Six prominent mystery writers are invited to a private island by an anonymous author, J. R. Alastor, whose works are well known even if he isn't. And each writer is hiding a secret. This book is a wonderful debut by author Ande Pliego. It's a little bit Agatha Christie locked room, a little bit Clue, a little bit Puzzle Box, and a whole lot of fun.

The book starts slowly, and you might be confused by some of the names (Ashton is so close to Alastor, and Ashton is also called Ash and Carter), but hang in there - once it gets going it never lets up! There are a lot of characters, but each chapter is titled with the writer's name who is narrating. Sections are broken down by descriptions of mystery writing tropes, giving you a little prelude to what follows. Each night there is a different game/puzzle, organized by Mila, Alastor's assistant. She's been given an agenda, with no idea of the outcome. As the story proceeds, we see that Mila might be an unwitting player in the game, as are each of the writers.

And as one of the character's t-shirts reads, "Don't annoy the writer, they'll put you in a book and kill you.".

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for an advance reader's copy.

This was such an exciting and thrilling read! This book was recommended to me by quite a few people and I’m so glad I gave this a read.

When a group of best selling thriller authors get invited to an authors retreat by another famous author, how can you pass up the opportunity? What they thought would be a relaxing writing retreat, quickly turned into a deadly gave of Clue.

Each author had committed some sort of crime or sin that they were keeping a secret from one another. I honestly had no idea who to trust and who did what. Right when I thought I knew who put together the whole game, there was another twist that took me by surprise.

It’s so hard to write this review without giving any spoilers. Towards the last 20% of the book I kind of started putting some of the puzzle pieces together and I was so thrilled with the way this ended.

This will have you on the edge of your seat and wanting to finish in one sitting. If you like a sort of “who done it” thriller, please give this one a read! I promise you will not regret it.

Thank you to NetGalley & Random House Publishing Group for the chance to read this book!!

That was a REALLY GREAT book! A lot going on, a lot of people to follow up on at first but it's pretty easy to follow and it was a very fast paced read for me, kept me hooked from the beginning and I thankfully had a sick day today to get through it all in one sitting. Not sure how I would have gotten through my day if I actually had to put it down, honestly, that was one of the best 5 stars I've read in a while. An even better it's a new author's book debut from what I hear,So someone else to follow up on in the future and hopefully get to read some new material! So tired of all these books coming out with the same plot over and over, so when an original Idea shows up I'm all for it! I especially loved the ending, the "interview" for the new book at the end! I think the author should take that and make it into her next book! I would love a follow up on the retreat, Obviously their not gonna follow in Alastor's footsteps... or are theyyyy????

You are fatally invited was a four star read for me. Full of twists and adventures. A whodunnit on a writers retreat gone wrong. This gave me an Agatha Christie vibe and I loved every second.
I was on the edge of my seat at every page turn.
Just when you thought you figured it out, you were lead into another direction.
This is a must read!
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC! This excellent debut is sure to delight any fan of thrillers and is an exceptional take on the genre. I thoroughly enjoyed this and found myself unable to put it down once I finally made time to read it. It’s a bit slow at times with a lot of characters, but it’s well worth the read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam for the ARC!

This was such a fun read. Locked room mystery a-la-Clue. Each character has a shady past and backstory to them, and there are mysteries layered within the mystery. Who is our host? Who screwed Mila over all those years ago? And what did all these authors do that someone wants them dead now? Definitely kept me guessing til the end!

Six authors are invited to a private island for an exclusive writing retreat hosted by a world-famous author no one has ever laid eyes on…but were they invited for a writing retreat, or were they invited for revenge? 🩸

3.5 ⭐️ The scene was set from the very first page because the book includes a map designed like the board from the game Clue which I thought was great fun! There are a lot of characters to keep track of (6 authors, 3 staff members, 1 elusive host) and you had chapters from the authors as well as chapters named after the sins they committed that landed them in the situation. Even with really short chapters, I did find myself flipping back a lot to remind myself whose POV I was in, so it was confusing at times. My only complaint is that the book had a lot going on and it took on a smidge too much. The locked room mystery had a lot of moving parts and was enough on its own in my opinion, so the small romance and the book within a book elements weren’t necessary. With all of that said, I stayed up way too late to finish the book because it really does hook you in if you can suspend disbelief.

