I don't want to say too much about this book because I think it's best experienced for yourself, but as far as a high-level description goes, it's incredibly fun, deliciously dark, and most importantly... satirical from start to finish. If you've seen it pitched as The Bachelor x Squid Game, I assure you that's an accurate characterization. But it's so much more than that; there's razor-sharp class and race commentary intertwined with a compelling cast and storyline.

Through the characters, we're presented with different backgrounds and motivations. This diversity was hugely beneficial to the story, as it allows readers to consider the multitude of reasons each of the girls is participating in the Finish, the Bachelor-esque element of the story. A personal favorite was Saint, and I'll admit I had a soft spot for Penthesilea. While the main character Adina's motivations are clear from the outset, the other characters remain shrouded in various levels of mystery until the very end.

Their Vicious Games presents a fast-paced, exciting, one-of-a-kind story that is well worth checking out.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC.
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5 stars)

Their Vicious Games, written by Joelle Wellington, is a gripping thriller that melds the intense competition of Ace of Spades with the high-stakes, life-or-death scenarios of Squid Game, all wrapped in a veneer of elite societal rituals reminiscent of The Bachelor. This novel tells the compelling story of Adina Walker, a Black teenager striving to regain her Ivy League acceptance after a single moment of lost control jeopardizes her entire future.

Adina has always known that she must work twice as hard to achieve even half as much as her wealthy, predominantly white peers at Edgewater Academy. Her relentless pursuit of perfection is derailed by one fight, leading to her being blacklisted by her dream college. Her last hope lies in the Finish, an enigmatic competition sponsored by Edgewater’s founding family, the Remingtons. The contest promises the winner unparalleled opportunities, but it soon becomes apparent that the stakes are far more perilous than Adina could have imagined.

Wellington masterfully builds tension as Adina navigates the increasingly dangerous events of the Finish: the Ride, the Raid, and the Royale. The sinister undertones of the competition and the palpable sense of dread keep readers on the edge of their seats. Adina’s journey is not just a fight for her future but a battle for survival against a system rigged against her from the start. Her resilience and determination to rewrite the rules of the game provide a powerful narrative about overcoming systemic barriers and fighting for one’s place in a world designed to exclude.

Their Vicious Games is a searing commentary on privilege, power, and the lengths one must go to break free from societal constraints. While the plot occasionally relies on familiar tropes, Wellington's storytelling prowess and the novel’s timely themes make it a standout read. With its well-developed characters and thrilling pace, this book is a must-read for fans of high-stakes competition and social critique.

Absolutely fantastic debut. It's action-packed, well written and full of suspense, really holds up in the genre.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin for this ARC!

Brilliant YA, compulsively readable - very underhyped! I know exactly which readers to recommend it to, and I am confident they will love it

Their Vicious Games had be absolutely hooked from the beginning. I was struggling to put it down to sleep. In the end I just stayed up to finish it. Sleep deprivation was totally worth it.

This was really fast paced and quite addictive to read, and brings a lot of important topics together including class struggle, racial commentary and violence. It was completely unhinged, but in a great way, and there were a lot of scenes that were very uncomfortable to read, which of course was the intention. I struggled with the characters, particularly Adina - I never felt endeared to her, and while I of course wanted her to win, I didn't have the emotional backing to really root for her, especially when her actions were illogical. I did like the solid ending however; with a book like this, there's a high chance of the ending just being thrown in, of the author not knowing how to end it - but that didn't happen here, and I was really pleased with how the story wrapped up.

Their Vicious Games is an original and compelling page turner that gives you everything you could possibly want in a book. A fantastic read that is so hard to put down once you start it!

A debut I will not be forgetting for a long time. I was not prepared for how much I would love this. Thank you for the early copy to review.

Adina Walker has always felt like an intruder in the prestigious Edgewater Academy. As a Black girl whose parents work for the school, she has to remain above all reproach. One mistake, one uncontrolled outburst, starts an avalanche that costs her Ivy League college placement and most probably ruins her whole future. Her only chance at regaining her dreams is the Finish, a competition for the ambitious young women organised by Edgewater’s founding family. Soon, Adina realises that the Finish is not what she expected...

Their Vicious Games is a novel full of action and intrigue. The stakes are high, and Adina’s competition is better prepared for the games. It was a quick and exciting read, but I did not enjoy it as much as I hoped. I did not like the writing style and had a hard time getting attached to the characters. I saw many positive reviews of this book, so I guess it just wasn’t for me. I think it would work better with the younger audience.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this early copy of Their Vicious Games by Joelle Wellington. This was an action packed, heart-stopping read that I can't wait to share with my students, and if this is Wellington's debut - I can't wait to see what she does next!

