I'm mad at this book for a bunch of reasons:

* It takes a great premise: social media influencers converge at a Transylvanian monastery and horror happens, but fails to deliver on it.
* It's not remotely spooky. I scare pretty easily, and I could read this before going to bed with nary a fear of a nightmare.
* It does the lazy, harmful thing of conflating supernatural happenings with mental health issues. If I'd had a physical book, I would have thrown it across the room upon reading the last paragraph.
* Most of my other gripes are spoilery, so I will keep them to myself.

The characters in this book were hopelessly flat to me. Every "twist" was visible from a mile away, and I am someone who is usually so buoyed along by stories and am not looking to be all "gotcha" about twists.

I was so excited to read this. My grandmother's family is from the Carpathian Mountains and I love dunking on influencers so I was like THIS BOOK IS FOR ME. And it really, really wasn't. Two stars for having a good idea and completing a book I guess.

***Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for providing and ARC in exchange for an honest review.***

"You Are Invited" is what I immediately thought of as a horror story for millennials. The story follows a young writer named Cath who, along with four other social media influencers, embarks on a month long stay in an old monastery in Romania. The monastery has a bloody history intensified by a foreboding ghost story told by Cath and an ominous black figure that repeatedly appears before our main character.

Each of the influencers reminded me of the type of social media personalities I've seen in real life. They were people you could love or hate, or love to hate. Each character also had a distinct reaction to the events taking place in the monastery which gave the story a multi-faceted feeling.

At the heart of this story is the concept of mental illness and the way that it can affect the way we see and handle events. As a reader I was unsure if Cath was an unreliable narrator or if the spooky things were really happening and she was reacting to them. Each character falls apart a little in their own way reminding us that there is not just one singular descent into madness. Great book, perfect for fall, read it with the lights on!

Social media influencers go to a retreat in Transylvania which is live-streamed to their millions of fans. This part of the premise alone had me request this book to review. There are wolves and something dark lurking in the forest of the monastery they are residing at. Tensions rise amongst the participants as the reading also learns about the history of the residence.
There are supernatural elements, themes of mental health and LGBTQI+. The characters are captivating and layered, and I really felt for the protagonist Cath, even though she was an unreliable narrator. I absolutely loved this page-turner and highly recommend to anyone that loves an eerie atmosphere and psychological thrillers. Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to review this book

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this disturbing book

you are invited....

a small group of people are invited to the event...it will make them rich and famous, all they have to do is stay connected...be seen and interact with their audience

and being in a castle that use to be a monastery half way up a mountain isnt scary at all but add in romania the home of dracula and the nerves get a bit frayed..then add to that the history of the place...how all the nuns one night were murdered and how it had never been solved

you would be twitched right...and so it began, first it was medication going missing then it was chocolates and as the days went on the atmosphere got darker and darker

well was well and truly hooked with this one...had to see it through to the end to see what was going to happen..not a bit disappointed at all...

cant wait for the next book from this author

A ghost story with a social media twist set in romania and dracula country? Yes please. This was a treat. Not overly scary but there are some brrr moments and the idea of a remote monastery in the middle of dracula country really spooked me.

Interesting twists and a good look at mental health, social media and more.

That cover really sets it off!

When I read the blurb my first thoughts were another take on Agatha Christie. I was so wrong. A group of social media personalities have all been invited to take part in the Event. Set in an old monastery in the Carpathian Mountains. A Big Brother scenario where viewers pay for the privilege and can spend 24/7 watching their favourite. The monastery has a bloody history and according to the locals it is cursed. Right now I have set the scene, but someone in the group has their own adgenda. How the author dealt with Emma's mental illness and how she spirals down. Reading this book you have a sense of doom but it still shocked me and as for the ending OMG. Almost five stars. So much more than your average ghost story. LOVED IT !!!!!
Thanks to Victory Editing and Netgalley for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

“You Are Invited” is the story of Cath, a fantasy writer who has found herself at a retreat for social media “influencers” and doesn’t really fit in. The retreat is held in Transylvania, in a creepy old building where a group of nuns was once massacres in a case that has never been solved.

Although setting a ghost story in Transylvania could veer too far into cliché territory, ‘You Are Invited’ avoids this by placing both ghosts and Cath’s mental health issues to the forefront of the story.

