My Jan/Feb reading slump was REAL but thanks for all my driving for work and volunteering I was able to get some audiobooks in and claw myself out of my slump. I loved this one audio with its chaotic cast of characters and twists at every turn. The narrators did an amazing jobs and I loved the distinctive voices and accents for each character.

A writing retreat on a private island in an elusive author’s giant mansion - what could go wrong?! This one felt like an Agatha Christie novel with all of its twists and turns, but also specifically reminded me a bit of The Hitchcock Hotel from last year as well.

I loved how this one felt like a puzzle and that it gave me the urge to take notes to figure everything out along the way. Very well put together and I will definitely be looking out for this author moving forward! Check this one out if you enjoy locked room thrillers, writing and books, and a little bit of chaos!

**Thank you to NetGalley and Bantam Books for the eARC of this title!**

Solid 4 stars for this "locked room" mystery set on an island in the middle of a storm over several days.

Reclusive author J.R. Alastor invites several famous people to his "writing retreat"... but it's obviously going to be something totally different! Told by the perspective of the guests, as well as by Mila, the hostess, secrets are uncovered and retribution is made.

But who is J.R. Alastor? And what are his motives? Definitely full of gore, but surprisingly NO sex or language, this is a solid entry in the locked room genre.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an ARC #sponsored

I am truly just such a sucker for a locked room mystery and this one delivers. Though very clearly pulling inspiration from Christie, the novel has modern update - like the inclusion of horror movie references - and a few bonus twists to keep it interesting.

**1.5-stars rounded up**

You Are Fatally Invited features a classic-Agatha Christie, And Then There Were None, set-up. Usually, an easy win for me. Additionally, it's set on a island off the coast of Maine. As an island resident myself, and having grown-up on the coast of Maine, both of these things should also have been wins.

What else? Oh, yes. The story also features a full cast of characters who are writers. Also a thing that I love, following author characters, getting insights on their processes. However, even with all of these incredible items being ticked off my personal checklist, this didn't work for me. It makes me sad, but I have to be honest about my experience.

From the very start, the writing style had me off-kilter. It just didn't mesh with me. There was one character whose perspective was 2nd-person, and that's not typically something I enjoy. Every time I got to that character's perspective it would jar me out of the story. Some people may assume that it's the fact that this whole cast is unlikable, but I assure you, that's not it. I love a cast of unlikable characters.

There were many times when I contemplated DNFing, but I felt like the least I could do was make it all the way through to the end. I owed it that, and it could have come around for me. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. It's pretty rare for me to actively-dislike a book the whole way through. I can almost always find some aspects to point out that I can compliment.

Unfortunately, I actively-disliked this throughout. I switched to the audiobook at around 35% to see if that would help. For a minute, I thought it would. Sadly, that notion disappeared as quickly as a free pizza in a workplace lunchroom.

I had been so excited for it too, based upon the points listed above, but it just wasn't the right story for me. We hated each other. I'm sure this book hated my eye-rolling, huffing-and-puffing ass very much by the end as well. I'm glad we can now go our separate ways. To me, it felt like the author was more in love with their own words than the plot, or the characters, of this story. I'm not saying this is true, it's just what reading this story made me feel. It's the taste I walked away with.

With this being said, I want to be CLEAR, this is just my PERSONAL EXPERIENCE with this book. If you look at the current reviews, I am in the minority opinion on this one. I would urge absolutely every Reader who is captivated by the synopsis, to go ahead and give this book a shot. It's certainly worth a read and you can come to your own conclusion on it.

Also, as I have pointed out in many of my other reviews, I never write an author off after one try. Even though this exact story wasn't quite to my liking, I would totally be down to picking up this author's next work.

Thank you, Bantam, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I appreciate it very much and I know that this novel is going to find a wide audience who loves it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishing company for this Advanced Readers Copy of You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego!

