Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Their Vicious Games

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Their Vicious Games by Joelle Wellington

30 reviews

bookcheshirecat's review

challenging dark tense medium-paced

3.5

“Rule one: Wealth is power. If you don’t have it, keep your head down. I thought I’d gotten that one down to a science over the past twelve years. Rule two: Knowledge is too—now that power I had in spades. But with knowledge comes the responsibility to know when to keep your mouth shut and when not to (see rule one). I chose not to and I chose wrong.”

➽ Their Vicious Games is a Thriller following Adina Walker who's trying to earn back her Yale acceptance. Adina's one of the few girls at the prestigious Edgewater Academy and one slipup costs her everything. With no future prospects and blacklisted from all universities, Adina only has one more chance: participate in the Finish, a high-stakes competition sponsored by the Remington family. The winner receives a full ride to their college of choice. The premise was really promising, as I liked the idea of a competition between 12 bright women who each want to secure their future. They compete in three mysterious events called the Ride, Raid and Royale. However, Adina soon begins to suspect that the Finish is much more deadly than she thought.

➽ I liked the themes and ominous atmosphere. Despite the slower pace, there were many chilling moments that showed how far the girls were pushed and how far some would go for their success. Most participants are white, so Adina's the only black girl. She strikes up a friendship with the only other person of color, Saint, the daughter of a Chinese investor. I liked their friendship and wish Saint would have gotten more of the spotlight. Adina also deals with her ex-best friend and the person who ruined her future: Esme. There was a ton of tension between the girls! I also appreciated the discussions about class and race, as Adina has to deal with the casual racism of her benefactors. She's struggling to regain her agency in an environment of self-satisfied, righteous rich people who see her as a tool to show their goodwill!

➽ In the end, I thought the book dragged at times and went in a direction I didn't enjoy. I expected Thie Vicious Games to be much more fast-paced and engaging, so the buildup was too slow for me. I also didn't think I understood everyone's motivations for being here apart from Adina, Esme and Saint. The other contestants were one-dimensional so I didn't get a sense for their motives and didn't care about what happened to them. Apart from that, Adina often got handed a lot of things by others and I didn't feel like she grew as a character until the very end. In general, I wish the book had stuck closer to its original premise, as I found it more interesting than the direction it took.

This Finish isn't like the others because it's held as a competition to see who can win Pierce's hand in marriage and become part of the Remington family. It's top-secret and not only about college acceptances, as the winner gets all sorts of privileges. It reminded me of The Selection, just with more murder. I wish the focus had stayed on the girls competing for their future instead of trying to appeal to a rich white boy. In the end, Adina's own determination to earn back her Yale acceptance got pushed into the background. I also didn't understand why the other girls who came from good families risked their lives just to marry into the Remington family. Some parts didn't make sense to me.

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browneyesblue84's review

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I like the setting of Their Vicious Games. This marks the second YA thriller novel that I read in the past year. Despite being an elder millennial , I still like YA novels especially YA thrillers and horror stories. I was unfamiliar with the author but saw the cover in Target last year. This book took residence on my TBR from then on. I needed something fast paced and different to fill in the gap between preorder releases. This novel definitely satisfied me. Also, I realized that I preordered the authors next book without realizing who the author was.

Joelle Wellington’s writing is easy to read. I was hooked from the first chapter. Adina is a relatable character who strives to fit into a world of opulence and power. She loses her one opportunity after a moment of intense emotion brought on by a “friend” who was jealous. That reaction cost her everything except for a change to obtain her diploma. Adina decided to do what she could to take part in The Finish, a competition that offered something that she truly needed a second chance. However, she was not prepared for the truth about this competition and how truly high the stakes were.

I am rating this novel five stars out of five. Yes, it’s that good. Each chapter has an even balance of well thought out prose, dynamic characters and even pacing. I’m looking forward to reading the author’s next novel. If Their Vicious Games is this good , I get the feeling that it will be even better.

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jennanaps's review

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challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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ashylibrarian's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Readers will be left in a state of shock and horror (in all the best ways) after finishing Their Vicious Games by Joelle Wellington. This is a fast-paced novel that is packed with thrills and chills, and readers won’t even begin to imagine the terrors that will unfold within its pages.

There are so many amazing strengths to consider when talking about this book. Two (2) of the biggest things that stood out to me were the brilliant world-building and meticulous character development. All of the characters in this book are used with purpose. Some of the side characters we do not see much of, but when you do read about them, you know they have been placed with thought and intention. Readers will also be able to see the world of this book unfold as they read as if they were watching a movie. The Remington Estate, the clothes, the expressions on the characters' faces. Everything is painted so vividly and clearly through Wellington’s alluring prose.

Another aspect of this book that Wellington handles so well is the impact that classism and racism have on the characters and society that run rampant through the upper-class New England community where the prestigious Edgewater Academy resides. There are many barriers that Adina faces throughout the book - barriers built from the materials of systemic racism and classism. This book is set in a fictional New England world, however, readers will likely be able to see connections to socioeconomic and racial injustices that are happening in our world today. This is definitely a heavy read, but it is also a read that is packed with traditional horror characteristics and creates a modern twist on the “final girl” trope.

It was difficult to pinpoint a weakness in this well-crafted punch of a novel. One thing I would say is that readers might be a bit off-put by the quick-developing attraction from the female characters to the male characters, Pierce and Graham. It’s clear from the beginning of the competition that the money and power the Remington family carries has a lot to do with the motivation for many of the girls’ attraction to Pierce, but the attraction between Adina and Graham seems to develop within a page or two, making more of a quick-combustion attraction that does not have much backing.

Their Vicious Games is a book that I would highly recommend to readers who enjoy fast-paced thrillers that leave them feeling utterly shocked, especially if they like books that intricately weave together themes of race and class with classical horror tropes. I would likely recommend this book to older teen readers due to the fact that some of the content in this book is fairly intense and there is strong language used throughout.

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jazzywazzy's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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brittainr's review

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

5.0

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kemikemi's review

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adventurous dark 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? No

4.5

holy shit…at no point did i know how this was going to end and i felt like i was holding my breath the entire book. it was tense and graphic and my mind is still reeling. i love saint so much and pentheselia and graham were such fascinating characters as well, actually all of the girls were interesting i loved how the author fleshed out their motivations and actions. adina was a fantastic mc and the ending

reminded me so much of the movie ready or not,

i wasnt prepared for that final turn and it was so sickly satisfying i will be thinking about it for a long time.

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niquechiquereads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark sad 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? N/A

4.0

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on_my_bookshelf's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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sahramahtab's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Joelle Wellington's 'Their Vicious Games' is a gripping page-turner that kept me hooked from start to finish. The suspenseful plot, coupled with the uncertainty surrounding the main character's fate, made it an intense read. The narrative's exploration of racism, misogyny, and classism adds depth to the story, creating a brutally beautiful portrayal of societal issues. Despite the challenges, the satisfying sliver of justice in the end provides a poignant closure.

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