The Inheritance Games – Jennifer Lynn Barnes – The Inheritance Games #1 – Little, Brown Books, – Published 1 September 2020

 

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Synopsis

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 con-woman, 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.

My thoughts

And once again Jennifer Lynn Barnes proves why she is one of my top favourite authors. The Inheritance Games just grabbed me right from the first page and didn’t let go until, before I knew it, the book was over, my mind was blown and I wanted to start all over again.

Mystery, secrets, hidden passage ways, billions and billions of dollars, murder, revenge, cute boys (who are, thankfully, not Avery’s half-brothers) and a treasure hunt that promises answers…maybe.

Avery Grambs knows how to stay invisible. Do well in school but not so well that people notice her or notice that she is currently sleeping in her car to stay away from her sister’s boyfriend. She has a plan for college and a secure job for the future. Then a mysterious boy appears and demands her presence at a will reading. She has been left an inheritance by one of the richest men in America. He has left his billions of dollars to her and not his two daughters or four grandsons. To claim her inheritance, Avery must live for a year in his massive mansion, complete with more secret tunnels, passageways and compartments than a girl knows what to do with, and a family who would rather see her dead than living in the house they thought was theirs.

Clues, puzzles, riddles, secret codes. Avery’s benefactor loved puzzle and challenges and he leaves one final game for Avery and his four grandsons to play. Avery wants to know why she has been left the money, the boys want to know who she is and why they were disinherited. But everyone is keeping secrets.

Avery is thrust into a world that is glittery and deadly. Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ writing sparkles as Avery starts to navigate the new world she finds herself in. Who can she trust? The youngest Hawthorne grandson likes to invent, create and blow things up. He decides he is working alone. The second youngest boy – Avery’s age – is damaged and seems a little wild. But he promises to work with Avery if they can solve the clues. Grayson is the buttoned-up second eldest. The heir apparent. Avery isn’t sure if he is there to help or hinder her (or maybe kill her?). And the eldest decides he won’t take part, seeming more interested in Avery’s older sister than finding answers to his grandfather’s decision.

Just like all of Barnes’ heroines, Avery is strong, smart and fierce. She can more than hold her own with the four boys, and while she is a little overwhelmed by her new circumstances, she doesn’t let that stop her from doing all she can to find answers.

What follows is the most ultimate puzzle hunt, no expenses spared (literally). We readers are also treated to some intense chemistry between Avery and TWO of the grandsons. I’m not sure which one I want her to pick yet!!! And the ending of the book with an epic twist promises a sequel, so we have lots more to look forward to.

I honestly can’t wait to get this into the hands of my readers. I know they will love it.

The publishers provided an advanced readers copy of this book for reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own.

More information

Category: Young adult fiction

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Themes: Inheritances, puzzles, clues, secrets, death, murder, sisters, money.

Reading age guide: Ages 12 and up.

Advisory: Vague sexual references. References to death and murder.

Representation: White main character. White side characters. “Half black” main character. Heterosexual and homosexual relationships.

Published: 1 September 2020 by Little Brown Books

Format: Hardcover, paperback ebook. 384 pages.

ISBN: 9781368052405

Find it on Goodreads