[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

This is a temporary review as I have more to say but this is a fun and exciting slasher story. There's lots to love and Ande Pliego manages to keep the tempo high throughout the majority of the book.

The conclusion might be slightly lacking but the lead up to that point is fairly exceptional.

Throughout the book Pliego includes excerpts from fictitious works. These are some of the highpoints and move from interesting asides to essential story points.

The only reason it doesn't get full marks is due to some minor qualms with dialogue and story beats but overall it's an easy recommendation.

This book had a great plot with intriguing characters. I’ll definitely be looking out for more from this author.

Loved the synopsis of the book, it instantly gave me 'Glass Onion' vibes which I loved! In the end this sadly was a dnf for me. I really liked the characters and where the story was going! But I was a bit confused at times which pov I was reading and going back and fourth to keep track just took the fun out for me.

I'm def. gonna need to have answers, how the book ends though :D

Tension, atmosphere, a knockout location and a party to die for, its the invite of the year and six of the best thriller writers are invited to be the guests of anonymous author J.R. Alastor on his private island. For years he's topped the bestselling list, never attending book events or signings his identity is one of the best kept secrets in the business.

A unique and clever novel with an interesting cast of characters, this was a compelling but often confusing read and I found myself going back and re-reading chapters more than once. Multi-narrative with multi-red herrings. The clues were there, I missed them.

I so loved the idea of this book and I am so glad it lived up to my expectations. My only fault with it, was sometimes I had to recheck whose point of view it was but it didn't take anything from my enjoyment. Did I figure it out? No, and I was so glad I didn't. I will definitely be looking out for this authors future books.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity.

I LOVED this book! I haven’t had joy reading a multiple POV for a while and this was written to perfection. Each character were so clearly fleshed out and defined, with their own goals and motivations and it led to a brilliant book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Although this was a slow read for me don't take that as me not enjoying this book !! I was instantly gripped from the start for so many reasons, personally I just never read digitally so it made it harder for me to want to jump into reading !! I have no doubt that if I had a physical copy of this book i'd have read it in a few days.

This book is a fast paced, murder mystery with allllll the tropes and plot twists !!! If you love knives out, ready or not and any similar films this book is defo for you !! The perfect autumnal book, I spent my evenings curled up with a hot drink reading this.

There is such a range of characters within this book meaning multiple povs throughout, however, this didn't feel clunky or confusing as each characters stories interweave with each other to reveal the ending. I found the majority of characters to be likeable except Fletcher who is just written to be insufferable lol. I also loved the chapters that were written from the pov of their roles as it leaves you guessing who is who and includes you as the reader as being in on their games !!

This book leaves you guessing right up until the last few pages. An extremely clever and well thought out plot that ultimately ended very satisfying for me and I feel as if each question I was asking throughout this book was answered.

Overall, this was a really fun read for me !! My first arc, looking forward to doing more of these. I enjoyed reading this alongside a physical book too as digital reading isn't as fulfilling for me but honestly this was a great one to start on as it was such a captivating read ! Ande Pliego is definitely an author I will come back too - such a strong debut !!!

thank you to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and NetGalley for this arc !! all opinions are my own :)

This is a really assured and clever novel that takes the whole Knives Out genre and runs with it with a fresh and skillful style. It's utterly riveting fun and the prose elevates it. It's definitely a superior frontrunner in a crowded market of locked room/trapped on an island novels. I read this in a day.

Due to be published 13/02/2025. This is another ARC that I requested through netgalley as I liked the concept.

This keeps you guessing throughout with a few twists and turns along the way. All characters had something to hide and it was all a question over who had the worst secret that led to the revenge that the killer was looking for.

I liked how the chapters switched between characters it enabled them to share their story independently although it does mean the story was a slow burn. If you like suspense then this will work for you 😊

From the very first chapter the author creates an air of tension. We get to know the story from every POV. I was able to figure out the killer but there is more story to it. It was a fantastic whodunnit from a debut author. Kudos to andepliego . This book very much kept me on my toes and I look forward to reading what their next book.I thank netgalley for the eARC copy.

