The Inheritance Games
Ratings567
Average rating3.9
my new favorite book! if I could, i'd give it 6 stars. love the story and all the plot twists, from the minor ones to the most important ones.
Great book! However,didn't like the fact that there were over 90 chapters! They are working on a TV Miniseries! David N.
3.25
This book was alright. Easy and fun to read.
A lot of things happen that feel unnecessary and don't quite fit in the overall story... So instead of it moving the story forward or making it more interesting, it slowed it down and made it a bit dull and boring, I feel like. Some things in this book make me furious too, but that is because I am not the target audience (YA is not something I really enjoy anymore).
this book had potential, until it didn't. i genuinely don't know what to think of it or if i want to read the rest of the series
Maybe I'll give it a try again but it just read very juvenile, the characters felt one-dimensional, and the “game” aspect was thrown out for a boring romance.
Amazing, amazing and amazing.
This book just pulls you in. The writing is so smooth and easygoing as the drama of the story unfolds. Just as a twist and clue come up the intensity just forces you to stay reading for another page. I felt hungry just to solve the mystery and story, the words were addicting. Wonderful chill easy to read book!
So, I just finished The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, and I have some mixed feelings about it. It’s definitely a fast-paced book, super easy to read, and one of those stories where you can breeze through without much effort. But while it started off okay, it didn’t quite live up to the hype for me.
Let’s start with the positives: the book is quick, and the short chapters make it easy to keep going. It doesn’t feel overwhelming, and if you’re looking for something light, this definitely works. But here’s where things went downhill for me.
First, the characters. I just couldn’t connect with them. They felt generic—like they were there to fill a role in the story rather than being real, interesting people. I kept waiting for them to show some personality or depth, but it never really happened. And because of that, I wasn’t invested in what was happening to them.
Then there’s the mystery. This is a book that’s all about puzzles and secrets, right? And I was expecting this mind-blowing twist or revelation at the end. But honestly, the big reveal just felt… flat. It was predictable, and while the last few chapters were engaging and did manage to hook me, the payoff wasn’t worth the buildup.
Oh, and the romance? Yeah, it’s there, but barely. It felt undercooked, like the author just threw it in because it’s expected, not because it actually added anything to the story.
Another thing that bugged me was all the unnecessary details. It felt like the author was trying to make the book longer just for the sake of it. Some parts felt like filler and didn’t add anything to the plot or characters.
To be honest, I feel like this book was written with a movie or TV adaptation in mind. It’s got that vibe, like it’s more about the visuals and the drama than creating a really engaging story on paper.
All that said, it’s not the worst book I’ve read. It’s fast-paced, and the last chunk of the book did get my attention for a bit. If you go into it with low expectations and just want something light, it might work for you. But for me, it didn’t hit the mark.
I’d give it 2.5 out of 5 stars. I’ll still read the next book in the series to see where it goes, but I’m not in any rush to pick it up.
This book and I had such a rocky relationship. Let me be clear, I don't really a lot of young adult books anymore. Mainly because it feels like a lot of the characters are rather flat lately, and I am not a big fan of love triangles. Yes, we all know that YA books adore a love triangle. I was willing to give this a shot though because I love the premise. A young girl thrown straight into a world of wealth and intrigue? A puzzle she must solve while staying alive long enough to get that money. Yes, please.
On the surface, The Inheritance Games is exactly what I expected it to be. If you're a fan of The Westing Game, or movies like Clue, that's pretty much what you'll get here. We meet Avery as she's attempting to keep everything in her life on track. Juggling school work, trying to stay under the radar socially, and doing her best to navigate a family life that isn't exactly solid. I admit, I liked Avery! Her intelligence, her sharp wit, and the fact that she didn't let people push her around made me smile. I was hooked.
Then the big twist happens, and suddenly Avery is navigating an even more difficult world. If she thought that money would solve all her problems, I don't think she was under that same misconception once the Hawthorne family came into play. I appreciated that Barnes didn't allow Avery to slip too far into the new life she was handed. Avery stayed the same smart and sassy protagonist I had fallen in love with, at least for the most part.
See, the Hawthorne boys came into play and we all know that no YA female protagonist can resist a hot, broody teen boy for long. If I'm being honest, I didn't like either of her potential love interests. Grayson's personality irked me to no end, and Jameson felt like a cardboard cutout of a rich kid. If you want to know, I'm team Xander. Although the book doesn't really mention how old any of these kids are so possibly he was too young for her anyway? I don't know. At least he had an actual personality, and was kind. The person that Avery was around these guys drove me absolutely insane.
