Recent Reads: The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Inheritance Games #1 by Jennifer Lynn Barnes 
Series: The Inheritance Games #1
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date:  September 1, 2020

 

Format: Audiobook
Source: Bought with Audible subscription credits.

Rating:


Goodreads Synopsis: 

A Cinderella story with deadly stakes and thrilling twists.

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.

Review: 

Trigger warning: This book contains domestic abuse, violence, guns and blood. 

I picked up this audiobook on a whim because I was feeling a bit burnt out and needed an audiobook for chores and I am SO glad that I finally did. I fell for this book hard. 

Avery is surviving, she is on the poorer side of life living with her sister after her mother passes. She is making the best of a bad situation with odd jobs, some gambling and bets, and a bit of luck and somehow she hits a lot of luck - an inheritance like no other. She is whisked away to the reading of a will for a billionarie that she has never met, to learn that she is inheriting it all with only a few stipulations. Sadly, his living family are pissed about the situation. 

She is sucked into a new world with people she has never met and way too much money to know what to do with. Avery is such an interesting lead character, she is more determined to figure out the why then she is to really think about the money. The other characters were interesting too, however the Hawthorne boys were hard to tell apart. While slightly different, they all seemed a bit one-note. I wanted more desciption of them, of Avery, and of the whole cast. I also wanted more backgrounds and details there. I am hoping to gain more in the next book in the series. 

What I liked was all the mystery, scavenger hunts, clues, and trying to guess and play along. As with the characters I wanted more description of the mansion too. The plot does a great job leading the reader through the story, there is enough action and finding out information to keep me fully invested but I expect a lot more from the rest of the series and really hope it lives up to that expectation.

As a comparison, this book was Knives Out mixed with Escape from Lemoncello's Library, and sometimes weird like clues in The Da Vinci Code. It came together in a really fun way though.  The plot overall was centered on the mystery and game, it answered some questions, but I came away with so many more. Excited to keep reading / listening to the series.