The Invitation

by Diane Hoh

Cover worn, page edges tanned. Shipped from the U.K. All orders received before 3pm sent that weekday.

Genres: Horror, Young Adult, Mystery, Fiction, Childrens, Thriller, Mystery Thriller

169 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1992

About the author

Diane Hoh is the author of fifty-seven novels for young adults. She grew up in Warren, Pennsylvania but currently resides in Austin, Texas. Reading and writing are her favorite things, alongside gardening and grandchildren.

Reviews

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not very popular Sarah and four of her classmates are invited to popular Cass Rockham’s annual Fall party. Sarah isn’t interested in going, but her friends persuade her to change her mind. Once they get to Cass’s party, they wish they had listened to Sarah.

A fast, easy-to-read book for young-adults and teens. It had some exciting moments. An enjoyable Point Horror story from the 90’s.

[Alex (The Bookubus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A group of five unpopular friends are invited to the party of the year only to find out that the hostess has something sinister planned.

This has a great set-up but the execution fell a little flat. Overall it was still quite an enjoyable read.


I did appreciate the high stakes involved as some of the characters do end up near-death!
I thought the backstory of Shane and Lynn was an interesting idea but I didn't think the reason (stealing) was believable. I was expecting something much worse!

[Ken · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had so many Point Horrors when I was younger that I'm struggling to remember which ones I had read, so been given them a revisit.

I'm starting to realize why I don't remember this as found the plot really uninteresting and the main characters annoying. It's an easy quick read but instantly forgettable.

[Armand · Rating 3 out of 5]

You know what they say: if it's too good to be true . . .

What started as a cruel joke when a spoiled brat hostess locks up 5 unfortunate guests/victims in a human scavenger hunt takes a deadly turn when an unknown person entraps them into even more dangerous rooms. It's up to Sarah to find each of her friends before time runs out.

I think it's quite unfair that we only got to meet the perpetrator near the end, after most of the action has elapsed. We weren't even given a chance to figure out who's targeting them. If this were a mystery, that would have been a strict no-no. But this is of course a thriller, operating under a different set of rules. We can look at it as the narrative forcing us to view the events through Sarah et. al.'s perspective - not knowing who the hell was messing them up until the grand revelation in the climax.

Looking at the bright side, I think that the disastrous party may even have been a blessing in disguise. If it didn't happen and Lynn was still hell-bent on killing Shane's buddies, she may well have succeeded, given the altered circumstances. Also, Shane found out that she finally has pals who would accept her as she is, even with that history hanging over her head. I guess all's well that ends well. Let's just hope that Lynn haunts Cass's mansion as violently as she can.

This is actually not bad for a Point Horror book. I'm rating it 6/10, or 3 stars out of 5.

[Chelley Toy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this with my book club that I run on Instagram where we revisit Point Horror and other books from our childhood - @talespointhorrorbookclub

Tagline - A party like no other…..

Memorable For – A people hunt aka a sticker hunt!

Some Thoughts -

Rich snob and popular bitch Cassandra Rockham is throwing her annual fall party and Sarah and her friends all get an unexpected invite. But why would she invite the unpopular crowd?

Cassandra certainly gives them a party they will never forget. They played musical chairs and become part of the party with Cassandra’s very own “people hunt” game!

Cassandra gets Sarah and her friends locked up in rooms around the house and instruct people to follow the clues to find them and collect stickers to win!

Think Saw….but with brightly coloured stickers instead!

But someone begins playing another game and putting Sarah and her friends into new hiding places and facing near certain death things take a sinister twist….but who is doing this and why?

Other highlights include a decent love interest, lots of mild peril ie people locked up in freezers, saunas and cars, a super posh mansion and a lesson in how we should throw a dart!

I really really LOVED this Point Horror! I think this one could actually stand up to a present day audience really well. And be a movie!

Fave line - “I’ll never be able to throw a party again”

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another entertaining Point Horror in my collection. Mean teenage girls, outlandish teenage revenge ideas, 1 dimensional characters and teenage hormones. Fun and obviously a quick read. Great premise and obviously something done before in 90s and 80s thrillers and slashers.

RE-READ 5/9/24. Ill keep this at 4 stars. It was a very fun and entertaining ride. Cass is having a party and decides to invite 5 smart, but not popular students so that Cass and her crew can have some fun. However, it appears that there is someone with deadly revenge ideas that also attended the party and is hunting these 5 friends 1 by 1. was it Cass? was it an ex GF of Donald? Was it tied into the mysterious past of the new girl in school who jsut became friends with the 4 other "losers".

