What an interesting concept for a game based thriller! I was really trying to out sleuth Crystal as she figured out who was behind the game. A few of the twists were pretty predictable but this had a solid ending that wrapped things up quite well. I didn’t love any of the characters though I’m not sure you’re suppose to since they all have a questionable past. YA books are tough for me to rate because I compare them to adult thrillers (or We Were Liars which I loved) even though I know I shouldn’t but either way this is a quick read for any YA thriller fan.

This was a great mystery read which is about a girl who receives a threat and has 24 hours to play her sister's kidnappers game. This was a great mystery/thriller book. I do have to say that it took me a little while to get hooked into the book but once everything started, I was sucked in. I couldn't stop reading and I needed to finish the book in order to know what was about to happen next. Urban is a great mystery writer. The conflicts thrown in this book were greatly well written with a great plot structure from the middle to the end. I only had a problem with the beginning but that was it.

The main character in this book is Crystal. I enjoyed her character as she made you feel so much while reading. She doesn't really have a character development in my opinion but I still enjoyed her character. There were many side characters involved in this book which made this book so much more enjoyable. I enjoyed the fact that there were friendship bonds in this book to keep the story going but sadly no romance.

The ending was very well done and totally not expected. There were so many twists in this book it just have The Inheritance Games vibe. I did have some minor problems with this book but this was extremely well written in the sense of mystery/thriller. This book is perfect for fans of The Inheritance Games and April Henry.

Does this one deliver on said thrills? Yes, yes it does! I was quite on the edge of my seat, trying to guess who exactly was behind these games. I had a few theories, most of them wrong. And while I don't like being wrong in life, I do love being wrong in books! Means the author is doing their job! I did figure it out eventually, but not too long before the reveal, which is good! And even if you figure out who, there are more questions to be answered. Some of the situations do get solved a bit quickly, but for the most part, the excitement is on point.

The whole concept is pretty creepy, right? Definite points there. Crystal is forced into doing tasks designed to hurt her friends, and the Gamemaker tells her that if she refuses, they will kill her sister. Talk about no good choices! I kept asking myself "my goodness, what do you do here!?" because I genuinely could not think of a good way for Crystal to get out of this mess. Which, ultimately, is one reason the book is so good- you don't like that she ends up doing some of this stuff, but you certainly understand why. And yeah, she makes some mistakes, no doubt. But again, it makes sense in context.

I liked that friendship was a big theme in this story, too. A lot of times in thrillers, there is not really any character or relationship development, but that was not the case here. And because I liked the characters, I became more invested in the outcome.

Bottom Line: Exciting and entertaining, this was a fast-paced thriller that kept me guessing.

These Deadly Games is a YA thriller from Diana Urban.

"Crystal gets a message on an unusual app with a picture of her little sister bound and gagged. If she doesn't follow the sender's instructions, her sister will be killed. Crystal realizes quickly that the tasks are meant to hurt or injure her friends. But if she has to do them for her sister's sake. Is someone trying to take her gaming team out? Or has someone uncovered a secret from the past?"

I was glad to see a YA thriller but I struggled early with this book. You really have to suspend belief that the adults in this story have no idea what's going on. If you can do that, you will probably enjoy this one. Great ending to this one though. It does feel like it's geared more to a YA reader.

When I read the synopsis of These Deadly Games, by Diana Urban, I was intrigued. Who doesn't like a good teen thriller? With subtle hints towards the movie, I Know What You Did Last Summer, I was looking forward to reading this book. However, I found the plot of this novel to be over the top ridiculous. Perhaps if there was more awareness from the other characters about why they were being targeted, it would have worked better. But, as the "game" really only involves one person, Chrystal, it seems strange that she is asked to do so many tasks to ruin her friends' lives. I didn't buy that she would be that compliant, never questioning what is happening, for a moment.

I certainly can't fault the writing of the book. The author does know how to move a scene along, creating tension and suspense. I just thought that the game was ridiculous. There is even a moment at the beginning of the story where Chrystal says that, while is is terrified for her sister's safety, she is intrigued by whoever is behind the game. What??? She says that they must be a genius to be able to pull this off. Really? If I thought my sister were in imminent danger, I wouldn't be silently congratulating the person who might hurt her. I found that to be extremely weird.

