Reviews with content warning for Classism - The Final Gambit

Wow, this was fantastic. An absolutely phenomenal end to this trilogy!

First, the plot. This was such a satisfying end to all of the mysteries of the first book. I can see where some might feel that there wasn't enough foreshadowing or clue placement to make the final mystery feel like a natural progression/not completely out of left field. I think that was kind of the point though, and I think we get an in-universe explanation for that in Tobias Hawthorne's message.

He set everything up so that Avery would be the one to deal with it. Not his family. Because he didn't want his family to know about any of this, until Avery was there. So of course this would be as much a surprise to them as it would be to Avery.

When you're dealing with a plot that's based on long buried family secrets, and uncovering said secrets, it's definitely plausible that there could be something big that got buried. It felt like everything slotted together nicely in this book and I really enjoyed the direction it took.

A big part of those feelings are because of the new characters we meet in this book. My non-spoiler thoughts are that they were fantastic in all the worst ways and I loved their addition to the cast. Everything else I have to say about them is full of spoilers though.

Let's start with Eve, because holy crap. Girl!! I know she's kind of a not good person, but I have a hard time blaming her?? She got an absolute shit hand in life and she's just trying to make sure she never ends up in that position again. There were other ways she could have accomplished that, but from her perspective, none of them were viable options. Eve is a great example of one of my favorite motivations for a character. (My only complaint about her is that I'm very over the comparisons to Emily, though I can appreciate what they did within the narrative as an emotional tool.)

I was right there with Avery and Grayson on the "trusting Eve" boat, and even after Avery figures out the message from Tobias warning her not to trust Eve, I was still struggling to see why. Which is brilliant! And definitely made the way she manipulates Grayson so much more emotionally impactful. The scene where Oren's got her pinned down in the chapel, and she's still trying to convince Grayson to help her, and then threatens to jump off a cliff. That had me screaming internally. She's such an interesting character.

Speaking of Grayson, this dude needs some therapy, stat. He's has been through it and he is clearly not taking care of himself in any sort of healthy way. Honestly, this is probably the biggest reason why I don't think he was a good fit for Avery romantically. He needs to deal with his own shit before he tries dating anyone. And he really needs to process everything that happened with Emily.

Now for the Blakes. Honestly, I loved learning about the Blakes. How Vincent was the origin of Tobias Hawthorne's love of games and puzzles. That Vincent is not a good man, but he respects the game more than anything, and if he loses because someone played the game better, then they earned it. And the way the Hawthorne family history is tied in with the Blakes. Wow. I will say it got a bit confusing at times, simply because there's so many characters (we could have used a family tree at the end of the book, honestly), but I loved all the connections.

Which brings us to Toby. Loved seeing him finally decide to stop running away, though it's unfortunate that it was at least partly prompted by Vincent. But then again, Toby made the decision to let Eve win, so that she could get the security she needed/wanted.

I also really loved Rebecca in this book. I didn't really think much about her previously, but she was great here. I love that she's finally learning to take up space and be a person. Her relationship with Thea is awesome. All around good for her.

There was some really cool character work done in this book, and I loved every minute of it.

The love triangle remains the part of these books that I don't really care about. I'm happy with how things shook out. I think the development that happens was natural and made sense. It was a little annoying how Jameson kept trying to like. Start a fight with Avery over Grayson? But I do think it makes sense for his character. He's been down this road before, and he lost, and he's not unused to losing to Grayson, so it was certainly not my favorite thing, but it's a manifestation of his insecurity, which was nice to see. And Avery handled it well. I do have one bone to pick though.

The part where Jameson locks Avery in an escape room (without telling her it's an escape room) because he's trying to "protect her" did not make sense. At no point has Avery ever wanted someone to protect her, so for Jameson to say that she does is ???? Where did this come from? I did not like this part and I was very delighted when Avery told him off over it.

And of course: the ending. I already talked about why I liked the mystery part of the plot, but the other part, the inheritance part, was also great. I think her choice makes perfect sense for her character and as an anti-capitalist, I was very on board. A major theme, especially in this book, has been that money = power, so this feels like the natural conclusion. Knowing the end, I also find it hilarious that Amazon acquired the film rights and is reportedly working on developing this series as a tv show.

Jennifer Lynn Barnes has been on my "always read" list for years and this series is a perfect example of why. What a fun ride, and I'm looking forward to the next couple books she's got coming for this universe.

[Additional content warning: emotional manipulation. I don't think it's quite to the point of emotional abuse and it's definitely not gaslighting, but there's a character who knows which buttons to push and does so deliberately in order to make people self-destruct for their own gain.]

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kimveach's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

A satisfying ending to the Inheritance Games trilogy. Or is it? The end resolved the first three books but left the door open for other books to follow possibly.

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colorful_lulu's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Overall I really liked the book. If you read the other two inheritance game books then you must read this. This is the final inheritance game novel where the protagonist is Avery and the ending concludes the series really well. We see more of Xander and Nash, both underrated Hawthorns brothers, as well as Rebecca and Thea. And 3 new characters that are really interesting.

Can’t wait for The Brother Hawthorne next year!

What I loved: Unlike the first two books where the main mystery was about finding out why Avery was chosen or about Toby, this book focuses on power and money that Avery is very close to inheriting. This brings us a whole different type of mystery for us to solve and Tobias Hawthorn’s shadow is always present everywhere Avery goes.

I the ending to be a perfect way to end the series but I want to know all the trips that Avery and Jameson went on as well as Xander working with Isaiah (and the obvious relationship between Xander and Max). Hopefully, The Brother Hawthorn will cover more about Jameson’s adventure with Avery and just overall give more details about the brothers. I understand how the amount of information that we know reflects Avery’s relationship with each brother but I wanna know more!

What I didn't like/wanted different: I personally found Grayson's quiet OOC during the middle of the book. I understand that Grayson is taking more time to process Emily's trauma but we never saw him break like this before, and the only reason why he breaks is that Avery chooses Jameson instead of him. I haven’t read the other 2 inheritance game in a while but Gray never acted like this before. Also, his reason why for becoming close to Eve was so weird. “I’m close to this stranger who claims to be Toby’s daughter not because she looks like Emily, the girl I feel responsible for letting die, but because my crush, the strange girl who inherited my rich grandfather's money, chose my brother instead!” His motivation to get close to Eve could’ve just been that she looks like Emily and he hasn’t moved on, which Jameson literally explained, but at last we must maintain this weird love triangle.

Minor complaint, maybe it’s because Tobias Hawthorn said “Don’t trust them” but I knew Eve was going to become evil. Maybe it was good foreshadowing that I was able to find but it was quite obvious from how Avery was suspicious of her while everyone told her that she shouldn’t be suspicious.

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