I really enjoyed this! This is brilliantly executed and a standout! This gives a fresh take on locked room mysteries and is one I would highly recommend! Special Thank You to Ande Pliego, Random House Publishing - Ballantine and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was an absolute blast—a twisted and thrilling adventure! It completely nailed the locked-room murder mystery vibe (a favorite of mine), and it had me guessing until the very end. The setup was great: a secluded private island, a writing retreat, and a mystery unfolding before your eyes. I liked the clue-like elements—secret passages, riddles, and a cast of characters, each harboring their own secrets. The pacing was perfect, drawing me in and keeping me hooked.

The ending wasn’t quite what I had envisioned. I expected a slightly different resolution, but even though it wasn’t flawless, but the twists were fun.

For a debut, this book did so many things right! The multiple perspectives were engaging. I found myself completely immersed, flipping through the pages like I couldn’t get enough. An addictively fun read!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and Netgalley for this ARC!

I loved the way the author played with the different horror tropes in this book. I also love locked room mysteries like this book. However, things just felt all over the place and I guessed the big twist early on so it felt anticlimactic.

This has several really good elements in the setup: A reclusive mystery author invites 6 other mystery authors to his private island for mystery retreat. Someone on the staff may not be quite who they appear to be, in fact, they may have an axe to grind.

There were also some great references to other thrillers, including props that would go missing from time to time, and show up in the most shocking places.

Then, suddenly a guest goes missing, the island is cut off from outside communication and there is a big storm brewing. While these elements an build atmosphere and anticipation, I feel like they have been done a billion times. If you are an Agatha Christie fan, this will remind you of one of her more famous novels.

There are plenty of twists and turns as the story progresses but it takes a long time to catch it's stride.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the eArc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Mila del Angel is hired by renowned author J. R. Alastor to organize a writer’s retreat at his manor home in Maine. Nobody, including Mila, knows J.R. Alastor’s true identity. Mila is excited to plan the event, which includes mystery games each night. Mila has her own agenda for wanting to participate – she has an old score to settle with one of the guests. However, when a guest dies, Mila realizes that Alastor also has an agenda, and it looks like she might be a pawn in a different kind of game, and she and the other guests are in danger.

This book has a fun premise with writers gathering in a remote location, reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. There is a bit of Clue thrown in there with secret passages and mystery games. The games are created around different tropes of horror novels, such as “Dinner Party” and “Survive the Night.” There are also excerpts of Alastor’s newest book on writing, which may just include some hidden meanings.

What could have been an outstanding book was brought down by the slow pace and often confusing plot. The book is told through multiple points of view, giving us a glimpse of each of the characters, but often opening up more questions instead of providing answers. Also, it was hard to distinguish between the characters, and I would often have to backtrack to remind myself who was narrating that particular chapter. The action picks up near the end, and many plot points come together for a dramatic and satisfying ending. The strong finish and clever premise bring this up to four stars for me. This is the author’s debut novel, so I look forward to reading more of her books in the future.

~ Christine

3.5 stars for me.

I have read a few locked room thrillers… I was apprehensive about this one because it dealt with authors as main characters, but I decided to give it a try!
It was really slow. My attention kept going in and out. Mila was a character I couldn’t identify with so it was meh. The ending was entertaining but overall, it missed this book mark for me.
I did enjoy the clue board type map and plot line!

This one really took me a minute to get into. There were some moments where the characters actions or internal conflicts dragged on but everything came together. Just when you thought you had things figured out, there would be a wrench thrown in the plan. I actually gasped at one point! I can’t wait to see what Ande comes up with next.

Mila del Angel has been hired by J.R. Alastor, an anonymous bestselling author, to host a writing retreat at his secluded mansion located on his private island. The guest list consists of six best selling authors in their own right, one of whom Mila holds a personal grudge against. And while Mila was initially all for the mind games Alastor had planned for the retreat, she quickly realizes she too was pawn in Alastor's game when people start actually dying. But who is Alastor and can Mila figure out the puzzle before it's too late?

