I was scared of one book in middle school. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie and when I saw the synopsis of this book I was ready to be scared again. I was and still am a little bit. The whole story is engrossing and I couldn’t put it down until I reached THE END. I hope to read more from this debut author very soon.

I would like to start off by thanking Random House Ballantine | Bantam and Ande Pliego for allowing me to read this book, You Are Fatally Invited, via Netgalley. All opinions following are my own.

This book is FULL of twists and turns. At times, it can be difficult to follow because there are multiple points of view, and, sometimes, the character speaking is a mystery. However, if the reader sticks it out to the end, it all comes together and is definitely worth it!

The book takes place on an island, where the elusive and anonymous J. R. Alastor and his host for the weekend, Mila, have invited six thriller authors for a writing retreat and to meet Mr. Alastor. It soon becomes obvious, though, that all these authors are withholding deadly secrets, and someone intends to make them pay... maybe with their lives.

I went back and forth on whether or not to give this book four or five stars because, as mentioned previously, it could be hard to follow at times. Ultimately, I went with ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, though, because it met all my criteria for a five-star book. Also, it came together in the end. I hope to read more from #andepliego in the future!

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The premise of this book sounded great to me, so I was happy to get the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book thanks to the publisher and NetGalley. The author wrote a clever mystery with lots of red herrings. Unfortunately, the book didn't really work for me. I found it hard to keep track of all the (unlikeable) characters, and the multiple points of view were also confusing for me. The book was also gorier than I would have liked. I wish the author good luck with her future novels.

Bring together a group of mystery writers to a secluded island and watch what happens. The very private author, J.R. Alastor, invites a group of authors to his home to solve puzzles, and gather some writing inspiration. What they do not realize is that their invitations are motivated by secrets and will lead to murder. As the body count rises, the question is why these people are being targeted. Who will live to figure out the clues? No spoilers, but I did not guess the why until almost the reveal. An enjoyable and puzzling read.

This story reminded me so much of another author's work I had read before. I actually stopped to make sure I wasn't reading their work again. I like the idea of writers gathering together for retreats and how they react to one another. The author had a good mix of interesting characters, so the book moved along at a nice pace. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This was so much fun! And really reminded me of Clue (so I would highly recommend this to fans of Clue).

I really don't want to spoil this at all (it especially seems like the kind of thriller that you should go in knowing as little as possible), so this review may be very vague and basically a mini summary.

This follows a group of writers as they go on a sort of retreat to another famous and successful author's secluded home. Things are vaguely creepy just because of the location for this group, but things get really crazy and intense when things go missing and when people end up dead or missing.

I had a lot of fun with this and the vibes were so perfect for this type of mystery (and, again, very Clue-esque).

And I really liked the excerpts that were sprinkled throughout along with the pages of classic mystery trope explanations/definitions. That was just a fun little touch that was relevant to what was going on in the story at the time.

And I sped through this (it's also pretty short, so it was easy to speed through in a lazy, grey-skyed day).

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of the book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.

“You Are Fatally Invited” is a murder mystery thriller debut novel by Ande Pliego. An author, J. R. Alastor invites six thriller mystery writers to his private island for a writing retreat. His host, Mila, is a former aspiring writer - and both Alastor and Mila have axes to grind with the writers. This book is a classic locked room mystery, so if you enjoy those you may very well enjoy this book. For me, this book started off pretty strongly - there’s a map, there’s meeting the authors, the host, and the staff. But, it also felt like the writer was trying to be really really carefully clever - and I found myself paying more attention to minute things opposed to, well, enjoying the story. I did get a chuckle out of two TV show references (if you don’t get them, it doesn’t matter to the story, but they were nice mentions). The pacing is a bit uneven and I found myself having to return to the beginning of the chapter to remind myself whose POV I was reading. Mila’s POV with the second-person I found a bit off-putting, though I kept wondering (especially toward the end) if the build-up was really necessary. I did feel like the author hit a number of murder/mystery tropes which should have been expected by the six authors (and the reader). Overall, this wasn’t quite the book I was expecting, though I will say that the author is a talented writer and it shows.

An anonymous novelist invites a group of authors to a retreat on a private island off the coast of Maine. The only stipulation—play the games and figure out the tropes or die trying. One author is murdered as the games begin!

J. L. Alastor, a renowned writer, sets up the retreat with assistant Mila de Angel, who’s out for revenge against one of the authors who stole and published her novel. Each writer has secrets and confessions to reveal in a race to discover Alastor's identity and not get killed in their attempts. But then everyone becomes a suspect as the writers disappear, and even Mila finds herself a target.

