You're Invited

August 1, 2022
When a Sri Lankan woman now living in LA learns that her former best friend is marrying her ex-boyfriend, she will do anything to stop the wedding. Amaya Bloom exercises complete control over her life while also looking to number symbolism to guide most of her actions and decisions. When she learns, via Instagram, that her former best friend, Kaavindi Fonseka, a glamorous influencer who runs a successful charity, is engaged to marry Amaya's ex-boyfriend Matthew Spencer, and when an invitation to the wedding arrives, this could be Amaya's chance to bury the hatchet--literally. For Amaya will fly back to Sri Lanka to attend the days of wedding festivities with a Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C in hand, determined not to let Kaavi and Spencer tie the knot. The novel actually begins on the day of the ceremony, when it seems like Kaavi has been attacked in her hotel room and is now missing. Jayatissa then provides Amaya's story, beginning at that same time but also flashing back to three months earlier, when the engagement is announced. Then it does the same for Kaavi, interspersing various "interview transcripts" from friends and family members as Kaavi's disappearance is investigated. The twists, after they are revealed, may feel a little familiar to readers of thrillers, but the pacing is expert; in the moment, each is surprising and creates a need to recalibrate what is known about these characters. In addition to offering unapologetically strong, vividly imperfect female characters, the novel offers commentary on social privilege in Sri Lanka and on the gaudy, illusion-filled world of social media influencers. Crazy Rich Asians meets Gone Girl with a mostly all-female cast.

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August 12, 2022

In Jayatissa's second novel (following My Sweet Girl) Amaya Bloom has a wedding to stop. It's been five years since she's spoken to her best friend, Kaavi Fonseca, but that doesn't mean she hasn't kept tabs on her. When Kaavi announces her engagement to Amaya's ex-boyfriend via Instagram, Amaya is incensed. Then Kaavi invites her to the wedding in Sri Lanka. Spurred into action, Amaya heads to her hometown determined to do whatever it takes to disrupt the nuptials--even if she has to kill to do it. Jayatissa is a master of the disjointed narrative. Precisely timed revelations give readers the pleasure of feeling as though they are in on the action. All of this is accomplished while simultaneously layering in subtle commentary on Sri Lanka privilege. Unfortunately, skilled storytelling isn't enough to overcome the novel's vague plot or the failure to fulfill the expectations built around Amaya's falling out with Kaavi. VERDICT Recommend to those who liked Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies or Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl.--Vicki Briner

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August 29, 2022
Thriller Award winner Jayatissa follows her debut, My Sweet Girl, with a twisty thriller set among the wealthiest circles of Sri Lanka. Amaya Bloom, a near-friendless young Sri Lankan woman living in Los Angeles, torments herself by cutting her skin, having masochistic sex with a man she barely knows, and watching her beautiful, affluent ex-best friend, Kaavi Fonseka, rise to influencer status on Instagram. When Amaya receives an invitation to Kaavi’s wedding, where she will marry Amaya’s handsome, successful ex-boyfriend, Amaya is determined to stop it at any cost. Amaya flies to Sri Lanka with plans to obtain an untraceable gun. However, on the night before the ceremony, Kaavi vanishes, and interviews with the wedding guests unearth an abundance of motives and suspects, culminating in a harrowing, unforeseeable ending. While the perpetrators are powerfully drawn and the social and political tensions in Sri Lanka sensitively suggested, some readers may feel frustrated by Amaya’s coy and often misleading hints about her past and her sudden shift late in the story to psychological health and benevolence. Ruth Ware fans will want to check this out. Agent: Melissa Danaczko, Stuart Krichevsky Literary. (Aug.)Correction: An earlier version of this review incorrectly stated the author had won an Edgar Award.