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somehow I missed the Point Horror series and this author when I was growing up. Regardless, The Invitation was very underwhelming and pretty dull. Honestly, if this was set during a time with cell phones the whole story would basically be over before it even started.

[Jina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clearly written in the time before cell phones, because if anybody pulled the rotten trick Cass did, I would have already called my parents, the cops, and a lawyer to sue the hell out of that snotty, selfish BEEEEEEP.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Diane, Diane, Diane. I DARE you to write a book with only four characters in it.

I read this for our podcast Teenage Scream, which dissects the best (and worst) of 90s Teen Horror.

https://soundcloud.com/teenagescream

[Courtney Gruenholz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could never think about ever changing my five star rating for this book. Along with The Accident, this is the other Diane Hoh book that was one of my first not counting anything in Nightmare Hall.

I never get tired of the characters good or bad and I never get tired of the reveals. True some of the cliches of the genre are present but it is a touch entertaining with the crazy teens and suspenseful tone.

Cassandra Rockham is the most popular, the richest girl in Greenhaven and her annual Fall Party is around the corner. Some would kill to be invited but Sarah Drew isn't one of them.

She knows how snobby Cass can be as well as some of her crowd, those rich kids who live up in the hills, and Sarah is fine with her small group of friends and her studying and her violin.

When the ivory envelope arrives with her name in gold, Sarah is suspicious as well as confused. In all the time she has known Cass, Sarah has never been invited to a party at her home so why now in junior year all of a sudden.

Her best friends, Maggie Delaney and Eleanor "Ellie" Whittier are more than thrilled to be invited.

Redheaded Maggie is a friendly drum majorette and Ellie is the blonde girl who is slightly chubby and lives under the shadow of her pretty, skinny older sister Ruth so to be invited to rich girl Cass' party doesn't seem that strange to them.

The only boy in their circle, Donald Neeson, is tall and lanky and smart but also cute and pretty talented at basketball. Making the team now may be the reason why his friends got invited but Donald is only interested in attending if Maggie goes, realizing over the summer just how crazy he is about her.

Shane Magruder is new in town but she gotten taken under Maggie's wing the moment she arrived and now the other four are the best friends she could ask for. Not exactly thrilled, Shane will go if her friends decide to go.

Sarah gives in mostly because Shane convinces her but knowing her mother would have a fit at her going to a party instead of worrying about her grades is one reason. Riley White is the other one.

He's in Cass' circle but she has seen him smile and with the way Riley's eyes set it off in his handsome features, Sarah is sure he couldn't be as snobby or as vile as Cassandra Rockham.

So the girls go out and buy nice dresses but Ellie gets hers ruined by her older sister Ruth pouring purple nail polish out of not being invited herself. Ruth tells Ellie it's a mistake and she will have an awful time...

Donald has his own troubles. He met a girl named Dolly being a counselor at summer camp with her and they had a romance as you sometimes do. They don't live close and well, Maggie got a tan and her braces off while Donald was gone. He tries to let Dolly down easy over the phone but she isn't too thrilled or happy. Donald didn't mention anyone specifically but Dolly knows it has to be someone else he's dumping her for...

Shane goes to the party with the others in a new dress and despite her nice features and being with her very best friends...there is something in the back of her mind that could ruin her evening. The real reason that her family moved from Rockport to Greenhaven isn't what it seems and if anyone knew about her past...Shane would die of embarrassment.

Maggie hopes for a romantic night getting closer to Donald and some of her excitement rubs off on Sarah just a little. Riley White will be at the party and perhaps it is Sarah's chance to get to know him better. Despite being in Cassandra Rockham's house with the hostess from hell, how bad could the party really be?

If only they could know just what is in store when they arrive...

A game planned for fun at the ridicule of others, normal high school pranks of winners against the social losers, is about to turn into something far more horrifying.

So horrifying that it's deadly...

Teens really are evil and it is just so much fun to see a few characters get their digs in at the truly awful Cass. The only one to top her in being one of the worst characters in this book gets an excuse because well it just wouldn't be a normal Point Horror without someone being a few crayons short of the box...

The ending after the fraught with tension climax is bittersweet and ends with your own thoughts as to how any of the characters can bounce back. For me, I want the happy side of the coin to turn up but that's just wishful thinking I suppose...

