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lovelymisanthrope's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I originally received a copy of this book through Net Galley.
"Many Are Invited" follows Steve Galanos as he remembers his time in the 90's, working in Silicon Valley. As a man working in tech, Y2K could bring a lot of problems, especially for him, but with all of the impending chaos around him, what impacts him the most is a housewarming party he attends in 1999.
This book fell flat for me. I was really excited by the prospect of a "thriller" set in the 90's, especially one that addresses the fear people had about what would happen to the computers when the year 2000 hit, but this did not read like a thriller to me. Sure, there is some "mystery" as Steve tries to learn more about the other characters in his life, but this book reads like a contemporary, with some historical elements. There are several elements of this book that are similar to "The Great Gatsby", even flat-out reference to "The Great Gatsby", and I feel like if the author wanted to write something similar to that classic, perhaps there should not have been any attempt made to be a "thriller". It felt like two genres that do not go together competing against each other, and neither won.
Steve is a very vanilla character. He is the typical male, who is sexist, dull, and works a boring office job. There is nothing particularly interesting about him, which arguably, could make him relatable for a lot of people. His narrative and inner voice just read flat to me.
For such a short book, this book took me a long time to get into, and it felt so much longer than it actually was.
The whole point of this story is that something traumatic happens at the housewarming party, but the party does not even start until 60% into the book. Then while at the party, it seems to drag until the "big reveal". There is hardly any time after we learn what happened and the end of the book, which made the resolution, if you can call it that, feel rushed and entirely unresolved.
I am not super interested to read more from Dennis Cuesta at this time.
"Many Are Invited" follows Steve Galanos as he remembers his time in the 90's, working in Silicon Valley. As a man working in tech, Y2K could bring a lot of problems, especially for him, but with all of the impending chaos around him, what impacts him the most is a housewarming party he attends in 1999.
This book fell flat for me. I was really excited by the prospect of a "thriller" set in the 90's, especially one that addresses the fear people had about what would happen to the computers when the year 2000 hit, but this did not read like a thriller to me. Sure, there is some "mystery" as Steve tries to learn more about the other characters in his life, but this book reads like a contemporary, with some historical elements. There are several elements of this book that are similar to "The Great Gatsby", even flat-out reference to "The Great Gatsby", and I feel like if the author wanted to write something similar to that classic, perhaps there should not have been any attempt made to be a "thriller". It felt like two genres that do not go together competing against each other, and neither won.
Steve is a very vanilla character. He is the typical male, who is sexist, dull, and works a boring office job. There is nothing particularly interesting about him, which arguably, could make him relatable for a lot of people. His narrative and inner voice just read flat to me.
For such a short book, this book took me a long time to get into, and it felt so much longer than it actually was.
The whole point of this story is that something traumatic happens at the housewarming party, but the party does not even start until 60% into the book. Then while at the party, it seems to drag until the "big reveal". There is hardly any time after we learn what happened and the end of the book, which made the resolution, if you can call it that, feel rushed and entirely unresolved.
I am not super interested to read more from Dennis Cuesta at this time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Death, Sexism, and Blood
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Pregnancy
carina528's review
2.0
I appreciate the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review. I was so excited to read this, knowing it was set in the late 90’s heading into the Y2K period. I remember the energy of that unknown well. Unfortunately, the book didn’t deliver for me. It was slow to get into and it just sort of wandered aimlessly for me. I couldn’t get into it…I couldn’t find the plot. Then, it just ended. It didn’t take long to read, but it left me feeling pretty dissatisfied.
mg_in_md_'s review
2.0
In other reviews I read after finishing this novel, I saw that other readers noted it was a retelling of [b:The Great Gatsby|6519719|The Great Gatsby|F. Scott Fitzgerald|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1356107649l/6519719._SY75_.jpg|245494] by [a:F. Scott Fitzgerald|3190|F. Scott Fitzgerald|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1517864008p2/3190.jpg]. Seen through that lens, I think I appreciate the novel a bit more than I did as I was reading it. However, I struggled to connect to it and could not figure out where the story was going. Was it a story about Y2K? A corporate rivalry story? A crime story? Something else? There were hints at all of these and the author dangled tantalizing clues along the way, but I didn't really feel like it gelled for me.
