Book Review
Title: The Inheritance Games (The Inheritance Games Book 1) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Genre: Young Adult, Mystery
Rating: 4.25 Stars
I didn’t really know anything about The Inheritance Games before getting into other than it follows a girl who receives a mysterious inheritance and in order to claim it she has to win games of some sort against the family but I was intrigued by the premise. We are introduced to Avery Grambs who is just trying to make her own way in life after the death of her mother, and she is currently living with her half-sister, Libby but sleeps in the car when her on again, off again boyfriend, Drake is there. One day at school she is pulled aside and learns that she has been named in the will of Tobias Hawthorne even though she has absolutely no idea who the man is and is flown first class to Texas for the will reading. When Avery and Libby arrive at Hawthorne House, they meet the four grandsons of Tobias; Grayson, the heir apparent, Jameson, a current drunk grieving for his grandfather, Nash, who seems happy to have nothing to do with his family and Alexander aka Xander, the eldest and most likeable of the Hawthorne family. Avery also meets their mother, Skye who also seems to be quite nice but this might change given that they soon learn that Tobias has left almost everything to Avery and not his family.
When this is announced the dynamic changes instantly most notably in Skye and Grayson. The will also has a few rules, now that Avery owns Hawthorne House she can kick anyone out that is currently living there and they can’t remove her or attempt to take her inheritance without sacrificing their own. This instantly makes Avery a target for backstabbing because the will also says she has to stay at Hawthorne House for a year in order to get her inheritance which means surviving the Hawthorne family for that time. However, Jameson and Nash seem to be on Avery’s side if there are sides, Nash because he doesn’t have an interest in the money at all and Jameson because he believes Avery is a puzzle to be solved. When he gives her the test of the keys that their grandfather put them through she solves it faster than any of them did proving Avery has a mind for puzzles. Jameson explains that all through their childhood Tobias gave them games and riddles to be solved and Avery is just another one as no one knows why Tobias picked her. Even the letters he left for the grandsons and Avery don’t shed any light on the situation as Avery’s just reads I’m sorry and Jameson’s warns him that money is power and power corrupts which could be the reason he chose Avery, to avoid giving the money to selfish individuals who would only further themselves and become more corrupted as time passed but both are under the impression there is more to this than what is one the surface and the secrets are somewhere in the maze that is Hawthorne House.
We are now a quarter of the way through the novel and it’s turning out to be a quick and easy read but I can’t wait to see how the mystery element plays into this story. After starting at her new school, Avery very quickly learns about someone called Emily who died after spending a lot of time at Hawthorne House and this is another mystery stacked on top of the one Avery is currently trying to solve. She and Jameson seem to be working together in this despite Grayson’s numerous warnings to stay away from his brother and to be honest I really don’t like Grayson right now he comes across as spoiled and entitled in ways the other brothers don’t. However, whenever Avery mentions Emily the brothers react strongly and she can see that she mattered greatly to both Grayson and Jameson and there might have even been a love triangle or unrequited love between the boys and Emily. Avery has also discovered that Toby, the eldest of Tobias’ children died twenty years ago in a fire although his body was never formally recovered so some family members hold out hope that he is alive somewhere rather than dead. Tobias also changed his name around this time and disinherited his daughters and that remains the same until he changed the will to include Avery. A DNA test has proven that Avery isn’t a Hawthorne so she can be an illegitimate child or grandchild of Tobias but I have a feeling that Toby and Emily might be partly behind the reason Tobias chose Avery to inherit his wealth rather than his own blood family or it could be as simple as a random act of kindness which Tobias does seem capable of. But then again the letter apologizing to Avery seems significant meaning that Tobias felt so badly about something that he wrote Avery into his will leaving her everything and also had to apologize for it.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, Avery has been finding out more about Emily especially after learning that her sister Rebecca attends the same school but seems extremely withdrawn. She also learns that Jameson and Grayson are very different, Jameson seems to be using her in order to feel something and more forward from the death of his grandfather, whereas Grayson genuinely kept his distance at first but after having background checks done he realises he might have misjudged Avery as she hasn’t used any of their money to make purchases for herself. Avery as expresses and interest in running the Hawthorne Foundation and it is Grayson that is going to be instructing her and we learn that their minds work in similar ways which is distracting for Avery especially as she finds them all attractive. They have also been finding and solving the clues left by Tobias and the most recent one relates to the boys middle names which are also locations on the Hawthorne Estate and they are most likely going to find more clues in these locations. However, this is overshadowed when Libby’s abusive boyfriend Drake turns up in Texas despite the restraining orders they have against him. In order to protect her sister, Avery tells the press that she knows the reason why Tobias Hawthorne left everything to her and if they associate with or print anything from Drake then she will never tell them which was a strong move considering she has no idea why Tobias left everything to her but I’ve got a bad feeling that Libby might be the one to stab Avery in the back when she least expects it.