The Invitation may just be another YA/teen drama in the long roster of books but it is not too trashy and not too gory. Suspenseful and thrilling? Yes. Full of tension and teenage wit? Yes.

So if that is your kind of thing, I invite you to give this book a try.

R.S.V.P. and I guarantee if you have never read The Invitation, you are in for a good time.

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly, maybe Point Horror isn’t for me (you wouldn’t think it looking at my TBR, would you?) Maybe there’s a reason I didn’t gel with these books as a kid - because they’re pretty dull.

I was intrigued by this one because it had a concept I usually enjoy: deadly games. But the characters were all a bit pathetic and the main ‘scandal’ wasn’t something I can really envision anyone being upset about, much less an entire town of people going out of their way to make a teenager’s life hell.

And the end? The poor girl just gets tossed off a balcony and nobody gives a crap.

Also, Cass’s game honestly wasn’t even that mean.

[Brittany Montgomery · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this a thousand time in the 90s. Loved it, in all its twisted and cheesy glory.

[Erica Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rich girl party game gone wrong. Very revenge-y with some friendship thrown in. Melodramatic in the best way. Absolutely HOWLED at the climax.

[Louie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had an interesting, slightly sociological premise of five teens, each unpopular and lower class who are all invited to the town's most exclusive party hosted by the richest girl in school who usually only let's in upper-class popular kids.

Now this is an interesting premise with definite potential but it was ultimately let down by never truly developing any of the characters,
having all the rich characters just be completely cold and crass, for example.
Expect for main character Sarah's well-off athlete love interest Riley, who for no ever revealed reason actually cares about Sarah and helps her.

While I found the first 50 pages that set up the story interesting, after that it started to break down as the book contantly flipped between 7 not very distinct povs, which while it did help tighten the pace of the story, it also flattened out the characters since there was never enough time spent with any of them to truly flesh them out. One of the few oft-mentioned characteristics though was the character's weights. Supporting character Ellie literally being described as square, how were weight meant that she was never fast, how another character's weight was a sign that she had had a bad year. Whenever these character's weights were mentioned, it was always with a sense of pity or derision, being representative of some unattracive part of their personaility somehow as opposed to just being their size. Insensitive and fat-phobic, the author could have just let the characters be plus-sized without making their weight into some sort of telling character defect. .
Also, in regards to the vilain, even though all of the characters were teenagers, the villain was made strong enough, seemingly just because she was plus-sized, to be able to pick up other teens and drag them far distances across a crowded house that had other people milling all over. It just felt too unrealistic.

So ultimately, even though it was fast paced and had a smart premise, a lack of character development, fatphobia brought this party crashing down.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This started out great, but I thought the big reveal was pretty anticlimactic. Still, it was quite a page-turner for a while there!

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nostalgia read. Same as other teen style books, heavy petting and little action. Good quick read though.

[Saleh MoonWalker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Onvan : The Invitation - Nevisande : Diane Hoh - ISBN : 0590550608 - ISBN13 : 9780590550604 - Dar 169 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 1992

[D · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m all for the re-emergence of cheese and Open Road Media has a market for that. They’ve been re-releasing older YA titles as of late and, knowing me, I’m pretty quick to gobble them up. They usually end up being short reads, concise and to the point without much depth to them. Lead-up to mystery, solve it, story ends and that’s pretty much it. THE INVITATION didn’t let me down in this regard.

The issues that I generally have with these titles is that the characters are a bit too stereotypical and they’re written so that they portray teens to how adults feel they are. The mean girls fit nicely into a little box and a character’s brattiness is usually running a bit higher than what it probably should be. What makes that last part worse is that the story doesn’t delve too deeply into the character’s head so the personality isn’t explained away or as a reader you do know what’s going on but it’s usually pretty petty. The antagonists in THE INVITATION fit this moniker. They’re one dimensional and stereotypical, one being the mean girl to an extreme and the other being a straight up crazy bitch. If this were in any other recent YA horror I’d scoff at it. But cheese gets a pass. Because it’s cheese.

The cast of protagonist characters is pretty large but they fit their own molds just like the villains with a couple that probably could have been removed entirely and the story would have been none the wiser. The characters with the most emphasis, Ellie, Sarah and Shane were of course the stand-out characters, except Ellie ended up fading into the background towards the end. I would have liked to have seen her stand up a little more, break out of her self-deprecating shell a little more but it is what it is. Riley, Sarah’s love interest, played a bit part and love was had at the end. Because it needed to end on an up note.

