This is a short, but great read. The author's premise of having social media stars coming together and being live streamed during their stay was unique. The extra person noticed in the livestreams added a suspense element to the story.

Isolated fiction seems to be a theme I've been reading quite a bit lately. As in- cut off your characters in some fashion due to weather/location etc etc etc

It's an effective tool for sure and works in You Are Invited.

If you are a fan of Ruth Ware or Lisa Jewell (both are favorites of mine)I think this novel will appeal to you.

Cath is not completely likable(I still rooted for her and enjoyed that)nor is she quite reliable as a narrator.

There's a story within a story- and almost another a story- here, but it more than works. It is a fresh and effective device and kept me on my toes while reading. Smoke and mirrors perhaps? Whatever it is, it totally works.

I'll call this book paranormal fiction. And while I did wish for just pinch more regarding tying some points together,I still really enjoyed this book and plan to seek out other works by Ms Denzil.

Rating - 4 hearts out of 5

Horrors! That's what you'll feel when you read about social media stars who are spending weeks at a monastery in Romania. I cannot remember any other book that has held more horror for me. Recommended if you like this genre.

So so creepy. Will have shivers running down your back. Filled with suspense you won't want to put it down. I don't blame you. Neither did I. Has the tension and that something that is lurking behind you just out of sight. Absolutely recommend. Happy reading!

Holy ghost story, Batman. This reads as an updated Haunting of Hill House, but with a modern twist. The people living in the creepy house are all social media influencers, and all have skeletons in their closets. Oh, and their experiences are being livestreamed 24/7 for a month. The story hits different when in quarantine, where livestreams are pretty much the only way to feel connection. Cath, our lead, has schizophrenia, and hallucinates the voice of her dead mother, among other, far more terrifying things. This one is well worth the read.

Thank You Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC. This review is completely based on my honest opinion.

Cath who is an aspiring novelist was invited for the "Event" organized by one of her idols and a popular internet star, Irene Jobart along with other bloggers, Dan, a yoga instructor, Jules and Nathan. The Event is organized an abandoned monastery in a village of Romania. However, the abandoned monastery has a dark history--the nuns in the monastery were found brutally murdered somewhere in 1946 and the rumor was that the monastery was haunted. And there are wolves around the area especially a particular white colored wolf. When Cath moved in, her pills went missing and soon, eerie things started happening around the monastery...

This is the first book I have read from this author. I was really hooked into the story. Ghost thrillers really intrigue me. A somewhat unreliable narrator but still, I kept reading the book, wanting more. There were twists and turns towards the end, and an unexpected end. The ghost story of the monastery really intrigued me and I was so hooked into the story. I like how the friendship developed between Jules and Cath and at the same time how each of the characters started distrusting each other, particularly towards Irene. The writing was good and the author did a good job keeping the reader at the edge! Reading the dark ghost parts of the story really kept me on the edge and left my heart beating! And also, this is a fast paced thriller so it was good and there were OMG moments in the book.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading the story. A fast paced thriller that will keep you read all night, wanting to know more and might even scare you a bit! Worth five stars!

I really loved the setting and the creepy atmosphere throughout the book. I liked how each character was nuanced and complex. The isolation of the monastery contrasted really well with the characters being watched through live streaming. The shocking twists throughout the story made the story even more engaging. I can't wait to read more titles by this excellent author!

Creepy and atmospheric, You Are Invited is the story of a group of social media influencers spending a month in an abandoned monastery in Romania. I really enjoyed this book - it even evoked tears from me in a few moments. In this story, the old world meets the new, and it’s not always pretty.

“If you asked me now, whether ghosts exist, I don’t know what I’d say.”

Cath Fenwick can’t believe her luck. She had been chosen out of hundreds of applicants to participate in the social media event of a lifetime. Known only as The Event, Cath will join 3 other social media influencers as well as the most famous influencer of all, Irene Jobert, in the isolated monastery in Transilvania for a month. As Cath approaches the monastery, her taxi driver tells her that the villagers believe it to be cursed and haunted by the 13 nuns who were murdered there in the early 1940s. Of course, Cath dismisses the claims immediately as superstition.

Upon arrival, she and the others are told about the expectations that the company, Loup, has placed upon them for the duration of The Event. They are to have someone online at all times interacting with the fans, as well as being informed that they will be filmed at all times. At first, everyone seems to get along, but then small items begin to go missing. Cath assumes it’s just one of the other influencers playing a prank, but when no one confesses, tensions rise. Cath can’t shake the feeling that someone is watching her, and on top of that, there’s someone who keeps offering $1 million for one of the five to murder another. But it’s just the monastery getting to her, right? Or is it something more sinister?

