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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
NON SPOILER SECTION:
This was an INCREDIBLE book but I'll admit, it wasn't incredible until about halfway through. The first bit with the dancing and the romance had my heart because I'm a Jameson girl forever but the rest of the book until around the 170 page mark was a bit like pulling teeth. It felt unexciting personally but I was also having to constantly reacquaint myself with the family tree and whose brother/mother/father/cousin/etc was whose and it honestly got a bit tiring considering it had been a full year since I had finished The Hawthorne Legacy. However, once you get past what I feel was a tired period, it starts ramping up and the dark academia/mystery aesthetic and the suspense finally sets in and it sets in HARD. The romance/love triangle was maintained without it overcoming the main plot and it wasn't a crazy toxic love triangle that I feel like many are. Jameson's character development slapped me in the face in the sweetest way possible and though Grayson's was incredible as well, I don't know how you can't be obsessed with the snarky/comedic/heroic brother. I love Grayson so much and I liked him more in this book than any others but again, the first majority of the book, the gloomy and broken schtick just felt tired. Grayson, I love you and I FEEL the pressure of having high expectations placed on you but channel that into some humor or something pls and thank you. And Xander is of course the iconic genius as he always is.
SPOILER ZONE
I'm just gonna go on a small bullet list rant:
- The ending where Eve reveals herself in the chapel was a bit on the predictable side to me and I felt like the dialogue she was spewing was SO SO basic. It felt like it was taken right out of a marvel/mystery movie, she would say things like, "We're the same, you and I.", "I'm going to need you to give me that." or "Blake wants me by his side, I just have to prove myself first." just felt very cliche and overdone. The whole "villain who reveals their whole plan before actually taking action against the protagonist is just so repetitive.
- The recording Tobias left was kind of iconic. The ending had shivers going down my spine, it was just so grossly egotistical yet so brilliant at the same time. It really gives you conflicted feelings and that happens a lot throughout the book but especially with regard to Tobias, I think he's such a dark and twisted and dynamic character but doesn't even make a living appearance. That's just skill.
- I understand the ending where Toby ends up staying with Vincent was I guess one of the less horrible endings (after what I may add was a really cool chess sequence) but I'm really disappointed Avery was so okay with allowing him to be essentially imprisoned by a psychopath. Like she showed no confliction as she beat him. I understand the stakes of everyone finding out about the murder but she didn't seem to feel guilty that she had basically handed him over. Granted, Vincent is half dead anyway but still. I suppose there is nobility in Toby staying with the daughter he barely knew and coming to terms with his past but I was emotionally attached to Toby so the fact that Avery had essentially no remorse as she beat him just aggravated me.
- I was happy that Eve realized they let her win and was pissed off. She's a sucky daughter. I don't care about her past, she allowed her father to get kidnapped and wanted to be the right hand man to someone who didn't bat an eye at the fact that his son raped a minor.
- "I see so much of your mother in you." is my favorite thing ever, #tobydeservedbetter.
- I have mixed feelings about Avery making The Grandest Game just because the series of hunts and games seemed like a very personal and Hawthorne family specific thing and to publicize it just hurt my heart a little. Now, I think if there was a spin off series called "The Grandest Game" (which, as a Caraval simp, I approve) I think that would be really cool but even so, I wasn't a huge fan of that part. I also think ending the trilogy with a TV interview was weird and I had kind of hoped it was more personal like with the boys or Jameson but it was still good.
- The last sentence ("The game," I said, my voice ripe with promise, "starts right now.") was sick and super cliche but a cliche I'm obsessed with.
This was an INCREDIBLE book but I'll admit, it wasn't incredible until about halfway through. The first bit with the dancing and the romance had my heart because I'm a Jameson girl forever but the rest of the book until around the 170 page mark was a bit like pulling teeth. It felt unexciting personally but I was also having to constantly reacquaint myself with the family tree and whose brother/mother/father/cousin/etc was whose and it honestly got a bit tiring considering it had been a full year since I had finished The Hawthorne Legacy. However, once you get past what I feel was a tired period, it starts ramping up and the dark academia/mystery aesthetic and the suspense finally sets in and it sets in HARD. The romance/love triangle was maintained without it overcoming the main plot and it wasn't a crazy toxic love triangle that I feel like many are. Jameson's character development slapped me in the face in the sweetest way possible and though Grayson's was incredible as well, I don't know how you can't be obsessed with the snarky/comedic/heroic brother. I love Grayson so much and I liked him more in this book than any others but again, the first majority of the book, the gloomy and broken schtick just felt tired. Grayson, I love you and I FEEL the pressure of having high expectations placed on you but channel that into some humor or something pls and thank you. And Xander is of course the iconic genius as he always is.
SPOILER ZONE
I'm just gonna go on a small bullet list rant:
- The ending where Eve reveals herself in the chapel was a bit on the predictable side to me and I felt like the dialogue she was spewing was SO SO basic. It felt like it was taken right out of a marvel/mystery movie, she would say things like, "We're the same, you and I.", "I'm going to need you to give me that." or "Blake wants me by his side, I just have to prove myself first." just felt very cliche and overdone. The whole "villain who reveals their whole plan before actually taking action against the protagonist is just so repetitive.
- The recording Tobias left was kind of iconic. The ending had shivers going down my spine, it was just so grossly egotistical yet so brilliant at the same time. It really gives you conflicted feelings and that happens a lot throughout the book but especially with regard to Tobias, I think he's such a dark and twisted and dynamic character but doesn't even make a living appearance. That's just skill.