The biggest issue I had with THE INVITATION was the sex of the major antagonist. Once that person was introduced I went whole chapters without knowing what the sex of the villain was, despite the character actually being present on the page. Initially it was male just with a feminine name, Leslie (right up there with Shannon and Kim as male names, ugh). Even in the flashback Leslie was still androgynous. I couldn’t place the sex. I got so confused that I had to flip back earlier to see if I missed something, some tell-tale sign that this person was male or female. Nope. It started off male and ended female. I know it’s an uncorrected proof but that’s pretty major. It was halfway explained by a confusion of people but even after that it still didn’t make sense, especially with how the story was unfolding. I’d have to call that sloppy.

Overall it wasn’t as big of a fright as I would have liked. Cass was far creepier doing what she did to the outcast group of kids she invited than the real antagonist was simply because she was so heartless. I would have liked that route better than the crazy person at the end. Not my favorite cheese read but it sits nicely in the cockles. I’ll take it.

[Liam Underwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Invitation is similar to Diane Hoh's other Point Horror books that I've read thus far - especially Funhouse - in that it has a very impressive opening chapter. And then it all goes silly quite quickly because Hoh seems to just love to throw in an unnecessary amount of characters. Although, I will say that having lots of characters has worked best in The Invitation so far.

The narrative jumps between five main characters - Sarah (our main protagonist), Ellie, Maggie, Donald, and Shane. Unlike, say, Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself , where the the story is told from different characters but the writing style clues you in to who you're following, here Hoh doesn't really provide much of a distinction in how each character is written. They're all pretty much interchangeable, except for Shane...

Throughout the book, Shane's narration teases at a mysterious event from her past. It's built up and then the reveal is laughably underwhelming. There are also some narrative threads that are pretty much unsatisfyingly abandoned by the time the book ends. Speaking of the ending, it is very rushed and not particularly great. Admittedly it's not as bad as the ending to The Girlfriend , but at least that book had a very enjoyable journey getting there. I do like the concept here, but the execution is lacking.

2.5/5

Point Horror Ranked
1) The Girlfriend - 4/5
2) Trick or Treat - 3.5/5
3) Teacher's Pet - 3.5/5
4) The Baby-Sitter II - 3.5/5
5) The Cheerleader - 3.5/5
6) April Fools - 3.5/5
7) My Secret Admirer - 3.5/5
8) The Lifeguard - 3.5/5
9) Thirteen Tales of Horror - 3/5
10) The Accident - 3/5
11) Funhouse - 3/5
12) The Invitation - 2.5/5
13) The Boyfriend - 2/5
14) Mother's Helper - 2/5
15) The Baby-Sitter - 1.5/5
16) Beach Party - 1/5

[Sati Marie Frost · Rating 4 out of 5]

One-Line Review: Life is one big quest, and the geek shall inherit the earth.

Full Review:

I didn’t own this book as a child, and only borrowed it from a friend once until I collected the entire Point Horror series (or imprint, rather) for the kids I was looking after when I was 28. So it’s a bit surprising to me that it’s one of my favourites. Typically my favourite Point Horrors are ones that I read and loved as a kid, and have good memories attached to.

In The Invitation, Sarah and her group of friends are startled to receive invitations to rich bitch Cass Rockham’s annual fall party. While they’re not exactly loner losers, they’re also definitely not in the popular crowd, so why have they suddenly received invites? Sarah is sceptical, but her friends convince her to attend the party, where it soon becomes clear that their hostess has nefarious purposes.

I don’t think I’ve come across another Point Horror book where almost all of it takes place in the space of a few hours, and I really enjoyed the format. As a natural-born hunter/collector, I’m always on the lookout for a new quest, and the scavenger hunt plot really appealed to me, as did the puzzle-within-a-puzzle aspect.

I usually enjoy Diane Hoh’s heroines, and Sarah was no exception. She’s quiet and serious, but ballsy when necessary. Smart enough to figure out how to free herself, tough enough to rescue her friends and stand up to Cass.

There’s enough going on in this book that I tend to forget who the villain is, which I kind of like! It makes it feel fresh every time I read it.

Verdict: Enjoyable format, neat protagonist. I’m surprised I never bought this as a kid!

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4 of 5

The Invitation was among the many Point Horror books I read in the 90s, between the ages of 12 to 16. In those days, when I wasn't buried in a Stephen King novel, nine times out of ten I was reading L.J. Smith, R.L. Stine, Christopher Pike, Caroline B. Cooney, or Richie Tankersley Cusick. Their novels always thrilled and entertained, and yes, there was a healthy dose of jumps and creepies.

