The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Avery Grambs has had a tough go at it since her mother passed away. Since that time, she has been living with her half-sister, working as much as she can and just trying to make it through high school.
She has plans for her future, but at this rate, she’s going to need to qualify for every scholarship she can in order to be able to attend college.
Making matters worse is the fact that her sister, Libby, as sweet as she is, has terrible taste in men. When her on-again-off-again boyfriend comes around, Avery goes as far as sleeping in her car to avoid him.
On a day that Avery is just about at the end of her rope, she receives an unbelievable invitation.
She is asked to attend the reading of the last will and testament of one, Tobias Hawthorne, an eccentric billionaire.
Without explanation, the recently deceased elder Hawthorne, decided to leave almost his entire fortune to Avery. The only catch is, she needs to move into the extravagant Hawthorne House for a full year.
Sure, that sounds easy enough, but also residing in the manse are the family members Tobias basically disinherited. As you can imagine, they’re not happy.
His four grandsons and their mother are understandably puzzled by the whole turn of events. Is Avery possibly a con-woman of some sort, come to steal their vast fortune?
Particularly intriguing to Avery, who is positive she’s not a con-woman and entirely innocent of conspiring in this strange twist of fate, are Grayson and Jameson Hawthorne.
Two handsome brothers, the closest to her age, keep her fairly well occupied during her time in Hawthorne House. There’s riddles, puzzles and games of all sorts as they try to get to the bottom of the mystery behind the infamous will.
I had a lot of fun with this story. It completely sucked me in. It was easy to sympathize with Avery and root for her once she started living at Hawthorne House.
The puzzles and riddles were super engaging. I loved that aspect; trying to figure it all out along with the characters. I also enjoyed the hint of danger threaded throughout. Who was angry enough to try to take Avery out?
Inheritance stories are always fun for me; it’s just a trope I tend to really enjoy. Family drama and secrets, backstabbing, plotting, revenge, confessions; it’s a good time. What else can I say?
If you are looking for a fun and fast-paced YA-Mystery, with twist and turns galore, as well as intriguing and suspicious characters, you should definitely give this one a shot!
I am really looking forward to continuing on with this trilogy. Oh, the places it could go!