A massive thank you to @librofm for the educator program ALC, and to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advanced copy of this book!
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Imagine you’re brilliant, and headed to Yale. Your future is set. And then your nemesis provokes you. One thing leads to another and you get absolutely screwed out of your scholarship to Yale. Now you have nowhere to go. You’ve been blacklisted everywhere. Your only hope? The Finish. A prestigious, invite-only series of challenges hosted by one of Massachusetts’ richest families. Only 12 girls are selected to participate. Winning The Finish might mean your reinstatement to your dream college. All you have to do is complete the three tasks: The Ride, The Raid, and The Royale. Simple. It’s not life or death, right? Ha. Wrong.
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UGH this book was wonderfully horribly twisted and I loved every minute of it. It's Gossip Girl meets Squid Game meets The Bachelor meets The Hunger Games. I never would've thought those things could mesh together so well, but DANG, they did. I absolutely loved Adina as the main character - and I loved that she never lost sight of herself throughout the entire book. Penthesilea is my new favorite name of all time (I loved all of Saint's nicknames for her too. Pentatonic? Penicillin? Iconic). Saint and Adina's friendship was beautiful. I feel like their friendship could've easily been used as a way for one of them to betray the other, but their friendship was easily one of my favorite parts of the book.

The PLOT... BRUH. BONKERS. Absolutely BONKERS. And I loved it (I don't know what that says about me). I could not stop listening/reading. I simply had to know how it all ended. I love books like that.

Simply put, you must read this book. Or listen to this book. Or both, like I did. Regardless, you must read it. Go read it.

I was selected to partake in a book tour so I was able to get an ARC of Their Vicious Game bu Joelle Wellington and holy moly that name is so true in this book. I was expecting some things since I read it was a mix squid games and The Bachelor and wow. You could feel Adina's emotions throughout the story and I honestly wanted to punch so many people for how they treated her and Saint. The overly rich white folks made their-selves known that they do not like change. With Adina being black and Saint being Asian, I was rooting for them from the beginning, mostly I loved how they seemed to not be fake like the other girls. Graham was a fun person as well and I wanted him to be so much more as the story went on. But the amount of deaths and what the girls have to do, man it makes you wonder how the family kept it secret for this long and how the other rich people were alright sending their daughters to what could be their death all for the sake of getting richer and whatever else they can possibly want. It was a fun fast read, only because I found myself wanting something decent to happen at the end and not a horrible ending and I was happy with what I got.

This book felt like "The Inheritance Games" meets "Hunger Games". The main character, Adina ruined her chances at attending Yale by crossing the wrong people at a prestigious high school where her parents work. She has been afforded the chance to attend this affluent school thanks to her parents. Her only way of getting back into Yale is by getting invited to the Finish, a series of games in which, as the winner, the Remingtons will allot her the opportunity to redeem herself and get back into Yale. Unfortunately the Finish is a great deal more than Adina anticipated and a lot more deadly. She not only has to win to achieve her dreams, but she needs to survive, I absolutely devoured this book! It was such a rollercoaster of emotions and action. I definitely recommend this to people who love thrillers and a battle of the haves and have nots, While the main character seems like the underdog, she continues to prove herself worthy of the games.

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I’ve loved this concept ever since hearing about it and am so glad I got to read it a little early before going out to buy my own! Their Vicious Games is an equally vicious social commentary meets high personal stakes that constantly keep you on your toes. It’s impossible to not root for Adina as she fights through the competition for an education that should have been hers from the start. You won’t be able to put it down until you get to the very end!

4.5 stars

An imaginative storyline, ample twists, fast-paced action, and engaging characters combine to make this one of my favorites for 2023 so far! If you enjoyed the concept of The Hunger Games, you should check this one out. I've never read anything by this author in the past, but I look forward to doing so in the future.

The author does a nice job of portraying racial and class issues in a relatable way. At different points of the story, readers may find themselves rooting for each character, who are flawed and realistic. Adina and Saint were my favorites, but the entire cast is uniquely drawn and likeable (even if you may like to hate them). The writing style is easy to read, and it quickly pulls the reader in. No detail is wasted. The ending wasn't what I expected, but it definitely worked. I had a hard time setting this book aside, and I was sad to finish the final page.

As one of the only non-white students at the prestigious Edgewater Academy, Adina Walker has to be the absolutely perfect. But after one slip up, her Ivy League future disappears and she’s forced to enter The Finish- a competition sponsored by Edgewater’s founding family that pits 12 ambitious women together in three contests. The winner will be welcomed into the family and through all the open doors that entails.