Although there were a few moments at the end of the book that did surprise me, I could tell who was behind the game almost immediately. This was super violent, and had enough plot holes to drive a truck through. It pains me to say this, but I can't recommend this book.

What I Didn't Like:

Plot Holes:

There are so many obvious dead ends and plot wholes to this book. The whole "game hinges on Chrystal checking her phone during class. If she hadn't done that, there would have been no way for the plot to move forward. And since I did believe that the main character, Chrystal was super smart, it made no sense that she didn't realize obvious things from the start.

Finally, there was a whole subplot about domestic violence that added nothing to the plot. It was not integral to the story or added anything to the backstory of the characters. All it will do to readers is possibly trigger any teen who has had to witness this kind of violence.

Plot:

The plot of this book is centered around what should be the key question of the main character, Chrystal: who is directing this "game"? But she doesn't really start to look into this until after she has completed several of the game's tasks. Wouldn't that be question number one? The novel does suggest a number of possible suspects. But no one that she seriously considers has a strong enough motive to physically harm the main character, her sister, or her friends. Would teens really be that motivated to possibly kill other teens over a video game tournament? It's not likely.

While I think the author thought themselves to be pretty clever with various tricks about the game, I had serious doubts that Chrystal would be so stumped. Why is it that she never took a screenshot? Or didn't think that the phone she was using would be hacked? I mean, I'm an older person, but even I knew that was happening.

Also, why wouldn't Chrystal, who was very intelligent, not also immediately try to determine what the end game of the kidnapper was? As she starts to see what the game is really about, wouldn't she start to see that it was not simply about ruining Chrystal's life, but was about killing her and her friends? And if that was the case, her sister's life would already be over. A kidnapper in that situation would not be releasing her sister, ever.

TRIGGER WARNING FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

These Deadly Games is a new YA thriller based on revenge, guilt, secrets, and lies. Crystal and her friends play an online video game and are preparing for a big tournament. But Crystal's younger sister gets captured and is forced by the kidnapper to play games in order to get her back. But these games are dangerous and endanger all of Crystal's friends. She must figure out who is before it's too late.

I was very much intrigued throughout this book because it's very fast paced and there is always action. Some of the twists and turns were pretty easy to figure out but it didn't lessen my enjoyment of the book. There was also a psychological twist and plot line that was very well done for being an aside to the main premise and plot of the book. I felt bad for Crystal throughout the book as she was being forced to jump through these hoops and make terribly difficult decisions.

The tone of this book was very much YA, from the characters to the video games to the puzzles the bad guy put together for Crystal to solve. However, the consequences to the puzzles and the overall goal of the villain is incredibly dark and not always fitting with the YA genre. The police involvement and investigation at the end is also fairly unbelievable in my opinion.

I will definitely read more of Diana Urban's work in the future, These Deadly Games is an excellent sophomore novel.

**Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review**

These Deadly Games has a lot to offer its target audience. This YA book has gaming, mystery, action, and tension. Much of the book was very obvious but I think the relationships of the characters and the choices made by the teenagers in the book will keep younger readers interested. Some of the plot was unrealistic and there were some plot holes. Still, a good and quick read.

Wow! Heart pounding, stress filled and intense are the first words that come to mind when I think back on this book. I haven’t read anything else by this author, but after this, that will change!
Crystal and her friends are super into an online game called Mortal Dusk- to the point that they’ve entered local competitions and won and advanced on to next levels. If they can go all the way and win it all, they win three million dollars and even split five ways through their team, it would still be enough to make a dramatic difference in all their lives, especially Crystal, who wants to win to help her single mom pay the mortgage so she doesn’t have to move away from her friends. Unfortunately for Crystal, there’s something else happening behind the scenes-her sister has been kidnapped and the kidnappers force Crystal to play mind games in order to keep her alive. They start out fairly harmless at first and gradually progress to putting the lives of her teammates at risk in order to save her sister. And if Crystal doesn’t complete the games, or if she tells anyone what she’s doing, her sister will die. How far is Crystal willing to go to get her sister back safely? Can she figure everything out in time or maybe even figure out who’s behind it all so she can get her sister back and keep her friends?
While the character development wasn’t quite what I would expect, the fact that it is a YA book kind of gives that a pass. The plot very much makes up for it because it is fast paced and gripping. There are obviously some triggers, so know that going in, but this is one I’ll be recommending for a while to come.
Thanks to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my review.
Publication date: February 1, 2022

This is a book in which I hated both the players & the games.