- I understand the ending where Toby ends up staying with Vincent was I guess one of the less horrible endings (after what I may add was a really cool chess sequence) but I'm really disappointed Avery was so okay with allowing him to be essentially imprisoned by a psychopath. Like she showed no confliction as she beat him. I understand the stakes of everyone finding out about the murder but she didn't seem to feel guilty that she had basically handed him over. Granted, Vincent is half dead anyway but still. I suppose there is nobility in Toby staying with the daughter he barely knew and coming to terms with his past but I was emotionally attached to Toby so the fact that Avery had essentially no remorse as she beat him just aggravated me.
- I was happy that Eve realized they let her win and was pissed off. She's a sucky daughter. I don't care about her past, she allowed her father to get kidnapped and wanted to be the right hand man to someone who didn't bat an eye at the fact that his son raped a minor.
- "I see so much of your mother in you." is my favorite thing ever, #tobydeservedbetter.
- I have mixed feelings about Avery making The Grandest Game just because the series of hunts and games seemed like a very personal and Hawthorne family specific thing and to publicize it just hurt my heart a little. Now, I think if there was a spin off series called "The Grandest Game" (which, as a Caraval simp, I approve) I think that would be really cool but even so, I wasn't a huge fan of that part. I also think ending the trilogy with a TV interview was weird and I had kind of hoped it was more personal like with the boys or Jameson but it was still good.
- The last sentence ("The game," I said, my voice ripe with promise, "starts right now.") was sick and super cliche but a cliche I'm obsessed with.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really liked the character development in this one but the plot became a bit soap opera-y and kind of hard to follow at the end
There's too much time between the books and too much development offscreen, that the development on screen seems wrong. And the mysteries and puzzles in the book are solved way too quickly that it takes the enjoyment out of trying to solve it along with the characters. Everything about this book feels rushed and almost like a first draft that never continued editing. And then on the flip side, some of the writing is just really good and the mystery is overarching fairly nice, and it feels almost as if it is written by another person. The inconsistency, it kind of leads to a frustrating reading experience of not knowing whether or not it is a good book.
3.6/5- While I did enjoy this book and the trilogy as a whole, I will say I was slightly underwhelmed with the ending. Many of the turns, twists, characters, and romance that held my attention in the first two books were just repetitive and didn’t pack the same punch at the end. I found myself caring less about Avery and Jameson’s relationship and honestly was bored with Avery as a character in general. None of the other characters were given more than a couple paragraphs of plot development and their “happy ever afters” were just kinda thrown in at the end. With the hyper-fixation on Emily (please just let the dead girl rest) throughout the series, as soon as Eve was introduced she was just unlikable so her being “bad” didn’t surprise me as much as it should have. Also having all the twists be “everyone’s related, we’re all family” only really worked with Toby in the second book so having it in the third book again was just to much.
That was a lot of negative, but there were many redeeming factors of this books as well. This series got me out of a long reading slump and I finished it in the span of about two weeks- with this book taking about 5 days. Even if some of the story lines were repetitive, at the end of the day they were interesting enough to keep my very ADHD mind attentive and alert. These books are YA, so they are easy to understand and keep up with and I enjoyed Barnes writing style and didn’t find myself cringing at dialogue or characters actions as a I do when reading other YA books of the same caliber. I thought the storyline and characters actions were very deliberate and questions were answered with little plot holes.
After that long and unnecessary rant I will end with saying… the trilogy as a whole was good and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick read, who doesn’t want to think too much but still be entertained. While I enjoyed the series as a whole and am planning to keep reading Jennifer Lynn Barnes work, I think I will call it an end with the Hawthornes and Avery Kylie Grambs even if there are more spin-offs in the works.
That was a lot of negative, but there were many redeeming factors of this books as well. This series got me out of a long reading slump and I finished it in the span of about two weeks- with this book taking about 5 days. Even if some of the story lines were repetitive, at the end of the day they were interesting enough to keep my very ADHD mind attentive and alert. These books are YA, so they are easy to understand and keep up with and I enjoyed Barnes writing style and didn’t find myself cringing at dialogue or characters actions as a I do when reading other YA books of the same caliber. I thought the storyline and characters actions were very deliberate and questions were answered with little plot holes.
After that long and unnecessary rant I will end with saying… the trilogy as a whole was good and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick read, who doesn’t want to think too much but still be entertained. While I enjoyed the series as a whole and am planning to keep reading Jennifer Lynn Barnes work, I think I will call it an end with the Hawthornes and Avery Kylie Grambs even if there are more spin-offs in the works.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
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
My favourite in the series. The characters, a more established plot, omg.
4.5 stars
My opinions remain from the previous books that the writing feels too young and cringe, the characters all blur together, and I HATE Max. HOWEVERRRR, this book focused way more on the mystery and puzzles and less on the romance, which was perfect for me, and really redeemed this series as a whole. And let's talk about that ending! I never, and I mean NEVER, feel satisfied with series endings/wrap ups/epilogues, but this one felt so right and so perfect.
My opinions remain from the previous books that the writing feels too young and cringe, the characters all blur together, and I HATE Max. HOWEVERRRR, this book focused way more on the mystery and puzzles and less on the romance, which was perfect for me, and really redeemed this series as a whole. And let's talk about that ending! I never, and I mean NEVER, feel satisfied with series endings/wrap ups/epilogues, but this one felt so right and so perfect.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-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
This one wasn't as good as the other two and the villain was a round about way at getting it. I enjoyed knowing the characters in the first one and trying to figure out early on who was doing what. We got that slightly with Eve but we weren't introduced to the idea of the bad guy until very far into the book. I also don't get why Toby didn't beat Eve in the chess game and he had to come out with that he was alive anyways like that didn't make sense to me on why he would have done that. Also was not a fan that they built us up to these chess games and barely got any details on the games even though that was a plot point and the name of the book basically. Anyways it was a good book and would read again.
adventurous
medium-paced