Their Vicious Games

4.5/5 - Wow, wow, wow! This book was wild!! This thriller kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I had to stop reading the book and only listen to the audio because I kept trying to skip to the bottom of the page to see what happens next. The FMC (Adina) worked my LAST nerve with her bad decisions, which had me screaming and cussing the entire time. Did no one teach her anything in the 18 years she was on earth?! That is why I removed the .5. Other than that, she came through for me at the end. This books was a fun ride!

1.5.

I don't even know where to start.
This book isn't poorly written so much as baffling in it's choices. It needs to either be far more over the top or way less- it does some weird middle of the ground choices that make no sense in any sort of way. Is this real world or not? No decision seemed to be made in that regard. It's like a bad teen book version of Get Out meet Hunger Games.

Savage and suspenseful; easily devoured.

Quite an interesting and lovely read. I was expecting a little more action, but I had a fun time with the book.

The book itself was uneven and so was the world building, which is why we care about the story in the first place. I wanted more detail and context in setting up the competition and getting to know the girls competing. Several key events inexplicably happen offscreen, so the early part of the book lacks some of the momentum and violence that propels the absolute banger of an ending worth a whole star on its own. There were also some unfortunate mispronunciations in the audiobook that took away from the luxe upscale vibe, and I straight up hated a couple of the character names as too pretentious and distracting. But I was entertained and I love a strong female protagonist, so 3.25 stars.

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.

“Aren't you going to eat?” he asks. “I don't like salmon.” Another lie. “What do you like to eat, then?” “The rich.” I glare, daring him to sneer.

-Ch. 13, pg 194 Adina and Graham.



I really liked this book.

The writing is nice and the world building was good. I liked the Finish, it was done very well with each segment. You could really feel Adina being surrounded by sharks. Every girl has a distinct reason for being there and strategy to get what they want. They were developed. The twists at the end was good and entertaining and the stakes were always high. This book help me get out of my reading slump.

Which brings me to my grip with the book, Adina's development. She's very passive until like 80% into the book which surprised me. I do like that she's a girl just trying to survive and black girls don't always need to be macho and strong willed, but everything she is kind of just handed to her and I feel she was always on the losing side of things. But on the other hand, I do kind of understand why she was developed so late.

Another thing I didn't like was the little love triangle that was briefly slipped in. What was the point of Adina kissing those boys, especially with one of them effectively cheating on his girlfriend. It's not even apart of a strategy or anything, they have a moment and she just...kisses them.

Overall, Their Vicious Games is still a good and entertaining book with good twists and high stakes, I just wish Adina's development was different but I definitely will be looking for more of Wellington's books in the future.

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.

I get the concept that this book was going for, but I just didn't like it. I think part of it is that the Squid Game comp gave me an idea what the book was like and then the actual book was not like that. All this over a man?? Most of the characters' motivations are obscured by the first person pov so I didn't really care either way what happened to them, characters made decisions when it was convenient for the narrative and not in a way that felt like it was following a character arc, and the writing for Saint, the only Asian character, felt really suspect to me (why was she wearing bondage gear??)

The ending felt very silly to me as well, I would have liked the book better if she had made that decision earlier during Simon Says.

What a PHENOMENAL, UNPUTDOWNABLE debut! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

First of all... check on your friends or loved ones who recently read this book because we are not okay. 

I don't even know what to write because I'm still awe over this book. Despite the evil in someone the characters, I loved each person who popped up in this book. Every character served a purpose, and were fully fleshed out. 

ADINA. Adina is now on my list of favorite FMC. I loved reading how she managed navigate through almost certain death, and despite the chaos around managed to keep her priorities straight.... Even with the questionable romance which worked in her favor in the end but 🌝

The ending of this book was my favorite part. The vivid descriptions of the gore/fighting in this book were top tier but the ENDING? Yea Ms. Wellington needs an award for that. I had my eyes bugged out my head reading. Ugh... it was a fantastic time 🤣🤣

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Liked the idea of the games; the beginning felt like a mix of The Selection, The Hunger Games, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I think this would be much better if it was a TV show (felt very Freeform) or if it was written for adults. The love triangle was my least favorite part of the book. It felt forced and out of place. I wanted more action, less romance.