Amaya has spent the last few years of her life as a shell of her former self. Obsessed with the life of her former best friend Kaavi, she’s shocked to receive an invitation to Kaavi’s upcoming nuptials. Amaya didn’t even know her ex-friend was in a relationship, let alone ready to get married. Even more shocking is that Kaavi’s fiancé happens to also be Amaya’s ex-boyfriend. Amaya is determined to make sure the wedding doesn’t happen. When Kaavi goes missing during the wedding festivities, it’s natural to think Amaya (the ex bestfriend and ex girlfriend) is to blame. As the investigation into Kaavi’s disappearance and potential murder deepens, more than just Amaya’s secrets are being exposed.

I love a good interrogation story, and half of this book is told within these security interviews. Not only do they normally turn a story into a page turner, but I love getting the additional insight into other characters, we normally wouldn’t get to ‘talk’ to.

The other half of the story switches between Kaavi’s and Amaya’s POV as they gear up for the wedding and during the events of the wedding celebrations. I didn’t love Amaya’s POV, she’s unreliable, and her obsessive and self harm tendencies really made her out to be a darker, villianesque character. However, as the story evolves and we learn more about Amaya I really came around to her character, but I still never connected with her much. On the other hand Kaavi’s character comes off as uptight and secretive, which given this is a thriller, isn’t surprising.

Most of the book was just okay for me. It took me a while to feel invested in the story but once the wedding celebrations started, I found the pace picking up quite a bit. What I really enjoyed about this book through was the social commentary and cultural references to Sri Lanka. I don’t know much about the country but I heard about their current economic issues right around the same time I started reading this book. The juxtaposition of the 1% in Sri Lanka portrayed in the book and reading about their economic collapse made the story that much more memorable for me.

I wasn’t super impressed by the last chapter and felt that too many loose ends were tied together too quickly but still an entertaining page turner.3.5 stars round up to 4 stars.

AMAZON | GOODREADS | ★★★★

You’re Invited comes out August 9, 2022! Huge thank you to Berkley Books for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.  If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof_books.

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