This is marketed as a ghost story, but I think a psychological thriller would fit the bill a little better. There are definitely talks of ghosts and leaves it open to the reader’s interpretation, but it was more of a thriller in my opinion. I did enjoy it, but it wasn’t one of my favorites. I felt as though some of the characters were two dimensional; I would have liked to learn more about them. I also wished the ending was a little bit more fleshed out.
I will say that I thought the atmosphere and setting were absolutely perfect! I really enjoyed the mental images that were conjured while reading and I was definitely creeped out at parts. I would definitely be interested in reading more from this author!

Creepy, Atmospheric and very well written book, which doesn't shy away from depicting the realism of social media and mental illness!

Five Social Media Influencers have been invited to 'The Event' - A month long retreat to an isolated monastery surrounded by the Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania. These five people are going to be live streamed and will be the focus of millions of people from all over the world. But something is not right here and as Cath digs deeper into this, she and people around her starts losing their mind, and things takes the worse turn from there onwards!

The overall concept was pretty basic, it was nothing unique or groundbreaking, but it was very well executed. I really liked what author did with that simple concept, giving a lot of background and creating the rich history of the place. The folklore stories added more haunting touch in the overall creepiness.

The way we gets to see the realistic dilemma in the life of an Influencer towards their work, the connection with their followers and their insecurities was very convincing and interesting. Cath's struggle with mental illness, her low self esteem and an abusive past was heartbreaking but it was inspiring to see her trying to get past all of that.

Now, on the critical side, it was atmospheric and creepy but not very high in horror. Things were quite slow and not a lot happened in a large section of the book. So, don't expect a full on action horror going into this.

As for me, I, overall, really enjoyed 'You are Invited', it had a lot of creepy moments; I really liked Denzil's creepy and atmospheric writing which keeps you on the edge throughout the story. The ending was also good, not very predictable.The payoff was worth going through all of it.

OVERALL RATING : 4 STARS!

This is my third book by Sarah A. Denzil and she never disappoints me. I really enjoyed this book. A little slow moving...but the prose...the way it’s written was a pleasure to read and so spooky.

I looked forward to continuing reading the story every time I picked the book up. Such a unique ghost story. The atmosphere is like a character in and of itself and I loved how the author made me feel as though I was there.

Deep driven emotions escapes the written words of anger, hate, kindness, forgiveness, mystery, danger and beauty. A real page turner. Poetically crafted and compellingly developed, this is a read I highly recommend. With Halloween not too far off, cozy up to the fireplace with a cuppa and enjoy the ride.

This is "The Haunting of Hill House" if Shirley Jackson had been born in the age of Instagram influencers.

While that statement may seem like hyperbole, many parallel elements are here: Dr. Montague and his guests are replaced by wealthy Irene and her guest list of social media mavens (fitness guru, video game streamer, etc), who are scheduled to take part in "The Event", a live-streamed and monetized stay in a secluded (and reportedly cursed) Romanian monastery. The atmosphere throughout is sufficiently creepy, if a bit stuffed with common horror tropes (nuns, crumbling architecture, wolves, the token character who tries to warn the protagonist away, etc). While each character is identifiable by their claims to fame, I found that the majority of them aren't given too much room to breathe and grow beyond that which turns them into caricatures at times.

Like Hill House however, the book's strength is in its usage of mental illness to create questions about the reliability of the narrative. Certain passages use this to their advantage to depict a dreamlike quality to the proceedings, leaving it to the reader (as all good horror should) as to how much is grounded in "absolute reality."

You Are Invited is a quick read, and therefore a perfect warm up heading into Halloween season.

**I was given a copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op**

You Are Invited was one crazy book. It was creepy and tense and I read it in one night. It was an interesting plot and I got caught up in it immediately. There are characters you will love and other story that you will love to hate.

A group of online bloggers are invited to a portly renovated old monastery in Transylvania for an exclusive online event. They are all different in what they blog about and how they do it. It is a party of o promote themselves and the products. The creepy building they are in makes them question everything that goes bump in the night. It was atmospheric and very well done., except for the way that mental health was portrayed and used in the story. It felt too easy. As somebody who suffers it wasn’t right.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my advanced copy of this book to read.

Cath Fenwick has been chosen to be part of very exclusive online blogging event, one of five bloggers/social media influences who will be residing at a renovated Transylvanian Monastery. This event promises to make them a lot of money and she can’t believe her luck but on the way there, the taxi driver tells her a horrific story of the Monastery's history and how the locals believe it’s haunted.
I was thoroughly entertained by this story, I don’t read a lot of horror but enjoy a story with supernatural elements. There was a good build up of suspense and creepiness and it was very atmospheric.
I feel I enjoyed it more as I really didn’t know a lot about the story or characters, so it all just evolved instead of waiting for things to happen or having preconceived perceptions, so for that reason I’m not going to say anymore.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy to read

