Book Review: Wicked Games by Sean Olin

Wicked Games
Author: Sean Olin
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary | Thriller | Horror
Released: June 10th 2014
Review Source: Katherine Tegen Books
 

Tainted love. Sexy secrets. A chilling revenge plot. It's all here in Wicked Games by Sean Olin, the first in a psychologically charged, suspenseful series set in a picturesque coastal Florida town called Dream Point, where dangerous mind games are played with abandon.

Lilah has spent the last four years by her boyfriend Carter's side, and everyone thinks their relationship is rock solid. But behind closed doors, things are beginning to crumble. Just as Lilah's intensifying mood swings are making Carter think about distancing himself from her, another girl enters the picture. Jules is beautiful, funny, smart, and artistic. Carter can't help but fall under her spell. But one stolen night of passion has consequences they could never imagine.

Fans of books packed with drama and doomed romance, like The Lying Game and Perfect Chemistry, will immediately be hooked by Wicked Games.

Wicked Games has all you need to know in the title. The characters in this story are pretty evil and wicked. To be completely honest this book turned into something dark and unfortunate pretty fast and I was not practically a fan of it. 

Wicked Games is about a couple Lilah and Carter who have been going strong for four years now, but until one night everything changes, and changes for the worst. So when we get a tiny glimpse into the beginning of their relationship you think everything is going to be fine and dandy and happy. Then we get to the first chapter, a few years later, it turns out Lilah is definitely unstable, but in complete love with Carter. And then Carter is tired of having to deal with all of Lilah’s problems, insecurities, and downright craziness. Lilah goes crazy at the party that she and Carter are at after she got completely drunk and tried to walk on the roof and after she leaves everything changes for Carter. Carter meets Jules, a girl who he never noticed was completely beautiful, and a theater girl. Once the night continues Carter and Jules end up sleeping with each other and so begins the rest of the intense events that ensue in this novel. 

For me Wicked Games played on the bipolar manic side and cheating too much that it made me uncomfortable. I’m not a fan of reading about unfaithful characters, let alone listen to the cheater try and rationalize why he did it and why he can’t stop being with the significant other. Even for the girl who was the other woman I couldn’t feel any compassion towards her until close to the end of the book. The couple were going out their entire high school career, everyone knew they were together, they were the “it couple”. So when Jules came into the picture I couldn’t feel bad for how things were playing out for her, until we got closer to the end. Though this story may not have been for me the writing was easy to follow and I read through it pretty quickly. So if you’re a fan of the movie 'Swimfan', this book is definitely right up your alley.