise at how much I enjoyed something LOL, idk idk— it's a whole thing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Anyway, I love stories that utilize multiple POVs - especially when so many of them are unreliable narrators - and all the Clue-esque game vibes in regard to all the puzzles, secret passageways, and twists hooked me (similar to if I were watching Knives Out or re-reading The Inheritance Games)! And while I didn't necessarily connect strongly with any one character, I did find them all compelling and likeable (or dislikeable) enough to keep reading. The ending did fall just the tiniest bit short of my expectations though, because I felt like we were really gaining momentum throughout the novel and leading up to a BANG.... only for it to kinda fizzle out into something mediocre? Not bad though! Just.... okay. So, while imperfect in that aspect, I do still believe the journey getting to that endpoint was 100% worth it and think this a solid debut from Pliego!

Perfect thriller with great twists and turns. I feel like I was clinching my seat the entire time and I loved it.

When well known mystery writer, J.R. Alastair hires former aspiring writer, Mila Del Angél, to host a writer’s retreat at his private manor off the coast of Maine, she jumps at the chance. She has an ax to grind with one of the invitees. Six thriller authors are invited. Then, one of the authors is murdered.
This is a twisty, locked room thriller, along the lines of Agatha Christie.
While overall I enjoyed the book, I thought there were to many characters, at times it was hard to keep track of them, and their connections to each other. The chapters all started with the character’s names, but it was still confusing at times to know who was speaking.
Overall it was a good locked room mystery with many twists! I really liked the ending.
Thank you Toto NetGalley and Random House for the ARC and the chance to read the book.

Do you love secluded settings?
Do you love the game of Clue?
Do you love an And Then There Were None vibe?

If you answered yes, this is definitely a book you want on your radar!

Pliego’s debut novel brings readers to a secluded island for a writer’s retreat filled with secrets, harbored feelings of anger, and a mysterious host no one has ever actually met. There are six thriller authors, an event coordinator, and two staff members on the island that the reader gets introduced to upon arrival on the island. At first it was hard for me to keep some of the characters separated, but as we learn more, it becomes easier and easier to differentiate who is who.

As the book progresses, Pliego starts to reveal the secrets that these characters harbor through a series of games that the writers are forced to play. I loved how Pliego allowed the reader the ability to experience these revelations and the gameplay through multiple narrators.

The book is filled with twist and turns along with a handful of deaths that help to ratchet up the tension to a fever pitch. I really enjoyed the pacing that Pliego used to natigate through the days that the writers are on this island. I found myself thinking about some of the characters after I had put the book aside and eager to get back to reading.

I highly recommend checking this one out!

This one was good, I think I just went into it wanting more thrills and chills and didn't really get it. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to others who love mysteries and slower moving mystery thrillers.

Agatha Christie fans take note - this is an entertaining nod to ‘And Then Were None’. A group of mystery writers, each with dark secrets to hide, are invited to a writer’s retreat on a private island, hosted by a mysterious bestselling author who has kept his true identity a well guarded secret. The story is told from multiple points of view, each dropping clues along the way to reveal revenge, secrets, lies and murder. Anyone who enjoys locked room mysteries or has fond memories of playing Clue, are sure to have fun trying to resolve this mystery.

You Are Fatally Invited
3⭐️

I was so excited for this book. As a huge fan of Clue and murderous house parties in general, I couldn’t wait to dive in.

I loved the premise. A best selling author who has remained anonymous for decades invites several authors to their private island for a writers retreat. But things aren’t what they seem. The guests are all hiding dark secrets and they soon start dropping like flies.

Where I struggled with the book was a lack of connection to the characters. Every time we switched POV’s I had to stop and remind myself who this character was. I don’t have to love every character, especially in a murder mystery, but I want them to at least be interesting and Mila was the only character I connected with.

I feel like the pacing was off on this book. It kinda dragged until about 70% where things hit Mach speed and I was left reeling by some of the twists. But I honestly can’t tell if they were well hidden or if I mixed the characters up so much that I was surprised.

Overall this book had so much potential but was a bit of a miss for me.

You are Fatally Invited was a really fun remix of And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie.

I loved the games and puzzles element and the fact that all the characters were authors. As with all re-imaginings of And Then There Were None, if you are familiar with the Christie original, you will be able to figure out some elements of the book, but this story still has plenty of surprises in store!

