I was disappointed by this book. The idea was good, but the characters didn't really come to life. I wasn't a big fan of the writing style; it all seemed a bit laboured, which made the book a struggle to read.

Set like a modern day retelling of Agatha Christie's "And then there were none" (in my opinion), You are fatally invited, features a murder mystery of six crime writers on a deserted island. Whereas the plot concept was intriguing, and the delivery dramatic, I did struggle with the multiple POV perspective and the jump from character to character. Like a good murder mystery, it required concentration to read so as not to miss out on key details, which made it a bit of a struggle for me, but this complexity may appeal to other readers. Like many other reviewers have pointed out, it does feel like Cleudo brought to book format and overall, I found this refreshingly unique.

Key tropes

*Dramatic plot full of suspense and twists
*Murder mystery
*Complex chararacter backstories
*Multiple POV
*Isolated island - who did it?

Cross a sinister game of Cluedo with an isolated island and the over-the-top fun from the film Ready Or Not, and you have the perfect read in Ande Pliego's debut thriller You Are Fatally Invited.

In this page-turner, six crime writers receive an invitation to attend a writing retreat hosted by elusive best-selling author J. R. Alastor on their private island. An opportunity not to be missed.

Alastor has been a mystery for years, having never revealed themselves to the public, shrouded in rumours that a family member may have inherited the pen and had been writing under the mysterious hosts name.

For the invited writers, they find themselves in for a week of mystery themed games, puzzles, and riddles. All drawing from the famous thriller tropes we love. But losing these games may come at a high cost.

From the island setting to the sinister games, You Are Fatally Invited has been written for those of us who are thriller obsessed, leaning into the major tropes from the genre. From a house with secret passages to final girls and more. No one is as they seem, and everyone has a dark secret they are not willing to reveal. Unravelling these characters was a whole lot of fun, and with a final twist that you won't see coming, it's a brilliantly intentionally over the top book. I loved it.

so wanted to like this book but unfortunately I could not finish it. It’s not my normal genre of book( not keen on MM) but due to all the hype on the ‘gram’ I decided to give it a go! Was initially intrigued about how this murder mystery was going to bring in the thrill element, and I’m still waiting!
The over explanations of the past and about what is happening made it frustrating.
The characters lacked depth and although there were a few plot twists, I think I lost the plot as I could not swiftly move between the narrative.
Not for me but hope others find it a fab read.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC

You are fatally invited - Ande Pliego
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Sometimes the art of fiction isn’t in how intellectual it is, but how well it makes you actually forget the world around you. Sometimes, binge reading to escape reality can save a person’s life.”

You Are Fatally Invited follows 6 thriller authors who are invited to an exclusive murder mystery retreat by the elusive author only known by his pen name. However when a guest is found dead, the authors find themselves in their own murder mystery nightmare. Who will survive?

This was one of my most anticipated reads and I eagerly watched all the stunning proofs being sent out, and was ecstatic when I got approved for my own copy. YAFI lived up to the hype and then some more, and I was hooked from the first page.

YAFI was dark and satirical with eccentric and interesting characters, including an assistant on her own agenda. I am a massive fan of eccentric or unhinged characters, and gallows humour, so this book was right up my street - and the foreshadowing and red herrings throughout the chapters and in the excerpts were just the cherry on top.

Being detail obsessed myself, I absolutely loved the map found at the beginning of this book, and I found it really brought the story to life. I enjoyed the homage to horror and crime tropes and found myself almost unwillingly playing detective throughout. And as Ande’s intricately spun web unravelled, I was thrilled and shocked by how deliciously twisted everything and everyone was.

I am honoured to have has RSVP’d to this incredible debut, and I can’t wait to see what Ande writes next🫣

Thank you to NetGalley, Ande Pliego and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for sending this advanced copy of You Are Fatally Invited in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is one of the best reads of my life.... It is amazingly twisty, brillaintly devious and Oh so good...

It is a little Agatha Christie in its plot but quite honestly I could not put this book down.. it is definitely and one more page book..


Highly recommended

Wow! This is a phenomenal debut and I can't wait to recommend it to all of my twisted friends! Genuinely kept me guessing and engaged throughout and I am going to suffer tomorrow for having chosen not to sleep when I should have, in order to read on to the end in this sitting. Agatha Christie would have been delighted with this cast of characters and their connections. Satisfying all the way to the end. Loved it and am so grateful for my advance ARC copy for review. Would happily have paid for this and will be watching for future works!

I knew I would love this book from the get go! Absolutely brilliantly written and one that I would recommend to all. I am already planning on buying this book for my dad for Christmas as I know he will just love this book just as much as I did.

You Are Fatally Invited is suspenseful storytelling. A thriller set in a world of intrigue, danger, and unexpected twists.
The premise is simple yet captivating: six renowned thriller authors are invited to a secluded island retreat hosted by the enigmatic J.R. Alastor. What starts as a seemingly harmless gathering quickly descends into a terrifying game of survival when one of the guests is found dead. 😵
The characters are fairly simple- think Cluedo style backstories, each with their own unique motivations and secrets.
The plot is well paced, with twists and turns that keep the reader guessing, although if you’re familiar with the well worn whodunnit tropes you may see them coming. The setting is vividly described, filled with secret passages, decadent hallways and ancient artefacts, as well as plenty of locations to hide that murder weapon.
If you’re a fan of thrilling mysteries and psychological suspense, You Are Fatally Invited is a fun read.