The narrator, Steve, seemed to be meandering through life, insecure and off-kilter. I wondered more than once how reliable of a narrator he was and what his motivations were for many of his actions and behavior. There was a bit of barrier between me and the other characters, who he didn't seem to particularly like even though he stayed in their orbits. That made it hard for me to like or care about them myself. I can't say I enjoyed spending time with them very much. Once the big reveal of what happened at the fateful party was made, the ending seemed rushed compared to the earlier pacing of the story. I also felt like the book ended somewhat abruptly even though the tale had clearly come to an end.
Many thanks to the Celestial Eyes Press and the author for providing a NetGalley copy of this title. I hope it finds the right reader, but sadly that was not me.
The narrator, Steve, seemed to be meandering through life, insecure and off-kilter. I wondered more than once how reliable of a narrator he was and what his motivations were for many of his actions and behavior. There was a bit of barrier between me and the other characters, who he didn't seem to particularly like even though he stayed in their orbits. That made it hard for me to like or care about them myself. I can't say I enjoyed spending time with them very much. Once the big reveal of what happened at the fateful party was made, the ending seemed rushed compared to the earlier pacing of the story. I also felt like the book ended somewhat abruptly even though the tale had clearly come to an end.
Many thanks to the Celestial Eyes Press and the author for providing a NetGalley copy of this title. I hope it finds the right reader, but sadly that was not me.
ngalbani's review
2.0
I thought it was going to a different book from the description and tried to like it but I could not.
I didn't like the main character; I could not sympathize with him or find some kind of connection and the end too left me disappointed.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC
I didn't like the main character; I could not sympathize with him or find some kind of connection and the end too left me disappointed.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC
aleksandra_jot's review
1.0
Pewnie gdybym sprawdziła opinie przed włączeniem audiobooka – wykasowałabym go z biblioteki, ale była to noc, a ja chciałam się ululać, więc tego nie zrobiłam. Efekt był inny od założonego, bo z pierwszym zdaniem na temat kobiet wypowiedzianym przez męskich bohaterów ciśnienie skacze tak bardzo, że do końca dnia kawa jest już niepotrzebna. Okropny seksizm, uprzedmiotowienie kobiet, mężczyźni to panowie i władcy wypowiadający się z nadrzędnej pozycji. Nie wiem, w którym momencie czara goryczy się przelała: gdy na początku główni bohaterowie nazywają atrakcyjne kobiety "Swede 1", "Swede 2" itd, mimo że – oczywiście – bohaterki Szwedkami nie są, ale z jakiegoś powodu zasłużyły na taką łatkę wraz z numerem (sic!); w momencie, gdy system klasyfikacji wychodzi przez przypadek na jaw w trakcie rozmowy i partnerki jego autorów nie mają nic przeciwko; czy może wtedy, gdy okazało się, że charakterystyka pojawiających się kobiecych postaci ogranicza się do "sexy and hot".
JFC what the fuck was that –.–
JFC what the fuck was that –.–
hmbb99's review
3.0
Many Are Invited starts off as a slow memoir type of a novel which talks all about the evolution of technology related to Y2K. You might think its boring, but the story is not just about this man and his job. It is a story about this man, Steven, and his relationship with John, Mary, and Lauren. It is also about the events that led up to the horrible night of the housewarming party.
The story is slow paced and sometimes a little dull but if you stick with it, you start to see that something is spiraling out of control. This leads to a disaster of consequential proportions. Steven and his narcissism are at the heart of it all.
