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adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The third book in The Inheritance Games trilogy, The Final Gambit is a nice wrap up of Avery’s story. Unfortunately this book wasn’t quite 4 stars the way the first two were. Some of Avery’s thoughts were, imo, too repetitive. Also the romantic angst for Avery choosing between Jameson and Grayson was just a bit too much and went on entirely too long in the narrative of this third book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Kidnapping, Murder
Moderate: Death, Violence, Death of parent
Minor: Gun violence, Sexual assault
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Kidnapping, Murder
Moderate: Death, Violence, Death of parent
Minor: Gun violence, Sexual assault, Pregnancy
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual assault, Violence
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A solid conclusion to a fun YA trilogy, filled with mystery, puzzles, and secrets. If you want a book where you feel like you're playing along, this series may fit the bill.
While the stakes are massive for Avery and the Hawthornes, in terms of most thriller and mystery reads, they feel rather tame. You aren't really expecting much death and destruction, even if the villains have movie supervillain money. If you're expecting a lot of darkness (because when you're talking about billions and billions of dollars, dark seems fitting), that's not what you'll find in these pages.
It skates around the edges of true depth, darkness, and evil, and while it still makes for an entertaining read, I think those tweaks could have tipped it to a whole new level.
While the stakes are massive for Avery and the Hawthornes, in terms of most thriller and mystery reads, they feel rather tame. You aren't really expecting much death and destruction, even if the villains have movie supervillain money. If you're expecting a lot of darkness (because when you're talking about billions and billions of dollars, dark seems fitting), that's not what you'll find in these pages.
It skates around the edges of true depth, darkness, and evil, and while it still makes for an entertaining read, I think those tweaks could have tipped it to a whole new level.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
• After a YEAR and 5 months, I’ve finally finished the inheritance games series. Well, I guess not because there’s a fourth book coming but it was supposed to be a trilogy so I’m considering it done. Also the fact that I waited months to read this just to binge it in a day at the end made me furious at myself 😭
• I read the first two books in January of 2022. I absolutely loved them but by the time this came out, I’d completely forgotten everything and kept putting it off. I was finally over it & watched a recap of the first two on YouTube so I can read this.
• Right away, I was really bored. There didn’t seem to be much happening in the mystery aspect. A lot of it was focused on the love triangle and teenage drama that wasn’t even interesting. I thought I wouldn’t be able to put this down but I was dying for it to be over.
• Pretty much every review I’ve ever seen of this has been criticizing who Avery ends up with but to be honest, I couldn’t care less because she didn’t have chemistry with either of them & she continued to make the dumbest decisions and then proceeded to act surprised when she was in danger.
• There were also a ton of time jumps. Every chapter would skip weeks to months and I just felt disoriented reading this.
• As with the first two books, I really disliked Max. The dialogue itself & the other characters were childish enough without her addition and I was cringing every time she talked. I also didn’t like the “trendy” references. It was clear that the targeted audience for this book was Tik tok, as it says on the cover.
• The ending was so predictable and I just felt like I wasted my time reading about a bunch of clueless characters that can’t see what’s right in front of them.
• I think it’s safe to say I won’t be reading the fourth book. There’s another series by this author that I’m interested in reading though and I’ve heard good things about it
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny
Minor: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Murder, Pregnancy
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ugh. I have so many thoughts about this book. I'm rating it a 3 purely because of the mystery and puzzles - the drama took about 10 years off my life.
I agree with many others who have said that Avery was worried entirely too much about someone she wasn't ever dating. I get that she cares about Grayson like she does Jameson but holy crap just let him go. Her obsession made this book frustrating to read - especially so being someone that's always been team Grayson over team Jameson. Speaking of...
JUSTICE FOR GRAYSON HAWTHORNE. I really hope this next book gives him some kind of happiness because it's the absolute least he deserves after the shit show that was his storyline throughout these first three books. I knocked this two stars simply because this third book lacked the intrigue and excitement that the first two made me feel. That never-put-it-down feeling. It was a chore to get through the first 2/3rds of this book and I hate that I'm saying that because I really love these characters, the way Barnes writes, and her storytelling skills. Absolutely no shade to her as an author, I will absolutely be reading more of her work - I'm just being salty about this ending.
Long story short: Grayson deserved better. I'm upset about what happened to Toby, and I really hate Eve. With a firey, burning, all-consuming passion. I hope a cow eats her hair on her granddad's stupid ranch.
I agree with many others who have said that Avery was worried entirely too much about someone she wasn't ever dating. I get that she cares about Grayson like she does Jameson but holy crap just let him go. Her obsession made this book frustrating to read - especially so being someone that's always been team Grayson over team Jameson. Speaking of...
JUSTICE FOR GRAYSON HAWTHORNE. I really hope this next book gives him some kind of happiness because it's the absolute least he deserves after the shit show that was his storyline throughout these first three books. I knocked this two stars simply because this third book lacked the intrigue and excitement that the first two made me feel. That never-put-it-down feeling. It was a chore to get through the first 2/3rds of this book and I hate that I'm saying that because I really love these characters, the way Barnes writes, and her storytelling skills. Absolutely no shade to her as an author, I will absolutely be reading more of her work - I'm just being salty about this ending.
Long story short: Grayson deserved better. I'm upset about what happened to Toby, and I really hate Eve. With a firey, burning, all-consuming passion. I hope a cow eats her hair on her granddad's stupid ranch.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Death, Sexual assault