My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for a complimentary advance copy of this eBook, out now.

I had a lot of fun reading this twisty murder mystery book. It was so meta! All the alluding to the different characters secrets and pasts kept me guessing the entire time and I definitely wasn't able to predict the twists, but I would have liked more breadcrumbs to get there myself. I also felt like it was pretty dark and would have liked a bit more humor and a bit more romance played up on the sidelines. Overall entertaining read but I wasn't incredibly invested in the characters.

What a ride! I really enjoyed the vast cast of characters, and how they all had distinct voices. There were so many twists and turns, and just when I was certain I knew who the killer was, that person would die!

This was a perfect book! I love murder mysteries and I love the board game Clue, well this book melds them together for loads of fun. I love the mixed media aspect, with a map of the house in the front and letters and such.

It was the perfect mix of suspense, and tropes! I could guess some of the things that would immediately happen next, but not the ending which thrilled me to no end. After reading, I also picked up the audiobook with a full cast! Amazing as well, and may I suggest picking up both? Reading and listening were two different but both amazing experiences with this book. I've never recommended both the audiobook and the physical book before but this book warrants it!

My first five star of 2025 I believe! I highly recommend!

I will be looking for more from this author.

This earned 3.75 stars from me. It was a fun and twisty read, and I love a “locked room” mystery! There was plenty of murder, but not the kind that kept me up at night. It gives Clue vibes but make it bloody.

Short synopsis: A famous reclusive mystery author is hosting a mystery writers’ retreat on his private island. What could possibly go wrong? Mila, who was hired to keep things running smoothly has seemingly lost control. People are getting picked off left and right, there’s no way off the island, and everyone has secrets they’d like to keep hidden.

The story is told from different viewpoints, so it’s fun to have different narrators. Each time it switches you learn something new. The creepiness of the manor added so much to the vibe. The deaths of some characters I just didn’t expect was great!

On the flipside, having different narrators was sometimes confusing. I would have to go back and see who was talking. More context clues would have been useful in keeping it moving smoothly. I felt like some more backstory would have really helped explain a pretty big character’s actions toward the end. (To be fair, I read this with a book club (yay @bookhuddle!) so we looked at it closely…)

Despite the bit of confusion here and there, the story was intriguing, and I flew through the book. It’s got to be hard to come up with a new version of a locked room mystery, and this one was unique. And, I didn’t guess the killer but then I never do.

I was drawn in by the title when I first picked up You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego. Then, was sold on the story by the sinister synopsis. A murder mystery with real murders? Delectable! Mysteries and Thrillers are always such an interesting genre for me because it’s so hard to find a good one where you don’t figure out the killer within the first 15% because it is so obvious but the killer also isn’t so wildly unexpected because there were no clues left behind. This hit that perfect sweet spot! Everything made sense in retrospect but I spent the entire time trying to find how everything fit together and who did what.

What really made this so exceptional was the formatting. Now, I know, you’re probably wondering what the heck? How can formatting make anything exceptional? Well, it can and did. Each chapter features a different POV and none of them are clear. We don’t delve so deep into a psyche that we gain their secrets. We don’t get their names or motives. We’re simply seeing events unfold through a different set of eyes with a hint of their intentions coloring the narrative. Then, we get these beautiful chapters that aren’t part of the story, technically, but excerpts of books written by the characters. I have so many quotes highlighted, it makes me honestly wish that was a real book I could buy!