Complicated and character-driven, the twisty plot and complex character roles can be tedious to follow, but the reader will rush to the end to unravel the truth. It seems a little too drawn out and dramatic at times. Once J.L. Alastor is revealed, the story moves to a suspenseful pace. I loved how the story wrapped up in a perfect conclusion. Great character and setting descriptions make an intriguing novel. Thank you, NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review it. #NetGalley #YouAreFatallyInvited #Thrillers

The synopsis of this novel by Ande Pliego immediately caught my attention when I read it, and I was so excited when I found out that I won an ARC of this novel. The fact that this novel was about a group of mystery and thriller authors who are invited onto a deserted island by an anonymous author who happens to know some of the authors' deepest and darkest secrets intrigued me as I love reading these type of suspenseful novels. However, I have to say that I was a bit disappointed after reading this story. While reading it, I found myself feeling confused a lot of the time and I had to go back and reread some parts of the story (particularly the dialogue between the characters) to make sense of what was happening in the story. I also found the pacing of the story to be a bit off and not quite to my liking. I also could not make myself really care for any of the characters in the novel as none of them really had any redeeming qualities to me. I really wanted to like this novel more than I did as the premise is very unique and interesting but unfortunately this was just not the novel for me despite me loving this genre.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Six thriller authors receive an invitation for a workshop weekend, hosted at the secluded private island of legendary thriller author—J.R. Alastor.

Some company to get the ideas flowing, good food and drink, and maybe even some mystery trope related games—sounds absolutely ideal for a creative weekend!

And then, one of the guests goes missing.

You think you know how this story goes—but trust me, you don’t. Debut author @andepliegowrites has crafted a genius first novel that is equal parts tribute to the genre and deliciously fun mystery.

Pliego does a wonderful job developing the different characters (and their specific types of mystery works) and creating an eerie, tense atmosphere. My favorite part was the absolute homage to the genre. There are Easter eggs GALORE for those of us who nerd hardcore on the genre—adding an extra level of enjoyment to this book.

I hope this brilliant debut is the first in a long line of work we can expect to see from Pliego.

The synopsis for this story is very appealing and the book itself has many twists and turns. It is not like anything else I have read before. I loved the characters and the suspense. I think the ending is wonderful and it really made the book for me. My one problem with the book was even though it was interesting at times it was a little long in the tooth. I also found the characters hard to keep track of at times. I tend to read my books at night before bed and this book requires a more alert mind. This is not a bad thing just not what I am used to, Would I recommend this book, YES! Would I read this book again? YES (something I rarely do). The next time I will have a cheat sheet to keep track :-) Great debut novel Ande Pliego.
Huge thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam and Ande Pliego for this ARC

This book had so many twists and turns. It was clever, full of puzzles, interesting characters, and forebodings. I didn't know who to root for and who to be afraid of! The author did a great job with the many points of view, the setting, and the pace. I'd highly recommend it.

3.5 stars rounded up. This book had a lot of perspective changes which made it a bit confusing at first, but once the story gets going, it is easier to follow along. A group of writers are invited to a remote island for a writing retreat. Mila, the organizer may have some ulterior motives of her own in helping to plan the retreat for the reclusive owner JR Alastor. Just a side note, but one of the main characters is named Ashton Carter. Why oh why couldn’t these names have been less similar? There were too many characters and perspective changes to use Alastor and Ashton as two of the names.

Each of the characters has something to hide from their past. Alastor has set up “games” for them to complete. Mila doesn’t expect there to be murder, but this is how the week starts and immediately everyone is looking at each other askance. Who knows who and what have they done?

About halfway through, the story picked up momentum and was easier to follow. In the end, it was an enjoyable one day read and I will try more by this author. Thank you Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC to read and review.

authors, closed-circle-mystery, mystery, suspense, reclusive, secrets, lies, eliminating, isolation*****

I really enjoyed this sneaky collection of tropes designed to entertain most of us who get off on a variety of mystery styles and motives. There are six thriller authors coming together for a weeklong writing retreat at Wolf Harbor Island, a private island owned by a legendary reclusive author. The place has many secret passages, and the exterior environmental atmosphere is dark and stormy, thereby isolating the lot of them. Working up to some points, there is focusing on each invited author to set the stage for the coming events with tightening suspense, and the whole is reminiscent of Clue (movie) vs And Then There Were None, but lots more fun!
I requested and received a temporary uncorrected ebook file from Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam via NetGalley. Thank you!
Pub Date Feb 11, 2025 #YouAreFatallyInvited by Ande Pliego @andepliegowrite #NetGalley @penguinrandom @TransworldBooks #BantamBooks

Unreliable narrators, lots of twists and turns and a very dramatic setting will have you racing through this book. When seeral famous authors are invited to an isolated island, there's bound to be trouble or maybe even murder.

