Wow this book was emotional. As each task grew harder I myself struggled along with her. Of course I’d want to save my sister but people are hurting and dying along the way. This is the type of suspense that I love. The questions they form in your head and make you race through the pages for answers. Absolutely thrilling.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martins Press for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

In this YA psychological thriller Crystal receives a message from an anonymous source who says she has 24 hours to play a game by their rules, or they will kill her little sister. When she realizes that playing the game means possibly killing her friends, she must figure out a way to beat the kidnapper at their own game, before she loses everything.

This book is fast paced cat-mouse game thriller. I did like all the gaming references. I liked that the author included that Crystal was obsessed with winning the gaming tournament to better her family life which set up the perfect plot that she’d do anything in the anonymous deadly game to save her sister.

I did find the characters to be a little unlikable. I think they were meant to be morally grey but I did struggle connecting with them. They were supposed to all be friends but it felt like they mostly didn’t care for each other and just used each other to further their own lives.

Overall I would still recommend this book. It was an intriguing fast paced thriller with lots of twists and turns. Fans of gaming and reading will love this mashup.

This is another one I could not read. It would possibly be of interest to people who do a lot of online gaming, but for this reader, who avoids online activities, the story was too complicated, and there were too many people to keep track of. It might have been easier if there had been better character development.

What would you do, what would you sacrifice to save your family? How much are you willing to risk to win the game?

Crystal Donovan has one goal, win the MortalDusk tournament and use the money to help her family. Too bad someone has very different plans for her. When Crystal’s sister is kidnapped she is forced to play a dangerous game. While she lives to win every game, this one comes at much too high a cost. Forced to endanger her closest friends Crystal is racing against time and an anonymous threat to save her sister. Never knowing the lengths you will go to for family, the only option is to win, no matter what it takes.

Diana Urban hits the gas and doesn’t let up. Going full throttle from the start These Deadly Games is a wild ride, and a quick, entertaining read. Part thriller, part mystery this book is sure to be a huge hit with fans of One of Us Is Lying and Karen M. McManus’ novels in general.

The strength of this book lies in its fast pacing, and adventure. The online world Urban created with MortalDusk and Fishman was fun and added an extra level to the world building that helped character development and establishing the stakes. I also enjoyed the balance between present day and flashbacks, as well as the slight psychology thriller tone it tool on at times. However there was a small lack in consistency in writing, that I noticed. Some parts of the story felt very young and some of the dialogue, especially Randall’s, sometimes took me out of the dark, dramatic tone the book took when it came to Crystal’s actions and her anonymous villain’s very real threats. If the writing style had been a little more consistent either way it probably would have been easier to be immersed in the story.

This is 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 for review purposes. I have a deep love for YA thriller/mystery books, but unfortunately while enjoyable this one wasn’t overly memorable for me. But I will definitely read the sequel if there is one. Ultimately I think that this book could be a huge hit for a slightly younger demographic than me!

(Will be adding a link to a blog post in February 2022 when the book is published)

The Quick Cut: A teen girl finds herself forced to hurt her friends by an anonymous person who has kidnapped her sister.

A Real Review:
Thank you to Wednesday Books for providing the ARC for an honest review.

It can be difficult to find your way in life and to find friends, but that's only more complex as a teenager. You want to fit in, but also be accepted for who you are. So when forced to choose between friends and family, who will you pick? For Crystal, that is a very real question when someone kidnaps her sister.

Crystal is a part of a six person team for a video game. They have a chance to win a tournament and make life changing money when she is sent a startling, anonymous message: do as I say or your sister is dead. At first, the demands are small and seemingly harmless, but it becomes clear soon enough that they are made to harm her teammates. Who is behind the kidnapping? How can she keep everyone safe and get her sister back?

This book starts out fast and really keeps going. I love a thriller with some true stakes, but this one takes it to another level by messing with your mind. Just when you think you know what's happening, the picture becomes clear and it's something else. It's exciting to have a story that makes you wonder what could be the true finish.

Crystal is a teenager with a family she cares about and a group of friends who understand her. She has a tribe and people who understand her on a deep level. She also has a dark secret eating her alive. Seeing her try to deal with the consequences without hurting anyone in her life gets intriguing at times, even if I can't say I would make the same choices as her.

My only issue with this book is the ending. It gets overly complicated when it would have made a better impact being simpler. Beyond that, it was a book with an exciting story and a consistent pacing - which is an underrated talent in my mind.

A thrilling story with a complicated ending.

