These Deadly Games

What worked: If you have seen the move, I Know What You Did Last Summer, then you have a great description for this book. It is also very heavily game influenced which I love seeing in a novel like this. Video Games are a huge part of kids' lives and esports/streaming have become so big that is was nice to see it represented in a book. A close group of friends hold a terrible secret and are trying to compete in a huge esport tournament. The prize money means something different to each of them, but for Crystal it would be life changing. After her father left, her mother is having a hard time paying for the mortgage and if Crystal doesn't win that prize money, they'll have to move. But as the weekend of the tournament arrives, and Crystal's sister, Caelyn, goes off to a school weekend trip, Crystal is pulled into a game she never expected to play. Someone has kidnapped her baby sister and will kill her if she doesn't play along. The catch? She can't tell anyone or call the police or her sister dies. This is a fast paced thriller with fire consequences if Crystal doesn't complete each task. And soon, she discovers each "game" has serious repercussions but she can't risk her sister's life. As the story goes on Crystal tries to narrow down who An0nm0us1 is all while trying, and failing, to protect her friends.

What left me wanting more: There are a lot of Young Adult books that older adults can enjoy just as much, but this book seemed geared for younger teens. The writing style really reflected current teen trends and slang such as "yeet" and shortened words to IRL even when they were thinking which might feel a bit off for older readers. It was a bit easy to figure out the identity of An0nmy0us1 within a few chapters. I understand as a teen Crystal must have been very afraid to do anything that might get her sister hurt, but it was a bit frustrating that she didn't really even try to stop the game or An0nmy0us1. It was a bit frustrating that her friends weren't better to Crystal and were so busy blaming her for every mistake instead of trying to figure out why they were seeming to be targeted.

Final Verdict: I absolutely think that the stakes are going to draw in teen audiences as Crystal desperately tries to figure out how to outplay An0nmy0us1. Sprinkled throughout the book are the details of the tragic accident that happened 5 years early. And there is good representation in this book as well. I really appreciated the plot itself, but would recommend this book for younger teen audiences who enjoy suspenseful thrillers.

THESE DEADLY GAMES is a high-octane YA thriller. Crystal and her best friends have a team for a video game with an upcoming tournament and a large monetary prize. Her life revolves around this contest and hopefully winning so that she can put the prize towards paying her mother's mortgage. Everything seems business as usual when she drops her little sister Caelyn off for her weekend field trip.

Later while she is in class, her phone vibrates - she was sure she had turned it off. What she sees stops her in her tracks - her sister has been kidnapped and is being held pending her participation in some "games." As she plays, feeling forced in order to save her sister, she soon realizes that these games have deadly consequences. Whether she will figure out who is behind it all before her friends are all destroyed or dead at her hands is anyone's guess.

What I loved: This was a really intriguing premise that begs the question of how you would choose one life for another and the lengths we would go to in order to save the ones we love. This book does not shy away from death and horror-like elements as Crystal completes these escalating tasks and tries to figure out who could be behind it all, as well as whether she would have any chance of outsmarting them. In the process, she also begins to become someone else- these twisted games are changing her.

This was a highly engaging read about family, friendship, guilt, hard choices, gaslighting, death, secrets, and lies. As Crystal muddles through these tasks and faces impossible scenarios, she must also revisit the secrets and conflicts she has had in her past that may give someone motive to target her. This does keep the reader engaged as they visit the past and learn what happened five years before as well as the conflicts with other gamers and between members in their friends circle. There are not happy endings for a lot of the people involved.

What left me wanting more: I was able to guess who was behind it all very early/quickly in the book, and I would have appreciated less obvious hints that would lead to a bigger reveal for a shocking end (to be fair, maybe I'm just a good guesser). This did not have so many big and unexpected twists that really make a thriller standout for me. The middle of the book is also a bit slow as the games begin to feel a bit repetitive with less progress, but there were some critical scenes, so I do understand it - it just lost that fast-pace/high-octane feel for a bit. The ending also requires a bit of suspension of belief, and I would have appreciated something that followed more clearly.

Final verdict: A highly engaging YA thriller, THESE DEADLY GAMES is a twisted story of mistakes, secrets/lies, and guilt/revenge that will keep the pages turning. Recommend for fans of I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER, THEY WISH THEY WERE US, and FOLLOW ME BACK.