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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed this book. I thought the whole premise was so interesting. I do wish that there was more world building. I loved the characters. It was so interesting getting to know them.
adventurous
lighthearted
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
Apart from a few questionable plot points, These Deadly Prophecies is a fun book that I would have very much enjoyed to read as a young teen. Tabatha is pretty relatable and a world where magick is a part of the norm is interesting to get into.
Style
- The prose mimicked that of a teenager pretty well, but I felt at times that the MC Tabatha rambled on quite a bit which slowed the pace down
Main Character
- After all the praise Tabatha received for her skills in sorcery and prophecy, I had been waiting to see her talents in action, however the one time she initiated it it was abruptly interrupted and soon after forgotten about
- I did find Tabatha to be amusing at times, and also pretty spot on in her observations about Rich White Men being able to get away with a lot more than members of other social groups would
- I particularly enjoyed how Tabatha described the car scene which went from being emotional to awkward in an amusingly funny sense, and did not, thank goodness, develop into a typically cringey scene commonly written of two teenagers who fancied each other
- Tabatha appeared to be highly impressed witnessing one of the other characters use kinetic power to keep themself off the ground and makes it sound like she’s never seen such a thing before but as a sorcerer’s apprentice of 4 years this seems a little inconsistent with her background
World-building
- The author does a splendid job creating this believable alternate universe where magick and sorcery is sufficiently accepted by the general populace (save for that one annoying detective). A world in which people could make a career out of being an occultist in the same way no one (maybe save for immigrant parents) would bat an eye at about choosing to be a lawyer or engineer
The Whodunnit
- When you invoke Agatha Christie’s name multiple times in a story I think audiences start to subconsciously anticipate a clever enough plot twist that could compare to the works of our Queen of Crime.
And although the killer’s identity was unexpected for me, the reasoning behind it was both a little anti-climactic and a little jarring. During their appearances in the story prior to the big reveal, their behaviour and mannerisms didn’t seem to align very well with that of a tragic character that was presented to the reader after we read their confession in the story
Content Warnings
Proposed Alternate Endings
(SPOILER ALERT)
I think the possibility of Angelique having been the killer in order to frame her successor out of spite would make better sense, with the plot twist being that Circe took the fall to protect her mother the same way Callum did for his mother. Or even Sorcerer Solomon himself having conjured the entire set up so he didn’t have to live out the rest of his life with a deteriorating mind as it was already established that he was vain and dramatic, and more than just a little kooky.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I can't write a review. I'm too busy chasing my eyes as they roll away. 🙄
adventurous
emotional
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:
Complicated
I really wanted to round it up to 2 but I just couldn’t. I hated how predictable this was. The forced proximity lovers did not work for me. The fact that she never ONCE used magic herself & instead used her forced self defence classes like WHAT. Also, for some reason she never thunk the thought to maybe fortune tell the killer into fruition!? Nothing about this book made sense. None of it.
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Tabatha was great and I liked how often she addressed the reader directly. Didn’t really read like YA for me besides the characters being in high school. Over all i really enjoyed this!