I don't know what it is but in October and November, I read a few books with a Transylvania/Romania/Vampire/old and possibly haunted building theme. This is another book to add to that collection. A group of 5 Internet Influencers are invited by a famous Internet star to a remote monastery in Transylvania. It is like an episode of Big Brother except for the remote and creepy location. They will be watched online by thousands of viewers paying different tiers for access. The story has many elements to it: horror, suspense, mystery, folklore. It also has the feel of "And Then There Were None" to it. I enjoyed the suspenseful build and the fact that you could not be sure if the happenings were supernatural or human made. I wasn't too keen on the characters and the ending felt like a bit of a let down but I think I was expecting something different. That is my issue and not the book's issue. All in all, I enjoyed reading this one.

This was an interesting story. A group of social media influencers picked to live in n old monastery for a month. The will be live streamed to anyone who purchases a membership to watch. What will happen? Is there a haunting? Is there mass hysteria? Who knows.
Three quarters of the way through, the book could’ve taken multiple different directions. Needless to say I didn’t see the twist that was coming.
All in all it was a good read and entertaining. Thanks to NetGalley, publisher and author for giving me a copy to review.

A thoroughly modern premise of social media influencers gathering for a streaming ‘Event’ in a gothic, haunted Dracula like setting was brilliantly setup in this new tale by Sara Denzil. A cautionary cultural warning mixed with a horror and murder mystery is a fun, easy read with enough twists to keep you guessing. As with most things in like, the fast half was better then the last half, but hey, at least they were invited while we can only watch.

“..the place had an atmosphere to it ... perhaps it was the way you could walk around one corner and sense a still quiet like no other, and yet around the next, the forest was alive before you ...”

This quote from Sarah A Denzil’s new book pretty much sums up how I feel about this book. The spooky story of a haunted monastery where nuns were brutally murdered pulled me in and didn’t let go until the twist is revealed in the end. Influencers are invited to attend a big brother type of event in the isolated Romanian mountains, but slowly each participant begins to lose the plot as the monastery and surrounding forest begins to reveal its secrets.

This is my first Denzil so I can’t compare You Are Invited to her other work. I liked it. It kept me intrigued right to the end, and although the twist didn’t come as a massive surprise, it was easy to get lost in the pages and the short chapters made it a breeze to read. Denzil can write; she had me easily picturing the dark forest and long, cold corridors in the monastery. Her characters were well developed and believable, and her exploration of mental illness is well handled.

Is it a ghost story? A vampire story? Horror? Murder mystery? I think it tries to be all four, and while that didn’t affect my enjoyment of the book, it makes it difficult to define the genre it slots into.

This was a better version of Mexican Gothic, albeit without the fungi and weird family.

Thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest review.

**3.5 stars **

i finished this book in little time, it was definitely a two sitting read! i love the atmosphere that denzil created with this novel, i felt goosebumps all the way through. the twist at the end was incredible, and i can’t wait to read more from her. i can highly recommend you are invited.

Thanks to the publishers for sharing this one. It was very atmospheric, and I found it hard to put down, although I didn't like the ending. My full review appears on Weekend Notes.

3-4 stars, while the first half might even be a 5 star read, I felt the second was just not as good! I thought it was an intriguing plot, with some great character development! It genuinely was creepy in many parts, but slowed way down after the first part! I liked the idea, was linking forward to it and overall think the author did a good job at writing a creepy, scary story! I would recommend to those who don’t mind shifts in pace, and like atmospheric reads, with old eras sort of meeting new!

Will buzz around and use lower Amazon reviewer number.

When Cath receives her invitation to The Event, she packs her bags and doesn’t look back. Cath’s mother died recently, leaving her with only the voices in her head for company. In comparison to her lonely home, the partially restored Romanian monastery sounds almost cheery.
Cath arrives with four other influencers for The Event: a month-long live-stream in a beautiful, remote location. Paying viewers will be able to access their favorite social media celebrities and offer to pay them to do things like karaoke, or yoga…or killing one of the group.
Things start taking a dark turn right away, and the group— a model, a fitness buff, a gamer, a life-advice guru, and Cath, a writer— don’t exactly mesh. Cath is the one to tell them the story of what happened in the monastery years ago, how the slaughter of a group of nuns left Sfantul Mihail cursed. Drunk on wine, everyone is creeped out, but no one believes it. Until one of their body cams turns up something they—and all their viewers— are able to see.

In a word: Yikes.

I was excited about this one. A group of people trapped in a supposedly cursed building high in the Carpathians with the shadow of Dracula looming sounded like just my sort of thing.

And it was indeed a good premise. In theory. In practice? What an unholy (literally and figuratively) mess.

