A fantastic, twisty thriller! This one kept me guessing until the last few chapters, and while I did guess a twist or two it whapped me upside the head a couple times with the way things unraveled.
I loved the setup on this one - authors are invited to a mysterious bestselling reclusive fellow author's island for a themed weekend... and events go sideways quickly. However much it sounds like 'And Then There Were None' at first blush, it is NOT. It keeps you wondering what is going on, who is allied with whom, and what secrets are being kept and revealed in each chapter.
The only reason it's not a five star for me is I would have liked a little more between Mila and the guests, one in particular. And I wanted more of Violet all throughout the story, as I found her intriguing.
Definitely recommend for folks who love a good locked room mystery.

"No one heard a thing, that was the consensus. Unless, perhaps, they all had."

This was such a fun, chaotic, mind-bending read and I loved it! I read it with a group of friends and we were all still guessing all the way to the end! This group of authors, invited to an exclusive writing retreat with an author that no one has ever met let me wondering who was who and who knew what!

I love that, right from the start, we get a map that looks like a clue board! It was so fun and made me excited to get started! I swear my pointy finger was on every last author in this book until the very very end. I never guessed how it would all roll out and the tension and suspense kept me absolutely glued to the page. I will definitely look for more from this author! I loved this one!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Ande Pliego’s You Are Fatally Invited pulls you into a world of secrets, lies, and high-stakes drama right from the start. The concept is undeniably intriguing—a mysterious invitation, a group of characters with hidden agendas, and a setting that feels both glamorous and claustrophobic. Pliego does a great job building suspense, keeping you guessing about who to trust and what’s really at play.

The pacing is fast, which makes it easy to keep turning the pages, but at times it feels like the story sacrifices depth for speed. Some characters could’ve been fleshed out more, and a few twists, while entertaining, came across as predictable or a bit over the top.

Still, the book delivers on tension and thrills, and the writing style is engaging, even if it leans a bit heavy on the melodrama in parts. If you’re looking for a fun, suspenseful escape with plenty of shocking moments, You Are Fatally Invited is worth checking out.

You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego

My thanks to Bantam Books for providing an ARC in exchange for this review.

This book was difficult for me to get into. Early on in the story, I thought I was going to regret reading another book based on writers meeting for a writers’ retreat and then something horrible (generally murder) happens. I have read many books like this and generally liked them. This is the reason that I requested this book. Even though I was not hooked at the beginning, I decided to push on through.

I have thought about why this book was hard for me to like. First, I got a bit lost in the characters. There are a lot of them. The main character is the narrator. Unfortunately, I never felt an affinity for her. Second, I found it hard to keep the backgrounds of the characters straight along with how they might or might not know each other. Those relationships are important to the story, and I didn’t get them until the end. This was a problem for me all the way through the book. Third, when a character's background was revealed, it wasn’t complete enough for me. It took me until the end of the book to know and understand every character. I found that frustrating.

Finally, about one-third of the way through the book, the story itself began getting interesting enough for me to continue. One of the “games” the host required the writers and staff to play was to correctly assign each of the following identities to the correct character:
The Child Murderer
The Exploiter
The Perjurer
The Poisoner
The Thief
The Host
The Accomplice
The Serial Killer
This sounds interesting, doesn’t it? Because I still did not have enough background for any of the characters, assigning these identities was impossible for me, but I did begin to enjoy the storyline more.

For me, a murder mystery needs more than one murder. I was happy to find that this book did provide enough murder to suit me. So you see that there are aspects of this story that are interesting and encouraging.

I was glad when all of the loose ends began to be tied up. I finally got to know the full backgrounds of each character and how the characters were connected to one or more of the other characters. It was a long time coming…too long for me to love this book. Of course, I had tried to identify the characters, but I failed on all but a couple. That is actually OK with me. A book that is too easy to figure out isn’t fun for me. I just felt that the author purposely misled or withheld information from the reader. That’s not fun, either.

My star rating is 3 stars for the interesting storyline that kept me reading to the end.

If you’re a fan of spooky yet original books told from multiple pov, twists and locked room thrillers then you are going to love You Are Fatally Invited. This book had me on the edge of my seat, turning pages well into the night.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group & NetGalley for the Advance Reader’s e-proof of this book!!