My rating: 4 out of 5

A few weeks ago, I was invited to read an ARC version of Diana Urban's upcoming novel "These Deadly Games" via her publishing/marketing team as well as through NetGalley. Thank fuck, I finally found time to read it (before it expired from my account and I lost this amazing opportunity--as well as a fantastic mystery).

["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?

When Crystal Donavan gets a message on a mysterious app with a video of her little sister gagged and bound, she agrees to play the kidnapper’s game. At first, they make her complete bizarre tasks: steal a test and stuff it in a locker, bake brownies, make a prank call.

But then Crystal realizes each task is meant to hurt—and kill—her friends, one by one. But if she refuses to play, the kidnapper will kill her sister. Is someone trying to take her team out of the running for a gaming tournament? Or have they uncovered a secret from their past, and wants them to pay for what they did…

As Crystal makes the impossible choices between her friends and her sister, she must uncover the truth and find a way to outplay the kidnapper… before it’s too late."]
Holy. Fucking. Shiiiiiiiiiit.

This book was fire. Literal fire. I couldn't put it down (I read this masterpiece in one fucking sitting). It was super page turning and the thriller factor was high as fuck. As was the gas-lighting factor. Crystal was gas-lit soooooo fuuuuuucking well that I was starting to question everything too. Like hell. Very, very, VERY intense.

As soon as this book comes out in February, you need to read it. I'm not kidding. (Or go onto NetGalley and request an ARC and read it now).

Trigger Warnings: blackmail, kidnapping, murder, death, violence, poisoning, gas-lighting, mental health, panic attacks, anorexia, swatting, theft, lying, revenge, knives, blood, etc

#thesedeadlygames #dianaurban #allyourtwistedsecrets #netgalley #arc #thriller #yathriller #murdermystery #yamurdermystery #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

4.5 Stars
From the start I was immediately sucked in to all the crazy psychological antics and drama. The author did a phenomenal job creating this crazy world and all the drama/death this small group of Vermont friends are about to go through. They always say the past comes back to bite you whn you least expect it and these kids are about to learn this the hard way. From kidnappings to explosions this book had it all. I was honestly so far off in guessing the villain, at times even suspecting the heroines own ‘kidnapped’ sister. I will say I was often thrown by many of the books twists and turns. The way things played out, while farfetched and a bit outlandish culminated in a really thrilling read. I didn’t expect it to be so bloody or as deadly as it was 😳 The end also has this very ominous and partially incomplete feel but then again I think it works really well given the context of the entire book. Really great read. If not for that pesky necessity known as sleep I probably would have read this in one sitting.

These Deadly Games is a solid 4.5/5! I loved the fast moving plot and it kept me reading (I ended up reading this in a day). Another thing that Urban does so well compared to her debut novel is foreshadowing and flashbacks. The switch between the past and present kept the reader on their toes searching for clues. Overall, I strongly recommend that every thriller and mystery fan to check this out! These Deadly Games will be published on February 1st, 2022. This twisty thriller should be on every YA fans' list for 2022 releases.
Happy reading!

This book in 3 words: Obsessive. Distrustful. Twisty. 

Well. Done. This book immediately sticks its hooks in and it's tough to set it down to do literally anything else. You've been warned. These Deadly Games is about Crystal, and her group of friends, as they're training for an eSports tournament. Someone kidnaps Crystal's younger sister, and she's racing against the clock (and and a psycho) to keep her loved ones safe. 

The author does such a stellar job of portraying isolation... what do we do when we can rely on no one or there's not a soul to help us? I also think the switches from past to present are perfectly executed in regards to timing, pace, and details. The flashbacks help piece together this twisty tale and I thought they were very valuable.

This is my first book by Diana Urban and I'm definitely putting her on my author watch list. I can't wait to devour more of her characters and work! This is one of my favorite YA thrillers of 2021. Highly recommend. 
I was given an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A dark thrillers I couldn’t put down! It kept me on the edge of my seat waiting to see what was going to happen to the characters.

i read diana urban’s debut recently and it was just fine but the premise of this one seemed to remedy some of the issues i had with her first thriller
unfortunately it brought a whole crop of new problems as well
the twists in this book are so stupidly obvious - i guessed who anonymous was when the app appeared on her phone and the whole thing about caelyn
our main character is just so,,, dumb like she’s annoyingly dumb especially near the end when she finds out who anonymous is
we don’t get much in terms of empathetic characters - even while the book was in first pov i still couldn’t really empathize with crystal and she felt a bit robotic to me
the pacing of the first 2 acts is really tight and i raced through this book however the ending seemed to drag as i was getting annoyed at the overtly elusive nature of the tragic backstory (which also turned out to be very obvious)
the action is fine and the murders are fine but with a story that revolves so heavily around gruesome trauma i couldn’t feel an emotional connection to any of the characters
you know what this twist ending reminds me of - we were liars because i also predicted the ending of that book 5 chapters in and just hated reading the rest
listen i finished it in 2 hours but at what cost

I loved reading These Deadly Games! It's thrilling and heart pounding and I was immediately engrossed by the premise and story. These Deadly Games is a great thriller!