If you enjoy the game of CLUE, then this book is for you. (See what I did there?) But this book/game is a story broken up by multiple characters/POVs. Multiple best selling writers are invited to a writer's retreat by a very famous author, whom no one has even met before. But he is a best selling author and is very well known among readers and writers alike. The writers retreat is at J.R. Alastor's home on an island. Alastor is the famous well known but unseen author. Little did these writers know they'd be walking in to a game and not a relaxing retreat like promised. Unfortunate death, psychological warfare and pranks are to lead these writers to find out what is going on on this small island that no one can save them from. They've all been locked in their own nightmares and need to find a way out. Maybe they can solves the biggest mystery of all.... who is J.R. Alastor and why has he brought them to his island?

I've just finished this book and my mind can relax and stop spinning. I enjoyed the book, but didn't love it. I can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe so many POVs was too much or maybe the timeline of writing was off for me. I loved the game and mystery of trying to figure out how everyone played into the story and trying to see who is linked to whom. It jumped around a bit at times and I need to go back and reread a couple times because the jump in timeline or thoughts of the characters was too big. Some chapters seemed rushed and the shock factor felt forced a couple of times. The exciting parts where things started coming together was too far into the book. I wanted more little Easter eggs thrown in there so I could slowly build the anticipation with time. I just felt like some conversations were going in circles and I just wanted to know what happened.

Overall, I did enjoy this book and would recommend it to others who enjoy a good clue style mystery. I was able to predict some of the twists, but not all of them! The author keeps your wheels turning for quite awhile.

I had so much fun with this novel!
You follow a group of mystery writers as they are all invited to an island retreat. This island belongs to the legendary J.R. Alastor, an Anonymous Mystery writer akin to Agatha Christie. They've all been specifically chosen for this esteemed honor, and they'll be able to meet the author, partake in mystery-themed activities, and have other like-minded individuals to bounce their ideas off of.
Our ragtag crew is pretty diverse and super excited to explore the intricate home of one of their favorite writers, but things aren't as they appear. After a member of their group goes missing, they realize that the puzzles their host has set up are much more dangerous than they appear, and each one holds a deadly secret.
They're all together for six days, will they discover the identity of their host and survive the puzzles or will this become a final girl scenario?
One of my favorite things about this novel was the plotting, while it was a bit long for my taste, I loved how intricately woven this whodunnit was! I was highlighting all over the place, the foreshadowing was immaculate, and after finishing, I was enamored with all of the mystery tropes and subversive deduction.
Perfect for people who love interesting characters, well-plotted mysteries, and high body counts.

YOU ARE FATALLY INVITED
Ande Pliego

A group of thriller authors are invited to a writers retreat by someone known as J.R Alastor. Every author has their own theory of who Alostor is and why they were each invited.

One of them in particular has motives of their own and before the sun sets one of the invitees ends up dead.

Who is the murderer and who is responsible? It may not be the same person and it is certainly is not who you think.


This is my first experience with Pliego and I would happily revisit. It wasn’t a perfect book for me but there was enough there that I believe revisiting their backlist would be beneficial.

For the most part I enjoyed my reading experience. However, I felt like things were being explained to me and that was a big turnoff. It was as if the writing without the over explanation wouldn’t make sense.

There were a lot of bookish references and movie tie ins that made it interesting to me.

I believe if the author had left a little unsaid it would’ve shortened the material to a more succinct length and it would’ve been a more enjoyable read.

Ultimately, I found the dinner party mysteries to be a lot of fun. And trying to guess at who the bad guy was, was even more so.

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam for the advanced copy!

YOU ARE FATALLY INVITED…⭐️⭐️⭐️

Come on, I mean the tite alone sucks you into the book. Loved the short chapters, gory deaths and imaginative characters that turned this whodunnit into a compulsively readable novel.

thoroughly enjoyed this!!! thanks NetGalley for the arc.

as someone who is super into knives out, this delivered and then some.

loved the characters and back story for each one. multiple povs kept the story moving without there being too much filler or random side quests. the ending was a good twist too! would definitely read more from this author.

I had such high hopes for this one, a locked mystery with a writer's retreat gone wrong. I was underwhelmed as the story went on though :( I couldn't really care about the characters and kept getting confused with who was who. I think this will translate as a short tv series and definitely as an audiobook with the different characters.