I enjoyed reading this, but felt like everyone involved was fairly awful. I don’t need characters to be loveable, but I do think I would’ve liked at least one character to cheer for… However, this was overall an engaging read & I was attached to the outcomes despite my indifference to the characters. I especially enjoyed the end, and I’m hoping it might hint at a sequel where we’ll see more character growth.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️. 💫 rounded to 4.

Thank you so much St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for the eArc!

A fast-pasted read that kept me guessing the whole time, this book had me hooked from the first chapter!

Crystal and her friends are die-hard video game players that are hoping to compete in a national tournament to win $250K in prize money. In the midst of this, someone is playing a sick game with Crystal that has deadly consequences. Will Crystal be able to win the game before time runs out?

I thoroughly enjoyed all the twist in turns and it took me til the very end to piece together what was going on. I was second guessing everyone! I thought the characters accurately portrayed their age-they act like I would explain 16 year olds to act! This will appeal to wide audience and is one I recommend who enjoys Young Adult Thrillers a la Karen M. McManus and Jessica Goodman.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy!

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martins Press for allowing me to read an advance copy of this novel.

Oh my!!! This book had me second guessing who I thought was behind the game. In the end, I was able to somewhat piece together why it was done but not the who. The pacing of the book was fantastic and kept me interested. Looking forward to reading more by this author!

A well-written and intriguing YA thriller. I think it'll do very well with its intended audience, but I recognize that's not me anymore. It was a good book! I think a lot of people will really love it and I'm really excited for them to discover it. As a bookseller I know it'll be a great title to offer teenagers. Overall one that I think is worth the hype.

DNF at Chapter 9/23%.

I’d say my experience reading this book was made worse by the fact I’d just finished reading One of Us is Next by Karen M. McManus (aka, the reigning Queen of YA Thrillers), but really, I think I’d find this book just as bad if I hadn’t.

I found Crystal as a protagonist incredibly annoying. Her voice/Urban’s writing style was rather cringey, and considering she made such a big deal out of her sister being kidnapped (rightfully so), she got distracted at basically any opportunity.

I was totally lost when it came to all the side characters. There were way too many of them, and they were introduced all at once. To be honest, I couldn’t keep it straight who was who. Granted, they were all part of the same gaming team, but it was just all a bit much for me.

It was also quite clear that the fight Crystal had with her sister Caelyn was just to amp up the angst when it was revealed Caelyn had been kidnapped. It was just so… stupid. There really wasn’t any other point to it.

Despite having only read 23% of the book, a blogger friend of mine has read the entirety of it, and I’m honestly glad I didn’t waste my extremely-limited reading time with this. It’s slightly past far-fetched and crazy, and not in the good way. It made zero sense.

Overall, I can’t say I’d recommend this book. Maybe - and that’s a strong maybe - to a really young YA reader who hasn’t read a thriller before. That way, they might have no expectations. If that doesn’t describe you, I’d suggest you go pick up a Karen M. McManus book instead. If you’ve read all of them, then reread them. I can’t say I’ll be reading the author’s debut book, All Your Twisted Secrets, in a hurry either.

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for allowing me to read this book prior to publication.

Strap in, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride 😅 if you saw my story, you know this book left me questioning everything. Rating: 3 ⭐️

If you’re into guessing games, or YA thrillers then I definitely think this book is for you. There’s lots of drama, secrets, betrayal and revenge that I know y’all will eat up.

Personally, I don’t think this book was necessarily for me. I genuinely think this book would’ve killed it (no pun intended) on the higher end of the YA spectrum. At times I think it was trying to get there but certain dialogue just made it miss the mark for me.

I enjoyed the authors writing, I found it generally easy to read. Although, so much of the storyline was based on the past timeline that I often felt like a lot of information was being dumped on you in anticipation of the big reveal. It made me feel like I was dizzy the whole time, and I often questioned what timeline I was reading in.

The ending of this book was wild - the gaslighting had me glaring at my kindle. I was ready to fight everyone for Crystal - she couldn’t catch a break. The ending of this book definitely made me feel like it was the first in a duology - everything felt unfinished and incomplete, and part of me expected to find a epilogue as this is a stand-alone but alas there was not.

