Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Their Vicious Games

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Their Vicious Games by Joelle Wellington

23 reviews

sahramahtab's review

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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bookb1itch's review

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

A nice twist on the Hunger Games idea. Because this was even more removed from my personal world, though, I feel it was slightly less disturbing than HG. Sure, the classism and racism are nauseating, but I feel more inclined to let younger readers read this than I expected to, perhaps because it feels a little like a cautionary tale: Everything has a price! My major criticism of this debut is that at times it is simply badly written, and this detracts from the clever narrative.

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evelynyle_88's review against another edition

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dark 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

For my Spooktober read, I finally take this book and read from start to finish. As someone who really love Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, I myself looking for another book who has the same vibes as that one. Dark academia vibes in this book is slightly felt; but this book bring me back when I read Ace of Spades.

Their Vicious Games just a brilliant debut novel that bring crossover between Ace of Spades and Squid Game. I love the plot is truly like the Korean drama Squid Game and with the spices and sprinkles of The Bachelor instead.

I love the story, I love the plot twist that left myself gasp at who were the main villains of this story. From thriller book, I tried to be a detective. Keep guessing and guessing. And my guess was wrong. That's why this book has a brilliant story and plot twist. I love it!

And thanks to Joelle Wellington who is the mastermind behind this book because I can see a Squid Game plot through Their Vicious Games. And of course. I love the ending. I love Adina, Toni and of course... Saint. Thank you, thank you!

5⭐ worthy!

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caseythereader's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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takarakei's review against another edition

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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? Yes

3.5

Ace of Spades/The Hunger Games meets The Bachelor... in hell.

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sarahmcg's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

Their Vicious Games

4.5 ⭐️

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the free copy for review

This book is described as “Ace of Spades meets Squid Games with a sprinkling of the Bachelor…” I haven’t watched Squid Games, but I agree with the rest, and also add that this book gave me Hunger Games vibes.

The FMC, Adina Walker, is a black teen girl who attended the prestigious Edgewater Academy on scholarship. She gained acceptance to Yale, only to have her offer rescinded over one moment of lost control. She is hoping to regain her acceptance to Yale and the path forward in life she feels she has lost by participating in the Finish - a contest put on by Edgewater’s founding family, the Remingtons. She just needs to make it through the high-stakes competition, and when she wins, she will have the favor of the Remington family and their power and wealth will open doors for her that have been otherwise closed.

However, upon arriving at the Remington estate, Adina realizes she has been in the dark about how deadly the Finish is, and what the expectations truly are.

This book had me on the edge of my seat. It moves quickly, is propulsive, and violent. It had me gasping, and gave me goosebumps. The underlying commentary on racism, classism, the patriarchy, and performative allyship was so smartly crafted. This is why people should not underestimate YA novels! This is a horror novel, and satirical at that.

One of my favorite parts of this novel was the friendship between Adina and her roommate, Saint. Also, the ending had me like 🤯

I highly recommend this to those who love YA horror and satire/social commentary, final girls, and fast-moving, high-stakes competitions.

CW/TW: violence including murder, gun violence, blood, injury detail; sexism, classism, racism, misogyny (overt & micro aggressions), and emotional abuse.

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imstephtacular's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes

4.25

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theonlybaillie's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

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

3.75

This book was The Hunger Games meets The Bachelor and everyone is completely UNHINGED.

And I can't decide if I liked it or not lol.

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bellebookcorner's review

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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

4.25

The premise of this book sounds very interesting, fortunately this book did not disappoint me. In fact, I got hooked into the story pretty fast and really enjoy it!

If you wanted to read something where Hunger Games meet The Selection then I highly recommend picking up this contemporary thriller!
Don’t forget to read the trigger warnings below cause there are some parts that may be sensitive to some readers.

The first few chapters felt slightly confusing and it feels like I’m starting a book from the middle part but eventually there will be an explanation as it goes deeper.
Things started to get a lot more interesting once Adina (the FMC) enter the competition and the other girls were introduced as well.

I really like Adina’s character cause she feels relatable. She’s not a perfect character cause she didn’t make the best decisions at the beginning. But after going through a couple trials and see the true meaning of the competition, she powers through and started to grow into a badass intelligent girl!

I also love the growing friendship Adina and Saint has and I was rooting for them in every trial, at least Adina has one ally she can trust in this barbaric game where loyalty is rare.

As for the romance, I wasn’t rooting Adina with any of the love interests to be honest.
One guy was a psychotic and a narcissists, the other one was just too meek even though he has a good heart. I admire Adina for keeping her head on the game without getting swayed easily.

Overall, this is a fantastic read with great writing style and well developed characters which also comes with a satisfying ending.
The author raises several important topics that occur in the real world and I love the way he conveys these topics really well throughout the story.
I’m really looking forward to read more books from this author in the future!

⚠️ 𝐓𝐖: Death, murder, violence, racism, cursing, drug use, confinement

Thank you to TBR and Beyond Tour, Netgalley, author and publisher for giving me an e-ARC of the book and for having me on this book tour. I’m leaving this review voluntarily!

Content Warnings

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.25

This book is marketed as Ace of Spades meets Squid Game meets The Bachelor, and I can’t think of a better way to describe this novel. We follow Adina Walker, a black teen who loses her scholarship to her dream Ivy League school, and the deadly competition she joins as a last ditch effort to reclaim her planned future.

Based on the book's description, I knew I would like this book, and I was right. It’s fast-paced, bloody, with an exploration of class and race directly woven throughout. The book’s ending absolutely blew me away and had me gasping, speeding through and wishing for a good resolution. I also really enjoyed the exploration of friendship, both toxic and supportive. My only complaint was that at times the writing seemed a bit repetitive, going over the same issues without giving much further insight into Adina as a character.

Overall, I liked this one, and I think you will too if you enjoy:

Survival/competition shows like The Hunger Games and Alice in Borderland
Plot-based storylines that keep you turning the pages to figure out what happens next
Tackling systemic discrimination and entrenched privileges

Thank you so much to Simon & Schuster Canada and Netgalley for providing us with an advanced reader copy of this engaging YA thriller.

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