You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego is a mystery/thriller that had everything I could want and it’s a book I absolutely recommend. I know it’s one that I will definitely be re-reading just to see all of the things I missed. The pacing was quick. The characters were great. The murders were fun. This was simply an amazing debut novel and a joy to read.

This book had so many things I liked:
Multiple pov’s
Unreliable narrator
People invite to a remote island for a writers retreat by a reclusive author
A well structured and well written story
Lots of secrets
The there are a few things that bugged me:
Slow start
Repetitive in spots
Confusing at times as to who is speaking even though chapters are head with the name of the character.
A romance thrown in that wasn’t needed and could have been left out completely and would not have been missed.
Overall this is a good book. It’s a slower pace you really need to pay attention or you can get lost.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for a honest opinion.
4⭐️

Thank you to Random House, Ballantine Books and Ande Pliego, the author, for an opportunity to read an ARC of
You Are Fatally Invited; my review reflects my honest opinion. I have to admit that I struggled reading and finishing this book. I kept hoping something would change and that it would capture my interest. The premise is that a reclusive, and highly successful writer, J.R. Alastor, invited six authors of varying success to a writer's retreat at his beautiful Wolf Harbor Estate, in Maine. The guests are disappointed when they arrive to discover Alastor is not present; nor is he present for the first Mystery Night game. Rather his hostess/event coordinator Mila del Ange'l will facilitate the activities. I found her comment prior to the game beginning rather ominous and perhaps a foreshadowing of how the storyline was going to move. She instructed the guests to answer the riddle even if they were not certain of their answer; saying "Mr. Alastor believes in consequences for poor effort." An interesting storyline that just didn't develop well for me and was too slow. I read on hoping that I would become engaged, however never did. I am confident that some readers will thoroughly enjoy this novel, and I congratulate Ande Pliego on its publication. 3 stars

A delightfully twisted mystery featuring all of my favorite elements. Suitably gothic, isolated location…check. Mysterious host (in this case a bestselling author that has insisted on anonymity)…check. A cast of characters, all with a secret or two to hide…check. I enjoyed this one a lot.

Highly recommended.

This one was quite fun. I got a little confused at times by the narration changes (more so bc certain narrators weren’t explicitly named). But the locked room, And Then There Were None -ish, plot made it enjoyable to read anyway. Secrets, twists, tropes.. very

This was reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s, And Then There Were None. It had a good premise, but I felt the story was just too slow for me and unfortunately, too much of other stories that I’ve read before. The biggest issue for me with this book was that there were no characters that I liked or felt like I cared about following their story and I think you need to have at least one character that you’re rooting for or are interest of in in order to really feel involved in the story It also reminded me of The Writing Retreat. I still think I would try more by this author as this was a debut.

I'm pretty stingy when it comes to doling out 5 stars, but this book ticked all the boxes for me: a classic whodunnit thriller set in a grand estate on a remote island? Yes, please. Unreliable narrators? In spades. Reminiscent of Clue, Knives Out, and Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None? Absolutely. It was, in many ways, a love letter to the genre with a few modern twists.

I thought the prose was penetrating and atmospheric, the characters, memorable. Though I guessed the twist, I still enjoyed it very, very much, and thought each character had a satisfying (if not always happy) ending. In short, this is a very strong debut from a talented author who is one to watch. I'm excited to see what Ande Pliego writes next.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Bantam for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I didn’t enjoy this. It was a good premise but lost me not that far into it. So many names that I actually lost track of who was who and then kind of didn’t care. Bland. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this copy for read and review

J.R. Al Astor is a well published author and he has invited six authors to come to his mansion in Maine. This was on Wolf Harbor island and everything was really mysterious. For one J.R. wasn’t there to welcome them his assistant Emma welcomed them. All six authors had secrets and they were soon to be discovered during this retreat. Lots of twists and turns and it kept you guessing as to what was going on. This is the author first novel and I do look forward to reading more of his books.

I received this ARC from Netgalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.