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.

A secluded Maine estate. A storm trapping a group of thriller writers inside. A retreat designed to test the limits of their craft—until the games turn deadly.

Mila is supposed to be running the retreat, but she has her...reasons...for being there. When one guest mysteriously turns up dead, the truth is buried under layers of misdirection (and Mila has to figure out who’s pulling the strings before she becomes the next victim).

I really had to pay attention to this book to keep up with the alternating viewpoints, but I enjoyed the journey. Definitely had some Clue vibes, and sorry not sorry for imagining Stephen King as Alastor the whole time.

My sincere thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for the twisty ARC!

The premise of this book is somewhat familiar, a group of people are on an isolated island when they start getting murdered, one by one. I found the book to be confusing at times, as I felt there were too many characters to keep track of and each person was given various chapters. I did really like the last 20 percent of the book and the ending was good.

Six thriller writers are invited to a writer's retreat by JR Alastor. Alastor is a huge name in the industry and their identity has remained a secret, never being a part of author panels or book signings. When the writers arrive to the author's private island, they hope to meet the illusive author themselves but are only met with Mila, the event coordinator. Mila promises that Alastor is only delayed, and they should continue with the games Alastor has prepared for them for their stay. But when one of the author's ends up dead, they soon find that each writer was invited for a reason, and everyone is hiding secrets including Alastor.

This book was a rollercoaster of a mystery. Although the beginning was slower paced, it sets up the thriller perfectly as you try to figure out who Alastor is and why the authors have been invited to their private island. I was hooked once the games started and tried to figure out how everything was connected. Although I did find the ending a little far-fetched, I still enjoyed this book overall. You are Fatally Invited is a strong debut by Ande Pleigo and I look forward to more work by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Group-Ballentine for the opportunity to review You are Fatally Invited. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A writers retreat with a mysterious theme draws several famous authors to a remote island. They know there will be mystery dinners with scary games to inspire their writing; they all have experience killing off their characters after all. Soon, the games turn sinister when the author actually start to die. Told from multiple perspectives with some excerpts from the author’s books thrown in, this story is told in a creative way. However, it’s a story that has been done before. Even with the twists, the book just seemed tired, and it dragged along in parts. The characters were also mostly unlikeable and flat. It will keep readers guessing to the identity of the person behind the killings, but ultimately, the slog to the reveal almost wasn’t worth the ending.

And Then There Were None gets an update full of suspense and murder with quick nods to Clue!

Okay, I admit I was skeptical because locked-room mysteries have been ho-hum for me lately, and I would raise one eyebrow if I could at all of the social media hype this book has gotten. But I couldn't be happier in saying I was pleasantly surprised! I really enjoyed this rollercoaster ride of murder, red herrings, intrigue, revenge, and secrets galore. The twists were interesting, the whodunnit surprising, and the writing was so intricately woven together. I would've liked to see them explore the Clue-ish game of figuring out one another's secrets a little more, but I really can't complain when the story was action-packed. This one lives up to the hype, IMO, and is perfect for whodunnit and locked-room mystery fans looking for a story that takes it up a notch.

**Thank you, NetGalley and publishers, for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.**