You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego is her debut novel that has an ubelievable plot that wil keep you up at night just to finish it. J. R. Alastor is recluse author that has never been seen in the public eye. J.R. invites six mystery/thiller authors to his house on an island for a writing retreat. Mila del Angél is the host for the week and will make sure everything is going to plan. The first night at dinner, the guest have to solve the clue left for them at the dinner table. Each day they will have other games they must complete in order to get off the island. One by one the guests are being murdered, and the chapters in their books with the murder scene is rewritten with the author's name in red ink. The mystery writers are now looking not only in to their books but the other writers books to find out how the next person will be killed. Everyone has a secret that they want kept hidden, even Mila who wants the ultimate revenge on one of the writers. For a debut book I couldn't enough of this book and characters. The locked room type vibe, people connected to each other in some way and don't know how. And revenge handed to you on a platter. I can't wait to see what Ande Pliego has in store for us in her next book. I would like to thank both NetGalley and Bantam for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book.

So good! I had no idea who the killer was going to be and was completely off on everything. Great twists and very interesting. The characters were a little challenging to keep track of at first but I was able to keep them straight halfway through.

Thanks for the ARC!

A writer's retreat turns deadly while the host hasn't shown up yet, but leaves an event planner to do what is asked of her.

This book took forever to get going, probably because there were so many characters to build. Once the murders started happening, it really took off and the storyline was more interesting. I will say that I hate books that change the point of view with a chapter heading, because I don't see those when I'm reading. Then I'm struggling to figure out who is talking and am constantling having to back up and find it.
Over all, this was a good book.

“it would be a great honor to have you join me at Wolf Harbor Estate in Maine for a themed writers’ retreat during the last week of October.” J.R. Alastor’s invitation to a small group of mystery writers is irresistible. As they gather with the intent of honing their craft from J.R. and each other, they find themselves, instead in the midst of a mysterious and deadly game. “…writing fear requires the greater vulnerability of all; a willingness to face your demons, and set them free.” As J.R. says, “Live is a story, Mila. And we are writing the end exactly as it should be. We’re giving these people exactly what they deserve.” J. R. knows secrets about each of the writers and is determined to use them against them as the game is carried out with the help of party planner, Mila, who had her own reasons for having taken on the job.

There are a lot of questions as to who these people are and what sins they have committed. Adding to that, no one has ever met J.R. in person so his/her identity is unknown. I appreciate the complexity of the story but I have to say it was confusing and somewhat far-fetched. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance read.

The beginning of this had me hooked, but the pacing dragged a bit in the middle. There were so many character POVs and they all sounded very similar which had me confused. Also in the end, the reveal of backstories and motivations of characters was very confusing and even after I can’t piece together how these people were interconnected. There was truly too much going on. To that point, there was so much switching around perspectives that I didn’t feel I got to connect to any one character well enough, and that’s likely why I got everyone’s POVs confused as well. I had to keep going back to the chapter title to remind myself who I was reading from.

In short, the premise was there and perfect: authors invited to an island and picked off one by one Agatha Christie style, but the execution just was not there for me.

Rating: 4.25/5

You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego is such a fun, dark, and clever take on the locked-room mystery trope! The premise of a group of thriller authors stuck on an island, being forced to confront their buried secrets, had me hooked from the start. The meta commentary about writers and genre clichés was sharp without being overbearing, and Mila’s morally complex role as host with her own agenda added some delicious tension.

The twists were relentless—some predictable, but others completely blindsided me in the best way. A few characters felt underdeveloped, but the humor and fast pacing more than made up for it. If you love mysteries that don’t take themselves too seriously while still delivering the thrills, this one’s a treat!

You're invited to week long writing retreat hosted by the renowned author J.R. Alastor. Noone has ever seen the author but the books created by the writer are well loved and ranked highly. Meet the cast, authors from all walks of life with secrets. Each one has a committed a crime on some level. It's up to them to make it out of the week alive. Mystery writers all use tropes, it's your job to survive them. Only one is meant to walk out alive. The question is who?

This book had a beautiful set up. I loved the locked room island. Downfall for me was I kept getting the characters confused. I had to keep going back and double checking that I was reading passages right. So a lot of moments felt delayed from the confusion. Overall the setting was key. Each day's games were well thought out and executed. Just a very messy cast. Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book.

Anonymous author J.R. Alastor invites six successful authors to an island for a week of games and riddles and maybe some writing. The party planner Mila is the point person for the attendees, and she knows some things they don’t. But when one of their members ends up dead, she’s as surprised as the rest of them.

Because there were so many characters, I didn’t care about any of them, and when I had to put the book down in the middle of a chapter, I had no idea was telling the story without going back to the beginning of the chapter. Even then it was hard keeping everyone straight.

NetGalley provided an advance copy of this novel, which RELEASES FEBRUARY 11, 2025.

I had a really difficult time getting pulled into this book. I tried for 100+ pages but still couldn't get into and even after Rodrigo's disappearance and the sabotage styled after other authors' mystery book stylings.

