Their Vicious Games

Written by Joelle Wellington

Narrated by Ariel Blake

“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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Jul 25, 2023
• ISBN: 9781797157146

Joelle Wellington

Joelle Wellington grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where her childhood was spent wandering the main branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. Her love of the written word led her to a BA in creative writing and international studies. When she isn’t writing, she’s reading and when she’s not doing that, she’s attempting to bake bread with varying degrees of success or strengthening her encyclopedia-like pop culture knowledge. She’s the author of Their Vicious Games and The Blonde Dies First. 

Reviews for Their Vicious Games

[Ebony Wallace · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

When I say YA thrillers are coming for you all’s necks, Their Vicious Games by Joelle Wellington is no exception. From the very beginning, we know this is going to be one wild ride. But as the book goes on and we follow our main character Adina, we discover that maybe she’s bitten off more than she can chew. Anyone who loves movies like The Tall Grass or The Escape Room would love this book. I am in my YA thriller era, and after reading this, I don’t want it to end. Their Vicious Games is a five-star read for sure. If you like audiobooks, this one was chef’s kiss!

[Kayla Pratt · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Well! This was a heart stopper! But it was sooooooo good. I enjoyed every tense minute of this book. Would I join The Finish? If I were unaware of the true purpose like Adina, absolutely (And I would have fought like her too)! Now if I were aware like Esme's crazy ass, absolutely not! But more power to her. This was intense. I was on the edge of my seat for all of it.

4.75 stars

[Jessica Nesbitt · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow, what a wild ride and I loved every minute of it! Didn’t see any of it coming because I went into this book without reading the synopsis. It was different, refreshing and unexpected. Twists at every turn! The adrenaline rush of this suspense-action story with a not so fairytale ending will rent space in my mind for months to come!

[Randi Howser · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Well written, great ending. I would love a part two!

[lizelsaurus · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is scary and sharp. Highly recommend. The narrator helped make it awesome too.

[Tanishah Nellom · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book seamlessly meshes modern YA fiction with a fantastic realistic Black girl perspective. The racial aspects were very nuanced. Great read/listen

[Busayo · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

You know those books that you devour so fast that you don’t know what happened just that it was extremely good?

Yeah.

[Karla Petrova · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is criminally underrated. I read it in a day! What a ride

[Gracey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Simply Amazing ! Gave me “The Grace year “ and “Ready or not “ movie vibes