The Finish is way more than just a contest- it is literally life and death. This book is described as Ace of Spades meets Squid Games and it really delivers on that promise. My heart was pounding through every page of this book filled with danger and suspense but also human moments. Adina finds friends along with enemies and I loved how well her stubbornness and ingenuity came through.

I saw this book has already been picked up for an adaptation and I think it will be just brilliant. I had to suspend my belief quite a bit but overall this was a page turning thrill ride and I was even more curious as I kept going how it all would end.

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an honest review

I thought the writing in this book was quite good. It was engaging and the story moved along at a quick pace. However, I didn’t always love Adina. I thought there were some inconsistencies with her character. I also thought most of the other girls participating in the finish were pretty two dimensional. Adina doesn’t spend much time talking to or thinking about anyone besides Saint, Esme, Hawthorne, and Pen so the rest of the girls are essentially interchangeable and their elimination from the competition has no emotional impact. The ending itself was pretty crazy—prepare yourself for much violence—and I can’t say I saw it coming. Overall, there’s a lot here about class and race, but I’m not sure it was explored to its fullest potential because the story kept getting in the way instead of working with those topics.

Note: I received a copy of this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Their Vicious Games is a gripping and exhilarating story that will captivate you until the very last page. This twisted tale weaves together a thrilling narrative, brimming with both triumph and bloodshed, as it follows the transformation of an outcast into a contemporary figure. It is an incredibly intriguing and compelling read that left me craving for more.

In one moment in time. In a fit of anger Adina Walker lost it all. Her spot at at an Ivy League School and her status at as a popular girl as the elite and prestigious Edgewood Academy. Adina is a minority. She is a black teen at a school compromised many of white students. Students who's parents have deep pockets while her parents work at the Academy. She worked so hard to earn a spot to only have it lost and left with nothing however an invitation to The Vicious Games. A game with a long buried secret history that is hosted by the uber wealthy Remington family. The winner of the game opens a world of power and wealth to the winner. Adina is determined to win the games but the costs are heavy.



Their Vicious Game is an addictive read. The characters are well developed and the plot keeps you turning the pages. This book is for those who are fans of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Perfected Series by Kate Jarvin Birch and The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes.

Applause for days. Wellington knocked this out of the park. Let's talk about it, shall we?

In Their Vicious Games we follow Adina Walker, a Black teen, who has just graduated from Edgewater Academy, a prestigious private high school in New England, attended by super-rich, mostly white, students.

Adina's parents both work at Edgewater and she was able to attend via scholarships. Because of this, she's always known she had to work twice as hard as the other students to keep herself above reproach. Her life under a microscope.

All her work seemed to be paying off when she received her acceptance letter to Yale. Unfortunately, another student with her sights on Yale wasn't accepted and decides to take out her failure on Adina. A fight ensues, which gets blamed, of course, on Adina.

Just like that, Adina watches her future slip away. Her acceptance to Yale is revoked, along with her chance to enter any other Ivy. Adina is devastated, she's furious, she's shocked, she's a lot of things, but a quitter isn't one of them. There's one more chance. An extremely-mysterious competition called The Finish, hosted by the wealthiest of the Edgewater families, the Remingtons.

Twelve girls, hand-selected by the family, are brought together at the family estate to compete in three different challenges. These girls must show exceptional promise to even be picked, as the winner is granted entry into the Remington family, where all doors are opened to them.

Adina, catching the eye of the Remington's youngest son, is granted an invitation. This is it. Her one chance to get her life back. Adina will stop at nothing to win, or at least that's what she thinks going into the competition.
The truth is, Adina could have never imagined how high the stakes are, or how vicious the play would actually be. Look out Mean Girls, you've got nothing on Their Vicious Games!!

Y'all, I can't even express to you how much I loved this. I am probably doing a terrible job at even trying to sum it up, because I'm just so excited about it.

I feel like Wellington absolutely nailed what she was trying to achieve here. I was hooked from the very first chapter, invested in Adina and her future like she was my own darned child. I loved how quickly this kicked off and I feel like it was really easy to get into it.

The whole set-up was fantastic. I loved how the girls actually got to live at the estate. They had no contact with the outside world while there. Literally, all rules, laws, and social conventions had gone right out the window. Adina had a roommate, Saint, who ended up being one of the highlights of the story for me. I loved her character so much and the relationship that developed between Saint and Adina was hero/sidekick gold.