Absolutely fantastic. This book had elements of so many things I have loved but still felt fresh and unique. The Squid Games and Ready Or Not vibes were strong mixed with The Selection/The Bachelor. I loved it and look forward to reading more from Joelle.

This story was kind of a mix up of The Inheritance Games and the movie Ready Or Not, as Adina enters a competition to try and win back her place at Yale, but discovers that the game is more deadly than she expected. Trying to survive the rounds as girls are brutally killed off, she starts to question just how willing she is to secure her future.

This is intended to be a satire, which I kind of got, but I'm used to satire having a humorous edge, which I didn't feel this had. I enjoyed the maze round of the competition, but felt we didn't get enough of it, compared to the multiple pages dedicated to the horse racing round (the horse round really threw me).

This has a really solid ending though, akin to Squid Game, and I really enjoyed the chaos of the ending chapters. The ending is really satisfying, and I'm happy to say that this is definitely a standalone novel, as there's little to no room for a sequel.

A compulsively readable page-turner that drew me in from the first page. I enjoyed the "intrigue amid the wealthy" setting (which had a kind of Knives out/Inheritance Games vibe) and it made some serious points about race and privilege in amidst the fun but implausible plot. Great teen appeal, I think this will be a big hit.

This book was amazing! I honestly keep waiting to get bored of reading about people killing each other in deadly competitions, but I never do! This one sucked me in from the start with the voice of the main character. She was sarky, compassionate and in many ways innocent. I can't really say what it was that set her apart but it was just fantastic.

This book also surprised me. Through most of the book, I thought I knew what was going to happen. But there were mysteries there and twists that changed things. It felt fresh and original, which is impressive from an idea that has been done so often before.

Just everything about this book was completely perfect. I'm so glad that I read it.

From poor to incredibly rich
Wellington writes a phenomenal book displaying race , class and danger
This book truly deserves around of applause ! It is quite literally literary genius and I cannot wait for book 2

Holy Shit. I think this might be one of the best books I read all year. Scratch that, I think this might be one of the best books I've read - period.

I don't like comparing books to other works of art, but this really is like Squid Games and The Selection combined. Or, if the Bachelor was violent, and the showrunners actually had a spine. Although I would argue that it's more Ready Or Not than Squid Games, but alas ... Squid Games is more popular.

Their Vicious Games is delicious, satirical YA thriller in which twelve girls get the opportunity to compete in the Finish, a competition dreamed up by the uber-rich and powerful Remington family, in which the winner can basically become a part of the family and access their immense wealth and connections to basically go anywhere in life. Our heroine, Adina, has lost her admission to Yale because of a violent altercation with a former friend, and is desparate to get it back. The Finish seems the perfect way to do this.
What Adina doesn't know is that in the years that a Remington heir comes of age, the Finish becomes ... different. The prize is not access to the Remington family, it's marrying into the Remington Family. And these girls, the very girls who are competing against Adina? Oh, they're willing to kill to get that ring.

This was amazing. I think Wellington might have one of the most engaging writing styles ever, because I felt as if I couldn't even breathe until I'd turned the page. I flew through this book, and it still wasn't enough. And bam, did it end perfectly. Everything about this was so satisfying, from the big eat-the-rich moments to the very careful way that Adina's hair is treated in this book. Because Adina is black. In fact, she is the only black woman in the Finish, and only one of two women of color. And I loved how it impacted the story. For example, the day before the last event in the Finish, Adina very deliberately cornrows her hair. Or how the Remington family sees her as their diversity pick, how the "prize" would be to marry Pierce Remington, who sees her blackness as a way to prove to the world that he is the new and fresh generation of wealth, or the way that on a masquerade ball, everyone knew who she was anyway because even though a mask covered every contestants face, Adina's skin color made it obvious that she stands out.
Adina's blackness is so important to the story, and it's truly a part that makes this book even more visceral, even more cutting. I could write enormous think-pieces about this book that won't even come close to the brilliance of just reading it yourself. I would make this required reading in every institution of learning in the United States. I will annoy my friends until they all read this book.

