Book Review: The Inheritance Games By Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Do you like puzzles? Twisty turny plots that feature teenagers? The Inheritance Games is the first book in a 3-book series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. It is full of twists and turns as it follows Avery Grambs in her rags to riches story. Avery is a normal kid, or at 
least as normal kid who is being raised by her 20-something older half-sister can be. She has her life planned out: she will finish high school, go to college with a scholarship, and obtain a marketable degree that will allow her to attain her ultimate life goal of travel. Her life plan is derailed when she inherits eccentric billionaire Tobias Hawthorne’s fortune and is required to live in his family estate for one year to inherit. She cohabitates the mansion with his four grandsons and two daughters. Hawthorne had a penchant for puzzles and riddles and Avery finds herself a player in the last one he left before he died. Avery and the grandsons work to unravel the mystery to uncover the truth of why Tobias Hawthorne disinherited his entire family in favor of a seventeen-year-old girl whom he had never met.
I really enjoyed The Inheritance Games, I’m halfway through the 2nd installment of the series The Hawthorne Legacy, and the second book is keeping me guessing as well as the first. There are a few cringy moments in the book. I don’t love the love triangle element that is in the book between Avery, Jameson Hawthorne, and Greyson Hawthorne, but it’s a minor element of the story so it’s easy to get past. Many reviews that I read, compared the book to the movie Knives Out. The storylines are somewhat similar and if you enjoyed Knives Out, I’m sure you will enjoy The Inheritance Games. The 3rd installment of the series The Final Gambit is released this week. The series is available through BRIDGES and at Charles City Public Library.