I also loved the actual competition elements. Wellington wasn't pulling any punches with this one. It got brutal and I was there for every toe-curling minute of it. I love how Wellington committed to the concept and took it all the way. She didn't try to make the Reader comfortable. I respect that so much.

In my opinion, this was also really well-constructed just in its general story-telling quality. It was completely engaging, intense and the biting social commentary was chef's kiss level good. I loved it. I'm not sure what else to say.

If you enjoy brutal, cunning, manipulative characters hell bent on destroying one another via an organized competition, than this one is for you. Maybe you love Social Horror, or books that have something to say, than this one is also for you.

I had a blast with it and am so impressed with this as a debut novel. Well done, Joelle Wellington. I certainly hope this book gets all the praise it deserves!!!

Thank you so, so much to the publisher, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. I have a strong feeling this is going to find its way onto my Best Books of the Year list. I cannot wait to read more from this author!!!

My heart was beating ferociously. My skin was itching with anticipation. My eyes at some point hurt because I just couldn’t stop swiping and reading and the rest of my body was aching from sitting too long in one position because I just couldn’t get out of the moment. I simply could not escape from the world that was created by Wellington. I could not leave. I had to keep reading, in some ways, just like Adina had to keep going with the “game”.

“Welcome to the finish.”

Reading this book, I had sudden chills. The Finish, as you read on, becomes more intense and tense and I bet you, you won’t be able to leave this book at all. You have to read on, you have to see what happens. You have to continue Adina’s story because in some way, the Finish is a game you are also participating in.

I read this book in one night. Never have I been so happy to have wasted sleep so I could finish this book. It was so good. It had me on my toes, it had my breath hitching, it had my heart skip a beat. The premise of the book is so interesting with so much tension, so much action and a sense of dread that death would be near.

You have to read this book if you enjoy mysteries / thrillers! The synopsis says this book is like Ace of Spades - it kind of is. I really enjoyed Ace of Spades and so I enjoyed this book as well!!

Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for offering me an ARC of this book!

I started this as soon as I got it in April, but I just couldn’t get into it. I was even reading it as a buddy read, but I just couldn’t get into it. Maybe it was because it was a physical copy and those are just taking a lot longer for me right now, but whatever the case was, I was getting frustrated with it. But just like when I read the Hunger Games, a friend who had already read it said, “Just get to the games.” And so I did. And AGAIN, I’m so glad I listened. It turned 100% around after that.

So one thing about me, I DO NOT LIKE SLOW BURNS. And that includes them in thrillers and mysteries and dystopians. All of them are terrible lol I need things to move quickly. I’m already a character driven reader so I attach to them. But if the story isn’t moving, the character doesn’t have much happening besides dialog with other characters because nothing is usually happening to them yet. And that”s what i felt like was happening here. It made for a kinda boring first half of the book.

Now at this point I told my friend, “Idkkkkk….” So she says, “Just get to the Games.” So I said ok and stuck it out till then. It’s then that the plot picks up and it went from eh, Idk to WTF IS GOING ON. Y’all I say this with each book I read, but I should really do a synopsis refresh before i start reading it. I didn’t remember what this book was about, so when I tell you I was like WTF lol I did not see that coming. And the comparaison they gave was pretty spot on. I really need to learn how to pay attention.

The characters in this book are terrible. No, I’m so serious, I only liked like 4 people. And when it all came down to it I felt totally vindicated because of this. But also this aspect of the book scared me tho. i knew shit was about to hit the fan when they started removing lines of communication. And the all the rich people? Can we say UNHINGED?! Literally all of them had too much pride, too much audacity, and too much of just everything. Rich people are crazy. Because why is the Finish even a thing? And the controversy between the two brothers? Just crazy. LITERALLY ALL OF THEM WERE NUTS.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was still good. I know if someone was watching me they would watch my mouth drop open in slow motion. Because I know I started it with a regular face and it dropped open as it goes on. If you’re going to read this, get through the beginning and then clear your schedule when you get to the end. You will need it. Because that ending will throw you for a loop lol

When Adina's college acceptances--including to Yale--are all rescinded after she is involved in an altercation with another classmate, she's desperate for a way to get back the spots she earned. So desperate, that she finagles an invite to The Finish, a competition at the Remington Estate where girls compete for scholarship and status. What Adina doesn't realize until she's there is that not all the girls make it out alive...

