Reviewed by Lauren G on Jan 13, 2021
Tagged:
Fiction
Teens
THE INHERITANCE GAMES by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is a YA novel about Avery Gambs, a teenage girl who isn’t having it easy. She lives in her car, her big sister, Libby, lives with her abusive boyfriend, her best friend moved, she doesn’t have much money, her mother passed away, and her father isn't in her life. However, everything changes when billionaire Tobias Hawthorne dies and leaves Avery his entire fortune. This catches Avery by surprise because she has no idea why -- or even who Tobias Hawthorne is. In order to receive the inheritance, she must move into the Hawthorne house, where there are riddles, codes, puzzles, secret passageways, and the Hawthorne family.
Overall, I enjoyed THE INHERITANCE GAMES as it was a fun read. It’s comped as Knives Out and ONE OF US IS LYING, which is why I picked it up because I liked them both. I like figuring out a mystery and being surprised when I find out what happened. I know this novel is the first book in a series, but there was still information missing that it seemed we should have found out. It felt like in the second half of the book, a lot of information was crammed. I will be reading the sequel since we are left with an interesting cliffhanger and Avery is a very likeable and relatable character. A lot of the characters, like the Hawthorne grandsons, felt 2-dimensional to me. How come the security guard felt more important than Libby at times? I wish I liked this more than I did, but there were just some flaws in the storytelling and issues with the structure of this book that made me to feel the way I did. If it sounds exciting to you, go ahead and read it as I do recommend it for teens 14+ if you like puzzles, mysteries, and “whodunit” stories.
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