Joelle Wellington’s Their Vicious Games had a high-stakes plot that had me hooked. The sharp social commentary added depth to the story. The protagonist’s resilience and determination were inspiring, and the tension throughout kept me on edge. It’s a thought-provoking, adrenaline-fueled thriller that left a lasting impression.
Thank you Simon & Schuster Canada for the copy through NetGalley.

Their Vicious Games grabbed me from the first page and didn't let go.

It has all of my favourite things wrapped into one story:
• strong female lead
• a fancy New England prep school
• secret society drama
• cutthroat competition

Wellington's storytelling is rich and layered. The book is suspenseful and humorous. It also explores deeper topics like privilege, race, class, and how ambition affects mental health.

It's clever, suspenseful, and completely addictive.

Thank you Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the gifted copy.

A great thriller for young adults! Both my sister and I read it and she loved it as well. She even bought the physical copy and recommended it to all her friends. Overall, good story, writing, and characters!

Dnf @ 42%

I was SO excited for this book, but I wish I had dnf-ed it earlier. The premise sounded so interesting, but I had a real difficult time picking this up.

I had a time feeling connected to any of the characters, and I found the relationships forced. This may be the YA aspect for me - but I find I didn't care abour anyone.

I DO believe, some people could really enjoy this though!

LOVE! Everything about this book was so so well-written. I loved the stakes and the constant state of dread, as well as the setting and character voice.

Adina Walker, a Black teen, has just lost her Ivy League scholarship after an incident with a white student at her high school. She decides to take matters into her own hands, by trying to get an invitation to a competition called The Finish, hosted by a wealthy family, the Remington's.

I listened to this on audio, and it was so entertaining! This does not feel like a debut novel, and I was hooked from the first chapter. I was so invested in Adina's life and her future. I read this in one sitting, as I was so into the story. I thought the competition was so intriguing and needed to know what was going to happen next. The concept of 12 girls competing to become a Remington was such an interesting way to talk about privilege, classism, wealth, racism and performative allyship. Adina was an interesting character, she's not exactly likeable, but she wins your heart in the end. The friendship between Saint and Adina was so great, and I want more of them!

I will be physically buying this and rereading it because it's that good. That perfect combination of rich people playing cruel games with real lives while the main characters fight back against it. If you live the vibe of The Hunger Games x The Bachelor/The Selection Series, with brutal games and backstabbing for the prize of status and marrying rich, I believe you'll love this too.

I so very enjoyed reading this book! The synopsis really caught my attention, and once I started reading, the book had me hooked, I had to know what was going to happen next, how Adina was going to get out of this alive!

The fact that one moment ruined Adina's prospects for her future, when it wouldn't have happened to someone who was white, or had greater privilege then her? And for something that she didn't start? That was infuriating. And it just makes it worse, what she goes through, to try and recover the future that she planned.

The Finish has some very dark secrets, including just how deadly it is. I loved watching Adina go through these trials, doing her best to stay alive, but becoming less and less invested in the prize at the finish line.

I loved what this book discussed about race and class. I read she wrote on this book's Goodreads page about this book being a satire, and that, combined with the great pacing, just worked to tell a really fantastic and powerful story that I loved!

This was a really fantastic read and I can't wait to read more by Joelle Wellington!

"Their Vicious Game" by Joelle Wellington takes readers on a wild and unreal journey. The concept presented in this book is refreshingly unique, and I found myself utterly captivated from beginning to end.

The narrative unfolds with an intensity that keeps you on the edge of your seat, exploring an unpredictable and enthralling storyline. Wellington's creativity shines through as she introduces readers to a world that is sometimes beyond the bounds of conventional reality.

What makes this book stand out is its ability to engage readers in a way that is both thought-provoking and thrilling. The unpredictable twists and turns of the plot kept me glued to the pages, eager to uncover the next layer of this intricately crafted story.

While the concept may be considered unconventional, this uniqueness makes "Their Vicious Game" an exceptional read. Wellington's storytelling prowess allows readers to suspend disbelief and fully immerse themselves in the fantastical elements of the narrative.

In conclusion, "Their Vicious Game" is a wild and captivating ride that pushes the boundaries of conventional storytelling. Joelle Wellington's ability to create a unique and enthralling concept is commendable. If you're looking for a book that defies expectations and takes you on a thrilling journey, "Their Vicious Game" is the perfect choice.

I'm so happy I got to read this book. It was such a great read. it is outside my typical genre but it captivated my interest from the start.

Had some interesting elements but I felt like the story wasn’t developed enough.
Loved the ending, I love a final girls story!

Unfortunately dnf this at 10% in. Just didn't understand what was even happening. It almost felt like I missed something right at the start.

Thank you netgalley for the earc in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adored this book. Was so interesting and hard to put down! I read it in two days! I had a couple crazy theorys and none were right. I never coupd have guessed that twist and ending!

Their Vicious Games follows Adina who enters a competition to show off that she is the best among a group of women in order to get an acceptance back from Yale after her's was taken away. Unexpectedly though it's actually an insane set of challenges that lead to death, only one winner allowed, and you will be married into the host family as a result.

This book was so good and it had so many amazing quotes. I ended up with around 50 annotations on netgalley because I loved tagging things whether it was a quote that I loved (sometimes because it was poetic, sometimes because it was slick, smooth, and sharp, and sometimes because it was thought provoking), romance blooming in a nice or shocking way, and for foreshadowing or theory moments I wanted to mark for later or to comment on. I loved so many quotes from the book and when I look back on them I pause and am just there having to nod and agree with my choices for highlighted quotes because they are just too good.

