DNF at thirteen percent. I only made it one page into this book before I was ready to break into the author’s house, and burn every single thesaurus in there and then hack her internet to make sure she couldn’t get to any websites that might replicate that functionality. I can’t just say that this book is purple--the author sure wouldn’t be content to stop there. This book is purple like a two day old bruise from bumping your shin on the edge of your bed. This book is purple like an ube souffle slowly collapsing under its own weight.

When I was a child Bud Light had an ad campaign highlighting the beer’s “drinkability.” This drove my father up the wall because in his mind drinkability was the bare minimum quality that a beer needed to have. Until I read this book I didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about if books had “readability.” Now I really appreciate how readable most other books are.

I lay a lot of blame here at the foot of the editor. The word choice and writing is sloppy, and it’s a debut book--its on the editor who let this draft out into the world. The author probably deserved better. But I wasn’t going to slog through over three hundred more pages of overwritten and poorly crafted prose to find out if the plot was going anywhere.

I received an advance reader copy in exchange for this honest review.

This one is a bit more complex to review than I was anticipating. There were aspects of the book that I loved and thought were fun and plotted well, but then there were moments when I felt like the novel was just doing too much, which made it hard to follow. Overall, if you are looking for a book with a modern take on Clue that is melodramatic and a puzzle you can play along with, this one is worth picking up. It’s about a mysterious writer’s retreat where people start dying in the host’s twisted games (that you can solve as the guests solve them).

Some “If you liked” style comparisons: The Last Word mixed with The Guest List for some of the narrative storytelling quirks + And Then There Were None for obvious reasons

Warning: I’m typically good at balancing multiple perspectives, but this did feel like a lot of characters since their personalities weren’t always different enough.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the advanced reader copy.

Reminiscent of an Agatha Christie locked room mystery, this story takes us to a remote island for a writer's retreat with a famous anonymous author as the host. As the guests are challenged to a series of games with deadly consequences, and no one's intentions are quite what they seem, the suspense builds to a gripping climax where no one is safe and all is revealed.

The story started out very slowly. I considered DNF in the first 25% as I was having difficulty following the writing. I found the different POVs confusing at times. I often had to go back and check to see which character was voicing each chapter to orient myself. I decided to stick with it, and found the pacing of the middle of the book more interesting. I was hoping that more clues would be revealed that allowed me to start forming theories, but that was not the case. The last 25% of the book was by far the best, and I am glad that I read to the end. I did enjoy the tense climax of the game, and the reveal of the various identities. Overall, I would have preferred more even pacing and more clue reveals that allowed me to be "in on the secrets" a bit more, so that I could have tried to figure out the identity of the killer. As it was, I had no theories by the end of the book, and was just along for the ride. I am glad I finished the book, but it was not my favorite type of thriller experience.

Because this book was not for me, out of respect for the author I will not be posting a review on my social channels. I will wait until several weeks after publication to post any starred reviews on Goodreads or other book review sites.

This book gave me 'And Then There Were None' vibes with a clever twist. A private island retreat for thriller writers, a storm rolling in, and a killer hunting them down using classic tropes? I was hooked.

There are so many layers to our main character, Mila del Angél. She’s plotting her own revenge, but when the murders start piling up, things spiral in ways she didn’t expect. The trope-filled games and riddles added a fun, meta twist to the story. Some of the characters felt a little too similar, which threw me off at first, but once I got the flow, I was hooked.

The ending tied everything together really well, leaving me satisfied. The isolated setting, suspenseful vibe, and constant twists made it hard to put down. It’s not perfect, but for a debut? Really impressive.

4/5 stars—definitely worth picking up if you love thrillers with a smart, layered edge!

Thank you Random House Ballantine and NetGalley for the eARC.

“If you were to take Story, strap it down onto your dining room table, and slide a scalpel through it’s chest, you would find the lifeblood is theme.”
Here are reasons to read the Thriller book:

Island Retreat - a group of mystery authors have been invited to a writer’s retreat on an island
Anonymous Author - which is owned by an author no one has ever seen in person
Guest Dead - One of the author’s is found dead, and it’s eerily similar to how they have written a death in their book
Multiple POV - we follow multiple POVs as we try to discover why they are dying and who did it

This book was so much fun. Of course we have seen the trope before, but this was also different in that there was a book within the book that prefaced what happened. My biggest issue was that I kept getting characters mixed up and it took awhile to figure that out. It is a little slow in the beginning but right around the middle there is a Clue game that I really wish was featured a little more in the story. But that’s when things really start to roll. I guessed at the identity of a few people in the book, but overall this is more the type of book that you enjoy the ride.