I love mysteries, and enjoy the occasional thriller, but stay far away from horror. But that's almost what this book feels like. It's not the building suspense or unease of a classic thriller, but rather in-your-face, brutal, on-page violence more reminiscent of The Hunger Games or Squid Games than, say, the teen thriller They'll Never Catch Us. It's a little bonkers in its premise, and hard to believe that no one in town (or the families of prior victims) did nothing to stop it. None of the characters are very likable, except for perhaps Saint, Adina's roommate from Singapore, who's only there to save her family's business and seems to have some sense of both loyalty, self-preservation, and conflict avoidance (in a good way). The reason I still give this book four stars is because, well, it's undoubtedly well-written. The plot is absolutely insane, but it's well-developed and flows, and I did keep reading until the end.

Thanks to Book Club Favorites and Simon and Schuster for my eARC and finished copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

4 stars - 6/10

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review,

Ok, wow. This book was wild. Just... a journey. I went into this hoping I would like it (the premise sounded fun- I mean it's described as "Ace of Spades meets Squid Game with a sprinkling of The Bachelor". What' s not to like?) but also a little cautious, because the whole Battle Royal/Hunger Games/Squid Game thing has been done a lot, and it's easy to do it... not great. This was not that. This was excellent, and if someone hasn't already snatched up the movie rights, they need to get on that, because I truly want to see this action play out on a screen.

Wow. This was a toughhhh book! I loved it though. While technically a YA thriller, this was super dark. Adina is such a badass and you can’t help but cheer for her the entire time. The ending was fantastic and I didn’t see it coming at all. This book is ripe for a prequel (or a Netflix series) and I would love to see Aunt Leighton’s Finish play out.

adina had her whole future laid out in front of her. but one mistake revokes every college acceptance, including yale, she worked so hard to earn. now, she’s sure the only way to get her future back is through the finish, a competition held by the wealthiest family in town that grants its winner anything they wish. but she soon finds out that this competition has much more dire consequences than she originally thought. she has a chance to get back into yale, but at what cost?

i’ve followed the author on twitter for a while now, so i was very excited to finally get my hands on this book! i love books that feature competitions because there’s just so much potential with them, and wellington tapped into this potential very well. the competitions were nothing like i originally anticipated. from the intentional sabotage to the backhandedness from certain players, i could not put this book down because i just had to see what happened next!

i highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a thrilling YA read. i can’t wait to see what joelle wellington releases next!

The strength of “Their Vicious Games” rests in the interesting characters that Joelle Wellington develops. While the primary villains are mostly one-note stereotypes, some of the girls who participate in the competition tend to offer some interesting character development that doesn’t always rely on common tropes. The competitions themselves are a bit lacking in creativity, but the book moves at a fast pace and is always entertaining. There could be a few more. Overall, fans of the Hunger Games or Kiersten White’s “Hide” might enjoy this particular book, that even thought it has a contemporary (and not dystopian setting), it offers similar themes.

STOP READING THIS REVIEW AND GO PRE-ORDER/BUY/REQUEST/BORROW THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW I AM BEING SO SERIOUS.

joelle wellington is a WONDER. a treasure. this book was so SHARP and INCISIVE and POWERFUL. beautifully written, perfectly plotted, i literally cannot remember the last time i was so GRIPPED and ENTHRALLED by a story. this is not just your average YA thriller with a death games premise. this book is so much MORE than that, although it's just as brutal and bloody and conniving, and it's all because of joelle's masterful prose. she makes you FEEL for adina walker, a Black girl Of Suburbia, whose been ostracized by all her rich white friends after a lifetime of keeping her rage at bay just for the privilege of Blending In, because she will never Fit In perfectly at her new england prep school Edgewater Academy. and then she makes ONE slip-up. one mistake. and it costs her everything: her early-action yale acceptance, her escape from Suburbia, her chance at a real life. a future.

to get it back, adina—desperate and hungry—manipulates her way into securing an invitation to the Finish, an elite (and deadly) competition meant to test the mettle of the twelve girls via three mysterious events: the Ride, the Raid, and the Royale. which are all balanced out perfectly with three Repartees, or cocktail parties, which are almost just as fun to read about as the actual events.