As for the mystery portion of this book, it started out fairly solid. I loved the idea of an eccentric rich man carefully laying out clues for his grandsons to follow. The way that Barnes lays out the vastness and the beauty of the Hawthorne home makes it a veritable playground for this mystery. I just wanted to watch them ramble around, discover more and more rooms, and if I'm being honest (I'm a bookworm after all) I really wanted more library descriptions. A house with multiple libraries? Count me in!
The problem is that the love triangle really takes over after a bit, and the mystery that the group is trying to solve falls further and further into the background. It felt like the clues that Avery found were less exciting every time, and more of just a necessary item to keep the story going. The house that I was once excited to get lost in now felt like a cavernous space where a Hawthorne boy could be lurking at any moment, trying to win Avery over. It was... odd. I'm not even sure how else to explain it. If I were her friend I would have told her to run for the hills.
By the time I reached the end, I was pretty underwhelmed by it all. So, 3 stars. Solid writing, okay characters, but the ending was so lackluster. I don't think I'll carry on with this series.
Wow, that was pretty awesome.
I'm really looking forward to continuing this series.
“Everything is a game, Avery Grambs.” rating-4/5
I read this at 3 am and absolutely flew through it. Super fast-paced, super fun. Felt like a mix between a heist and a thriller. A little bit predictable since it's YA.
(I'm just hoping that the love triangle they're setting up, doesn't get annoying. We're seriously praying, trust me.)
But otherwise, I loved it. It did help that I was in the mood for the genre, but Jennifer Lynn Barnes' writing always works really well for me. I absolutely loved The Naturals and I'm really excited to see where the author takes THIS story.
Wow. That's about all I can say. It's been a while since I've read a book that I couldn't put down. And when I had put it down I was only thinking about the next time I would pick it back up. Cannot wait to start book 2.
Okay umm, WOW. I loved this book. From the moment I picked it up I was hooked and I found it concerning how hard it was to put down. The protagonist is smart, but not to the point where she makes it her primary character trait, which is usually quite hard to find in most YA novels. I loved the plot and gobbled up every riddle, trick and puzzle. Although I must say I'm not a very big puzzle-solver myself, it was thrilling to watch Avery and the Hawthorne Brothers find their way through the billion-dollar question: why was Avery there and who was she to the Hawthornes?
I enjoyed Avery's scepticism and the occasional calculated display of vulnerability, however, I did observe her being rather reckless (quite the opposite of her nature) in sharing critical pieces of information.
Despite it all, the bottom line is that the book had me enraptured and I would gladly pick it up again someday if I wanted to be swept into a fictional world that's not magical or dystopian, but highly engaging nonetheless.
I started reading this, having no expectations what so ever. I had seen it a few times on tiktok and thought that since somone here wanted to read it I might aswell join.
I am not sure if that was a great idea or not to be honest, like it was a quick and nice mental break from this all. But I am not sure if I will ever think about it later.
I guess we can say that the story was kinda... wealth-porn, yes a great word that I just made up. What I mean is that there is obviously wealth in this book. A lot of it, and it does make the entire mystery element alot better. I am generally not a fan of mystery books, but the wealth part made it feel like it was way more beareble.
The book generally went realy fast and like I agreed to somone earlier, I was spoonfed everything. I am also not a fan of being spoonfed, I like to be abel to make my own conclutions and such. So that did bring this whole book down for me.
On the other hand it was a nice break to not need to think, so I am really unsure what to even rate this book. I am torn when desideding what to rate this and what I really think of it. But I have landed and it has to be a 2.75/5
The ending was confusing. I thought I got a bad copy of the book, like a paragraph or a chapter was missing, but I checked with other copies and the book really does end the way it did.
Muy entretenido y ligero de leer. Es verdad que me hubiese gustado ver más los acertijos y juegos que supuestamente había. Tengo ganas de leer el segundo por ese cliffhanger final.
Such a Melodramatic book! Avery is the queen of overthinking. I wanted her thoughts to just shut up so I can read the book peacefully. The book did not do justice to the plot which is also quite lacking in the mystery element. The games were the main fun element of the book and also the part that hooked you to the story.
disappointing. writing is not great, chapters are literally 2 pages long most of the time... its a 300 page book with... guess... 91 chapters... lol
characters were so flat and boring that i just realised while writing this review that i didnt like them. or hate them. or anything. i didnt feel anything for the characters because they practically have no personality. even didnt dislike/like max, even though her pretending to swear thing annoyed the FUCK out of me