With Cath suffering from increasingly poor mental health, the reader is left wondering what to believe and who to trust in a narrative as twisty and turny as the halls of the monastery. The author manages to keep the reader guessing from the start, as we wonder if the ghosts are real or in Cath’s head.

Overall although this book is listed as a ghost story, it’s much more than that. It’s also an interesting psychological thriller that perfectly captures the hopelessness of a mental health break set inside the terrifying bleak landscape of Eastern Europe.

I absolutely love a good ghost story and this ticked all of the boxes for me. It is set in a creepy two hundred year old monastery in the Carpathian Mountains in Romania. This is so much more than just a ghost story with themes including mental illness and paranoia. It’s full of tension, extremely atmospheric and there’s and underlying feeling of dread throughout. You just know something horrendous is about to happen. While it didn’t exactly frighten me as such, I was totally gripped by this book and read it in two sittings. It is definitely a novel to curl up on the sofa with a hot chocolate and just lose yourself in the story. Would highly recommend.

Overall, this is a fast and engaging read . Five social media personalities (each representing a specific "personality" type - the jock, the gamer, the popular girl, etc), isolated in an abandoned convent in the Carpathian mountains to participate in The Event.It's an intriguing set-up and Denzil creates a moody/spooky atmosphere as a perfect set up for a ghost story. There were some interesting twits and turns, although it tended towards the predictable. Still, though, a fun read, and would be a good lighgly spooky read during the Halloween season.

One note, the portrayal of mental illness was...okay(ish). The author attempts to present mental illness in a realistic(ish) manner, but I always struggle when there is an implication that if a person "deals with their issues" that they can suddenly just stop taking medication. One, that's usually a terrible idea for a person's body if you just suddenly stop taking certain types of medication (withdrawal), two, taking medication is not a weakness or a crutch, its a tool for many to be able to function. My rating for the book was definitely negatively impacted by this decision, and I dropped a star.

A group of social media influencers are invited to an old, restored monastery in the Carpathian Mountains. As they get to know each other while being filmed on a live feed, they start to learn the tragic and haunted history of the monastery. ⁣
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This was a pretty steady, interesting read, with a bang of excitement at the end. I was not expecting the nail-biting climax, as this was more of a slow-burn spooky read throughout. You Are Invited is a modern day The Shining, with social media influencers in a place known as evil. I really enjoyed the variety of characters in this “closed room” mystery/horror/thriller. Yes, they were all influencers, but we’ve got a fantasy author, yoga guru, gamer, and others. A very good variety of characters that were fun to get to know. I especially liked the main character, Cath, who had her own issues to resolve. ⁣
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You Are Invited comes out 9/15. ⁣
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“𝘞𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯.”⁣

I was really intrigued by the premise of a retreat for social media influencers and the setting in a monastery in Transylvania sounded eerily perfect but at 16% in I'm just not scared, and am starting to lose interest. It's just not for me. DNF at 16%

Many Thanks to Net Galley, Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op and the author for a chance to read and review this book. All opinions are expressed voluntarily.

#YouAreInvited #NetGalley

Transylvania in Romania, the name of the place itself conjures an image of dark nights, Dracula’s and vampires or strigoi as they are called locally, blood dripping from their mouths, the image so macabre that it chills the bones. You are Invited by Sarah A Denzil begins on such a disturbing gloomy night, at the Sfantul Mihail or Saint Michael monastery, a 200-yr old building seeped in history of murder and mayhem.

Cath Fenwick is invited for a retreat of successful social media influencers and as a writer of fantasy fiction, Cath believes herself lucky to be in the presence of the star, cancer survivor, entrepreneur, Instagram influencer, Irene Jobart. The others attending THE EVENT of the century is Dan Mendoza, Jules Chen and Nathan MacDonald, all of them young successful stars in their own respective field. Anything too good to be true, of course, there’s a catch.

THERE’S NO PRIVACY!

The social media, the twitterati’s, the youtubers, the bloggers, the followers, the instagrammers, every other Tom Dick and Harry can log in and subscribe and pay money to view your every thought and action. Reminded of BIG BOSS / BIG BROTHER anyone? Well, that is such a mild show compared to this chill fest!

