I really enjoyed the writing. The chapters were short and provided background while moving the story forward. However, I didn’t connect with Steve or any of the other characters. Steve was envious of his friend John and his life, but never made any decisions to improve his own life.
I will definitely read more by this author. Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced digital copy. Four stars

This is a meandering book with characters you will not like. At times it is funny but mostly it is about the interactions of 4 people told from the perspective of Steve, a shallow, jealous, petty, unambitious, sexist, man. There are comparisons made to the Great Gadsby within the book itself so I can guess that the author was pushing the comparison and falling short for that type of fame. If you have to sell it that hard then the material just isn't there.

Each of the four primary characters are unlikable but they are all described from the perspective of the storyteller, Steve, so it is sometimes hard to tell if they are really as bad as he perceives them to be but their actions show their unlikability even without Steve's biased assessment. Though he probably presented them out of context for some of the stories.

The book is told from Steve's point of view in the present but will many backward glances.
This book took me a long time to finish because there were so many other better books to read and at times I just didn't want to pick it up again.

Thank you Net Galley for an opportunity to read and review this book in advance in return for an unbiased review

Choices were made and the only good one was it being short.



Thank you NetGalley and Celestial Eyes Press for providing a copy for an honest review.

* I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this book. All thoughts are my own.

I try to give every single book I read a fair shot. The only good thing about this book was how short it is. It reeks of sexism. The men, specifically the main character Steve, was condescending and sexist. He was constantly objectifying women. Every single “hot blonde” that he saw he called a “Swede”, and instead of referring to women with their names he would say “Swede 7” (or whatever number they were up to). The sexism literally starts in the first chapter and just continues through the entire book. All of the women have either administrative, marketing, or clothing store associate jobs. I get maybe women weren’t as prevalent in IT back in the ‘90s but they were absolutely there!!

Moving past the sexism, all of the character sucked. They had no redeeming qualities. Lauren was super jealous of Mary, and they would just tell other people each other’s secrets. Steve obviously sucked as mentioned previously.

This book, though short, is really slow. It’s marketed as a mystery/thriller but it really isn’t. The dinner party doesn’t happen until over halfway (55%) through the book. And really nothing happens that would be remotely considered “thriller” until around 80% through. The ending itself was pretty lame and seemed like a quick wrap up.

I would not recommend this book to any of my friends. Apparently women are not the target audience for this book, which is really disappointing for 2022. Maybe a 60 year old man would like it but nobody that I connect with about books.

I chose not to finish this book after reading 25 pages. The story and characters fell flat for me. I just did not care about the plot or the characters. I had been excited about the premise of this book after reading the description, but felt that it did not live up to the description.

I struggle with the review and rating on this one. I am not one to reword the summary of the book, I tend to write more about what I thought about the book and highlight what I remember most and what stayed with me. There wasn’t anything that really stood out to me with this book, yet it was intriguing enough that I was able to finish it in only three days, which says a lot for me. There are some books that take me weeks or months to complete when I’m not interested in them. I kept thinking this would be perfect for TV or film. I didn’t love the characters, but I think that was intentional and plays into the plot and story perfectly. That itself demonstrates talent to be able to match characters, behavior, and plot consistently throughout the book. Overall, I did enjoy reading it.

‘Many Are Invited’ has all the makings of a great book club pick. Literary merit, a bingeable pace and length, Great Gatsby references, thought provoking topics, consistent and cyclical use of themes and motifs, and l the teappings of psychological drama that book clubs love.

An end-of-year housewarming party turned mystery set in the 1990s, we get some Slicone Valley vibes, Y2K tech scare struggles, and— as aforementioned— some Gatsby parallels in respect to jealousy and love triangles and conventions of success. The drama wastes no time in gearing up, making this an easy read to get into, and the deliberate unlike-ability of the characters makes it even easier to make your way through with a need to know how things come full circle.

Younger (Gen Z) readers may find the terminology and setting a little difficult, but it’s nothing a quick google of Y2K or Gates/Jobs drama of the 90s couldn’t fix in under ten minutes.

Thank you very much to Netgalley and Celestial Eyes Press for the invitation to read an e-ARC of Dennis Cursta’s ‘Many Are Invited.’

I got a quarter way through and just could not continue reading. I promised myself I wasn’t going to waste any more of my time finishing awful books. There are too many good books out there to waste time on garbage. I’ve already forced myself to finish too many shitty books this year, I can’t do it again. This book was so dreadfully boring. I need to be pulled in and if you can’t manage to do that by the 25% mark, you never will. I’m sorry I can’t write a proper review from start to finish of this book. I’ll never finish it and I have absolutely no desire to. 0/5 stars.

