Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc. I love the premise of authors being invited to a writer's retreat with mysteries to solve. It was slow for me and I did get confused with the characters for awhile. I didn't feel like I got to know the characters.

I really loved the premise of this book. 6 writers invited to a writing retreat hosted by a mysterious author, what’s not to love? Overall, I loved the setting, a mansion on a secluded island is such a fun locked room setting. I also enjoying getting perspectives from different characters and how they interpreted the actions of the book. I loved the tropes used in the book and how the writers acknowledged them, even as they were living the tropes.

Here were my issues with the book:
1) Most of the characters didn’t have strong personalities so it could be challenging to remember which POV you were reading if you came back to the book mid-chapter.
2) Switching the POVs really took me out of the narrative. Some of the chapters were from character POVs and some were the POV based on the sins, which was confusing.
3) I would’ve loved more backstory on the sins and what drove the characters. Especially the serial killer, it felt really glossed over and I wanted more.
4) I’m still not sure I understand what any of the games were meant to do. They weren’t “winnable” in the sense that it wasn’t obvious if the game was solved or not.

Bottom line, this is a really fun book and I can’t wait to read Ande’s next. Thank you to Ande Pliego, NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego had definite 5-star potential! Exclusive thriller author retreat? Private istand? Anonymous author? One author found murdered? YEP YEP YEP!

...but this missed the mark for me, unfortunately. I didn't feel particularly connected or invested in any of the characters, and with all of the characters being thrown in I felt confused keeping them all straight. The island setting was super fun and the premise of the “trapped" in a secluded area made it even more eerie and haunted feeling. The descriptions of the house and the rooms and the surveillance were fun.

I think the pace kept me from enjoying the book more? I think a faster pace/shorter chapters and maybe more of a central narrator would've helped? Could've just been me...

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine/Bantam for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review! This book releases on 2/11!

I really enjoyed this one! Lots of twists and turns that will keep you guessing and second guessing. Just when you think you have it figured out, a new clue is given. Fun read.

You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego

This is a five star mystery, which reinforces why I love debut books and authors. The story will capture you immediately with brilliant characters and its who-dun-it theme. Pliego will have you on a string begging for more information, but you’ll never guess the outcome.

Mystery authors are invited to an island retreat by a famous author, JR Alastor, whom none of them has ever met. Alastor has planned games which must be carried out and writers must confess to sins each has committed- or die, as it turns out. Seven authors and two workers are on the island when things quickly go south, and just who is JR Alastor anyway?

I highly recommend this fantastic book for readers who like a good, well thought out mystery. This one is exceptional!

A locked room mystery involving writers invited to a private writing retreat on a remote island. While I loved the premise, the overall plot fell a little short for me. I found the storyline hard to follow at times and still had questions at the end. Overall a fast paced read and an author I would read again.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book early. I loved this unique take on an isolated, closed circle murder mystery. While I think it was missing a bit of that pacing secret sauce to boost it to a 5, I have very little critique for this book. I enjoyed getting to know our cast of characters and getting a peek behind the curtain with POV changes. I felt the ending was satisfying which can be very hard to pull off with a mystery of this nature. I also enjoyed the use of book-within-a-book here and how it supplemented our journey through the week. If you’re ready for a rain soaked island retreat full of twists and turns, grab a copy and happy reading!

You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego is a captivating and twisted novel that is sure to satisfy thriller enthusiasts seeking a unique take on a locked-room murder mystery. From the very beginning, I was completely engrossed in the story. With its unexpected twists and thrilling plot, this book is both entertaining and engaging.

You Are Fatally Invited s an excellent isolated closed-circle mystery that made me NEED to know how it ended. The characters and clues are so well plotted. I highly recommend this for any mystery fan.

This follows 6 thriller writers who all come along to this writing retreat with a bestselling anonymous author and unfortunately the party planner plans on taking revenge on one of these authors. Ironic. Of course twists and turns ensue as would any thriller book would have, at least a good one. I will say I feel like this plot has been used so many times across multiple genres. Horror, thriller, I’ve even seen it done in romance where a group of writers go on some retreat together and something happens, either everything goes wrong or someone falls in love. I thought this take was fine, but could've been better.

An isolated island and people being picked off one by one? Sign me up!

The plot was a fun one - very "And Then There Were None" - esque. Full of very creative deaths, this book had me flying through the pages wanting to know who died next and how. I liked some characters more than others, so I was, without a doubt, rooting for some to die more than others. It was interesting to see how the plot unfolded, and how everyone's secrets were revealed. And some secrets were JUICY.

