Reviews

3.5 ⭐ CW: violence, blood, murder, gun violence, abuse, racism, classism

Their Vicious Games is a YA thriller that is like Squid Games meets The Bachelor with a dark academia feel. This is not the typical genre I read, but I needed a short break from fantasy, and this made for an enjoyable diversion. The lower rating is only because the middle was a bit slow for me.

We follow Adina Walker, one of the only Black and scholarship students at prestigious (and white) Edgewater Academy in upper crust New England. Very Waspy. We start with learning that Adina is graduating, but all the colleges she applied to revoked her admission, including her dream school Yale, due to her losing control one time. She is determined to get back her acceptance to Yale and get back what's hers, so she convinces rich popular guy Pierce Remington IV to get her into his family's rumored game called The Finish. Little does she know what she is getting into.

The Finish is a game for the brightest young women selected by the influential Remington family. The winner of the games gains access to wealth and opportunity through the Remingtons, but this year is different, because the Remington heir (Pierce) is 18 and looking for a wife. Yes, it's just as ick as it sounds. We see a lot of mind games and intrigue from all of the girls, themes on the problems with wealth and privilege, themes on blatant misogyny with the idea that women should have to prove themselves worthy of such a husband 🤮.

We also see the fall out of the weight of expectation thrust upon young women in high society, and the price of ambition. This was a brutal book, but fascinating. The dynamics between all the characters were really interesting and varied. Adina and her roommate Saint were the only girls of color in The Finish, and I love that they stuck together through the whole thing instead of being potted against each other. I wish the pacing had been a bit stronger in the middle, and I think we should have seen Pierce's monstrous side leak out a bit earlier, but I do appreciate that the author didn't absolve the older brother, Graham, who let his privilege blind him.

I think this would make for a fantastic series that would keep you in your toes!

Content Warnings