The ending definitely left me uncertain about how I felt re: this book, and I’m still not really sure I know 100% so this review is a little all over the place.

Regardless, it was a quick read and for the right audience I think it would land very well. Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books/St. Martin’s Press for sending me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

These Deadly Games by Diana Urban is a thriller with an interesting premise. "Let's play a game. You have 24 hours to win. If you break my rules, she dies. If you call the police, she dies. If you tell your parents or anyone else, she dies. Are you ready?" Crystal receives this message along with a terrifying video of her little sister, so she starts playing the kidnapper's "game." Once she realizes how awful this game is, she starts trying to trick the kidnapper. All the while, she's trying to figure out who the kidnapper is and what his motive is. I really enjoyed this unique story, and it drew me in from the very beginning. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

Very enjoyable book featuring a mysterious texter and a high stakes game of truth or dare.


To find a full review, please visit http://sltrbooks.home.blog/2022/01/27/these-deadly-games-arc-review/.


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Thank you to the publisher for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Receiving these materials in no way impacted my review.

Rating 3.5

This book was definitely something. I was so intrigued by the synopsis and being a gamer I loved the idea that this book centered around kids who were also gamers. I don’t feel like we see that enough in young adult books even though Twitch/Youtube has become so popular. I also appreciate that the author did her research or is a gamer herself due to the correct use of terminology. Unfortunately, this book was a miss for me. I found the overall plot to be predictable and extremely over the top. Now, I usually don’t mind when thrillers are out there but something about this one just didn’t do it for me. Due to spoilers I can’t really say why. Another reason I didn’t quite enjoy this book was because of the characters. The main character Crystal was fine. She is your typical teenager who comes from a broken home and feels like it's her responsibility to fix it all. But the side characters who are supposed to be her so-called best friends were unrelatable and really unlikable. Honestly, I didn’t care about them at all so if something did happen to them I was too detached to care. Overall, this book was just meh/okay. However, I do think a younger audience will enjoy this book. It’s a well written story with an intriguing plot that I can see young teens being absorbed in. I would still recommend this book because I think it might be a me thing and not the book.

I don’t think it helped I started reading this book right after I finished A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder by Holly Jackson. That book was fantastic and held my interest until the last page! I definitely recommend that one if you're looking for a fast paced YA thriller.

**Received an advanced copy from #NetGalley in return for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. **

I received this as an eARC to read for free in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for giving me access.

Just WOW! This one knocked my socks off and is hands down my favorite read for the month of January! These Deadly Games is a combo of Pretty Little Liars meets Panic meets a touch of Ready Player One. We have a group of friends, a mysterious blackmailer, a video game competition, a life --or more-- on the line, and a dark secret.

This one really had me guessing and the outcome I never predicted. Diana Urban did an amazing job of creating this atmosphere of chaos and panic. I devoured every single page and immediately pre-ordered a hardcopy because NEED.

I highly recommend this to any reader that loves a good psychological thriller/mystery book. Also, if you enjoyed any of the books listed in this review (or accompanying TV series/movie) this is also for you.

THESE DEADLY GAMES follows a group of friends that are training for an esports competition. Crystal gets a message showing her sister kidnapped, and says she has to follow their rules to keep her alive. They start off simple, make brownies, put something in a random locker, then she has to hurt her friends. How far will she go to protect her sister in these 24 hours?

This is a YA thriller. It is perfect for fans of A Good Girls Guide To Murder and One Of Us Is Lying! It’s fast paced, twisty and shocking. I highly recommend it if you’re a fan of YA thrillers!!!

I didn’t love it as much as other YA thrillers, and I felt like the characters werent relatable. I am interested to see what else she writes.

Hi everyone! Today I'll be reviewing These Deadly Games by Diana Urban.
In this incredibly addictive thriller, we are told the story of Crystal, a teenager whose sister is kidnapped by a mysterious person, an she has to play a series of sinister games within 24 hours in order to save her sister's life.
I really liked this book. It hooked me from its very first pages and kept me reading almost nonstop until I finished it. The story is fast-paced, and full of unexpected —and, of course, amazing— plot twists. I really loved this story, and can't wait to read another book by this author.
I'd absolutely recommend you this book if you like mystery and thrillers.
I’d like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.