An isolated writing retreat. A mysterious host. A hand-selected group of attendees, all with something to hide.

"We've all done things in the dark, after all."

Ande Pliego's debut, You Are Fatally Invited, is an atmospheric and twisty novel that takes the locked-room mystery concept and leans so heavily into the tropes that it feels fresh. Wildly fun and a bit disturbing, the book takes the characters through one mysterious and deadly puzzle after another, and as the characters are picked off one by one, you as the reader are left to piece together the clues to find out who is truly behind these crimes.

I enjoyed the storytelling and the way the retreat was seen through multiple POVs, allowing the tension continue to build with each page. I loved the way the tropes were tied into the mystery, and in the incorporation of the book excerpts throughout. At times, I found the pacing left something to be desired. There would be scenes of intense action followed by chapters that felt a bit saggy and slow, and occasionally it seemed like information was being withheld from the reader just for the sake of prolonging the plot. Parts of the ending felt convoluted, with a few of the character choices and relationships leaving me with questions.

Overall, though, I enjoyed this and am looking forward to future books by this author!

I found this book to be engaging and well written The is a suspenseful homage to Hitchcock infused with modern day theme. skillfully writing with creative realism the plot was intricate and thought-provoking.

What a fun ride! If you enjoy thrillers and Agatha Christie, this will be a treat to read. I supplemented the ebook with the audiobook and the narrators were all fantastic.

Fast read that I became totally involved in. Completed the book in a couple of sittings. I loved how the different tropes were incorporated into the story telling. The different characters, no matter how long they stuck around was fleshed out, and I was totally into their survival. The writing style was engaging and fun to read. This was my first read by the author and I'm totally looking forward to reading the next book by the author. Thanks to NETGALLEY for allowing me to read the book by the author.

#YOUAREFATALLYINVITED
#NETGALLEY
#ANDEPLIEGO

100% will recommend this book to anyone and everyone who loves books. What a unique concept and the storytelling was superb. 10/10

Thanks to NetGalley for the free eARC (since I was too impatient to wait for my hold to come up on a library copy).

The premise is that several famous authors are invited to a retreat at the home of the reclusive J.R. Alastor. The writer's identity has been a secret for years, although various folks claim to have met and/or worked with him, so everyone jumps at the chance to meet the legend. But when they arrive at the house it's only Mila, whom Alastor has hired to be the host for the weekend. She's an event coordinator, but she has a vested interest in one of the guests...and it turns out all of them have something to hide, and Alastor has reasons to want all of them dead.

I wanted to like this, and I think if I had read it in different circumstance (all in one gulp instead of over several days), I might have enjoyed it more. As it is, I was disappointed. It just didn't land for me. There's a bit too much stalling for the sake of stalling happening (it's sometimes hard to tell with an ebook, but I don't *think* this book is super long!), and things are drug out and obfuscated to an unnecessary degree. There's also the annoying thing where you're simply not given enough information to put the pieces together until the characters do it for you, and there didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to why we followed certain POVs and not others. I kept forgetting Violet existed because we don't hear her perspective until like 3/4 of the way through. I also found Mila to be incredibly whiny and annoying, so I confess to sort of skimming her chapters. I found Ashton annoying as well, so his big romance with Mila left me extremely cold...I knew there was supposed to be this creeping sense of dread the whole time, but I just couldn't bring myself to care about ANY of these dinks.

If you ever wished Agatha Christie was gorier and creepier - look no further. This is a cleverly-plotted, fast-paced thriller featuring authors at a spooky island estate where they start dropping dead one by one. It’s a witty, smart, and fun read if you have a tolerance for plenty of blood.

Thank you to the publisher - I received a complimentary eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

4 Stars – A Twisty “And Then There Were None” Retelling

This debut thriller delivers a gripping locked-room mystery set on a secluded island, where a group of thriller authors must outwit a killer. The multiple POVs felt a bit overwhelming at times, but the clever twists and tension kept me hooked. The ending was especially satisfying—loved how it all came together! A great pick for fans of meta mysteries.

Thank you, NetGalley & Random House Publishing, for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun book. It has a myster that keeps you turning the page. I could not put it down because I needed to know everyone's secret and where it was all going to end. It fast page and very bingeable.

i wish the mystery was more fair play if that makes any sense. in general i think the voices of each of the characters were too similar. i can't believe no one caught two characters named olivia and rodrigo being married. it was engaging but i didn't love it

Loved the concept of this book and I had high hopes, however, felt as if I didn’t have enough background story from the characters and at times it felt confusing.

As far as pacing, it was slow and felt as if the story was unnecessarily dragging to the point I was starting to feel bored and overwhelmed.

I’m still willing to give this author another chance. I believe he had a great idea but it was just the execution of this story.

I absolutely loved this one! It turned so many of my favorite mystery tropes on their heads and kept me guessing the entire time. I have never been so off-base with my hunches in a mystery novel before! The characters were great and the writing is fantastic. The author had to write in several different styles to make it work and somehow managed to find distinct voices for every character. I can’t believe this is a debut novel and I will be anxiously awaiting what is next!

This review has been posted to Goodreads and Storygraph on February 26th, 2025. Links provided.