I’ll give the author credit for pacing and sense of menace (which were excellent), as well as for actually coming up with a decent plot for a mystery/horror novel involving influencers, which is rare.

The idea was good, but the whole thing started to unravel toward the end, and the final product was...not good.

There’s no true Big Reveal, and the one that did (sort of) come to pass was pretty predictable. But that wasn’t really the problem. The solve itself wasn’t awful. But the circumstances surrounding it were.

First, the forgiveness angle at the end was enough to tank the whole book on its own. I cannot stand the whole Girl World “Be Nice!” approach. Forgive! Be the bigger person! Huh. I dunno, but if someone lured me to a cursed location on the other side of the world under false pretenses, humiliated me, didn’t pay me the agreed upon fee, and then caused the murder of most of the other people there, I wouldn’t be feeling particularly forgiving. That doesn’t make you the bigger person. It makes you an idiotic simp. Which I suppose is pretty consistent with Cath’s character, so points for committing to the bit, or something.

The writing (of both the book and the book-within-a-book) was awful. The explanation (if you can call it that) for the ghosts didn’t make any sense. And can we please, please stop perpetuating the myth that wolves randomly murder humans for like, a wolfy good time? These were not werewolves, nor did they attack because they were afraid or cornered or starving. Additionally, one of the wolves seemed to have mysteriously gone from a helpless baby to a human-murdering machine in the span of two weeks. Must be something in the water there.

It’s a shame, because the premise for this was good, and the author had the bones of a great story. But the end product was hugely disappointing.

4 social media influencers are specially selected from thousands and invited to The Event. The Event being a one month stay in a partially renovated former monastery in the isolated Carpathian mountains in Transylvania. A former monastery that has a murderous and terrifying past. Their stay will be live streamed to paying subscribers - think Big Brother style reality TV! What could possibly go wrong?

Soon after their arrival, unsettling things begin to happen and, as the weeks go on, the psychological effect on the participants becomes evident as one by one they realise that they can't even trust each other.

Cath is telling the story and is an unreliable narrator. On the first night, her medication for schizophrenia goes missing. I often wondered if what she was telling us, the reader, was the whole story. This book is atmospheric and spooky but becomes more of a psychological thriller in the second half. There were scenes that reminded me of The Shining with the snowfall and the isolation. However the ending, for me, wasn't as strong as the first half but still a very enjoyable read. 🌟🌟🌟💫

Triggers for mental illness and extreme familial dysfunction

The first half of this book was creepy and compelling.

The second half fell flat for me, which is a shame because I can see what the author was trying to do, and all the pieces should have been there. The ending felt abrupt, the timing felt off, somehow, and I think it's borderline dangerous to imply that someone who has schizophrenia can just... stop taking their meds when they exorcise their ghosts - literal or figurative.

You Are Invited

The premise of this book was promising and I was excited, but despite the creepy moments, this book was weighted down with so much emotional baggage that it became exhausting and annoying.

Another in my long string of whiny female protagonists, I’ve about had it with the undercutting reflections and inner monologue. Despite the “mental illness” presented in this story, I feel it was a real disservice to those who may suffer from many of the maladies mentioned.

The backstory of the monastery and the entire Event was compelling, and the story would have been much better if Denzil had done more to flesh that out, but the psychological versus paranormal ghosts debate made it less thriller and more soap opera.

Characters were well developed in this story and you mourn losses and are horrified by violence described, it is no secret that this author is talented, but the “haunted” character trope needs to be handled with care and Cath just came off as sullen and fretful. She isn’t someone I would want to be around, let alone read an entire story from her point of view.

At times, this book was a page-turner and then there were other times I wanted to shut this book and never go back, especially in the end when the book lagged way past the conclusion.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley. The opinions are my own.

I somewhat enjoyed "You Are Invited" by Sarah A. Denzil. The "type" of book was confusing -- is it a ghost story, vampire lore, etc.? I did enjoy the mystery, but after a while my brain got too muddled for my own good. Denzil's writing is effortlessly smooth and incredible to read. 3/5 stars.

I love a good Gothic ghost story and this hit all the marks. Cath and 4 other social media influencers sign up for a month long retreat in an abandoned monastery in the Carpathian mountains. There they'll Livestream everything that happens week other the hopes of making loads of money in the process from viewer donations. They'll chat with the viewers, do challenges the viewers request, etc. 5 strangers, secluded in a centuries old building, whose last occupants were found with their throats slashed open and blood drained. What could go wrong ammirite?