You Are Fatally Invited is an isolation locked room mystery that is perfect for true lovers of the genre and aspiring writers. We follow six thriller authors has they arrive at the secluded island home of the intensely private and legendary author, J.R. Alastor. Alastor has personally invited all of them to a week long writing retreat taking place at his house that includes games and riddles to test them. Mila, is the event coordinator hired to make everything go off without a hitch but she is in over her head when guests start turning up dead.

This was such a fun time. I started this book and had such a hard time putting it down until I finished it. I was totally swept up with the characters, the reveals and seeing it all come together. Many books label themselves as Clue themed books but You Are Fatally Invited truly understood the magic of that movie. Not only are all the characters distinctive but the pacing of the movie slowly builds using the house as an integral backdrop and Pliego nailed it. But it is subtle enough that it doesn't overpower the story and may only be noticeable to those who are obsessed enough with the movie to quote it.

I also admire how Pliego told the story with each part following a different day and slowly incorporating in other perspectives. The group is stranded due to a terrible storm and the internet and communication are down so they are just trying to survive until the supply boat comes on day 7. The tension of the events was exhilarating and I loved all the games and the sinister background of the characters.

This is Pilego's debut novel so some of the themes and plot were a bit heavy handed but as a fervent lover of the mystery genre I adored every second. I have not stopped thinking of these characters and the experience I had reading it. This is the perfect read to curl up with on a cozy weekend and just lose yourself in this stunning novel.

You Are Fatally Invited is the story of what happens when a group of murder mystery writers gather on an isolated island for a writers retreat. After the writers get to know each other a little bit, and exchange some witty conversation, horrible events occur, and after each one, the writers use their professional backgrounds to figure out who is responsible and why these events occurred.

This book starts out fun, and humorous, and I was excited to immerse myself in the story. But about halfway through, it gets serious, and bloody events occur. The story starts to get a little slow, bogged down, and confusing. I did love the beginning. But there's a lot of information about each character's back ground presented in the second half of the book, and because each chapter is written from a different character's point of view, I started to feel overwhelmed and sometimes a little lost. I had to go back and reread at times. I felt like the ending was as satisfying as it could, with all that had happened. I would have loved this book more if it were edited down a bit.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review You Are Fatally Invited.

Reclusive author J. T. Alastor has invited mystery writers to his remote island retreat for a week of writing inspiration and puzzle solving. Thrilled to get the invitation, each author is eager to meet the author they all have envied for his success. What each of them doesn't know is that Alastor has set them up for a week of actual murders instead of just writing about them. Each author has something in their past for which Alastor feels they need to atone for or die. As the bodies pile up, readers are thrown red herrings left and right leaving them wondering if indeed their unseen host even exists or could Alastor be one of them?
Cleverly incorporating all of the genre's usual tropes, locked room, poisoned meals, death by hanging, etc. author Pliego leads readers on a merry chase through the rocky cliff side mansion leaving just enough clues for readers to be able to "play along" with the stranded authors.
Recommended for classic mystery lovers.

Compelling and twisty, with multiple viewpoints and a spooky, "locked-door" setting. Asks how far a plagiarized author will go for revenge.

The topsy-turvy ride that this book was gave me whiplash, honestly.

It started off so good, firstly. This is how it went—oh, a map at the beginning of a mystery-thriller? That's pretty unique AND OHH IT'S A CLUE BOARD! IT'S A CLUE BOARD MAP!

And then it simmered down. Way, way down. The characters weren't well defined, the tension didn't land, and the interactions felt forced. I kept getting really bored and almost DNFing at multiple points. It's a weird book that kept giving morsels of clever meta references and twists that kept me reading. It's written as a thriller but almost comes off as a literary exercise. It challenges preconceived notions, tropes, and thought processes of characters in mysteries, but commits an extremely hackneyed twist at the end. It's more of an artistic experience than an immersive read. You want to see the book get truly meta? <i>"Darling, life's too short to spend five hundred pages in misery."</i> Apparently, I don't agree, since I read the entirety of this.

2.5 stars. I giggled at many references and loved how the book was a Cluedo exercise in itself. It didn't work for me, nor was it memorable, but it had its moments.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!