A locked room murder mystery, featuring a mysterious reclusive writer who has masterminded the game and the six mystery writers he’s invited to play. Will anyone get off the island alive?

All of the writer characters were largely unlikable so I was actually rooting for them all to be murdered. The event coordinator Mila has a big secret but it was so dragged out that I started to resent her too. I liked this well enough, but I think it would have been better served by having fewer characters or just being shorter overall.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Available February 11, 2025.

A writer's retreat with a twist! When the renowned anonymous author J. R. Alastor decides to host a writer’s retreat, the six authors who received invitations jump at the chance to meet the author behind the name. When they arrive at the exclusive island home, aspiring author, Mila del Angél is there to greet them and to act as their host. But where is J. R. Alastor?????

A week of games has been scheduled as Mila has murder on her mind. As a storm rages and the group finds themselves cut off from the outside world, a body is found!

This book had quite a few characters and I found it a tad difficult not to confuse some with others. Plus, no one stood out as likeable and none elicited sympathy from me. What I did enjoy was the atmosphere and the island setting. I love the 'trapped' feeling this book conveyed- a private island off the coast of Maine, a storm, not being able to call for help, etc. I also enjoyed the game of trying to figure out which clue was given applied to which author.


There were parts of this book that I enjoyed and parts where I wanted it to move along a little faster. There were a few twists, turns, and reveals along the way. When the big reveal happened, I was a little underwhelmed but overall enjoyed You Are Fatally Invited but didn't love it.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!!!


A debut murder mystery for the win! This was such a fun twisty fide. While I felt like I knew who had done what and when - I quickly found out I had no idea. Haha. I love the different POVs which helped keep my mind run wild trying to solve this case. This definitely was CLUE and a bit of Knives Out vibes all mixed together and love both so it’s no surprise I loved this! I would say I felt it lagged just a bit in the beginning but once we’re 1 day in everything pops off and I was invested from that moment on! shoutout to you ANDE for writing so well I was so immersed I felt like I was on this island with the gang trying to survive every night!

It has been a while since I had a love/hate relationship with a book. This book made me feel intrigued and bored in a matter of pages. At first, I did not think I would finish this novel but then some aspect grabbed my attention. I was sucked in for a while and then spit out again. I felt as if there were too many characters (even though there wasn't a lot) and it did fluctuate POVs a lot. The premise was good but it wasn't written as well as I had hoped.

I had high hopes for this book because having all these authors on a secluded property together sparked interest in me. But unfortunately I was left underwhelmed and unsatisfied due to the lack of surprises,

The story’s pacing was uneven and the narrative becomes predictable.

Overall the flaw of the writing was it lacked creativity and being unique.

This book was absolutely FANTASTIC! There were twists and turns and crazy tropes all over the place. I could never tell who was who and what was happening next.

The premise of You Are Fatally Invited is so up my alley- give me a locked room mystery set on a deserted island and I simply cannot resist. Unfortunately this one fell flat for me for several reasons. First, the introduction to the characters at first didn’t work. There was too many and it took me a while to figure out who was who. This was a book where a listing at the front would have been helpful. Second, the language was way too descriptive and unnecessarily so. The writer is clearly talented but complete pages went by where the langue was so flowery, I honestly couldn’t even tell what was happening.

Overall this had a compelling theme, it just wasn’t a page turner for me. The book was way too long and at the end I just couldn’t wait for it to end. I definitely think there are readers out there for this one.

4.5⭐️
You Are Fatally Invited is a gripping thriller that will keep readers on the edge of their seat!
🔪Locked Room Thriller
🔪Murder Mystery
🔪Multiple POVs
🔪Revenge
🔪Short Chapters
Six authors are invited to a writers retreat by , J.R. Alastor, a famous author whose identity is unknown. But once they arrive, they are greeted by a hired host instead of Alastor. And things take a turn when the murder theme retreat turns deadly…
This is an amazing debut! Twists, puzzles and clue vibes but with authors.