There was always so much going on, and I loved following it and seeing what all would happen. Things would constantly be getting crazier and wilder and you'd be surprised so often by what was coming next.

I loved how big and fun the cast was. So many of the characters were so sharp and spunky even while they were supposed to be these elegant women that would fit into the Remington family. Even the characters who were terrible were such interesting characters that made you want to learn more about them and just love hating them.

The political and societal aspects of the book were strong and carried in a great way throughout the book, reminding you of how crazy the characters were and how it reflects into the world around us, and making you think about so many things with its thought provoking tendencies. I really appreciated all of it and thought a lot of it was well done.

There were some things I didn't entirely enjoy or was unsure about relating to major spoilers, but past those things I did enjoy the book. The problems I had weren't major problems, but things that I wished had been done differently or had more intention/meaning since one of the problems seemed just unfinished.

After reading the book and while writing this review, I saw that the author mentioned that the book was supposed to be satire and not taken too seriously. When I read that I started worrying if I had read it wrong but I've already read it and formed my opinion, so I can only hope that I read it the way that the author intended. The book has such strong characters, great intentions that showed what was wrong with the world and what people needed to overcome or change, crazy incredible drama that just upped the ante more and more as it went, and a wild premise that made you sit there and read the crazy while understanding how chaotic and crazy so many of the actions were. The way it all builds makes everything so much more thrilling and enjoyable.

For the most part I was content with the ending. I loved the lead up to the end and loved how it ended essentially, but one point near the end left me questioning things which is why I say that more than anything I ended the book feeling content.

I was able to read this book as an e-arc through Simon And Schuster Canada and Netgalley so thank you to them both! I'm glad I had the opportunity and I enjoyed the experience, especially since it's been so long since I read an ebook and forgot how much fun it was to be able to annotate things with highlights and adding notes with all my thoughts. Even with my problems with the book, since it was so fun, thought-provoking, and intriguing with an ending that left me content, I would probably give this book around 4.5 stars. I don't typically rate books with stars so this could be a rating that I would change someday, but at this moment in time I think a ranking somewhere in the level of 4 and closer to 4.5 is fitting for my feelings of the book.

OMG. The classism. The racism. The calculating cruelty and violence. This story was brutal in the best way possible. I was hooked—especially with Penicillin’s (iykyk) female rage reveal. Saint was such a great character and friend to Adina. Esme and Hawthorne were such a fascinating and riveting duo to read about, and I loved their plot twist at the end. The trials were all so interesting and the first murder took me by surprise as I had forgotten this book was about a competition to the death 😅 I was totally rooting for Penelope and Adina by the end of the story, and I thought the twist at the last trial was so fitting. Overall, I would totally recommend this!

4.5/5 Stars

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an arc in exhange for my honest review. The following opinions are my own.

I was really excited to read this one as I admittedly do not read a lot of satire. Although I enjoyed the idea of this story. It wasn't for me. But I'm sure it'll find its readers.

I received a free copy of Their Vicious Games from Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Canada in exchange for an honest review.
Their Vicious Games has been compared to Ace of Spades and Squid Games, but I unfortunately haven’t read/seen those yet. Instead, I’ll say that it reminded me of The Hunger Games and the Triwizard Tournament from Harry Potter (I’m sure there are better comparisons). A dozen young women must compete against each other in The Finish, a deadly competition that will leave one standing. Adina is smart, though. Perhaps what these games need is a bit of a different perspective – and someone playing by new rules.
This is an amazing YA novel that I’m sure will land with fans of dystopian fiction, thrillers, and YA fantasy (despite this not being a fantasy novel). I enjoyed the non-stop action and that you never knew when the next thing would go wrong. Exhilarating from the moment Adina steps onto the page.

This one was a bit of a struggle in the beginning, but once the rhythm of the story is formed, it was really well done!
It was definitely different than what I was expecting, but in a positive way! I will be looking for more from this author for sure!

My Rating: 4/5 Stars

My Review:

I received a digital ARC of this book from Simon and Schuster Canada in exchange for an honest review – thanks!

This book was a wild ride from start to finish! Life got in the way of me finishing it quickly, but this was a read that I could not put down once I picked it up. Wellington’s storytelling is top notch, and I think fans of this novel’s comps (Ace of Spades, Squid Games) will devour this story as quickly. I don’t want to give too much away with my review, as with thrillers every bit of praise or critic i speculate on could be spoilerly – and this is a book I don’t want to spoil!

The characters are certainly the heart of this story. Adina is such a great protagonist. I love her determination, her sass, and her bluntness with all of the Remington’s. Her supposed naivety in the beginning grows into something else as the story progresses. I enjoyed that she didn’t waver, even in the more difficult parts of the story. She was wholly herself, and it was just such a thrill to read.

As with most stories, there are some things you can see coming. But honestly, most of this story took me by surprise. I enjoyed the twists employed to keep everything moving, even if they were a bit over the top. There were some (specifically the one in the Royale) that I wish had been built up to more concretely and not just as the story went. However, the action usually made up for it.

My other critique has mainly to do with the situation that puts Adina in this place to begin with. We are told, partially, what happened for her to lose her enrolments, but I think a flashback could have been beneficial. I wanted to know more about the history between her and Esme, as it is part of the central conflict. I felt like it was thrown in to cause antagonism, but it felt disconnected without proper explaining. There are a couple other instances of plot points being thrown in there for dramatic effect, which are more spoilery so I won’t go into detail, but these are the main reasons why this is a four star read for me instead of five

this was so different than other YA novels i have read in the past. i didn't know what to expect and was so surprised! i don't want to say more, but the characters and the story are so fun.