🔪😈 You Are Fatally Invited - Ande Pliego ☠️💥

THIS. BOOK. Wow!!! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Admittedly, I’m the type of person who has a blanket over their eyes for scary movies. And this story definitely had me looking over my shoulder any time I ventured to my basement alone. Despite spooking me a little, it was such a fun puzzle of a plot to figure out. I genuinely had several jaw-drop moments.

Having the viewpoints of all the characters also provided such great insight. I cheered for them in certain instances, cried over them in others, and deeply hated them in between. It’s kind of crazy when an author can make you feel all the things during a thriller. I loved the weaving of the writing how-to book to guide the story. I felt inspired to try my hand at writing, but maybe not a thriller (because of aforementioned spooking). Hats off to you, Ande!

I haven’t read a book laid out in this fashion before. It was a really interesting concept with authors attending a writers retreat. I was attracted to the plot setting on an inaccessible Maine island with mystery writers trapped in a devious, sinister game over a week long stay. The mysterious owner of the island built a magnificent estate and stocked rooms with an eclectic array of artifacts. There are only two staff and Mila hosting the mystery dinners. Each author was selected to attend purposefully by the host. There is revenge, petty grudges, a multitude of secrets, nothing is sacred as each participant’s dirty laundry is revealed. When one of them is murdered distrust amongst the remaining guests grows and alliances begin to form. I switched suspects repeatedly as they all had motives. There were many red herrings and clues, some I saw clearly, others blew my theories to bits. What a clever debut murder mystery!
Penguin Random House, Bantam Books, (via NetGalley) provided an Advance Reader Copy of “You Are Fatally Invited” by Ande Pliego, publication expected 02/11/202. These are my honest personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily without expectation of compensation.

This was an interesting (though not unique) concept, but I found the book itself to be a bit convoluted and drawn out. The story centers on a bunch of authors who write in the horror/thriller genre and get invited to a remote island for a writer's retreat by a reclusive author who no one has actually met. It quickly becomes clear that the host's motivations were not sincere, first with the puzzles they need to figure out and then with people getting murdered. You get chapters from alternating POVs, including the host's hired hand, Mila, who is there to run the retreat, and may or may not have ulterior motives.

There were a lot of characters in this book and I didn't necessarily think they had distinct voices. It was sometimes hard to keep them all straight, or even to remember whose chapter I was currently reading. They also all had secrets to hide, which made the plot even more confusing. There were some good twists and a couple surprise reveals, but sometimes those got bogged down with long and repetitive chapters. I did like the way the book ended- it might have been tied up just a bit too neatly, but it didn't leave any lingering questions.

Overall, while there were some good twists, it did take quite a while to get through the book and I think the characters could have been more distinctive. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

2.5

The promise was interesting, but I struggled with this one. Some parts were quite convoluted and confusing. At times, it felt like the author was trying to do too much, and there were places where I had to go back and reread parts of the story to see if I had perhaps missed something. The pacing was uneven, and I never really connected with the characters. If you are a fan of locked door mysteries, then this could be of interest to you. However, it missed the mark for me.

I am a HUGE fan of locked room thrillers and this one did not disappoint!! One of the few books I’ve read this year that had me guessing until the very end! This is one of those books where the less said about it the better… just to keep everyone guessing!

To start I would like to thank Netgalley, Random House Publishing Group, and Ande Pliego for the opportunity of being able to read this book as an ARC.

Wow, I was not too sure what to expect upon receiving this ARC. I’ve been a lifelong thriller/mystery fan but have been disappointed by some in the past. I was so pleased that this turned out to be a 5 star read for me! The cover and the book description really caught my attention. Right off the bat I was enthralled. You could feel the tension of the characters within the first 2 chapters. The book is written with multiple POVs which really help you understand and get insight on all the inner workings of each character. I loved all the riddles and games they were forced to play, along with how many times I was shocked by the twists. Ande Pliego did such an amazing job delivering such an interesting locked room mystery, touching on multiple thriller/horror tropes and really making dimensional characters. I tried so hard to figure out who was behind what, but was wrong each time. I could not put this book down! It was dark, twisted, and kept you guessing the whole way through. The ending had me floored, by far not even a possibility in my mind, which made the book that much better. The epiloge also left me feeling good, leading to hopefully some foreshadowing for the future. Being as this is Ande Pliego’s debut adult novel, I really hope there are more to come!

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.*

This one started really strong but some part of the rapidly changing narration and the somewhat similar characters led to me being a little bit confused and annoyed.