I still don't know how I fully feel about the ending. Surprisingly enough, and maybe because And Then There Were None is such a masterwork to me, I felt like an open ending would fit this book better.

Things I loved:
-ALL the mystery tropes
-The nods to And Then There Were None (if you've read this book, you already know 70% of what happens in this book and I'm not complaining at all)
-Multiple povs
-Characters to root for, and characters you hope get killed next

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for this earc in exchange for my honest review

Pub Date: 2/11

Thank you to Bantam for this advanced copy.

I am a sucker for any Agatha Christie locked room mystery redo. And then you make it so that it’s writers on an island? I’m in! But … this book was too busy? Convoluted? The writing was great. But it didn’t break the mold like I thought it would.

This was a great time! I was completely sucked in and flew through the book. I worried about 2/3 of the way in it would fall apart but I felt it held together well. Other than a few minor complaints, I truly enjoyed it. (Those are that it may have ended for too long and it’s probably a good idea to change the book given the current situation with Neil Gaiman).

This was such a fun take on the locked room mystery!

An anonymous thriller author invites six other thriller authors for a writer’s retreat on their private island. Full of mystery, games, and incriminating clues, it quickly takes a deadly turn.

For someone who obsessively reads thrillers, I loved the cheeky insight and unique spin on classic mystery tropes. It was fascinating watching the story unfold, not unlike a game of Clue. I was able to predict some outcomes, and others surprised me.

Thank you Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the gifted ARC of You Are Fatally Invited.

Six authors are invited to an island writing retreat held by a mysterious author, J.R. Alastor. No one really knows who Alastor is, not even the event coordinator, Mila. Mila has secrets of her own though as she is trying to get revenge on one of the authors for stealing her work. However, things soon take a deadly turn as people start ending up dead.

I loved this one!!! It had multiple nods to Clue (the movie) and And Then There Were None (although maybe this was a coincidence because I didn't see anything in acknowledgements!! But there is a clear line from the Clue movie about men and Kleenex, so it felt like the author was a fan!). Those are two of my favorite things, so I really enjoyed this. The format was really enjoyable with multiple narrators, but only a few within each section. I don't think the reveal at the end was the most surprising, but it was still good and did have a piece of the reveal that I wasn't expecting! I also think the author did a good bait-and-switch with two characters roles at the end that I thought was surprising. I just really loved the intrigue, mystery, and story overall here. Highly recommend!!

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this is another dud for February. And Then There Were None is one of my favorite books and I am happy for someone to give the genre a twist, but this novel was all over the place. Multiple points of view that don’t hang together mean the story never coalesces. The overarching voice is all over the place and ultimately makes for a weaker novel.

Thank you Netgalley for an early arc of You are Fatally Invited. This book was so good, I was happy to have received this one early. I would recommend reading it. I gave it 4.5 stars.

3.5 stars

Locked room mysteries are my favorite, and I couldn't wait to read this since it was going to be with a room of authors! Famous and recluse author J. R. Alastor invites the six authors for a writing retreat on an island. Mila, J.R.'s assistant and coordinator of the event is on the island to greet everyone as she and J.R. have created a week of games/riddles for the authors. Mila has more than games on her mind, though, as she has plans to unalive one of the guests.

When a guest turns up dead on the very first morning and it is like a scene from their book, even Mila is shocked. Soon, others are missing, and everyone wants off the island.

It took me a little bit to get into this book. All the author characters are introduced in the beginning and there was a lot of chitchat between them that I found unnecessary. Plus, there are multiple POVs and sometimes I had to go back and see whose viewpoint I was in.

Once I got past the first night, the story moved right along for me. I had no idea who was pulling the strings and was intrigued to find out.

Thank you to Random House-Ballantine and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

My first Ande Pliego novel but definitely not my last. This was a great locked room thriller. I loved the character development. Fast moving story with dark and twisted intentions. Enjoyed it.
Thank you NetGalley, Ande Pliego and Bantam US for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This thriller was missing just a little something that would have tipped it over from "decent" to "pretty great" for me. Very little sense of place (it takes place on an island off the coast of Maine, but it sure doesn't feel like it beyond the "island" part), and a slightly underwhelming reveal that an astute reader of locked-room mysteries will see coming. The writing was a mite slow but to its credit still kept me turning pages. 3.5 stars.