Ande Pliego sets a great atmosphere: dark, secluded, creepy. And the plot was like a modern-day, real life CLUE game. But I found the characters lacked depth - and there are a lot of characters. I couldn't really relate to any of the characters, and while Mila had a bit of a backstory - she was the only one. I wanted to know more about the individual characters and not just what was written when they were being killed off. If felt a bit abrupt and a little too late. But I did like the who-done-it vibe and the book kept me guessing until the end. It literally could have been any one of them - or none of them. I appreciate a good mystery and an ending that, while I didn't see it coming, it also didn't seem completely random and pulled out of a hat just to be surprising.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine Bantam for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Special thanks to Penguin Random House for sending this title my way via NetGalley!

Six esteemed writers are invited to a special writing retreat to work with a reclusive writer they all idolize. Then the unthinkable starts happening, and each of them discover they all have something to hide. Can they survive the murder mystery tropes being thrown their way?

I didn’t know much about You Are Fatally Invited, but it sounded like such a fun murder mystery. I am here to tell you it did not disappoint! The writing was engaging, I really liked the multiple points of view, and how the book was divided into the different days on the island. Seeing the internal dialogue of multiple characters really made for quite a puzzle to solve, and it engaged my brain in such a great way.

I’d recommend this one if you enjoy locked room murder mysteries, Agatha Christie’s book And Then There Were None, or puzzles.

Content Warnings: blood/gore (while there is not a murder on the page, writer Ande Pliego spares no details in some rather gruesome reveals), gaslighting

This was an okay thriller, but it seemed like every other locked room mystery I have read so far. It was still very well done, but there wasn't that shocking twist that set it apart from other similar stories. Well I would recommend it, I don't know that I could separate it in my mind from recently read books.

This is a locked-room thriller. I like this genre, but it is hard to come up with much I haven't read before in some form. This was pretty close, as there is some complexity to it. A group of six thriller writers are invited to a retreat by JR Alastor. Alastor is a big name among writers, and no one knows who the actual person is. Not surprisingly, someone turns up dead and they all get to figure it out through games and such that their host has set for them. Oh yeah, and they haven't even met their host yet. The story is a fun take on the genre, although it is a bit uneven with the pacing. A lot going on, then slow, a lot again, then slow again. Overall, a very enjoyable debut and I would like to read the next offering from this author.

Thank you to #NetGalley, Ande Pliego and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

A writers' retreat hosted by the country's most reclusive/famous author, on an isolated island with a very exclusive guest list and at least one has a motive for murder - YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO READ THIS!

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 axe to grind with one of the invitees. The guest list? Six thriller authors, all masters of deceit, misdirection, and mayhem.

Confess the crimes, survive the tropes. WHAT?! Yeah. You really need to get on this wild ride.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

A thriller writer's retreat hosted by an anonymous and reclusive author turns into scenes from a thriller itself as one by one, the invited authors are murdered in ways that mirror their books. This locked-room mystery will keep you guessing until the end!

This was a creative take on many of the thriller and horror movie type tropes. Conceptually this was really fun, but needing to keep characters' secrets within a multi-POV story made things feel choppy and kept me from really connecting with any of the characters. It was fun and entertaining!

It makes sense why this is book is being talked about so positively - it was great! I love a "locked room" mystery and I felt this was well done. I liked the POV changes and felt it was important for the story to be what it is. The only thing for me that was maybe "negative" was it took me a little to keep track of which female guest character was who but within a couple chapters their personalities were different enough, in my opinion, to catch on. Overall this book was great and I would definitely recommend. I got through this one quick because it kept my interest and I wanted to find those twists and turns!

don’t have many thoughts on this one tbh - pretty good take on a locked room mystery and i liked the meta factor of them all being thriller authors; but idk i wasn’t particularly connected or interested in the story itself, i was never dying to pick it back up or anything. but it was good.