(as a side note, twelve characters is a LOT to juggle, and i say this after just coming off of an ARC of THERE'S NO WAY I'D DIE FIRST. but joelle expertly narrows her focus to just five of these girls: adina, our brave main character; saint, adina's new best friend and the only other person of color in the entire remington estate (apart from one housekeeper) during the Finish; penthesilia, pierce's ex-girlfriend; esme, a girl so BITCHY you will actively be waiting for her death with bated breath; and hawthorne (who adina at one point inexplicably calls becky which totally made me think hawthorne's full name was rebecca hawthorne and she went by her *last* name, until it was revealed her full name is really hawthorne harding, so i definitely missed something there), esme's right-hand (and queer-coded, if not overtly gay although it is heavily implied) woman.)

anyways, what follows is an incredibly entertaining story that balances a love triangle that is to DIE for (i LOVE how often adina just. went for it in regards to the men she found attractive, even if they were scumbags. the chemistry was always SO PALPABLE before we got a kiss scene, and it honestly made me swoon harder than i ever have at a YA thriller romance subplot since YOU'RE NEXT by kylie schachte's valentine), commentary about class and race and cowardice, and a lot of moments filled with tension so taut you're holding your breath as you fly through pages just to see when it'll all snap. and it DOES. and it's PERFECT. and i WILL NEVER SHUT UP ABOUT THIS BOOK.

so, in summary: the ending was brilliant, adina walker is brilliant, joelle wellington is brilliant, and THESE VICIOUS GAMES is an absolute triumph. i am going to need three physical copies and maybe more just to hold all my annotations when i do my re-read (which is going to happen ASAP. i mean, come ON.)

GET THIS BOOK.

Their Vicious Games is just a phenomenal book. This is a cutting satire, providing social commentary on privilege, power, and the ways blood will be shed to maintain the status quo.

Often when books are marketed as a cross between various other media, my expectations are raised sky-high and they do not always quite live up to the comparisons being made. Their Vicious Games bucks that rule, encapsulated in the marketed cross between Squid Game and Ace of Spades. I would add another comparison from my personal top-tier recommendations: the film Ready or Not. Joelle Wellington effectively skewers that bubble of high class society, enmeshed in generations of privilege and power. This is a book that takes no prisoners. It is blood-thirsty, vicious and violent, with hellscape, Saw-like contraptions of death and destruction. At the same, there are some incredible moments of dark humour.

However, this is also a book about complicity in those same structures of power and privilege. It asks what you would sacrifice to gain those vaulted positions and really who you would become to get there. That is the integral question throughout the book. Adina must face up to what she would lose and how much blood she is willing to spill. There is also the constant question of whether she would ever truly be accepted. I loved how intersectional Wellington’s examination of this question is, weaving in discussions around class, race and even some sexuality subtext. These are important influencing factors, which culminate in some scenes that definitely fit into the ‘good for her’ genre of media that leaves you with an uncomfortable pit in your stomach.

Adina is an intelligent and genuinely kind person, who I instantly connected with. She is driven partially by love for her family and friends. Of course, I absolutely loved her. At the same time, she is not always a good person; sometimes she is selfish and manipulative. This feels like a survival strategy honed from years of mistreatment and the pressure cooker environment of the Finish. Also, I had a keen sense of why shouldn’t she try to survive by any means possible? This is a competition where the stakes are literally life and death, so some morally grey actions make complete sense. There is that sense of grit underneath her fingernails and a fire in her belly. She will get what she wants from this world, after all, it owes her. Black girls are often pigeonholed and not allowed complexity in their representations in the media. Adina should not be some perfect, untouchable pinnacle of morality. She should be as flawed and messy as any other teenage character, yet alone one placed in the ivory towers’ own twisted version of The Hunger Games.

A shoutout must also be given to the character of Saint, whose own narrative is one I would love to read someday. She equally has her own ulterior motivations, but there is a sense of genuine friendship there. In a world determined to squash both her and Adina, they keep going, often just to spit in their faces. There is a level of spite in their continued survival that the Finish is determined to annihilate. I loved how much female rage Wellington infuses in this book. This is a book incandescent with anger, ready to tear the world apart and remake it anew.

Wellington leaves scorched earth in her wake with this biting, bloody, and brilliant satirical take-down. Their Vicious Games is exceptional and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

This book follows a teen who is blacklisted from her dream Ivy League school and must enter a competition to regain her reputation but something is not right and she needs to survive. It’s been a while since I read a good ya thriller book and I really enjoyed Wellington’s writing. I loved the story they have created and the way the world works. There were social classes and diverse differences that the main character has to go through and I enjoyed seeing how she grew. The pacing was fast but in the beginning, I was a bit confused though I started to understand the story. I liked the plot and the conflicts that were in this book that kept me very entertained. I liked Adina’s character and seeing her development in this book. The side characters were fun and I loved how involved they were in this book. There is a touch of romance but it’s not the main focus of the story if that’s something you are looking for. Overall this was a great book and would be reading more by Wellington.