In You Are Fatally Invited, Mila del Angel, a former aspiring writer, is hired by the mysterious author J.R. Alastor to lead a writing retreat at his isolated manor in Maine - a chance she eagerly accepts, especially with one of the six thriller authors invited being someone she has a personal score to settle with. The week promises games, riddles, and spooky surprises, designed by Alastor and Mila herself, providing the perfect opportunity for Mila to carry out a murder of her own. But when a guest is found dead, and it’s not the person she planned to kill, Mila is thrust into a deadly scenario where she must navigate a web of deception. With a storm cutting off their escape and more deaths unfolding, Mila must race against time to uncover the truth and Alastor’s true identity before she finds herself becoming next victim.

This book was just ok for me. The pacing was far slower than what I prefer in a mystery/thriller book, so by the time things started to happen it was too late to pique my interest. The locked-room mystery trope and people dying one by one felt too similar to other famous novels, and despite the intriguing premise, I just couldn’t shake the feeling it was not very original. There were quite a few characters and I unfortunately had a difficult time keeping track of them all. Additionally, none of them were particularly interesting or sympathetic, so I found it difficult to care about their fates. What I did appreciate, though, was the atmosphere. The island setting and the storm did add a sense of foreboding and I did find the idea of needing to play a game to decipher clues in order to discover the true identity of each author interesting. But even with a few twists and reveals, I felt the book never quite managed to really grip me in a way I was hoping it would. I just couldn’t connect with it, and by the time the big reveal came, I felt underwhelmed. The book felt much longer than it needed to be, and I found myself wishing it would move faster. Hopefully this book will find its target audience, but sadly I don’t find myself in that group.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group Ballantine and NetGalley for the opportunity to read to an ARC of You Are Fatally Invited in return for my honest review.

Ande Pliego delivers an absolutely gripping and wildly entertaining thriller with You Are Fatally Invited, a novel that blends mystery, suspense, and razor-sharp tension into a compulsive read. From the moment the protagonist steps into the eerie, high-stakes setting, the story pulls readers into a web of secrets, deception, and unexpected dangers.

The novel thrives on its atmosphere—claustrophobic yet intoxicating—creating a setting where every character harbors hidden motives. Pliego masterfully builds tension, allowing suspicion to shift from one person to another, keeping the reader constantly on edge. The pacing is relentless, with each new revelation making it impossible to put the book down.

What sets this thriller apart is its ability to balance intricate plotting with engaging, well-drawn characters. The dialogue crackles with wit and subtext, while the twists land perfectly, never feeling forced or out of place. Just when you think you have the mystery figured out, Pliego pulls the rug out from under you in the best way possible.

Fans of locked-room mysteries, psychological thrillers, and darkly clever whodunits will find You Are Fatally Invited a thrilling ride from start to finish. With its unpredictable turns, immersive atmosphere, and expertly crafted suspense, this is a five-star must-read that lingers long after the final page.

This is a locked room mystery with Clue vibes. A group of authors are invited to a secluded island for a writing retreat. The host doesn't show up and people start dying like the murders in their books. They all have something unethical or criminal that they have done and someone wants revenge. I felt like this was rather drawn out and definitely a slow burn. I guessed pretty early on who the "host" was but wasn't sure about their reasoning behind it all. The reveal wasn't really that shocking and the ending felt flat to me. It was a pretty good read but very similar to other "locked door" mysteries I have read.

Thank you NetGalley, Random House Publishing, & Ande Pliego for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. #NetGalley #YouAreFatallyInvited

This is a slow burn, locked room mystery that I did enjoy. There were some good reveals along the way. It is defiantly an Agatha Christie retelling. It was a fun read and I would read from this author again.
Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 Stars

This was alright, didn't have as much hook as I wanted and was a bit to meta. The characters never charmed me enough to care what was happening. Was fine.

I sometimes feel like I have to kiss a lot of frogs to get a prince when reading suspense. This book was not prince-level but was at least a minor baron. I’m not sure how much justice I can do to the byzantine plot, but I’ll start by saying that this is a riff on And Then There Were None, which is my favorite Agatha Christie novel (confession – I think I’ve only read three Agatha Christie novels? I should work on that).

A group of mystery writers are invited to an island retreat by a famous, and famously private, author. Some of the attendees claim to “know” J.R. Alastor but in reality none of them have actually seen him, and they are all intrigued enough to attend. Alastor of course does not make himself available in person but communicates through an event planner, Mia, with whom he has secret plans (and Mia herself has plans that Alastor doesn’t know about). As with And Then There Were None, the guests all have some nasty secrets themselves.

What follows is incredibly convoluted and often overwritten, but somehow…fun to read? It definitely held my interest, which is all I really ask. My main complaint was the characters occasionally not being as smart as I’d expect them to be. Still, Mia was a sympathetic protagonist, which also goes a long way for me. I gave this a B+ and will look for the author’s works in the future.

I'm such a sucker for a locked-anything mystery (locked room, locked boat, locked...car, anything I will read it). The writer's retreat was an interesting set up, too, and I liked how them being writers actually tied into the plot/murders and wasn't just a convenient way to get them all together. I hated some of the characters, as I think I was supposed to, but I was still sitting on the edge of my seat to see how it all played out--the mark of a truly good book, haha. I had a great time with this and I know our mystery lovers here at the branch will too!

This was an interesting and twisty locked room mystery with the added fun that all the characters were thriller writers themselves. I liked the concept of them on a writers retreat and each of them dying how they had written a murder in one of their books. As the tension built and the twists kept coming, I especially enjoyed learning how all the characters were tied together - what a terrible group of people they were! Despite this, I was fully vested in the story and anxious to see how it all played out.

I thoroughly enjoyed the wild ride of reading this, and would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy.