Their Vicious Games
“A brutally honest and haunting cautionary tale…exposing the lie that is meritocracy and the unrelenting toll that being a final girl takes. A bloody tale spun masterfully…a dark delight.” —Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, New York Times bestselling author of Ace of Spades
A Black teen desperate to regain her Ivy League acceptance enters an elite competition only to discover the stakes aren’t just high, they’re deadly, in this “spine-chilling thriller” (Publishers Weekly).
You must work twice as hard to get half as much.
Adina Walker has known this the entire time she’s been on scholarship at the prestigious Edgewater Academy—a school for the rich (and mostly white) upper class of New England. It’s why she works so hard to be perfect and above reproach, no matter what she must force beneath the surface. Even one slip can cost you everything.
And it does. One fight, one moment of lost control, leaves Adina blacklisted from her top choice Ivy League college and any other. Her only chance to regain the future she’s sacrificed everything for is the Finish, a high-stakes contest sponsored by Edgewater’s founding family in which twelve young, ambitious women with exceptional promise are selected to compete in three mysterious events: the Ride, the Raid, and the Royale. The winner will be granted entry into the fold of the Remington family, whose wealth and power can open any door.
But when she arrives at the Finish, Adina quickly gets the feeling that something isn’t quite right with both the Remingtons and her fellow competitors, and soon it becomes clear that this larger-than-life prize can only come at an even greater cost. Because the Finish’s stakes aren’t just make or break…they’re life and death.
Adina knows the deck is stacked against her—it always has been—so maybe the only way to survive their vicious games is for her to change the rules.
A Black teen desperate to regain her Ivy League acceptance enters an elite competition only to discover the stakes aren’t just high, they’re deadly, in this “spine-chilling thriller” (Publishers Weekly).
You must work twice as hard to get half as much.
Adina Walker has known this the entire time she’s been on scholarship at the prestigious Edgewater Academy—a school for the rich (and mostly white) upper class of New England. It’s why she works so hard to be perfect and above reproach, no matter what she must force beneath the surface. Even one slip can cost you everything.
And it does. One fight, one moment of lost control, leaves Adina blacklisted from her top choice Ivy League college and any other. Her only chance to regain the future she’s sacrificed everything for is the Finish, a high-stakes contest sponsored by Edgewater’s founding family in which twelve young, ambitious women with exceptional promise are selected to compete in three mysterious events: the Ride, the Raid, and the Royale. The winner will be granted entry into the fold of the Remington family, whose wealth and power can open any door.
But when she arrives at the Finish, Adina quickly gets the feeling that something isn’t quite right with both the Remingtons and her fellow competitors, and soon it becomes clear that this larger-than-life prize can only come at an even greater cost. Because the Finish’s stakes aren’t just make or break…they’re life and death.
Adina knows the deck is stacked against her—it always has been—so maybe the only way to survive their vicious games is for her to change the rules.
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
What Bookclubbers are saying about this book
✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI
Readers say *Their Vicious Games* by Joelle Wellington is a gripping, fast-paced thriller that blends dark satire with intense social commentary. Many...
This book screwed with me. It was such an interesting concept and felt like a mix between Gossip Girl and Squid Games which is as crazy as it sounds. Although we have so many suspenseful and terrifying moments this story does a great job of highlight social and racial inequalities and the dangers of them. It was an eerie story and had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I think bits of it were a bit naive but that was kind of the whole point so it didn’t deter me away but rather enhance the concepts that were being portrayed.
Originally reviewed on Cyn's Workshop
A brilliant dark satire, Their Vicious Games is perfect for fans of Ready or Not and Hunger Games, pitting girls against one another for the chance of a lifetime.
Their Vicious Games follows Adina, a black girl at Edgewater Academy, a school full of privileged white students. When she is blamed for a racial incident, and her Yale acceptance is rescinded, Adina feels lost. But Adina has a plan. Fueled by her anger, Adina finds a way to enter The Finish, a competition hosted by one of the most influential families, the Remington’s. But she soon discovers the competition is deadlier than she thought.
Storytelling
I absolutely loved the story here. The Finish is a competition where twelve girls are handpicked to complete three challenges, all for the opportunity to join the Remington family. But it is a competition where their lives are on the line, and only one can survive.
The girls are pitted against one another, the games deadly and dangerous, and each other is stuck with facing the way society has groomed them for this, has groomed them to give up their humanity and tear each other down all for the hand of a boy.
Because that’s what the competition is. Kill the competition and marry the youngest Remington boy, the only way to join the family and get everything handed to you for the future.
The satire, the structure, and the way the story tears down the accepted social conventions and focuses on rebuilding it is impressive. Through Adina, we face the reality of how women are manipulated and turned against one another. We see how the rich like to wear down those they can and how power corrupts.
