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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I don't remember how You're Invited ended up on my TBR back in 2022. Because I've been in the process of clearing out that list and making decisions on whether or not I still want to read some of these books, this book landed on the "to actually read" section, mostly because I saw the book at a local used bookstore and thought to myself, "Maybe it's time to read it."
Not knowing too much about the synopsis, except that it took place at a wedding ceremony, within the first chapter, it was made to be a murder scene. A jealous person murders the bride and all the guests get rounded up for interviews in trying to figure out who the murderer is. In the first 17 chapters, you're following the same character from the beginning, Amaya, and you understand what took place three months before the wedding of her ex-best friend, Kaavi, and the day of the wedding. Within those chapters, the reader is also getting a peek at the wedding guest interviews that are being held. As the story progresses, it makes it seem like Amaya was the one behind this murder/missing person, but as the synopsis states, other guests are also speaking ill about the bride.
The turning point starts in Chapter 18, where the perspective shifts from Amaya to Kaavi, and things start to unravel, that being rich and famous isn't always what it looks like via social media.
A few things to mark down, there are some self-harm passages while reading Amaya's perspective (which I'm surprised that there wasn't a trigger warning). But just as a note for anyone who's reading this review before, page 6, page 96, page 135, and page 207.
The second thing I marked down was the "plans" Amaya had, her Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C. Now, if you read the book, you know that there were more than those plans, but it was just interesting to mark them up to see what were her plans.
The story itself was pretty twisted; felt like I was reading something kind of boring, following Amaya's whining perspective that she HAS to apologize to Kaavi, and because her online friend Beth kept pushing her to do the right thing. It seems like every single thing that happened was made to go against Amaya (more information is provided within the interviews), but things got going when we shifted to Kaavi's perspective and the end-all-be-all was when Amaya gave her interview, where every single possible outcome that I thought got thrown out the window and I was trying to finish this book as fast as I can, JUST so I know what happens at the end.
I felt that this was a good read, even though I'm not knowledgable about Sri Lankan customs and wedding traditions, but the author made it easy enough to understand without overbearing the reader with all the lavish terms.
And Alexander? I honesty thought it was someone from the event..
Not knowing too much about the synopsis, except that it took place at a wedding ceremony, within the first chapter, it was made to be a murder scene. A jealous person murders the bride and all the guests get rounded up for interviews in trying to figure out who the murderer is. In the first 17 chapters, you're following the same character from the beginning, Amaya, and you understand what took place three months before the wedding of her ex-best friend, Kaavi, and the day of the wedding. Within those chapters, the reader is also getting a peek at the wedding guest interviews that are being held. As the story progresses, it makes it seem like Amaya was the one behind this murder/missing person, but as the synopsis states, other guests are also speaking ill about the bride.
The turning point starts in Chapter 18, where the perspective shifts from Amaya to Kaavi, and things start to unravel, that being rich and famous isn't always what it looks like via social media.
A few things to mark down, there are some self-harm passages while reading Amaya's perspective (which I'm surprised that there wasn't a trigger warning). But just as a note for anyone who's reading this review before, page 6, page 96, page 135, and page 207.
The second thing I marked down was the "plans" Amaya had, her Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C. Now, if you read the book, you know that there were more than those plans, but it was just interesting to mark them up to see what were her plans.
The story itself was pretty twisted; felt like I was reading something kind of boring, following Amaya's whining perspective that she HAS to apologize to Kaavi, and because her online friend Beth kept pushing her to do the right thing. It seems like every single thing that happened was made to go against Amaya (more information is provided within the interviews), but things got going when we shifted to Kaavi's perspective and the end-all-be-all was when Amaya gave her interview, where every single possible outcome that I thought got thrown out the window and I was trying to finish this book as fast as I can, JUST so I know what happens at the end.
I felt that this was a good read, even though I'm not knowledgable about Sri Lankan customs and wedding traditions, but the author made it easy enough to understand without overbearing the reader with all the lavish terms.
And Alexander? I honesty thought it was someone from the event..
I’d give this one a 3.5. It sucked me right in, but I got a little bored of the interrogation question format and the mundane details. The addresses, etc. were unnecessary and some of the characters didn’t need as big a part as they had. Andre, Laura, and even the Aunties. It picked back up when we got to Kaavi’s point of view, and I wish that were introduced earlier to keep it more interesting. Definitely didn’t expect the end, and overall this was a good read. Would’ve been great without all of the filler.
I had to finish the book because nosy, but it was unnecessarily dramatic, slow to roll out and the characters were generally horrible. I did enjoy the insider view of the contradictions and traditions of Sri Lankan culture.
Can Amaya stop her ex-best friend from murdering her ex-boyfriend? Or wait, now she’s being suspected of murdering her friend? What?
A wild ride filled with the culture of Sri Lanka. Beautifully written and crafted and just a typical thriller.
I enjoyed this and will definitely be picking up another from Jayatissa.
*Read for the Literally Dead Book Club October 2022.*
A wild ride filled with the culture of Sri Lanka. Beautifully written and crafted and just a typical thriller.
I enjoyed this and will definitely be picking up another from Jayatissa.
*Read for the Literally Dead Book Club October 2022.*
3.5 stars. Slow and tedious for about the first half, a lot of latent drama. And then it really picked up second half!
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Initially picked up this book because it was a mystery novel but the setting appealed to me considering most mystery novels are pretty European...
story was pretty good. saw that someone compared this to an agatha christie novel - nope sorry but it's good lol
story was pretty good. saw that someone compared this to an agatha christie novel - nope sorry but it's good lol
Loved the plot twits - didn't see them coming at all. Also the Sri Lankan cultural aspects of this book were really precious.
I'm a little bit disappointed, not going to lie. I expected some more *edge of your seat* and *unputdownable* intensity from Miss Jayatissa. That's not to say I didn't enjoy this book! It was well-written with good development and a complex storyline, but overall it was definitely more of a juicy family drama than a thriller and not nearly as f*cked up as My Sweet Girl.
Incredible. Bone chilling. Creepy. Such a good read, with a shocking ending. Definitely recommend.