A classic murder mystery - You Are Fatally Invited is the story of a writers' retreat on a private island hosted by a reclusive but famous prolific thriller writer as he releases his newest book. When the guests arrive they are met by his host, and led to understand that the weekend will be full of games. But when one of the guests is found dead in a manner described in one of his books, the guests begin to fear that they have been misled.

I found a lot of it kind of muddled and the basic plot a little bit fuzzy.

Interesting idea, but for me it just didn't sing.

*with thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for this honest review.

I know I am in the minority on this but I could not get into “You Are Fatally Invited” at all. I really thought that this was going to be in my wheelhouse, but I really struggled with this one. I didn’t care about any of the characters and I had a really difficult time remembering whose perspective I was reading. None of the characters really interested me and I didn’t care about who was killing them and why. I also found the pacing quite uneven which made it really difficult to follow along as the story progressed. The scenarios got increasingly less believable as the story progressed and I am unsure how the characters who survived got off the island without revealing what had happened. Thanks to Ande Pliego, Netgalley, Random House Publishing and Ballantine for an e-arc in exchange for my thoughts. I will most likely check out Ande’s next book.

Original, twisty, and had me looking over my shoulder the whole time! Ande has a talent for unease and tension that she could teach a masterclass in one day. As a writer, I thought the characters were so authentic and felt so real to me.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC.

If Clue and the Glass Onion had a very long winded child it would be this book.

As a huge fan of mysteries I was very excited to read this. Agatha Christie is one of my favorite myster writers and this book leans heavily in that direction. However, it end's up being a clever story that goes on way too long. There are way too many characters and with interchanging POV's that it's a little tough to keep everything straight, and just when you've gotten that under control the author throws in some random and unnecessary steamy romance scenes. Honestly if you threw those out it would make absolutely no difference to the story.

The mystery gets tied up somewhat satisfactorily in the end which is a nice change of pace as so many books nowadays just jarringly throw it all together on the last page in a way that is trite and unconvincing. This book is complicated in a meaningful way, but I still don't understand what the staff had to do with anything. Between them and the romance the book could (should?) have been shortened by 75 pages.

Ande Pliego is a beautiful writer and I am very impressed given this is a debut novel. I was very excited about the premise of this book - a close proximity, murder mystery novel about attendees at a writers retreat? Sign me up! However, I just could not get into the book. I found it slow to start and the characters where a bit pretentious which caused me not to build a connection with any of them. I think this book will be great for others, just wasn't my up of tea. I do look forward to seeing what Ande writes in the future!

So a bunch of writers receive invitations to a private island for a retreat...by someone no one knows or has seen. I enjoyed the premise and some of the twists, but overall it felt a little predictable. I feel like this trope is pretty popular right now, so it was easier to see where it was going. I enjoyed the multiple POVs, but I think adding more development would have set them apart and made it easier to follow. Pliego's writing has a lot of potential, but this one wasn't for me.

Complex and overly long with a not particularly satisfying solution. No problem with the multiple points of view but the sameness of the voices was both confusing and unengaging.

I am a big fan of locked-room mysteries, and anything involving writers as well. Though this general theme of a writer's retreat gone awry is becoming a bit overdone, I'm still enjoying it enough to give this book a go. In You are Fatally Invited, various mystery writers of all ages receive an invitation to join a bestselling writer--who no one has seen or knows the identity of--on the writer's private island for a retreat, As the writers, all harboring various secrets, arrive and gather, their host fails to show up but offers "games" the writers must play. They are led by the host's assistant, who has her own secrets and goals for the retreat. However, one by one, the writers are picked off, their death foretold by a death scene from one of that writer's books. Told from multiple POVs, including writers' names and secrets (The Serial Killer, The Thief), readers must pick through clues to deduce identities, secrets, and the murderer's true identity, before all the writers' chapters end.

There were way too many character and the chapters were so short it felt choppy and I struggled to get into this suspense/thriller novel.

Overall the concept of this novel was well done. Multiple POV with clear chapter headers that follows a handful of authors (see how I don't even know how many there actually was 🤦‍♀️) travel to a writing retreat hosted by a famous writer. . . Also as I type this, this sounds exactly like "The Hunting Party" by Lucy Score 🤔 I just felt that the number of narrator's and the quick chapters made it difficult to follow along at times.