You're Invited

If you loved Crazy Rich Asians but wished there were a little blood spattered across its gilded halls and sparkling jewels, have I got the thriller for you. You’re Invited is a slick, twisted, and relentlessly juicy novel with a quick-witted protagonist you’ll simultaneously love and distrust.

At the start of the story, Amaya scores a coveted invitation: Her former best friend, Kaavi, is marrying none other than Amaya’s ex in the Sri Lankan wedding of the century. Amaya, estranged from Kaavi and still raging about their falling-out, can’t believe she made the invite list but decides to go in order to stop the troubling union.

Then, mere hours before she’s supposed to walk down the aisle, Kaavi disappears. Investigators are stumped, wedding guests are imprisoned in their hotel rooms, and Amaya—who wakes with blood beneath her knuckles—thrums with panic. Through a carefully paced rewind of the months leading up to the disappearance, along with interview transcripts with those who knew Kaavi (and Amaya) best, we begin to see that beneath this celebration’s lavish exterior, secrets, lies, and betrayals are all brewing.

I can’t get enough of thrillers with complex female friendships at the center, and You’re Invited is pitch-perfect in its patient untangling of Amaya and Kaavi’s sordid past. It’s also a perfect poolside read for anyone with a penchant for travel and a fascination with the lifestyles of the rich and famous—I could watch Kaavi’s glamorous family plan a South Asian, high-society wedding all day. With dizzying, hall-of-mirror twists and a cutting examination of privilege and power, You’re Invited is a bloodthirsty beach read you won’t be able to put down.

When Amaya is invited to Kaavi’s over-the-top wedding in Sri Lanka, she is surprised and a little hurt to hear from her former best friend after so many years of radio silence. But when Amaya learns that the groom is her very own ex-boyfriend, she is consumed by a single thought: She must stop the wedding from happening, no matter the cost.

But as the weeklong wedding celebrations begin and rumors about Amaya’s past begin to swirl, she can’t help but feel like she also has a target on her back. When Kaavi goes missing and is presumed dead, all evidence points to Amaya.

However, nothing is as it seems as Jayatissa expertly unravels that each wedding guest has their own dark secret and agenda, and Amaya may not be the only one with a plan to keep the bride from getting her happily ever after . . .