Six writers are invited to a writing retreat on a remote island in Maine. The island belongs to a reclusive author. Everything seems fine, until the writers begin dying off, one by one...

This debut was entertaining, with heavy nods to Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. However, the writing kept it from getting another star from me. At times, Pilego used an overwrought, adjective-heavy style of prose that took me out of the story.

Secretive author J. R. Alastor invites six authors to his estate on an island off the coast of Maine for a writing retreat. In addition to being successful thriller writers, the six have something else in common--secrets they wouldn't want to be known that Alastor is well aware of. Although Alastor does not make an appearance, his event coordinator, Mila--herself an author with her own secrets--is there to carry out his mission. But Mila also has a mission of her own.

While the retreat gets off to a promising start, it's not long before the first writer disappears and is discovered dead. As writers and staff meet unfortunate ends one by one, those remaining scramble to save themselves before Alastor kills them too.

While I love the premise of this book, and I typically adore anything Gothic-like and any Maine setting, I struggled with this book. Too many characters I couldn't keep straight, most of them not at all sympathetic, and a convoluted story line. But others will probably love it. #YouAreFatallyInvited #NetGalley

I really enjoyed this book! I loved the twists and turns.
Six thriller authors are invited to an exclusive writing retreat on an island owned by the best selling author J.R. Alastor. But J.R. Alastor has never given a public appearance and has remained a mystery through his long career. Mila has helped organize the weekend and all the games J.R. Alastor has planned, but she hasn't met the author either. She also has no idea what he truly has planned. When the guests start to turn up dead, Mila doesn't know what to think. All they know is that they have to confess their sins to survive.

This was a fun popcorn thriller. that had me hooked from the start. I wish I had gotten to it sooner, these are great pallet cleansers for me. I really liked our cast and the witty banter. The twists were good, a decent whodunit mystery.

Thank you for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

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.

This was a fun mystery/ thriller that was a combination of a locked-room mystery and Clue.

I loved the characters, the mix of suspense and pop culture references, and the twists. I felt that the beginning had a slow start with a lot of backstories for each character. Once the first murder was revealed, the book moved quickly and was a great read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Bantam for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited to get an advanced copy of this (thank you Netgalley) but found it a little difficult to enjoy. There was a lot going on in this book, which I typically enjoy, but this time it kept me from really leaning into the book to enjoy it. I don't typically annotate books that aren't for book club but I found myself wishing I had done that here to keep it all straight. i thought the idea of the plot was interesting but it just didn't follow through for me.

The premise about a secluded destination where folks are picked off always gets me going. This story, however, was a bit convoluted and difficult for me to fully follow. Additionally, the motive didn’t have me fully captured or finding it completely believable. It was an okay book, but not one that left a strong impression. 3 stars ⭐️. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced copy for review.

This book hooked me at the beginning even though the characters were a bit difficult to keep track of. Then things started to drag on and I lost interest.
Thank you Random House Publishing Group Ballantine and NetGalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

When a group of writers accepts an invitation to a remote island for a retreat, they aren’t sure what to expect. All too soon, the attendees begin to understand that their livelihoods - and possibly their lives - are in danger in this well-plotted homage to the locked room mystery. Fans of suspense and traditional mysteries will love it.

I teetered between 3 and 4 stars on this one… we will say 3.5 rounded up.

The title of this book is perfect - You Are Fatally Invited. You’re diving into a Clue meets Saw-like, locked door mystery where a mysterious host, a famous anonymous author JR Alastor, invites several thriller/mystery authors to a weeklong retreat at his secluded island manor for a writing retreat. He employs Mila, a scorned former aspiring author, to help plan and lure his victims… err guests… to the event.

Alastor has planned games based on all the tropes to force the attendees to confess to various crimes or offenses, or die. Let’s just say Final Girls is a trope for a reason (or is it?).

This book was a fun, quick read, and a wonderful debut. I was hooked from the get-go. My only complaint (driving my rating to 3.5 instead of 4 stars) was there were so many point of views, it was difficult to keep them all straight. Not only did each attendee have a POV, but so did Mila, and some of the attendees had additional POVs where the reader knew them by the crime and not by their name. If I’d read this in one sitting, I think it would’ve been fine. But with picking it up several times over the course of a few days, I needed a murder map to keep everything straight.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I think that the best way that I can describe this book is a more complicated version of the board game of Clue, with way more twists and turns that will keep you guessing all the way up until the very end. I loved that we got to see how things started from the point of view of the accomplice, before she realized that things were definitely not going according to plan. I found myself going back and forth so much on who I thought was behind it all, and I really enjoyed that.

Final Rating: 4.25

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballentine, Ande Pliego, and NetGalley for the eARC of this book. This is my honest review.

“Sometimes the art of fiction isn’t in how intellectual it is, but how well it makes you actually forget the world around you. Sometimes, binge reading to escape reality can save a person’s life.”