I saw through a few tricks (the mysterious disappearance of things, etc) but I didn't even care because this book was SO MUCH FUN! I LOVE the ol' "what's that behind you?" vibes (think any horror scene involving Skype). This is the first book by Sarah Denzil I've read but I'm immediately finding her others to read asap. She manages to be super spooky without being cheesy. Mental illness is heavily covered but in a respectful, tasteful way. The loose ends were tied up nicely. She even managed to surprise me at the very end with something I hadn't been able to guess. Great story, great book, and if the rest of her work is half as good I'll be happier than a koala in a eucalyptus tree.

Thanks to Netgalley and Victoria Editing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Side note: maybe don't read this around animals. My dog's tail brushed ever so slightly against my neck right when Cath felt a handful on her shoulder, and I almost levitated off the couch.

This was excellent! It had all my favorite things. I liked the dark atmosphere and the spooky claustrophobia. I liked the premise of online bloggers/influencers being invited to the creepy monastery.

I didn’t really know what I was getting into with this book. I am really picky about supernatural stuff so I was really happy that it wasn’t the main focus of the book. It was just the right about of spooky with the perfect amount of twists and turns.

I couldn’t get enough of the drama and I finished the book in a record two hours because I needed to know what was going on.

The book reads more young adult which I don’t know if the author was going for that.

I have to complaints about the book.

1. It throws you right into the thick of the plot, there is no build up with Cath receiving the invitation and battling if she should accept or not. Without the build up it’s hard to get a feel of the character and narrator to see what you are getting into.
2. It was never really explained about the ages of the characters. They are drinking beer and partying but they sound like teenagers that are let loose. I was battling the whole book to see if I should be reading them as adults that are suffering from childhood trauma or teenagers that are still in the thick of it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sarah A. Denzil for an ARC of You are in Invited; A Ghost Story in exchange for my review published earlier this month on September 15th 2020.
I totally recommend this read & loved the premise. With social media platforms and reality TV in the spotlight and so current to today’s world, it was interesting to read how the people we are influenced by may not be at all who they seem.
The story begins with a great build up to setting the stage for a creepy ghost story. There were a few paranormal elements that were fun but I was expecting more as the story progressed. But, I was not disappointed as the ghost story had an unexpected twist I really enjoyed.
The read also touches on mental illness and dysfunctional relationships. I think there could have been more development on the protagonist’s healing process but in the end I understood that we were only seeing the beginning of Cath’s recovery.
I’d love to say more on how much I loved the ghost in this story … but don’t want to spoil anything.
Synopsis:
"There are those who claim the ghosts walking the corridors of Sfântul Mihail are not ghosts at all." ~ Words whispered to Cath Fenwick on route to an invitation she will wish she had never said yes to.
Cath receives an invitation from Irene Jobert the most famous influencer in the world to “The Event”, a monetised retreat for social media influencers in renovated Transylvanian monastery. Isolated with nothing but the internet and followers watching their every move on a live stream.
The five influencers invited; Irene the model, Nathan the gamer, Jules the blogger, Daniel the fitness guru and Cath the writer. Until a sixth participant is noticed by followers lurking in the stream background… slowly five lonely people begin to lose their minds.

Wow! What a ride this was. The writing was captivating, perfect for this kind of story. I really didn’t know whether it was about vampires, ghosts, or just people being crazy. Cath was unreliable at times but always true to herself and it was awesome to see how it all unfolded and how she came out of this stronger than when she went in.

Five influencers have been chosen to travel to a Transylvanian monastery to participate in The Event, a highly publicized month long livestream. Before she even arrives at the building, Cath's driver tries to warn her away from the place. Terrible events have happened there in the past and as soon as the streaming starts, unsettling things begin to happen. Cath's medication goes missing. Viewers report seeing shadowy figures on the streams. One anonymous follower offers a million dollars to whichever participant is willing to murder one of his or her companions.

I had high hopes for this one, but the plot is slow, mildly entertaining, and definitely not scary.

3 stars. First things first: the 'A Ghost Story' part of the title could've been left out. It's distracting and possibly misleading. It removed some of the tension of what on earth is going on. No need to suspect anything or anyone else, because it's a ghost, right? Right?!

That being said, the first 60% was worth 4 stars to me. It was a page-turner and I wanted to find out, indeed, what on earth was going on! (apart from the 'ghost story'. Around 70%, closer and closer to the revelation, things started feeling as flat as Cameron Diaz' feet to me. The revelation itself was a disappointment, in the sense that I could've seen this coming from a mile away, were it not for the title.

I felt nothing for the cardboard charcters. Only the protagonist was semi relatable and more fleshed out. The atmosphere and mystery kept me going.

If you like modern day thrillers/horror with historical aspects while still making use of communication a la 2020, go for it. Just don't expect to be blown away.

<I>Many thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.</I>