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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
Twisty and dark and hilarious. Poignant and powerful and soft and sweet. This book is a lot of things. Read it for yourself. I think you'll love the ride.
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
LOVE!! Very ‘Knives Out’ meets magic and sorcery and it was a very fun read, i do wish we got to see the FMC use more magic though
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I thought this was a great YA murder mystery! I do think the comparison to Knives Out / Inheritance Games was pretty on point. It doesn't have the games/riddles like Inheritance Games, but the outsider vs. family vibes. Mystery and Fantasy are my favorite genres, and I thought this was a great mashup. I read this in one sitting, I was engaged the whole time.
I thought Tabitha was a great protagonist. She was clever, funny, and handled herself really well. I loved her personality, and I was rooting for her the whole time. I thought Callum was such a gem. Such a golden retriever boy. His chemistry with Tabitha was great, and I loved their dynamic duo moments. I thought all of the characters were fleshed out really well. Everyone's personality felt really authentic and well rounded, and I thought we got to know so much about the family and their history very organically.
I did appreciate the pacing of the story. It felt like things were consistently happening, but there was also much needed time for character development and relationship building. One thing I wish was a bit more developed, was the world building. I would have liked to understand a bit more how magic/the occult fit into this world. I also would have liked a deeper understanding of the three types of magic. I also feel like there was one pretty big plot hole that I had a lot of questions about.
I did guess the murderer very early on, but I don't think it was glaringly obvious and I did question myself sometimes. I am also a 30 year old who also grew up reading Agatha Christie and Nancy Drew like Tabitha, so maybe I just knew what to look for :) I think this would be such a great read for a teen, with the ending being particularly poignant. The last few chapters were crazy, and I thought there was such a great climax and reveal.
Totally recommend! Like I said, I think this would be an excellent read for a teen, but as an adult I still enjoyed this as well!
I thought Tabitha was a great protagonist. She was clever, funny, and handled herself really well. I loved her personality, and I was rooting for her the whole time. I thought Callum was such a gem. Such a golden retriever boy. His chemistry with Tabitha was great, and I loved their dynamic duo moments. I thought all of the characters were fleshed out really well. Everyone's personality felt really authentic and well rounded, and I thought we got to know so much about the family and their history very organically.
I did appreciate the pacing of the story. It felt like things were consistently happening, but there was also much needed time for character development and relationship building. One thing I wish was a bit more developed, was the world building. I would have liked to understand a bit more how magic/the occult fit into this world. I also would have liked a deeper understanding of the three types of magic. I also feel like there was one pretty big plot hole that I had a lot of questions about.
I did guess the murderer very early on, but I don't think it was glaringly obvious and I did question myself sometimes. I am also a 30 year old who also grew up reading Agatha Christie and Nancy Drew like Tabitha, so maybe I just knew what to look for :) I think this would be such a great read for a teen, with the ending being particularly poignant. The last few chapters were crazy, and I thought there was such a great climax and reveal.
Totally recommend! Like I said, I think this would be an excellent read for a teen, but as an adult I still enjoyed this as well!
Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!
I don't think I was expecting to have as good of a time with this book as I ended up having. Urban fantasy murder mystery? All buzz words. Somehow kind of reminiscent of the mid-2000s movie The Sorcerer's Apprentice? HUGE draw for me, I love that movie lol.
Tabatha is the apprentice to the most famous prophetic sorcerer in the city....until he's violently murderered and she's among the pool of suspects (along with his entire dysfunctional family). She teams up with his son Callum, a boy from her class, to try to find the REAL murderer and clear each of their names.
This was as cute as a murder mystery can be, seriously. I laughed out loud several times and kind of saw the twist at the end coming, but the path we took to get there completely blindsided me and had me doubting everything! I think this is a standalone but I would read more about Tabatha after this for sure!
I don't think I was expecting to have as good of a time with this book as I ended up having. Urban fantasy murder mystery? All buzz words. Somehow kind of reminiscent of the mid-2000s movie The Sorcerer's Apprentice? HUGE draw for me, I love that movie lol.
Tabatha is the apprentice to the most famous prophetic sorcerer in the city....until he's violently murderered and she's among the pool of suspects (along with his entire dysfunctional family). She teams up with his son Callum, a boy from her class, to try to find the REAL murderer and clear each of their names.
This was as cute as a murder mystery can be, seriously. I laughed out loud several times and kind of saw the twist at the end coming, but the path we took to get there completely blindsided me and had me doubting everything! I think this is a standalone but I would read more about Tabatha after this for sure!
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was such a fun read. It has magic and mystery combine with a strong (though young) woman lead. Really enjoined this one. Great for spooky season too.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
2.5 stars
I didn't hate this book, I just have a lot of questions.
I think this might have done better as a mundane story without any magic. The concept was there, but the magic was lacking. We don't see anyone cast a spell until the last third of the book, there is no lore about how the types of magic work. All the characters can do all types of magic, but are only good at one of the three main kinds. I THINK they can all do wards, small spells, but I am not actually sure because they don't use it enough and no one ever explains it. The end of this book, like the last 50 or so pages is a huge info dump of magic and characters finally using spells. I get the whole "show don't tell" but the author didn't even show.
This is also a murder mystery book. Like other mysteries, there should be breadcrumbs left for the audience to do their own sleuthing. The characters even mention that you can solve a mystery with deductive reasoning or even logic puzzles like in Agatha Christie novels. The problem with writing something clever, is that you yourself have to be clever. The murderer comes out of left field and left me with more questions than answers.
I didn't hate this book, I just have a lot of questions.
I think this might have done better as a mundane story without any magic. The concept was there, but the magic was lacking. We don't see anyone cast a spell until the last third of the book, there is no lore about how the types of magic work. All the characters can do all types of magic, but are only good at one of the three main kinds. I THINK they can all do wards, small spells, but I am not actually sure because they don't use it enough and no one ever explains it. The end of this book, like the last 50 or so pages is a huge info dump of magic and characters finally using spells. I get the whole "show don't tell" but the author didn't even show.
This is also a murder mystery book. Like other mysteries, there should be breadcrumbs left for the audience to do their own sleuthing. The characters even mention that you can solve a mystery with deductive reasoning or even logic puzzles like in Agatha Christie novels. The problem with writing something clever, is that you yourself have to be clever. The murderer comes out of left field and left me with more questions than answers.
Spoiler
Why didn't Cersei tell anyone if it was an accident? Why didn't she seem more suspicious/withdrawn/upset than normal? Great motive, but it did a bad job at telling us who the killer would be. The mc should have had more convos with her. Or looked in to her as a suspect but finding no motive. Something??
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Tabatha, a sorcerer’s apprentice to the most affluent sorcerer ever Solomon, she fights her families wishes and continue her training under him even when she just a mere high school. Solomon has seen a prophecy of his own death by the one he loves the most, but when it occurs the mystery plagues her and his family with finding the killer. As she is the main suspect along with one of his children Callum then go full on detective mode to find the actual murderer.
“These Deadly Prophecies” by Andrea Tang was a very entertaining mystery/fantasy book. It reminded me so much of The Magicians show in the magic systems and vibe. Although the romance was minimal and chaste, I was hoping they could fall for each other and find the murderer. The ending was surprising and not how I thought the book would go. 5 out of 5 stars.
“These Deadly Prophecies” by Andrea Tang was a very entertaining mystery/fantasy book. It reminded me so much of The Magicians show in the magic systems and vibe. Although the romance was minimal and chaste, I was hoping they could fall for each other and find the murderer. The ending was surprising and not how I thought the book would go. 5 out of 5 stars.