The story is full of suspense, and I loved how the author mixed a bit of dark humor with the tension, making it fun to read even while things got intense. The characters are super interesting, and there’s just the right amount of twists and turns to keep you guessing. It’s one of those books that’s perfect for when you want something a little different—fun, mysterious, and not too serious. If you're looking for a unique, page-turning read, this one is definitely worth checking out!

Thanks to Ande Pliego, Random House Publishing – Ballantine | Bantam, and NetGalley for access to the Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book gave me a strong vibe of the movie Glass Onion at the start and then of Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians as the story progressed. The story involves a group of authors who are invited to a writing retreat by a famous author whom no one has ever seen. Murders ensue as each person’s past crimes are taken into account. The big questions are, of course, who is the murderer and who will survive?

The story moves between the perspectives of different characters to provide different perspectives as the events unfold. The author does a nice job feeding us enough information to allow us to develop our own theories of the solution without giving everything away. Recommended.

I was expecting a cozy mystery but what this book delivers is a smart, complex puzzle that kept me guessing until the end. The premise is that a group of writers are invited to a remote location for a writer's retreat. Their host is unknown to them, but as it is revealed, the host knows a great deal about them. The relationships among the writers are a bit complicated and I could have benefitted from a "cheat sheet" to keep them all straight. Overall, this is a great debut novel that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I really enjoyed the suspense of this! Just when you thought you knew What was going on and who, it became a little more interesting.

I loved the locale of the island and was tickled at the thought of having so many "mystery" minds being thrown into their own mystery.

I highly recommend this for people who want to think through and who understand the idea of revenge!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to review this title and provide my thoughts!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this offering.

I made it through to the end, but it was a struggle. The story begins with an invitation for a group of murder mystery writers to attend a seminar. Lo and behold, the meeting takes place in an eerie mansion smack dab in the middle of a deserted island. Sound familiar?

The characters weren’t particularly memorable, but those whose names were used to identify chapters always spoke in the first person narrative. So … having not paid attention … I was constantly back-pedaling to the chapter heading to see who in the hell was speaking.

I persevered to the finish for the purpose of learning who did what to whom and why. I found some satisfaction in the resolution of the plot, but for me, this felt more like a homework assignment than it did an interesting or enjoyable read.

What a fun book! It took me a little bit to adjust to the multiple POVs but once I did, I was hooked. The set up, the mystery of it and the fun of all of the tropes kept me reading.

I love murder mysteries and escape room type of events. Clue is one of my favorite movies. Seeing all of the tropes included and the inclusion of the map inspired by Clue was delightful.

A delicious read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bantam for providing me with an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
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When renowned anonymous author J. R. Alastor hires former aspiring writer Mila del Angél to host a writing retreat at his private manor off the coast of Maine, she jumps at the chance—particularly since she has an ax to grind with one of the invitees. The guest list? Six thriller authors, all masters of deceit, misdirection, and mayhem.

Confess the crimes, survive the tropes.

Alastor and Mila have masterminded a week of games, trope-fueled riddles, and maybe a jump scare or two—the perfect cover for Mila to plot a murder of her own. But when a guest turns up dead—and it’s not the murder she planned—Mila finds herself trapped in a different narrative altogether.

One by one, you’ll lose your turn.

With a storm cutting off the island, and the body count rising, Mila must outwit a killer who knows literally every trick in the book.

Until only one of us remains…
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I first was drawn to this book because it reminded me a little bit of the movies Murder by Death and Clue, both long time favorites of mine. Murder, a mansion, writers, games, riddles...all of it seemed to have the makings of a good, twisty story. I have been a casual thriller reader in the past, but this year I have really leaned in and have been tearing through thrillers, and I was looking forward to reading this one when it was released. Reading it before its release date was an unexpected bonus!

It did take a little bit of time for the action to ramp up in this book, but once it did, I was all in. The twists and turns kept coming, and there were plenty of times that I was truly surprised by what happened next, which is what I think we always hope for when we are reading a thriller. The final twist at the end was not one that I saw coming, and I came away feeling very satisfied with the outcome.

Overall I enjoyed this book. There were lots of twists in the plot that kept it interesting. There may have been a few too many characters and I found some of it to be a bit over the top and therefore, hard to relate to. The ending was indeed a surprise.

For Agatha Christie and Clue fans comes this "locked room" mystery. A bunch of egocentric writers are invited to a retreat on an island off the Maine coast, and start dying of suspicious circumstances. Was it Colonel Mustard in the drawing room with the rope? The puzzle gets more involved as the bodies pile up, and the story holds together until just a few of them remain. This genre isn't my favorite, but I tried to hang in there but about 80% in I just gave up trying to follow the clues and action. Some of the plot points are more believable than others, and some of the characters doth protest too much. And of course each writer has a checkered past -- which was their ticket to the retreat. We find out the gory and unsavory details as the days go by and as more challenges are presented to the surviving members. If you tend towards trying to solve the puzzles presented, you will probably enjoy the novel more than I did. If you are a fan of Survivor or Alone TV series likewise.

Dang, this book was the real deal! It shocked me, confused me, and made me a bit crazy… I stayed up for ages until it was completely done. I didn’t even see most of the twists coming. That is a rare thing for me and I enjoy it so much. Great mystery and I was misled so many times. I loved it!