The madness escalates as the Cath realizes the loss of her meds for schizophrenia that keeps THE VOICE at bay, Jules struggles with antipathy towards Irene, Nathan suffering a breakdown and so much keeps happening as secrets and truths of their face in reality comes thru and the close living quarters that seem to exacerbate their woes.

Sarah A Denzil captures the imagination of the reader with the setting and the atmospheric menace throughout the story. The wolves, the ghosts, the brutal history of the nuns’ death, the absolute desolation of the place adds to this intense drama that raises goosebumps on your skin. After about three-quarters of the book, the story takes on such a rapid pace that as a reader you can feel the intensity of the menace and dread just lurking around the corner. By the time the end credits roll in, I had already run a marathon with a galloping heart.

So obviously, I loved everything about this book and really do not want to classify it as a ghost story, as there is so much more than that and like Cath at the end, it is better to be illogically logical.

The plot was very intriguing and original. I like the idea of the influencers interacting with their fans (made me think of the movie Nerve) and 'entertaining' them. At the beginning, you get to know the characters but never deep enough to really care much for them. We see how they react to some mysteries happening in that 'haunted mansion'. I enjoyed how things unfold at the end. However, I didn't care much or understood Cath's obsession with Maria (the potential ghost). Overall, it was a good read.

Thanks Sarah Denzil and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-Op for the ARC.

Book - You Are Invited
Author - Sarah Denzil

📍NOT PUBLISHED YET

📌Cath Fenwivk receives an offer to join "The event" - a monetised retreat for social media influencers in Transylvania,Romania by Irene Jobert, the famous bellwether in the world!
Cath is ecstatic to be one of the chosen participant as there were going to be handful of them!

📌Alexandrou,the driver in their journey gives her an idea of the place nestled halfway up in the Carpathian mountains is haunted monastery rather nunnery to specify! The place- Sfântul Mihail is 200 years old and on one fateful night in 1946 all nuns were found dead mysteriously! There are folklores &several tales about it.

📌So five of them,Irene -the model and influencer, Nathan -the handsome gamer, Jules -the blogger, Daniel -the fitness guru and Cath- the writer are going to be paid by patrons getting livestreamed in front of millions of people. The part of place is specially renovated for the jamboree. Things go well smoothly until they start exploring other parts like other foreboding wings,cloister garth, church even passing through long&dark corridors. The spooky feelings crop up when they notice the sixth member's presence conspicuously on their self cameras after return. The wolves are seen and dark lurking figure is often observed in background,forest monastery everywhere. Was the shadow of one of the nun in black tunic or the strigoi(vampire in Romanian language)? Cath looses her medicines of psychological treatment mysteriously! Viewers find such and other contents good for watching,but few followers get concerned and propose them to leave and few encourage to kill someone or each other for fun offering cash and ultimately this cursed locus start taking toll on everybody physically and mentally, making circumstances deteriorate. Cath is dubious sometimes whether she is perceiving the reality or hallucinating inadvertently. And there comes a horrendous night!

📌So.. What's the fate of night and participant's lives?
Do they all die like those nuns? Well,I am a bit assertive to prevail the truth partially!
But who kills them? How they die?? Any survivor???

📍You really need to wait since the book is not published yet!

📌I could build my own connection with characters since they were specified efficiently. The uncanny write up by Sara has sinister effects with eerie elements and I could follow effortlessly
till epilogue experiencing the fear myself with goosebumps while visualising it.

📍You are invited
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Finally, I got to read something I could get my teeth into! Five social media influencers are invited to The Event - a social experiment where they spend one month in a remote former monastery in the Carpathian Mountains in Romania while everything is live streamed and viewers can issue challenges to the participants. A bit like Big Brother only more creepy. The participants are lured with the promise of making money as their followers need to pay a subscription to watch the action.

So we have Cath, our narrator, who writes fantasy books and interacts heavily with her followers. Cath also apparently has schizophrenia and is on antipsychotic medication. Then we have Irene Jobert, a social media darling with millions of followers, she is apparently a cancer survivor and now has a make-up empire. There is also Jules, a lifestyle blogger; Dan, the fitness nut who does yoga at sunrise and Nathan the gamer boy who apparently also has an undisclosed mental heath condition. Irene and her mother have organised The Event.