This book is just insanely good!! The plot line had me hooked right until the very end in this unputtable down book! 6 thriller authors on a writing retreat become one of the best storylines I’ve read for a long time. This book kept me on my toes !!!

Ande delivers an exceptional page-turner with unexpected twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat. Just when you think you’ve figured out what’s happening, the story throws you off course in the best way possible—exactly what you want from a thriller and murder mystery.

The depth of the mystery is impressive, with layers of intrigue woven into the characters, plot, and motives. It almost feels like reading a fantasy novel at times, thanks to Ande’s incredible world-building. Each character harbors secrets and motivations, and I loved how the story was told from multiple points of view. This approach draws you in, making you feel as though you truly understand these characters—until Ande cleverly reveals that you don’t. The sense of security in your predictions is artfully dismantled, ensuring that nothing is as it seems.

One of the most creative aspects of the book is Ande’s clever use of classic thriller tropes. Each chapter begins with an explanation of a trope, setting you up before it’s skillfully employed in the story. It’s a playful, meta twist that adds another layer of enjoyment to the reading experience.
I adored this thriller, it was a solid five-star read. If you love suspense, complex characters, and mind-bending plot twists, this is the book for you!

A really interesting and modern take on an Agatha-Christie-esque murder mystery!

Without spoiling anything, a group of well-known writers are invited to an authors-only retreat on an island. Their host, an elusive though extremely famous author named J. R. Alastor, has a lot more in store for them than their invites suggest - queue murder, mayhem and some fun twists!

I’d recommend this one to fans of Knives Out and readers who like their mysteries with healthy serving of blood!

This story finds a group travelling to an island, owned by the elusive mystery novelist J R Alastor, on the promise of a week long writers retreat with him. The retreat is being managed by Mila, who has been working for Alastor, and it’s not long before things begin to go awry. A member of the group goes missing, and there are secrets hidden between them that could see them all dead if they can’t solve the mystery of who J R Alastor is and what reason could there be to bring each of them to the island.

I really enjoyed this story, the characters were interesting and the tension was built incredibly well throughout. The creeping feeling of being watched, and even the weather felt oppressive and working against them. I thought the use of multiple perspectives worked really well and created great pacing- it kept me wanting to know more!

Overall an excellent debut, and one I’d highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an earc of this book.

Golden age with a twist loved this. It had modern day Agatha C vibes all the characters were flawed, the big Manor House and the secrets everything that I love. Stands out among the others I really enjoyed this. Thanks for the ARC

This is a whodunnit which started off slowly but picked up pace. I liked the setting and also the different characters getting to give their points of view. I figured out the killer but not till near the end so that was good. I'm Interested to see future books by the author.

Six crime writers are invited to a retreat by reclusive writer Alastor. However, things quickly take a tun for the worse.

I was intrigued by this book as soon as I read the title, and was hooked as soon as I started reading. The pace of the reveals was just right to keep you interested while still keeping you guessing. The ending was well thought out, and even after the big reveal there were still more twists and turns to be had. Fans of Agatha Christie would love this book. Well done Ande Pliego on a fantastic debut novel!

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read this. #YouAreFatallyInvited #NetGalley

Wow this book was great! The pacing was fantastic and every time I thought I had worked out who the killer was the author spun a new revelation and I was left guessing all over again. The flips between multiple POVs really helped to weave the fateful atmosphere and build the tension

[RATE: 4.5/5] It was so captivating!

I really loved all the tropes and plot twist used here, which are the most known and in common to a lot of books in the thriller genre, and seeing how they were used here, at the same time in the game, with the excepts from J.R. Alastor's book, and how the story itself evolved around these tropes.

Also it felt kind of dumb but the biggest plot twist in the end of this book is such a popular plot twist (like they said, sometimes even overused!), I even thought it was weird when it happened earlier in the book, yet I still didn't see it coming! It's so popular and it always gets on me whenever it happens, but I still ended up filling dumb to forget about it lol. But it made the story even more interesting!

I really liked how the story turned out (it was always getting worse than before) and how the characters evolved as well. I particularly liked Mila's character growth, as she's the one POV we get most of the time from the beginning.

The only thing that couldn't make it a favorite was the slow pacing at the beginning - we take so long to encounter our first dead character - but also some moments, some phrases, that were a bit confusing and hard to understand (but that may change before release date as I did get an ARC).

Closed room murder mystery. Very enjoyable, but lost me near the end... unraveling took a bit too long to my taste.

3.5 stars rounded up

I read the summary and was completely intrigued. And for the most part I was.
This is definitely a page turner, there were a couple of things that surprised me and I wanted to keep reading and find out what happened.

The negatives is that there is far too much foreshadowing, especially right at the start. We dont need that much, and we dont need all that background info either, its a bit of a braindump on events that have already happened. Obviously its about why they've been invited to this retreat, so you're already telling us big pieces of the story instead of showing us and letting it unfold.

Theres far too much telling in this book and constantly explaining things -especially obvious things- instead of showing us and letting the reader piece the puzzle themselves. You dont need to tell us every detail all the time, us readers can work things out on our own.

My biggest issue is the POVs, there are povs of all the characters however when a certain POV comes up, I could tell immediately who it is and one of the biggest mysteries in the story was solved. I read on to see if i was right and i was, with a couple of smaller twists that i did not see coming which was a pleasant surprise.

There are a couple of plot holes throughout this (or should i say, there are things that dont get concluded) and some things that are completely unrealistic, but this is an ARC so hopefully some of that can be sorted for release.

It was a good book, kept me interested, made me want to pick it up and keep reading, so ive rounded it up for tha