WOAH. This book went every which way besides the ways I thought it was going to go. Cath was an unreliable narrator so I had no idea what to believe. I really enjoy books where the narrator is like this because it keeps me guessing the whole time. As soon as she arrived at the monastery I was enthralled. I love old castles and buildings that have a past. The descriptive words used when talking about the place had me feeling like I was there.
This book was twisty. Cath was an author that was chosen for a social media experiment in which influencers were to document their lives 24/7 and it was live streamed for subscribers. Each influencer interacted with the public and would receive donations. In the beginning, it seems like a win/win for everyone. But then, things start to get weird. Things go missing, people are getting scared and there is a general sense of dread filling the whole place. Will the monastery break them before they find out the truth within the walls?
I really enjoyed this book. The end had a bit too much explanation for my liking, but it kept me on my toes and I really liked it. Thank you to Victory Editing, Netgalley and the author for an early copy of this book!

i have massive issues with how schizophrenia was treated at the end of this book. i cannot emphasise enough that you cannot 'fix' a person with a mental illness, like the end of this novel tries to suggest happens with cath. i think it borders on offensive earlier in the narrative with how other characters treat her, but that's challenged in the narrative by cath. i just think sarah denzil really didn't deliver with the ending.

this was genuinely tense and scary, and the imagery sarah denzil used was amazing in some parts. she captured the feeling of isolation so well. i ended up growing to love the characters enough that the ending was sad to read, but the writing felt too quick, too clunky in places, where you could see it was being overwritten for the sake of metaphors that didn't land.

I’m such a sucker for a good ghost story!! This book was supppeeeerr spooky & I loved every minute of it (except for when I got too scared & had to stop reading😂). I wish the ending was a little more happy, but I didn’t mind it.

Thank you to #netgalley and Sarah A Denzil for providing me with an ARC of this September 15 release- that's right, this book comes out just in time for spooky season!

"It's the new world. The internet has created thousands of entrepreneurs making money from their hobbies; from Etsy artists, to lifestyle bloggers; from makeup artists, to writers. This world is about sharing: knowledge, skill, humour. But most of all, it's about monetizing all of those things."

Cath is an introverted writer who has a dedicated fanbase. Her fictional world, Akarthis, is what helps to keep her past and her mental illness in check. When she receives an invitation to an exclusive social media influencer retreat at an abandoned monastery in the Carpathian mountains, organized by Irene Jobert, social media sensation and childhood cancer survivor, Cath can't think of a reason not to go. When her taxi driver tells her about the murdered nuns who may haunt the grounds, and the other social media influencers start to show their off-screen personalities, Cath second guesses agreeing to live-stream her life to millions of viewers for four weeks.

Cath was a really relatable character and though this book is fairly short (and SUPER binge-able), the characters were developed well. I stayed up WAY past my bedtime to read this, and it was a great fall read. It was quick-paced, engaging, and spooky AF. I loved the intermingling of Romanian fairy tales, and the isolation of the characters made for a timely, and tense story. Cath has schizophrenia and while I think mental illness was handled better in this book than other horror/ suspense books with mentally ill characters, I worry that using this illness as a plot-point only increases the stigma around it. However, I can't say whether Denzil did an adequate job as I don't know that much about schizophrenia! I can certainly appreciate that she made an extremely likeable and engaging protagonist with schizophrenia who is much more than just the illness and is in fact the protagonist.

I look forward to reading other books by Sarah A Denzil! And, of course, reading more spooky tales as autumn closes in.

This had so much potential to be a great ghost story, and the premise sounded very intriguing, but in the end I felt quite underwhelmed. All the characters felt very one-dimensional and cliched, and I couldn't care much about their story lines or what they were experiencing. They weren't particularly likeable, but that didn't bother me because I thought the point of that was to show that influencers are not what they seem, and are very different to the bubbly/positive/charismatic people they portray through social media.

I also got very unnerved about the bad representation of a mental illness, and I do not like mental health being used as plot devices/twists. It seemed like it was not researched, and for such a misunderstood mental illness, it was handled badly and wasn't necessary. I did really enjoy the writing though, and I can't fault the atmosphere as it really felt like a haunted house. If you're someone you love books with unreliable narrators, then you'll probably enjoy this more.

I still give it 3 stars because I did enjoy my time reading it, and really liked the atmosphere created and the author really does have potential to write a good ghost story, but please be aware of the use of schizophrenia. I'd like to thank Netgalley and the published for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the chance to read the ARC of You are invited by Sarah A. Denzil. Five social media influencers are invited to a spooky monastery in Transylvania that is rumored to be haunted after a unsolved massacre of Nuns years ago. The event? A live-streaming monetised retreat, where everything you do is on screen, and patrons pay for constant access, and action to their favorite social media stars: Irene, the most famous influencer in the world and the host of this event; Nathan, the gamer, Jules, the blogger; Daniel, the fitness guru, and Cath, the writer. But is there someone else with them? Streamers start noticing a dark figure in the shadows...
I will admit I found this one hard to get in to. Once I started, it wasn't bad, but I felt that the plot seemed to be a bit all over the place and some of the plot threads didnt really make sense to me. In the end, it was an ok read. 21/2 stars rounded up to 3.