I LOVE LOVE LOVED this book.
These deadly games is like nothing I have ever read before it is so original! I love a YA thriller but Diana Urban just hits different. Absolutely brilliant. These deadly games is full of suspense from start to finish. You cannot trust anybody but the main character. The twists are jaw dropping (and there are so many twists and turns) There are no dull moments, no boring chapters. I could not put it down! 100% believe everybody should read this!

Could not stop reading!! Diana Urban has a knack for pulling the reader into the mystery/thriller and not letting go!
Absolutely recommend this for any young adults looking for a page-turner!!

Wow! This is a stay up all night to finish because I had to know what happened and tbh I was not disappointed in the way this one went nor by the way that the book had me hooked from the get-go!
Crystal and her friends were practicing and working on their team dynamics to play in an all-state contest when things start to go sideways and everything starts changing forever!
Crystal's mom is working a double shift, so Crystal had to drop her sister off at school to go on this field trip but once Crystal gets to school she starts to get these creepy text messages and things. The worst part of it was that her sister was gagged and they were holding her hostage until she played the kidnapper's little game. The first tasks weren't so bad to drop off a stolen test key for next week and then to make some brownies but for every task that the kidnappers have her do, someone ends up in trouble or worse in her friend group!
Leaving Crystal with the impossible choice between her little sister and her friends and everything just gets worse from there!
If you love on the edge of your seat thrillers then this would be the book for you! I literally stayed up all night reading it and I was not disappointed! I definitely recommend it!
Thank you Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book I loved it and will definitely check out more by this author as it was a first for me!

What would you sacrifice to save your family? Crystal Donavan is forced to face this question when she receives an ominous video from an anonymous number. Her sister has been kidnapped. The only way to save her: play a dark, twisted game created by anonymous. Fail a mission or tell anyone, her sister dies. Simple tasks quickly become deadly, hurting the people Crystal loves. These Deadly Games follows Crystal as she becomes a player in this game of life-or-death.

After reading the description of this novel, I was convinced I was going to love it. Thrillers involving games tend to be some of my favorites. But sadly this will not be making any of my favorite thrillers lists. While at times I found it suspenseful, for the most part I was able to predict the majority of twists. I do not always mind this, but in a story where the biggest secret is who is controlling this deadly game, knowing who the mastermind behind it is took away from my enjoyment.

The parts that I did enjoy involved the friendship group elements. I truly felt the love between the friends in this story. While all thee twisted things were happening, they were all there for one another. Crystal and Zoey's friendship, and its problems, was probably my favorite part.

Ultimately, I can only rate this novel three stars. That is not to say that this book is bad in anyway (3 stars is an average rating from me), it just was not for me. I would highly recommend this to people who are newer to thrillers, and also YA audiences. If your a fan of the books by Karen M. McManus, I think you will love this. Pick up a copy of your own on February 1st, 2022.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed this book, although the genre was not my typical read. I'd read more by this author in the future.

Overall this was an enjoyable read. It's definitely more YA, but even though I'm an adult I didn't mind the writing style. My one complaint was the story was a bit hard to believe. The plot was pretty complicated and overdrammatic at times. That said, it moved quickly and if you like YA thrillers, this is a good pick.

These Deadly Games was a gripping YA thriller that kept me guessing. I love a book where a protag is forced to choose between two terrible choices--in this case, to follow the deadly games of the villain or watch her sister suffer. Urban makes the stress on the protag palpable. The story is also fast-paced and you'll feel interested in all of the characters. The mystery of what happened several years ago to them will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Also, I could not be less interested in gaming--a key part of this story--but Urban made me interested in the video game and its story!

If you loved AYTS, you'll love this too.

These Deadly Games follows Crystal after she receives a text with a video of her sister bound and gagged. The person sending the messages says Crystal must follow every order they give or her sister will die. Crystal follows the rules, until she realizes each request is hurting her friends. She has to figure out who the kidnapper is before either her sister or her friends end up dead.

This book kept me on the edge of my seat. I was fully invested and so nervous for Crystal, her sister, and all her friends. There were so many good twists and turns. I had my suspicions about what was happening, and I was partially right, but the reveal was so well done.