The monastery (which was actually a home to nuns) is reputed to be haunted, I guess that’s why they picked it. In 1946 the nuns were all murdered, their throats slashed, the Abbess was the only one who survived. What better place to bring together 5 strangers for a social experiment? Sure enough soon there are things going ‘bump’ in the night and strange shapes are seen on some of the footage. Cath’s medication disappears on the first day so the voice in her head is given free rein again. She keeps seeing a white wolf and a dark shrouded shape. She becomes obsessed with one of the nuns and her story. If that isn’t enough throw in a snowstorm and the revelation that one of the group has been deceiving the others, stir the pot and - BOOM!

I didn’t find this creepy, but then I never do. It was, however, very atmospheric. The monastery was almost a character in its own right. The tension got so thick you could cut it with a knife. It was obvious something untoward was going to happen but I had no idea what as the book could have gone in any number of directions. I am pleased to say I didn’t see that twist coming. I found the book very entertaining and it was enjoyable to read. Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and Sarah A. Dentil for my review copy. 3.5 stars rounded up.

This was fun! I loved the setting: a big house in the wilds of Romania, set up with camera for live-streaming. The comments on YouTuber and reality TV culture was good too. The character were paper-thin and I often lost track of who was who, and it all gets a bit silly towards the end as thrillers usually do. But it was good fun.

Irene Jobert is one of the most world's famous influencers, with over ten million followers across her social media accounts. It is most people's dream to live her lavish lifestyle and share in her online success. Five, lucky, smaller influencers have been given the chance to do just that, and spend the next few weeks residing alongside her in a renovated Transylvanian monastery with 24/7 streaming for those willing to pay.

You are invited to The Event.

Our eyes into all that occurred belonged to Cath, a writer with an online legion made up of thousands of eager readers and supporters. Despite this, her quiet and lonely existence could not differ more from those she now shared her every breath and movement with: The Mr Nice Guy of the fitness world, the over-enthusiastic teen gamer, the stern-faced fearless feminist, and, of course, their fearless leader, Irene. However, they were never allowed to forget that the mysterious company providing the financial backing for this project were the real figures in charge.

This compelling premise sucked me in and the eerie events which soon took over ensured I remained glued to the pages. I also found it a very clever tactic to intersperse Cath's perspective with those from the paid live-streams, as they often noticed shifting shadows and faceless figures that the others could not. It made every scene one of tension, when both reader and central characters were unaware if any other elements were present and when truth seemed so determined to be held at bay.

“We invited the monster in. Mother Mary help us, save our souls, we are cursed here on the mountains. Our Father has cursed us. We are in your hands now Mother. Help us! Help us!”

You are invited has completely reignited my love of horror.

A fast-paced ghost story full of thrilling little twists and turns with a cast of interestingly flawed characters.

This book kept me up with some fairly disturbing dreams for a few nights but I am very glad to have read it. Would highly recommend!

The whole novel was inherently thrilling. Everything was on point, I liked the plot, the characters were nuanced and complex, the writing felt enticing. I was drawn to it and wanted to keep reading.

I had a lot of fun with You Are Invited!

Spooky, dark, claustrophobic (in a good way), and ends with a bang. My favorite "trope" will always be a locked room mystery. And this felt similar to And Then There Were None in tone without ever having a similar plot set up. We have people stuck in this creepy building, constantly live feeding all of their actions, and it's a not very happy family. Lots of drama and toxic relationships lead to the ending we all knew would come at some point....

If there was anything I particularly enjoyed about You Are Invited, it was definitely the scary stories Catherine told. They were creepy, and while it didn't move the plot forward, they always felt right. And when I say that they "felt right", the stories completely nailed the ominous tone. Everything is supposed to be ominous and a mystery of what is REALLY happening, especially all the messages in the chat that insist that one of the five is going to die by the end of the trip....

My only complaint with You Are Invited are the sometimes less-creepy chapters. These usually involve the five guests casually talking, and while their behaviour is realistic, the only thing this book didn't nail was having realistic conversations from influencers and also managing those to be just as creepy as the more sinister parts of the book.

I think you should be looking out for You Are Invited, especially if you're a fan of locked room plots as much as I am!