Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam for allowing me to read and ultimately review audibly You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego on NetGalley.

Narrators: Multiple
Published: 02/11/25

Stars: 2.5

After starting and stopping several times I was able to pick up the audiobook. I was selected to read not listen to the book; however, I would have never finished it and gave serious thought to quitting on the audiobook as well.

Disappointing. This story has been over done. The names and places change. I didn't like any of the characters and their dialogue ranged from childish to maddening.

The board game Clue is genius, the movie ridiculously insulting and this book leaves me with a why? Your experience could be different.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I've read numerous locked room murder mysteries and didn't have high hopes as this trope is getting to be overdone. However, I was pleasantly surprised with this book! It was a unique take on the locked room idea and had a bit of the "And Then There were None" vibe. Chapters alternated between different points of view and each point of view became telling about what would happen in the upcoming chapters.

The cast of characters was unique and quirky and some were downright perfect to hate! The story starts with a group of writers being invited to the renowned and mysterious author J.R. Alastor's private Maine island for a writers retreat. But, instead of him showing up to host them, it turns he has another plan for all the writers, none of who are as innocent as they'd all have each other believe. One by one, justice will be served.

I tried to guess what was happening for the entire book and each time I thought I had it figured out, bam! Another twist. This was a surprisingly great book and I look forward to more books by this author.

This was a good thriller that had great stormy island vibes. I also really liked the short chapters it made this book very easy to read for me.
If you are a fan of locked room mysteries and Agatha Christie then I would recommend this book to you

Six authors are invited to an exclusive writing retreat hosted by the elusive author J.R. Alastor, at his private island. It turns deadly when one of the authors is discovered murdered.

A locked-room thriller that had me continuously guessing who the culprit was and what was going to happen next until the end! I really enjoyed the story line and characters. I thought the point of view changes throughout, helped to develop each character's story as well. I really enjoyed this book!

In general, I am not into locked room mysteries. It’s difficult to define why, although I do think it partially has to do with how similar they often feel to me. When authors lean heavily into this specific trope, the stories seem to become mirror images of each other.

I was, however, attracted to the addition of all authors being a part of this mystery, and while there was a keen sense of familiarity with the narrative, You Are Fatally Invited was a significantly more exciting experience for me. It does stand out, as debut author Ande Pliego took that old branch from the suspense tree and gussied it up in an authentically fun and exciting way, hooking readers with not just one mystery, but several!

While the truth regarding one puzzling aspect was quite obvious, since this type of reveal has been done countless times, there were still several other dangling threads that couldn’t easily be tied together. I enjoyed the steady pacing and I was eager to uncover the plethora of secrets.

Now I will linger in the suspense of what Ande Pliego will produce next, and I am looking forward to reading whatever she comes up with!

I am immensely grateful to Bantam Books and NetGalley for my copy. All opinions are my own.

This was a neat twist on a mystery. I enjoyed the detail to the murders happening with specific details for each character. I felt like the plot was a bit slow and the middle of the book was a bit of a struggle to get through. I figured out part of the ending early on in the book. I enjoyed it, but didn’t love it.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

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).