The Inheritance Games | Book Review

My Rating: 5/5 Stars

Title: The Inheritance Games

Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Format: Hardcover (own)

Pages: 376

Categories: Mystery, Young Adult, Suspense, Contemporary

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.

• Aesthetics ~ that cover is so awesome in all it’s greenery! Confession – it’s the main reason I bought the book.
• World Building ~ a mansion or compound more like in Texas. A billionaire who is fond of puzzles and games dies, leaving his fortune to a stranger. But why did he leave it to Avery and not to his four grandsons? This book is FUN. I loved the puzzles, the secrets, the tragic love triangle, the mystery of the Hawthornes. It did not disappoint.
• Characters ~ Avery is a girl trying to survive after her mother’s death. She’s trying to find a way out when she comes into a mysterious inheritance with lots of strings attached. She is smart, has such a brain on her for statistics, I love it. Then there are the Hawthornes: Nash, Grayson, Jameson and Xander. All different, with their own motivations. My favorite? It’s a toss between Grayson and Xander haha.
• Romance ~ there is a tragic romance history…is it about to repeat itself? We don’t know yet, it almost did but it stopped short of it.
• Writing ~ fast paced, which I love because slow mysteries bore me but I read this in four hours. I could not put it down and I want book two NOW.

• The ending is a cliffhanger but I love that this game isn’t over even though we thought it was!

I picked this up because of the cover and it didn’t disappoint at all. It was exactly what I was needing to read right now and I look forward to reading the next book in the series! If you like mystery, puzzles, riddles and handsome brothers, the you will like this one.

💚 ~ Yolanda