I thought it was a good story with some surprises. It reminded me a bit like Liane Moriarty's stories, where you don't quite know where it's going to it gets there. Then you are shocked by where it ends up. So if you are a fan of hers, you'll be a fan of Many Are Invited.
Thanks to Netgalley and Celestial Eyes Press for the advanced copy of the book. The opinions are my own.
The story is slow paced and sometimes a little dull but if you stick with it, you start to see that something is spiraling out of control. This leads to a disaster of consequential proportions. Steven and his narcissism are at the heart of it all.
I thought it was a good story with some surprises. It reminded me a bit like Liane Moriarty's stories, where you don't quite know where it's going to it gets there. Then you are shocked by where it ends up. So if you are a fan of hers, you'll be a fan of Many Are Invited.
Thanks to Netgalley and Celestial Eyes Press for the advanced copy of the book. The opinions are my own.
emily_loves_2_read's review
2.0
Many Are Invited
⭐️⭐️
Genre: Fiction
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 10/6/22
Author: Dennis Cuesta
Publisher: Celestial Eyes Press
Pages: 242
Goodreads Rating: 3.29
I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Celestial Eyes Press and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.
Synopsis: A housewarming party ends in tragedy. . . Steve Galanos, a native Midwesterner, reflects on his time in and near Silicon Valley during the 1990s, a time when the two-digit year emerged as the Y2K problem, the burgeoning Internet fueled the expansion of the New Economy, the dot-com bubble created unseen prosperity and real estate frenzies. Yet it’s a housewarming party, held in late 1999, that affects him the most.
My Thoughts: The chapters were short in this book, which I tend to gravitate towards. It is just easier to stop at the end of a chapter. The tragic event occurs very late in the storyline, the first is filled with the Y2K bug (I definitely remember the country during that time), politics, and religion. Not that those are bad topics, just topics that I generally would not read. I believe the backstories of the characters could have been filled in less space and more expansion on the tragic event and the aftermath. The tragic event should open up the story and then work backwards from there, then the Y2K bug, politics, and religion would not have seemed out of place. The ending of the book just stops, not a cliffhanger, and not a resolution. It’s not a bad read, just not what I expected or hoped it would be. That could be on me as I may have misinterpreted the synopsis.
⭐️⭐️
Genre: Fiction
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 10/6/22
Author: Dennis Cuesta
Publisher: Celestial Eyes Press
Pages: 242
Goodreads Rating: 3.29
I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Celestial Eyes Press and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.
Synopsis: A housewarming party ends in tragedy. . . Steve Galanos, a native Midwesterner, reflects on his time in and near Silicon Valley during the 1990s, a time when the two-digit year emerged as the Y2K problem, the burgeoning Internet fueled the expansion of the New Economy, the dot-com bubble created unseen prosperity and real estate frenzies. Yet it’s a housewarming party, held in late 1999, that affects him the most.
My Thoughts: The chapters were short in this book, which I tend to gravitate towards. It is just easier to stop at the end of a chapter. The tragic event occurs very late in the storyline, the first is filled with the Y2K bug (I definitely remember the country during that time), politics, and religion. Not that those are bad topics, just topics that I generally would not read. I believe the backstories of the characters could have been filled in less space and more expansion on the tragic event and the aftermath. The tragic event should open up the story and then work backwards from there, then the Y2K bug, politics, and religion would not have seemed out of place. The ending of the book just stops, not a cliffhanger, and not a resolution. It’s not a bad read, just not what I expected or hoped it would be. That could be on me as I may have misinterpreted the synopsis.
donasbooks's review
1.0
I almost DNFed MANY ARE INVITED by Dennis Cuesta. I only finished because I wanted to know if the blurb was actually as misleading as it seemed....It is.
This book was sent to me by NetGalley. A book approved for everyone, they said, are you interested? The description of this one was personally interesting to me because of Y2K, which I remember clearly because of how stressed out everyone was! But Cuesta exploited that interest, because he never went beyond mentioning it.
