I’ll be honest, when I first saw the title of this book I thought it was going to be a remake of The Hunger Games but with money. I thought the characters were going to compete to for someone’s inheritance or something similar. However, The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes surprised me.
This is a story full of puzzles, mystery, and intrigue. The family drama combined with secrets and riddles made for an exciting read, I can understand why this book got so much popularity on TikTok in the past couple of years.
To be honest, I wouldn’t have been mad if it was a remake of The Hunger Games. I’m not sure why, but the summer normally puts me in a dystopian mood. The heat makes me ready to fight tyrannical governments I guess.
Although The Inheritance Games was not that, I still really enjoyed it. There was no overpowering government, but this thrilling book still made for a great summer read that hooked me from the first page.
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The Inheritance Games Book Review
Title: The Inheritance Games
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Genre: Young Adult Mystery
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publish Date: September 1, 2020
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Rating: 4/5 Stars
The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is about Avery Grambs, who is just trying to keep her head down so she can get through high school and leave her town to start a new life. However, one day she is pulled into the principal’s office to discover that she has been included in a will for a man she has never heard of let alone met, Tobias Hawthorne.
In a matter of days, she finds herself as the owner of a massive mansion and a lot of money. However, Avery still doesn’t know why she was chosen and neither does the Hawthorne family. In order to find out, she must work through seemingly endless puzzles and riddles alongside the Hawthrone sons to fully understand why she was put in this situation.
I’m not going to lie, I love the rags-to-riches trope. Probably because I would love it if something like this could happen to me. Can someone show up in my life and give me endless amounts of money so I can spend my days doing my fun crafts and reading my silly books?
Not only did I love the tropes used in the story, but I also loved the mystery behind this newfound wealth. The main character, Avery is thrown into a world completely different from her own, a world full of wealth and drama. And she has no idea why or how she got there.
Once there, she works with the Hawthorne sons to decode the hidden meanings that Tobias left behind in hopes of finding these answers. Within letters and hidden under floorboards, Avery works to figure out why she was given so much money.
The mystery aspect of the story is what made this book so enjoyable. I couldn’t put this book down until I found the answers to all of the questions the author presented. I enjoyed following the characters as they discovered different clues and messages. It was like I was taken along with them, it immersed me into the story.
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good whodunit story. If you are the type of person who loves watching murder mysteries and continually guessing who you think is the murderer, this is the story for you! Just without the murder. It is a fun and engaging story, perfect for escaping the world for a couple of hours.
The one thing I didn’t completely enjoy about The Inheritance Games was the characterization. I had a hard time telling all of the Hawthorne brothers apart. There were three brothers, and I couldn’t tell you the differences between any of them. Honestly, there might be even more brothers, I just don’t remember.
I also felt like Avery as a character was a little flat. Characterization is so important to me when reading a book, I want to feel like the characters could jump right out of the page and talk to me. I didn’t get that from this story, and it pulled me straight out of the excitement of the plot.
Another issue I had with this book is that the stakes were a little too low. Walking into this book, I saw people describe it as high stakes, with danger and mystery around every corner. Unfortunately, I didn’t get that. Although I enjoyed reading about the riddles and clues, I never felt my blood pressure rise or my hair stand on end. It felt a little flat.
Because of both the lack of characterization and the low stakes, I pushed my rating down to 4 stars rather than 5. It wasn’t a perfect book, but it wasn’t bad! Definitely, a story I would recommend to someone looking for some mystery and escapism.
I am also looking forward to reading the other two books in the series. The first book leaves readers on a little bit of a cliffhanger, I can’t wait to see where this story and these characters go from here.
TLDR: 5 Reasons to Read The Inheritance Games
- Full of mystery, puzzles, riddles, and more!
- A unique whodunit storyline unlike other YA books on the market right now.
- Includes the rags-to-riches trope.
- There was a splash of romance.
- There are two more books full of the same fun intrigue!
I am currently on a 10-week waiting list for the sequel at my library, I feel like time is moving at a snail’s pace! I am afraid I’m going to forget everything about the story once I finally read the sequel. My memory is the size of a peanut when it comes to books, what can I say.