Reviews - These Deadly Prophecies

360 reviews for:

These Deadly Prophecies

Andrea Tang

3.5 AVERAGE

emmaline09's review

4.0

funny mysterious 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

sysb218's review

4.0

I actually enjoyed this book more than I was expecting to! I did think it was just a wee bit boring in the beginning, there wasn't enough action for me, I like a good fast-paced book, the climax of the book wasn't until the last like 20 pages, so the entire exposition of the story felt dragged on to me. That being said, I did think the characters had good dynamics with each other and that's always a major green flag (major plus) for me! It was a quick read and was a great switch up from reading a heavy romance.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group for letting me read an advanced digital copy!

jaynellewags's review

4.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Thank you Penguin Teen and NetGalley for an eARC.

Tropes: Forced Proximity, Prophecy, Amateur detectives, Classmates to Lovers, Urban Fantasy
YA Mystery with a dash of Romance

"Because lying like a discarded doll, tossed to the side of the foyer-and clearly long separated from its owner- was a single, beautifully tattooed human hand with familiar, matte black nails."

This was such a fun story! I really liked that there were twists and turns that put you off the scent of who actually murdered the sorcerer.
The Solomon family has such complicated dynamics, between the three kids, two moms, and a murdered father- then throw in two sorcerers apprentices... and chaos ensues.
I enjoyed the urban fantasy aspects of this story and that magic wasn't a secret from the masses. It had an added twist that a lot of urban fantasies don't have.
When Knives Out was released as a movie this style of book/story seemed to become more popular since it was a hit- and honestly I love that. I was a big Nancy Drew reader when I was growing up so I enjoyed those references.
I think that the prophecy is convoluted in this story, maybe more so than others, added a little bit of intrigue and helped with the twist of who actually did the murdering.
I liked Callum and Tabatha's relationship- while Felix was a major side character I also think his relationship with both MCs added to the story and I enjoyed him.
I wish that there had been a little bit more about the police side of the investigation because I feel like it was just randomly talked about.

This is my first book by this author and I really enjoyed it.

jnwhit94's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

kimberlynhall's review

3.0

adventurous challenging dark inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

jsanchez11153's review

3.75

mysterious sad 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: No

themoonphoenix's review against another edition

4.0

mysterious 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: Yes

Tabatha is an apprentice sorcerer, one morning he returns to his mentor's house, only to find him dead, although his death is not that shocking, he had predicted his death, but at whose hands, that is what remains a mystery.

Love the mix between modern mystery murder and paranormal, It reminded me a little of the Victorian séances and spiritualism parties, when people contact to ghost and spirits but in our current age. Also, the family drama reminds me of a YA version of Knives Out but with magic.

The magic system was interesting, It sounds credible for our modern times, I liked the element of prophecies, very unique, and it’s not the only one, there are spirits, seeing the future, and others.

It was a fast paced story and keeps you hooked, Sorcerer Solomon has a very dysfunctional family, children, ex-wives, lovers and secrets, his character is complicated, he did not deserve his death but he was not a good father either, anyone could be the murderer, the mystery remains, there are several candidates to be the murderer. I think it is a good mystery, it is not so easy to guess who the murderer is, there are several clues and twists here and there, all the characters have their motives, they give you a little background on each one, there are many characters but it is easy to recognize them, each one has a personality, a motive and a different relationship with the sorcerer.

Tabatha and one of Solomon’s sons (Callum) will join together to solve the mystery. Tabatha is a great narrator, she is likeable, smart, funny and down earth girl. There's a bit of romance between her and Callum, just enough to keep you hooked, but without forgetting the main plot.

Overall, its is a fun and fast paced story with a good dose of drama, mystery and magic intertwined.

shelvedthoughts's review against another edition

4.0

mysterious fast-paced

Reader’s Notes:

– this is told from Tabatha’s point of view

– there are about 64 curse words (note: this number does not include uses of ‘hell’, which were about 58 on their own)

– there are mentions of seeing body dismemberment (imagery for it is not lingered on, but it is mentioned)

– there is a séance

– the family the story is centered on is very dysfunctional (stepsiblings/mothers, cheating, parents favoring certain children for their inherent skills over others despite none being able to control what they are good at, etc)

Review:

I removed a star because of the number of curse words and because I’m personally not comfortable having read about a séance.

Overall, I found this to be a fast paced and entertaining read! (And I believe that this book was like a mix of Knives Out and The Inheritance Games as stated in the summary!) I liked getting to know how magic works in this world and learning more about the Solomon family and their eccentricities. I personally didn’t see the ending coming (who it was) but once the murderer was revealed I was able to see the clues that connected to them. I had just made the mistake of deciding that it couldn’t be them too early XD. There is a bit of romance that develops between Tabitha and another character but there isn’t too much build up to that aspect in my opinion. The two characters just spent a lot of time together (& emotions were running high for everyone involved in the murder) before they decide to make out towards the end. (So there was some build up, but the romance wasn’t the main storyline so there was less mention of the build up aspects.)

Summary:

Tabatha Zeng wants to know how magic works and was thrilled to be offered the position as an apprentice under the infamous Sorcerer Solomon. Both of them have the same affinity for fortunetelling and take delight in growing Tabatha’s powers. But one day, things change from the normal routine to an unexpected nightmare. And it all started with a prophecy. A prophecy from Sorcerer Solomon foretelling of his own demise.

When the prophecy comes to pass, Tabatha finds herself embroiled in a murder investigation that has her on the suspect list, alongside the sorcerer’s youngest son Callum. Together, they decide to dig deeper into the Solomon family matters and the sorcerer’s own relationships to figure out who the real culprit is. But their suspect list continues to grow instead of getting narrowed down as they discover new things about the people around them. And Tabatha isn’t sure what to believe, nor how much she should really be trusting her investigative partner…