The blurb claims this book is in part about the Y2K bug from the perspective of a couple programmers. I thought we would get a little jargon, maybe a couple of scenes of inaccessible code speak. Nope, none of it. This book is about Y2K the way my body is about my big toe--it barely touches it in a useful way.
The blurb also claims this book is about a house party. This party doesn't start until 60% of the way through the narrative though--before this, the plot is stuffed with various useless material. The narrator, Steve, and his work rival/buddy, John, sexually harangue and sometimes harass (since many of them are coworkers), every attractive woman they see (and they see many) for 100 pages.
And the politics! Every male speaking character in this book has something to say to the other male speaking characters (which compose most of this book's cast) about atheists, abortion, poverty, and others. And they all seem to agree with each other, so of course, this presents the reader no challenge or even anything interesting, like conflict.
The blurb's big lure is that someone gets injured at this house party. But the injury doesn't appear to have a thing to do with what happened before the party scenes. Oh wait! The narrator was collecting some evidence in the form of gossip remember, so this does all loosely add up...to some complete garbage about how hot women are sluts who get abortions and murder weak-willed family men. Funniest ending ever? Whatever, I like irony.
Rating 1/2 a star rounded up for all the poor female characters in this book
Finished November 2022
Recommended to fans of memoirs about women
Thank you NetGalley, Celestial Eyes Press, and Mr. Cuesta for letting me read an ARC of this book.
*Follow my Instagram book blog for all my reviews, challenges, and book lists! http://www.instagram.com/donasbooks *
This book was sent to me by NetGalley. A book approved for everyone, they said, are you interested? The description of this one was personally interesting to me because of Y2K, which I remember clearly because of how stressed out everyone was! But Cuesta exploited that interest, because he never went beyond mentioning it.
The blurb claims this book is in part about the Y2K bug from the perspective of a couple programmers. I thought we would get a little jargon, maybe a couple of scenes of inaccessible code speak. Nope, none of it. This book is about Y2K the way my body is about my big toe--it barely touches it in a useful way.
The blurb also claims this book is about a house party. This party doesn't start until 60% of the way through the narrative though--before this, the plot is stuffed with various useless material. The narrator, Steve, and his work rival/buddy, John, sexually harangue and sometimes harass (since many of them are coworkers), every attractive woman they see (and they see many) for 100 pages.
And the politics! Every male speaking character in this book has something to say to the other male speaking characters (which compose most of this book's cast) about atheists, abortion, poverty, and others. And they all seem to agree with each other, so of course, this presents the reader no challenge or even anything interesting, like conflict.
The blurb's big lure is that someone gets injured at this house party. But the injury doesn't appear to have a thing to do with what happened before the party scenes. Oh wait! The narrator was collecting some evidence in the form of gossip remember, so this does all loosely add up...to some complete garbage about how hot women are sluts who get abortions and murder weak-willed family men. Funniest ending ever? Whatever, I like irony.
Rating 1/2 a star rounded up for all the poor female characters in this book
Finished November 2022
Recommended to fans of memoirs about women
Thank you NetGalley, Celestial Eyes Press, and Mr. Cuesta for letting me read an ARC of this book.
*Follow my Instagram book blog for all my reviews, challenges, and book lists! http://www.instagram.com/donasbooks *
bouldermimi's review
3.0
Read 9/7/2022 - ebook
Thanks to NetGalley and Celestial Eyes Press for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.
The prologue had be intrigued. What could this man have done that was so horrible and led to such tragedy?
The worry over Y2K joins Steve and John together at work where they quickly become friends. Steve is the type to do just enough to get by, whereas John seems to prosper without much effort. John is the right place at the right time sort of guy, and Steve often times feels irked watching his best-friend reap the rewards. On the surface, Steve and John have a great friendship, but there is an undercurrent of competition. On a bet, Steve sends John into a high-end clothing store where they spied a beautiful woman dressing a mannequin to get her number. Steve's glee over John returning without her number quickly fades as John mentions Mary, another employee he met in the store. After a few months of dating, John and Mary get engaged and Steve realizes he has fallen in love with Mary. What transpires after this moment will drastically change their lives and one night of celebration will end in tragedy.
