
Their Vicious Games
This thriller stars a Black teen's quest to reclaim her place in an Ivy League institution leads her into a lethal contest with higher stakes than she’d ever anticipated; life or death.
Adina Walker has always been acutely aware of the demanding expectations set upon her at the elite Edgewater Academy, a breeding ground for New England's affluent (and predominantly white) elite. Striving for perfection and maintaining an unblemished facade is her strategy, pushing down any hint of imperfection. Yet, a single misstep, a single moment of her judgment slipping, costs Adina her spot in her dream Ivy League college, and seemingly any other.
Her one shot at redemption and reclaiming the future she's painstakingly built is the Finish, an elite competition hosted by the influential Remington family of Edgewater. In this contest, twelve exceptional young women are chosen to partake in three enigmatic challenges: the Ride, the Raid, and the Royale. The victor earns a coveted spot within the Remington circle, a privilege that unlocks endless opportunities.
However, as Adina steps into the world of the Finish, she senses something unsettling about the Remingtons and her fellow competitors. It quickly dawns on her that the prize of the competition comes with an unimaginable price—the stakes are not merely success or failure but life itself.
With the odds perennially against her, Adina realizes that surviving this ruthless game might require rewriting the rules. Her fight is not just for success; it's a battle for survival- packed with social drama, too- challenging the very foundations of the elite world she's entangled in.
Their Vicious Games was an intense read; it had some tough themes and profanity but other than that, it was engaging reading about Adina slowly discovering that the competition she’s in is essentially domineered by the impossibly wealthy Remingtons; no investigations into the deaths of past competitors or anything because of the influence the Remingtons hold. There was an underlying ‘love triangle’ but it wasn’t too stifling- between the main character, one of the Remington sons who’s too charming for it to be true, and the other Remington son who’s the eldest and also the ‘disappointment’ and alcoholic of the family- who turns out to be the one Adina can trust more. Although she’s estranged from the both of them in an ‘epic showdown’ at the end between a few of the competitors- including the main character- and the Remington family.