What a killer debut thriller! I gravitate to locked room mysteries and this was no exception. It had vibes of And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie and the movie Clue. Yet it was creative and original. It was nonstop twists and turns and such a fun read.

A group of authors are invited to a thriller writer’s retreat on a private island owned by a famous but anonymous author. Everyone knows this prestigious author’s pen name, J.R. Alastor, but noone actually knows their real name or identity.

Focused on revenge, the absent host and his event planner Mila have puzzles and games set up that refer to each author’s “secret” past crimes. One by one they start dying in the same manner as a character in each of their books. Stuck on the island, no one knows who they can trust. It has a surprising ending I never saw coming. I’m so glad I was approved to read an advanced copy of this book.


Thank you @AndePliego, @RandomHousePublishingGroup, @Bantam and @NetGalley for a free e-ARC. The opinions are mine alone and not biased in any

Thank to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review “you are fatally invited” by Ande Pliego.
This was a super fun, fast-paced meta thriller. This featured all the familiar tropes in a very fun way.
Alastor is a reclusive best selling thriller writer who has managed to remain anonymous their entire career.
Alastor has invited a group of best selling mystery writers to their personal island for a unique writing retreat.
Everyone is excited to finally meet the elusive author and play the mysterious games to hopefully get some new material.
The story is told from multiple points of view.
There’s Mila the event organizer and Alastors assistant
Ashton the handsome young author who Mila is drawn to
Husband and wife writing duo Olivia and Rodrigo
Fletcher a middle aged and jaded author
Violet the young and moody author
Cassandra the older bestselling author who has 2 dead husbands
The staff Curt and Taryn
That’s a lot of people to keep track of but each person was distinct enough, I did have to sometimes flip to the beginning of a chapter to remind myself who’s pov I rad reading.
All in all this was a lot of fun and I will definitely read this author again.

I enjoyed this book to some degree. The writing was done beautifully, and I really engaged in this thriller. I really didn’t want to put it down cause I was so excited for the ending.

The pacing of the book was bit odd, and some parts you really have to suspend your beliefs. It was multiple point of views which i didn’t think was necessary and smaller plot twists here and there that led up to the bigger plot twist.

The plot twist wasn’t the most surprising but I still enjoyed it nevertheless. The odd romance aspect, that was there briefly and went was really weird and didn’t add much to the plot, ot was up and down.

The ending for me was very lackluster, I didn’t enjoy the ending, it didn’t go into a directly I was anticipated to knock me off my feet but I must say some parts of the story was really enjoyable. I will definitely be reading more from this author!

I loved this book so much! The mix of meta storytelling and classic locked-room mystery vibes really kept me hooked. I really liked how the chapters switched between the writing retreat and J.R. Alastor talking about horror and mystery tropes. I think mysteries books are the most enjoyable to me when I can’t guess what the end will be and I was constantly second-guessing everyone in this book, which I loved.

I really reeeally wanted to like this. The cover is stunning, I’ll never get sick of the Clue-game-like trope. I think there were two things that just didn’t work for me: the characters and the writing. Maybe the characters just weren’t fleshed out enough, didn’t have distinctive personalities. And the writing was something I didn’t vibe with. Around 40% in, I was considering DNFing it but I looked at reviews, and they’re all so positive so I stuck with it.
In the end, I can see why so many people liked this (the premise, the action, all good), but unfortunately it wasn’t for me.

⭐️⭐️1/2

It all felt too familiar and having read And Then There Were None not too long ago the killer was obvious. I’m starting to realize that locked room mystery is a genre that just doesn’t vibe with me. I love Clue, and loved the layout of the house stylized to look like the board game, so it initially had me excited to get into the plot but when it was all said and done, the mystery and characters just fell flat to me.

fantastically fun! this is an incredibly strong debut, I thought this hit it out of the park and totally delivered on everything promised in the description. I appreciate that it didn't withhold too much from the reader, with satisfying reveals over the course of the book. I loved the ending. probably the only thing keeping this from being an absolutely perfect mystery for me was the 'writing about writing' thing got a little old. as soon as I finished, I went back to reread certain chapters to see what breadcrumbs I missed. I can't wait for Ande Pilego's next book.