As the story is being told through Steve's POV, you sense his underlying indignation of his friend's successes and his feelings of schadenfreude. Mary's best friend Lauren also exhibits the same feelings towards Mary but seems to be more expressive with her uncomplimentary actions and comments. It makes you wonder why these people are friends in the first place.
I was misled by the prologue, which to me felt like a set up for a thriller. Instead, it was a slow-burn story of how ironic life can be. I didn't care for any of the characters, not because they were unlikable, but I couldn't relate to any of them. I'm about the same age as the characters in the story, I just couldn't relate. This was just OK for me.
Thanks to NetGalley and Celestial Eyes Press for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.
The prologue had be intrigued. What could this man have done that was so horrible and led to such tragedy?
The worry over Y2K joins Steve and John together at work where they quickly become friends. Steve is the type to do just enough to get by, whereas John seems to prosper without much effort. John is the right place at the right time sort of guy, and Steve often times feels irked watching his best-friend reap the rewards. On the surface, Steve and John have a great friendship, but there is an undercurrent of competition. On a bet, Steve sends John into a high-end clothing store where they spied a beautiful woman dressing a mannequin to get her number. Steve's glee over John returning without her number quickly fades as John mentions Mary, another employee he met in the store. After a few months of dating, John and Mary get engaged and Steve realizes he has fallen in love with Mary. What transpires after this moment will drastically change their lives and one night of celebration will end in tragedy.
As the story is being told through Steve's POV, you sense his underlying indignation of his friend's successes and his feelings of schadenfreude. Mary's best friend Lauren also exhibits the same feelings towards Mary but seems to be more expressive with her uncomplimentary actions and comments. It makes you wonder why these people are friends in the first place.
I was misled by the prologue, which to me felt like a set up for a thriller. Instead, it was a slow-burn story of how ironic life can be. I didn't care for any of the characters, not because they were unlikable, but I couldn't relate to any of them. I'm about the same age as the characters in the story, I just couldn't relate. This was just OK for me.
daniellersalaz's review
3.0
I received an ARC of Many Are Invited from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Many Are Invited is a story that develops slowly over the first half of the book and then culminates in one dramatic evening. The narrator Steve describes his initial impression of John, who he meets at his phone company job when John makes an impassioned company-wide presentation about the risks of Y2K coding bugs and argues that a Y2K team is necessary and he's just the man to lead it. Steve is not impressed, but over time becomes one of John's closest friends. In fact, Steve is with John the evening that he meets his future wife Mary and her coworker Lauren. By the end of the book, each of these main characters has amassed numerous secrets and questionable choices that all collide at John and Mary's housewarming party.
I found reading this book enjoyable, though I never really found any of the characters particularly likable or realistic. It's a quick read with action building toward the end. However, I was left feeling like the abrupt ending left more questions than answers and a lingering sense of insignificance.
Many Are Invited is a story that develops slowly over the first half of the book and then culminates in one dramatic evening. The narrator Steve describes his initial impression of John, who he meets at his phone company job when John makes an impassioned company-wide presentation about the risks of Y2K coding bugs and argues that a Y2K team is necessary and he's just the man to lead it. Steve is not impressed, but over time becomes one of John's closest friends. In fact, Steve is with John the evening that he meets his future wife Mary and her coworker Lauren. By the end of the book, each of these main characters has amassed numerous secrets and questionable choices that all collide at John and Mary's housewarming party.
I found reading this book enjoyable, though I never really found any of the characters particularly likable or realistic. It's a quick read with action building toward the end. However, I was left feeling like the abrupt ending left more questions than answers and a lingering sense of insignificance.