Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - The Final Gambit

Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

39 reviews

emmalaure's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I'm so glad to see the downhill of book 2 was made up for in this one. I think this book was overall just better than the other books in the series so far. There were higher stakes without the ridiculously high amount of attempts on Avery's life, the romance stepped aside a bit to make room for the mystery, and, most importantly, this mystery felt greater and more difficult for our characters. This time, the Hawthornes and Avery are playing a dual game. These games begin when Toby's true daughter, Eve, arrives at Hawthorne House afraid and claiming that Toby has been kidnapped. Avery must find Toby and who the kidnapper is as the person responsible plays games with her. At the same time, Avery receives a game from Tobias Hawthorne, triggered by Eve's arrival. I really liked the duality of both games, especially the one from the kidnapper, because it challenged the characters more than any other game before. It made Avery and the Hawthorne brothers more real as they finally encountered a game they struggled to solve.

The only reason I'm not giving it 5 stars is that I am still on team Grayson; I love this man so much, I want him to be happy and to find someone to be happy with.

Content Warnings

jehansen127's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

clmoore's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

cassiesteffan's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

A fun story that will keep you wondering what’s going to happen next.

Content Warnings

meazie's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

It’s a fun mystery and I love all the secrets and puzzles that unfold and it’s a bit silly at times. However, I feel like the tense moments don’t have enough tension and the heartfelt moments aren’t sincere enough. At times it feels a little cliché, which isn’t necessarily bad it just gets a bit boring. I also feel like the main character suffers a bit from main character syndrome and at times she doesn’t act like a real person (granted it is a YA fiction novel).

For this book in particular, I didn’t love the ending and the ultimate reveal. It fell kind of flat for me. It felt like the author needed to wrap everything up in a nice neat bow and didn’t want to leave any room for interpretation. Nor did she want to let some of the mystery simmer. It felt like she needed to have things end in a “happily ever after” which, I think, contributed to things not feeling real enough.

All that being said, I think it’s a good addition to the series and it was a fun read.

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dkamada's review against another edition

4.5

emotional funny inspiring mysterious tense

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

Descriptions are ridiculously over dramatic but we roll our eyes and move on 😅

Content Warnings

rskennedy1066's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous emotional hopeful 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: No

A fun conclusion to the adventure.

I’m glad Avery gave the money away. No one person needs so much money or power 👏👏👏

Content Warnings

justagirlwithbooks's review against another edition

3.75

“I don’t believe in destiny or fate—I believe in choice. Love wasn’t just a choice—it was dozens, hundreds, thousands of choices. Every day was a choice.”

This book felt a bit... unnecessary. I wasn't sure how it would end, since The Hawthorne Legacy seemed to wrap up the majority of the loose ends. And then the ending happened and I understood. But it still felt a bit... contrived? I don't know how to explain it. I just preferred The Hawthorne Legacy and The Inheritance Games over this book. And yes, I see the intention of having the spin-off series being the Grandest Game. And I'm excited for that! But first... spoilers.

I don't understand the love triangle. I get Grayson and Jameson and Avery, but I thought that their love triangle was over in book 2. I was confused as to why Avery was getting jealous over Grayson hanging out with Eve when she had already chosen Jameson in the last book. It was getting annoying because I was already rooting for Jameson and Avery since the very beginning. Also, Xander and his dad were so wholesome together and I loved them so much. Xander is my favorite Hawthorne, and I'm not sure I can order the rest of them. I didn't really like the way things left off with Toby, with him becoming a Blake. And I thought that Tobias's final message to his grandsons (and Avery) was also kind of wholesome in a way since he doesn't want his grandsons to end up like him. The ending was also very wholesome and it was nice seeing all the brothers be where they want to be, away from societal expectations. I just wish I had more of Nash and Xander in this book series, especially Xander, since he's my favorite.

Overall, I think the Naturals Series that I read around the same time last year is better than The Inheritance Games.

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oceanbluetay's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous mysterious 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: Yes

Content Warnings

lisa_m's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Loveable characters: Yes

I am very glad that the finale of this trilogy did not disappoint me. It was just as fast paced as the other books in the series and just as fun to read. I didn't love the storyline as much as the ones from the other two books

(especially because I hate manipulators who pray on people's insecurities. That's like one of my biggest no-go's. I STRONGLY dislike Eve)

The ending was clichee but I still liked it and thought it was great. Honestly this whole series has just been so much fun to read I don't even want to over-analyse them. Are they the best books ever? No. There are a lot of things I didn't necessarily like but the whole thing was fast past, interesting and I just really enjoyed the puzzles. I did not need the things that I usually need from books here, because it was so strong in other aspects. As someone who LOVES secret rooms and secret doors and all of those things, this whole series feels like the absolute perfect fantasy of a younger me. What do you MEAN I could inherit billions and like 6(?) Libraries??? It's pretty much my dream. So yes, I very much enjoyed the escapism and fun-ness of this whole reading experience and if that is something you think you would like too, go read it :)

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