Another part I want to mention is how important this book is and yet how approachable it makes itself. I found it on the bookstore shelf with Twilight and some other YA books. As said above, I could write multiple thinkpieces about this book, and yet it is also some of the most engaging and exciting pieces of writing I have encountered in a while. That's what makes a masterpiece. I really hope that people will come to regard Their Vicious Games as they have come to regard The Hunger Games during its recent renaissance on tiktok. I, for one, will do my part by obnoxiously recommending this to anyone I see.

Tldr: Truly, truly a masterpiece. I applaud Joelle Wellington and I thank her SO MUCH for giving us this perfect piece of literature.

Their vicious games

Listen, I have no words, but I shall try to write the review this book deserves. It's an easy 5 stars for me.

At least my heart can rest now because this was so high stakes that I felt uneasy the entire time. 12 girls locked on an estate by a rich family that's decided they should kill each other for the chance to marry an asshole. The book was well paced, with the challenges being action filled and moments of tension in between. The challenges themselves were perfect for both creating anxiety and giving that air of rich superiority the remingtons pride themselves on.

Our main character is Adina, a young POC who, after her supposed friends turned on her upon her acceptance to yale, finds herself in a situation where she can no longer attend any college. And so she tries to get an invite to the finish, unfortunately for her she is the only one who doesn't know what that truly means. She's a very resilient character despite the challenges of the games and the constant racist comments. You root for her the entire time, and she undergoes brilliant character development.

Saint was my favourite character, though. You always have the feeling of being unsure if she's telling the truth. But she is a much needed presence to allow adinas character a sounding board during moments of emotion after the events they experience.

I did enjoy the interactions adina had with the other characters, too. From face-offs with the mean girls to unnerving chats with Leighton and the other remingtons. The slight moments of romantic tension with a side character added another layer to the story that I liked as well.

I'm definitely looking forward to reading other books by the author. This one was truly brilliant.

I received an advance review copy of this book, and this review represents my honest opinion. Thank you to netgalley, Joelle Wellington, and the publisher for the opportunity

Their Vicious Games is a strange tale, cautionary yet taking a grim delight in the awfulness of the characters/their situation.
Our main character is Adina Walker, daughter of two teachers, who has been allowed to attend a prestigious Academy. Due to an incident in her recent past which involved her 'forgetting her place' her offers to attend Yale and any other university have been rescinded, and Adina is struggling to work out what her future holds. She feels that she is owed something, desperately wanting to get back her opportunities...but for that to happen she will need the help of the very people who seek to ostracise her because of the colour of her skin/her lack of wealth.
The majority of the action takes place during what is called The Finish - an event held annually by the Reamington family, giving selected young girls the opportunity to win a prize. What Adina doesn't realise is that The Finish is actually a competition where there can only be one winner.
As soon as Adina, and we, realise what's going on it's hard not to be struck by the brutality of the games.
Nobody is safe. Everyone is playing a part. It becomes a question of how far people are willing to go, and the extent to which people are prepared to challenge the status quo.
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this before publication.

Amazing!

This book reminded my of the film Ready or Not but was so much better!

Adina has lost her place to Harvard but as school nears its end she can join The Finish. A chance to regain her place and more. The games take place every year, only this years games are different. The contestants enter into a dangerous game of life and death.

The main character Adina is strong hearted and is admirable. The book was fast paced and had a twist at every turn. I never expected the end and I adored that Adina was able to battle through each game against the odds. I was constantly entertained and was able to read the book in a couple of days.

I am already recommending it at work!

'Their Vicious Games' by Joelle Wellington is an addictive novel with a complete wild storyline. Adina Walker has lost everything, including her place at Yale, due to a momentary lapse in her composure against an ex-friend. Unfortunately Esme may be awful but she is rich, something Adina is not, which makes Adina the loser in this scenario. Adina's only option now is to enter into the Finish, a mysterious competition hosted by the Remington family. The winner will not only be granted into any college of their choosing but will be set up for life with riches and power beyond their wildest dreams. This competition like an excellent opportunity but everything is not right with this competition, as proven when the first girl drops dead during the welcome drinks...

This book is a twisted tale of fighting for one's future when the stakes are deadly. I enjoyed following Adina through the various challenges as she grew in strength across the book and began to see the world beyond her own priorities. The majority of other characters are insufferable which makes the blood bath quite satisfying to read. Everything starts out very mellow and refined but with the first challenge, a deadly race called 'The Ride', it becomes clear that no one is safe from the violence and horror these girls are inflicting upon one another in their desperation to win.

Overall, the book is a fast-paced thrill ride which you will not want to put down until the winner is crowned. Will Adina come out on top? And is this victory really worth it? Read on and find out! 4.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.