Nowadays, I'd recommend the Point Horror books for younger 12- to 15-year-olds, who want to dip their pinkie toe in the horror pool. (These books will likely fall short for anyone who's already dabbled in adult dark fiction or film.) The horror elements are mild, for the most part, and some of the teenager-y behavior may seem a little outdated. But other than that, these are great fun!

Note: My rating is based on what I remember from 20+ years ago and, of course, includes a fair share of sentimentality.

[Mandi Kaye Sorensen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reviewed at http://www.mandikayereads.com/archive... (3/23/12)

Ever read a book blurb and think that sounds really interesting, only to read the book and be grossly underwhelmed?

That’s this book.

I was blissfully unaware that this is a re-release of a 1993 MG book – turning things into e-books is all the rage these days – but honestly, it needs to stay in 1993.

The idea is a fabulous one. But the execution? The execution of this book was painful to read. There was zero character development, the “twist” was truly silly, and the dialogue was shallow and banal.

The only reason I give it 2 stars instead of 1 is because it had so much potential. The plot was good. The writing was not.

Skip this one guys and gals.

Trust me.

And one final nitpick… I got an uncorrected proof via NetGalley. Yes, I understand it’s an uncorrected proof, but the sheer volume of typos was astounding. I couldn’t go a page without finding nearly undecipherable words (for some unknown reason, every time the word “friend” was supposed to be used, it said “Mend”. With a capital M). Not to mention the gigantic UNCORRECTED PROOF watermark splashed on every single page (Take note publishers: you don’t want to make reading the galley more difficult for us).

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Source: I read this book online via Open Library.
Cost: Free

Title: The Invitation
Series: Point Horror #20
Author: Diane Hoh
Overall Rating: 3 stars

I didn't enjoy this one as much as I'd hoped too, the premise of it was brilliant. When Cass, a rich and popular teen, invites 5 not so rich and not so popular people to her annual party, she uses them as bait in her people hunt. They are tied up, nearly killed with carbon monoxide, heated, cooled and all things inbetween. It's a really gruesome and quite morbid idea if you really think about it.

I wanted this book to have me on edge throughout the whole thing, but I really just didn't connect with it as much as I wanted too, I didn't really like any of the characters and I didn't really care much for the main character Sarah. The idea of this book pulled me in, but the execution wasn't as good as it could have been.

[Sharron Joy Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone wants an invitation to Cass Richardson’s Autumn party but she only invites the people she deems good enough. So when Sarah and her friends receive their invitations, they’re surprised but decide to go only for Cass to use them in her party game. Someone else however has far more nefarious intentions.

The mean girl who thinks she can do what she likes, a friend with a secret she’s running away from, teen angst and fear of missing out, the absent and the pushy parents. The drama all played out in a small town with a gigantic mansion above the town where the parents leave their teen daughter to have a huge party whilst they swan off on holiday!

Hugely entertaining with a “that’s all it took to set off a psychopathic killing spree ” kind of reveal, fabulous!

[Bex · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first 50 pages could be a romance or a mystery they lack suspense but do give you a bit of character development. At first I thought I'd hate this book due to the lack of horror drama but by pg100 I was gripped. A slow boiler that comes right at the end without a necessarily happy end.
The only thing that dates this is there would have to be some cell phone reception or check at door line as I don't know a teenager who would be willingly separated from their phone long enough for this to play out.

It loses a star for the start and a star for Cass. Are there really such self centred people in the world that they wouldn't care about attempted murder under their noses?

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Invitation by Diane Hoh is another quick and easy read in the Point Horror collection.
When Sarah and her friends are unexpectedly invited to Queen Bee Cass' big party in her mansion, Sarah is immediately suspicious, although the others are happy to be invited at last to the party of the year.
When they arrive at the party, it soon becomes apparent that they were invited as a prank, which becomes dangerous for all of them.
With the usual tropes of red herrings, unstable teenagers, and absent parents, this book is a good addition to the collection.

[Katrina]

Dnf at 25%

The first 22% focussed on the group discussing their invites and whether they are going to the party which I just found boring. I also dislike most of the cast and the rest are just meh so nothing keeping me wanting to read

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was a good young adult book full of twists and turns :)

[Harold Walters · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mean girls and attempted murder!

[Kirsty Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Pacy, intriguing and tense.
Abrupt ending.