Please Note:  I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  This did not influence the opinions in my review in any way.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

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.

Author of All Your Twisted Secrets, Diana Urban’s explosive sophomore novel, These Deadly Games, will keep you riveted until the final twist is revealed.

Review:

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 Liked:

via GIPHY

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

Rating:  ⭐⭐

Release Date: February 1st, 2022

Author:  Diana Urban

Publisher:  Wednesday Books

Genre:  YA Mystery

Page Length:  416 pages

Source:  NetGalley

Format:  E-Book

Recommendation:  Although this book is aimed at teens, that is no excuse to have a plot that is contrived and filled with situations that were so outlandish as to be unbelievable.  I do not recommend this book.