Sorry, but no - I didn't like the writing, I dind't relate to any of the characters, and I didn't feel that the synopsis was reflective of the book itself. Unfortunately this wasn't for me.

This was a hard book to get into, and I still am not fond of the way the book ended. The back and forth was easy to follow though, and the Y2K references were spot on.

I will give this author another chance with their next book.

I liked this book, but not what I was expecting. It was a good read. I may go back and read it again. It definitely would make for a good book club discussion.

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy to review.

I'll be honest, I couldn't finish it. It may be due to the upheaval my life was in at the time I read it. I couldn't get into it. Didn't really warm up to any characters. I may try again and see; but for now, it's a miss

Thank you to NetGalley and Celestial Eyes Press for the Advanced Readers Copy of Many Are Invited by Dennis Cuesta! I was extremely excited to read this as my first NetGalley ARC. The cover summary had me immediately interested. Unfortunately I agree with many of the reviews here that mention flat characters and lack of character development.. I did not particularly like or care about any of the characters enough to want to read more by Cuesta.

I had a hard time finishing this read and never really got into it. Glad to hear that others enjoyed it however!

Thanks again NetGalley!

2 stars, rounded down from 2.5

This will not be a positive review. The main thing I can say about this book is it’s short. The characters are unappealing and the story isn’t particularly interesting, although it was entertaining to remember how freaked out everyone was in the late 1990s about the Y2K problem (widely anticipated computer programming issue, for those who don’t know or don’t remember, related to the year turning from 1999 to 2000).

Right from the start, you find out that something awful happened at a housewarming party in late 1999. The rest of the story is told as a flashback, from one man’s POV, Steve. Themes covered include professional and personal jealousy. Widespread sexism abounds, with the men in the story referring to women they think are attractive as “Swede 5” or “Swede 7”, as if all attractive women are Swedish. Ugh. And there was a whole section of chitchat about politics and religion at the housewarming party that didn’t seem to serve any purpose in advancing the plot, and so could easily have been edited out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celestial Eyes Press for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I was looking forward to this, I thought the synopsis sounded great but there was something missing. The characters were just kind of shallow and I didn’t see much development in them.

I have seen mixed reviews on this one, but I thoroughly enjoyed it! I loved the plot parallels with THE GREAT GATSBY. It is a short read and the drama unfolds quickly!

The story begins twenty years after the fact, when Steve Galonos finds an old invitation to a housewarming party back in 1999. This causes him to think back to the events leading up to, during, and after that fateful night.

The story is told from the perspective of Steve, and his recollection goes back to 1994, when he listens to John Goertz give a lecture about anticipated problems for the computerized world surrounding the year 2000.

Steve does not understand why they are talking about the year 2000, which is 6 years away! Unbelievably to Steve, John is put in charge of a year 2000 compliance program for their company.

John is slightly younger than Steve, and Steve is jealous of the man’s success. Somehow the two men become friends but the jealousy continues as John gradually gets more successful, and even meets and marries the woman Steve thinks is meant for him. This rivalry eventually leads to unexpected consequences at a housewarming party just before the year 2000 begins.

The book ends full-circle in a unique way (that still has me slightly puzzled!) I really enjoyed the Y2K tie-in and the explanations actually helped me to understand that issue a little better! I thought this was an entertaining story and I felt compelled to read to see how it worked out!

My sincere thanks to @netgalley and Celestial Eyes Press for my digital copy. My thoughts are my own.

This book had a good plot but lost me at the character development. I didn't really like any of the characters and it was hard to get through. Again, the storyline and plot had a great chance of making this book a great one, but it just wasn't for me.

This book was definitely different. I had a hard time getting into this book, and in parts it was confusing to me. I was having to go back and re-read parts I'd already read to keep up with the story. Some of the characters I didn't like at all. They were so shallow. Three of the people I did like are John, Steve, and Mary. I did like the twist at the ending. Thank you to the author, publisher, and net galley for giving me the opportunity to read it. Check it out and decide for yourself whether you like this novel.

A huge thanks to Netgalley for giving me this eARC in exchange for my honest review. I was excited to read this book because of the plot but sadly this book bored me to tears. I was not pulled into the story right away nor did I feel connected to the characters.

This was a very quick read. I was hoping for a little more Y2K era nostalgia. I think the intended audience for this book are those who are familiar with the cyber and IT world. It was a little technical jargon heavy. I wish there was more character development and that more action happened earlier in the story. Thank you NetGalley for this arc!