Book Review | The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

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About the Book

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• YA Mystery
• Publication Date : September 1, 2020
• Print Length : 322 pages
• Publisher : Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Avery Grambs has a plan for a better future: survive high school, win a scholarship, and get out. But her fortunes change in an instant when billionaire Tobias Hawthorne dies and leaves Avery virtually his entire fortune. The catch? Avery has no idea why — or even who Tobias Hawthorne is.

To receive her inheritance, Avery must move into sprawling, secret passage-filled Hawthorne House, where every room bears the old man’s touch — and his love of puzzles, riddles, and codes. Unfortunately for Avery, Hawthorne House is also occupied by the family that Tobias Hawthorne just dispossessed. This includes the four Hawthorne grandsons: dangerous, magnetic, brilliant boys who grew up with every expectation that one day, they would inherit billions. Heir apparent Grayson Hawthorne is convinced that Avery must be a conwoman, and he’s determined to take her down. His brother, Jameson, views her as their grandfather’s last hurrah: a twisted riddle, a puzzle to be solved. Caught in a world of wealth and privilege, with danger around every turn, Avery will have to play the game herself just to survive.

When a dream Avery didn’t even dare to dream comes true, she finds herself with more money than she could ever spend in one lifetime. Still, the big mystery of why Tobias Hawthorne made her his sole heir and left his daughters and grandsons only a small fortune needs to be solved.

What I Loved

This book’s pace is so quick, with short chapters and plenty of suspense to keep the pages turning quickly. The story is full of secrets and puzzles that are interwoven into the fabric of the central mystery. They provide intricate layers of deceit and danger that left me breathless as I read.

Avery’s character is very mature despite her young years, as are the other teens in the story. If their ages had not been mentioned, I would have thought they were young adults rather than teenagers. Noted in the course of the tale, Avery does not spend a dime of her inheritance other than to provide a homeless man, with whom she plays chess in the park, enough to get him off the streets and give him food and medical care. The reader does not know the exact details of what the lawyer does to aid Harry, but the intent was to provide the basics if he would accept the help. She has lived a hard-knock life due to things outside of her control, and as a result, has grown beyond her years. She is uncannily smart and is the perfect person to help the Hawthorne boys solve their grandfather’s puzzles and riddles.

I love the setting. The setting is an unusually sizeable palatial mansion in Texas’s heart with secret passages, underground tunnels, and many other little hidden nooks and crannies. It is the perfect place for people who love to create and solve puzzles to live and fun. The characters found all the hidden pieces of the puzzle of Tobias’ messages toward, hopefully, figuring out why he left everything to a teenager he doesn’t even know. Or does he?

What I Wish

I wish that there would be a book about Tobias. He seems like he would be such an interesting character. I would love to know his story when he was alive.

To Read or Not to Read

If you love fun and suspenseful mysteries, The Inheritance Games is not to be missed.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.