But Adina refuses to let her humanity and brilliance be diminished. She flips the game on those above her, tearing down the system, one bloody weapon at a time.
The girls here are cunning, brilliant, and manipulative in such a way that reminded me of Regina from Mean Girls. And to see them use their brilliance against one another instead of against the regime says a lot about society. Sometimes, it is easier to tear others down rather than lift them up, and it is made easier when society pits women against one another.
Final Thoughts
Their Vicious Games is a brilliant, fast-paced book like nothing I had expected to read. It is thoughtful, bloody, and has an oh-so-very satisfying ending.
See more reviews at Cyn's Workshop and follow me on Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | Twitter | Tumblr | Spotify Podcast | YouTube | BookBub | Goodreads+ | LinkedIn
A brilliant dark satire, Their Vicious Games is perfect for fans of Ready or Not and Hunger Games, pitting girls against one another for the chance of a lifetime.
Their Vicious Games follows Adina, a black girl at Edgewater Academy, a school full of privileged white students. When she is blamed for a racial incident, and her Yale acceptance is rescinded, Adina feels lost. But Adina has a plan. Fueled by her anger, Adina finds a way to enter The Finish, a competition hosted by one of the most influential families, the Remington’s. But she soon discovers the competition is deadlier than she thought.
Storytelling
I absolutely loved the story here. The Finish is a competition where twelve girls are handpicked to complete three challenges, all for the opportunity to join the Remington family. But it is a competition where their lives are on the line, and only one can survive.
The girls are pitted against one another, the games deadly and dangerous, and each other is stuck with facing the way society has groomed them for this, has groomed them to give up their humanity and tear each other down all for the hand of a boy.
Because that’s what the competition is. Kill the competition and marry the youngest Remington boy, the only way to join the family and get everything handed to you for the future.
The satire, the structure, and the way the story tears down the accepted social conventions and focuses on rebuilding it is impressive. Through Adina, we face the reality of how women are manipulated and turned against one another. We see how the rich like to wear down those they can and how power corrupts.
But Adina refuses to let her humanity and brilliance be diminished. She flips the game on those above her, tearing down the system, one bloody weapon at a time.
The girls here are cunning, brilliant, and manipulative in such a way that reminded me of Regina from Mean Girls. And to see them use their brilliance against one another instead of against the regime says a lot about society. Sometimes, it is easier to tear others down rather than lift them up, and it is made easier when society pits women against one another.
Final Thoughts
Their Vicious Games is a brilliant, fast-paced book like nothing I had expected to read. It is thoughtful, bloody, and has an oh-so-very satisfying ending.
See more reviews at Cyn's Workshop and follow me on Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | Twitter | Tumblr | Spotify Podcast | YouTube | BookBub | Goodreads+ | LinkedIn
I went into Their Vicious Games with high hopes, but unfortunately, it just didn’t resonate with me. It felt like The Hunger Games meets Mean Girls—an intriguing concept that, for me, just fell flat. The story had potential and I can see why others enjoyed it, but despite all the rave reviews, it just didn’t wow me. It wasn’t a horrible read, but it also didn’t leave much of an impression.
So… young women from influential families were dying/going missing after participating in the Finish at the Remington estate for centuries and their families were accepting of this?????? Like did no family get suspicious at all when they never heard from their daughter/sister???????? And the worst part of it all, the girls were fighting to death to marry a man and could leave in body bags or emerge the victor. *bombastic side-eye from me*
This book is… not good at all. The adults during the Finish failed the girls, and the Royale “game” at the end was horrendous. Adults were hunting kids down and kids were fighting each other to their deaths. The kids were failed by the adults and everyone was annoying AF. I could not handle how some off the names of the kids were a huge tragedeigh. The only upside of this was Adina was wise enough to ghost Graham once she got out.
This book is… not good at all. The adults during the Finish failed the girls, and the Royale “game” at the end was horrendous. Adults were hunting kids down and kids were fighting each other to their deaths. The kids were failed by the adults and everyone was annoying AF. I could not handle how some off the names of the kids were a huge tragedeigh. The only upside of this was Adina was wise enough to ghost Graham once she got out.
I NEED HELP.
This was so damn good, but I’m too busy crying to collect my thoughts right now. I’ll have to write out my full thoughts later with the support of a full keyboard.
Briefly: This was the definition of a thriller to me. I had no clue where we were going and was so tense for 85% of the book. The characters were so dynamic and interesting. This is definitely one of my top reads of the year.
This was so damn good, but I’m too busy crying to collect my thoughts right now. I’ll have to write out my full thoughts later with the support of a full keyboard.
Briefly: This was the definition of a thriller to me. I had no clue where we were going and was so tense for 85% of the book. The characters were so dynamic and interesting. This is definitely one of my top reads of the year.
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.