It seems so far that the only brothers playing the game Tobias left for the are Jameson and Grayson but they aren’t working together, in fact, they are in competition with each other but things are beginning to take darker turns. Zara has Thea temporarily move into Hawthorne House most likely as a spy as she has been trying to get closer to Avery at school as well. During the dinner, Thea deliberately mentions Emily which sets off both Jameson and Grayson. James earlier claimed that he saw Emily did and that Grayson is to blame for it although he doesn’t go into details as they were focusing on finding the next clue. Avery chases after Jameson when he flees the table knowing he is going to search the black wood next as they found the clue at west brook. The begin the massive task of inspecting all the trees and marking the ones they have already done when Avery spots Tobias Hawthorne the Second aka Toby carved into one of the trees. Before they can even process this someone begins shooting at them leaving Avery with pieces of bark embedded in her face that needs stitches. A few inches to the right and Avery could have been killed and she knows that the person wasn’t targeting Jameson but her. She can also tell from Oren’s behaviour that he believes they are dealing with an internal threat meaning someone within Hawthorne House might be trying to kill Avery. However, she does have to take into account that Rebecca was visiting her grandparents and might hold a grudge against both Jameson and Grayson for the death of his sister but I am really excited to see where things go from here.
After the attack Avery does end up kissing Jameson but he isn’t thinking of her for a second but the question of the shooter’s identity remains a mystery for now but Avery does figure out what the other clues are. Each clue she finds is linked to one of the Hawthorne siblings but each answer is a number almost like it is a combination for something. Avery currently has three numbers, 1, 1 and 8 and I believe the last number is 2 as they saw Tobias Hawthorne II craved into a tree before they were shot at. Things are only getting more difficult as Oren is watching Avery 24/7 and she is having to deal with press fall out from her earlier statement. However, when they go dress shopping for the gala Avery is actually being used as bait as someone tries to run them off the road and it turns out to be Drake. Avery is torn as she knows Libby would never hurt her but she has always been weak where Drake is concerned and she didn’t block his number, plus there have been several nights were she has gone to Libby’s room but she isn’t there and someone had to have let Drake into the estate for him to shoot at Avery and Jameson in the Black Wood. There seems to be a lot of things up in the air right now but I am not hoping for a clear ending as the sequel The Hawthorne Legacy has just been released so I am expecting the book to end on a cliff-hanger but I can’t wait to see how the mystery unravels and what this code is for. There is still a massive mystery over what happened to Emily as Grayson seems to be at the centre of her death but no one has come out and said that Grayson killed her as he claimed it was her heart.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, I really wanted to find out what the numbers are for, they seem like a code or combination that needs to be entered into something but I have no idea what yet. When everything comes together in the final part we realise two main things, what Avery’s role in this entire thing was and who Tobias Hawthorne the Second really is. Avery is the linchpin for everything but I have a feeling there might be more to the mystery especially in The Hawthorne Legacy. I also really enjoyed that apart from one kiss there wasn’t really much in the romance department although there is a love triangle between Grayson, Avery and Jameson brewing but as the situation with Emily, Grayson won’t even look at Avery because of the kiss she and Jameson shared so I do want to see where that goes and the secret Avery’s mother took to her grave about the day of her birth is something I also want to go into more depth on so you can guarantee I will be picking the sequel as soon as I can. Overall, The Inheritance Games was a quick and intriguing read that I devoured in less than 4 hours and it was highly entertaining and action packed. Highly recommended!
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kommentare