DNF at 20%. I started reading this book on 2/21 if that gives you any idea on how little it held my interest. The premise sounded so up my alley. A secluded island. Thriller writers on a deadly retreat. But oh my I just could not care about one character. Honestly I was bored bored bored and just forcing myself to keep going.

I am still a work in progress with dnf’ing but I’m getting better. I think this book could be great for some thriller addicts, though. I even tried listening to it. The writing is atmospheric and I so wanted to love it. But nope. At least I tried. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Thank you to Netgalley, Random House Publishing, and the author for the complimentary ARC.

Mila is set to host a writing retreat. She has an exe to grind with one of the attendees. When a murder happens at the manor, she realizes that she must outwit the murderer or become the next victim.

This novel had all the right ingredients for an engaging mystery—an atmospheric setting, a locked-room premise, and a cast of intriguing characters. Yet, despite the promising setup, it struggled to hold my attention. The pacing felt sluggish, dragging well past the halfway mark before anything truly compelling happened. By that point, I was already disengaged.

One of the biggest challenges was the sheer number of characters. Instead of adding depth, the large cast made the story feel cluttered and confusing. Without a strong connection to any of them, their fates felt inconsequential, making it difficult to invest in the unfolding drama. Attempts to build tension relied too heavily on overused tropes, and moments that should have been suspenseful instead felt predictable.

That said, the ending delivered some solid twists, adding a bit of excitement just when it seemed too late to turn things around. While others have raved about this book, for me, it struggled to break free from the conventions of its genre. The potential was there, but it never quite lived up to it.

Rating: 2.5 stars (rounded up to 3).

“You Are Fatally Invited” by Ande Pliego is a locked room mystery. Six thriller authors get invited by a mysterious author to a private mansion on an island off the coast, each one harbors a secret wrongdoing- little do they know, that’s exactly why they’ve been invited. To pay for their sins.
This book was pretty much what you’d expect. The authors are gradually being eliminated, while trying to play the games that will allegedly keep them alive. Meanwhile, you’re trying to figure out if the killer is a guest OR someone hidden on the island. If you like this kind of mystery, it’s easy to go along for the ride.
I used to love a locked room mystery. Agatha Christie will forever be in my brain as the master of mystery using this technique. However, I feel like in recent years, this theme has been overused. And when a theme gets overused the book is either predictable or wild for the sake of standing out. Either way? Not a win.
Overall, I wanted to love this book, but the beginning felt slow and some elements felt flat. I wanted to give this book 3.5 stars, but am rounding up to 4 because I’m not gonna use blame my theme burnout for my rating!
Thanks to NetGalley and Bantam for an ARC!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: This is a tough review to write. I am writing it when I haven't read as much of the book as I typically do before review..... stick with me though I still have two cents to give. I kid you not, I tried to read this book over 10 times both on kindle and on audio. It has so much that I should like, it breaks the forth wall, comments on itself, has an island and guest being brought together. This has literally everything I should enjoy. Alas, I never could get past like 10 percent and I think that's worth noting. There is something about the way that it's written that was disappointedly hard to connect to and at times hard to follow. It is really hard for me to put my finger on, but I just could not find enjoyment in this so matter how much I tried. I even waited two months to make sure it wasn't just a mood problem..... it's not. I think this book just isn't for me. There is nothing I can really pinpoint except the writing and storytelling.

The identity of bestselling author J.R. Alastor has been a well-guarded secret for 30 years, so when a handful of authors are invited to Alastor's island mansion for a writing retreat, they're all excited to go and meet the master in real life. But he's not there when they arrive, and his assistant, Mila, doesn't seem to know when he'll arrive. And before long the authors quickly learn that their host has no intention of revealing himself, as the authors start dying one by one, just like murders they wrote in their own books.

It's hard to tell if this locked-room story is a mystery (there are so many tropes!) or a thriller (there is so much suspense!), though that shouldn't prevent people from checking this book out. Yes, there are a few twists that felt a bit unnecessary or obvious, but for a debut novel, it was still a lot of fun. I'm intrigued by what Pliego will bring us in the future.

Such a fun concept and wild ride! Twisty and fun, You Are Fatally Invited is a treat for fans of Agatha Christie and locked-room mysteries.

I’ve probably said this before but when a book gives off Clue vibes, I’m immediately reaching for it. You Are Fatally Invited played with the isolation trope so well 👏

I ended up binging this one during Thanksgiving weekend because I had to know what was going on. Ande Pliego did a masterful job at the pacing. The chapters are short, we’re switching between different characters with countless reveals or red herrings and set ups and it never felt boring or stretched.

Not only are we hoping to find out who the mysterious J.R. Alastor is, there are multiple sub-plots we’re trying to untangle and I can happily say I was wrong about all of them.

If you’re a fan of the book within a book trope, you’ll love this. We get really up close and personal with J.R. Alastor’s upcoming release while also learning about each author’s work, which I can’t help but wish we could read too. Especially the horror ones 😉

Multiple point of view locked room mystery. Great plot and pacing. This was an impressive debut novel, and I look forward to reading more from this author.