I found this book very intriguing. It is based on famous authors invited to a remote island of an infamous author. Once there all contact with the outside world is cut off and murders begin. At first I found I had to back track to read the history of each character as it got a little confusing which character had written which book etc. but once I had got my head around it, it came much easier. I enjoyed the book, although I presume this is not the final draft as there were random chapter headings in the middle of paragraphs. Apart from that I would recommend this book to others.

Classic who did it book executed well. I tried to guess so many times but was wrong at each turn.

Highly recommend this book for those who love to guess the killer.

A fantastic whodunnit novel, a locked island mystery populated by... thriller writers! I will do my very best not to spoil anything, because the book comes out next year (PREORDER IT FRIENDS, IT'S FANTASTIC!) but let me just say, it SURPRIZED me! Which very few thrillers or mysteries do, so all the stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 for that alone! However, there is so much to love about this book! All the suspects (I mean characters) jump off the page, with distinct voices and motivations. One of these cut it waaaay too close for comfort for fellow writers 🙈 I did manage to guess one of the twists, but not the rest which came in quick succession - friends, I didn't sleep until I finished 😄

I loved this book. At the start I was quite confused by all the different characters, and the switching of narrators, but once I got used it that it gave a really interesting way to gain different views.

The plot revolves around the ‘And then there were none’ concept of people stuck on an island while there is a murderer there. The twist is that these people are all mystery writers so familiar with the genre. The chapters are interspersed with chapters from a book on writing mysteries which set up the different things that will happen in the plot.

I did not work out who was the killer, although thinking back over the book there were clues which I didn’t really pick up on. The author has been really fair to readers and given you a chance to work it out - rather than some books where there’s no way to guess!

I think this is a book that would be great to read in paper form as you’d be able to see the map, and I think it would be easier to keep track of the different characters. I can also see it as a film as it’s very atmospheric and descriptive.

The only thing I didn’t like is at the very end there is a cheerful interview with a character and I felt that was disappointing. It tied things up very neatly, but it wasn’t a ‘neat and tidy’ sort of book so it felt misplaced.

What a great book..
A classic who did it… but with so many more twists ..
I tried to guess , but failed every time ..
I hope from the ending that a book two could come from it! 🤞🏻

So glad I had the opportunity to read this !

This debut novel from Ande Pliego is bold, ambitious and teeming with mystery. The premise is simple- what happens when a group of renowned thriller writers are trapped on an island with a killer? They know literally every trick in the book but both the characters and the reader will be unravelling the web of secrets until the end of the novel.

I thought that this was a such a brilliant concept. I know that this variation of a ‘locked room’ mystery where all of the suspects are trapped on an island always heightens the tension, but what made this book stand out was its awareness of the crime and thriller genre. The group of suspects are knowledgable about these kinds of plots, they know the tropes and that makes them that much more dangerous. Along with the central murder mystery, some of the games and riddles from the writing retreat really made me think as well and I love a book that can do that.

I also liked that none of the character’s intentions could be trusted, not even Mila’s. There are so many secrets to unveil and as the reader we can only speculate as the author slowly trickles in information and twists. As with any good mystery, the author has to make you suspect every character and distrust them in order to keep you guessing.

Whilst it wasn’t a perfect book (there was an over-reliance on tropes and a slightly slow pace at times) I think it’s a promising start to Pliego’s writing career. If you like movies like The Glass Onion and Knives Out or books like The Inheritance Games and Eight Detectives, I think you’ll love this book which honours and plays with the tropes of detective stories!

This book started off really good and kept me intrigued. I started to get a bit confused as there are quite a lot of characters to keep up with.

I enjoyed the story and it kept me guessing up until the very end. Maybe could have been a little bit shorter!

3.5/5