Review of 'The Inheritance Games' by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Premise:
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 conwoman, 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:
Everything’s a game, Avery Grambs. The only thing we get to decide in this life is if we play to win.
The Inheritance Games has become pretty well-known over the last couple years so I’ve been meaning to read it for a while, although I was a bit skeptical due to its overwhelming popularity. Sadly, I was somewhat disappointed because it didn’t really live up to the hype, in my opinion.
Writing Quality/Style: The writing style was pretty juvenile. Although this book was marketed as a YA novel, it felt like it was targeted more towards middle schoolers. The writing was straightforward, but there wasn’t much depth to it. The main characters are around the age of 19 but, of course, talk like they’re a lot younger. On the other (extreme) end, there’s a character who’s around 25, but talks like he’s middle-aged. In general, the way the characters speak was a little silly. Aside from the way the characters spoke, if the writing style was more complex and had more depth to it, the quality of the book itself would have been better too.
Worldbuilding: The majority of this book takes place in Texas, which seemed really random, especially imagining the whole cast of characters talking with a strong southern accent, although that might just be because I’m used to reading fantasy. But still, the Texan aspect was a bit off-putting. There wasn’t much worldbuilding, to be honest. Most of the descriptions were about the mansion the main character moved into, which was understandable since she wasn’t able to leave the house, but even those descriptions weren’t very well done. On the positive side, the house’s many corridors and secret passageways made it feel, in a way, like another character altogether which was interesting. Also, the luxury of the upper class was portrayed as unreal but believable, which seemed on point since it was through the eyes of the main character, who had been struggling to make ends meet at the beginning of the novel. Something the novel could have done was portray the world of the upper-class as more complex and went more in depth into the intricacies of politics, but that unfortunately didn’t happen.
Plot: Avery Grambs, a gifted child living with her half-sister, plans to work hard, gain a scholarship, and work hard for a better future. However, a billionaire leaves his entire fortune to her instead of his four grandchildren after passing away, and no one knows why. She has to go through a series of puzzles and riddles to keep her fortune, and even stay alive. It’s a rags-to-riches story, reminding me of Cinderella. The concept of the novel was really good and it could have been one of my favorites if it were executed well. Unfortunately, it was executed poorly which is a waste of the intriguing premise.
Character Development/Complexity: The main character felt pretty annoying to me and her relationships with all the other characters around her felt pretty surface level. She didn’t seem to care or think too deeply about anyone else or about her own future. In general, her interactions with the other characters were quite shallow. I didn’t feel any attachment to any of the characters either, so I wouldn’t say they were well-written.
Plot Twists: For a book that was marketed as a fast-paced thriller/mystery, the plot twists weren’t shocking. That’s not to say that everything was predictable, but the plot twists weren’t anything that really surprised me and the whole book was pretty underwhelming. Perhaps it was due to the writing style, but this book falls short compared to a lot of others in the mystery genre.
Intrigue: The novel was fast-paced in the second half but the first half was pretty slow-paced. The chapters were pretty short, though, so it’s not too bad. After the pacing picked up, it held my interest a lot better, but I wasn’t really invested in the story that much.
Overall, this was an okay book. I also read the second book and felt the same way, so I won’t be continuing with the series. In the second-half of this book, it became a quicker read. I would only recommend this plot-driven book for younger ages (12+ maybe?) who are interested in puzzles or mysteries. I would rate this book a 3 out of 5 stars.
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