Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - The Final Gambit

• 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

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livvmarks's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.75

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rinku's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Last Gambit concludes the main trilogy of The Inheritance Games in a satisfying way which makes me so happy since I’ve read quite a few finales in the last weeks that disappointed me.

To become the official heir of Tobias Hawthorne, Avery just has to last at the Hawthorne house for a few more weeks. Everything seems fine until Eve, who was briefly mentioned in the previous book, arrives at the Hawthorne house, needing help from Avery and the brothers because Toby was kidnapped. Avery and her friends have to figure out who the kidnapper is and what his intentions are. Like it’s typical for the series, the kidnapper sends them different very mysterious riddles they need to solve to learn more about him.

Probably the reason why I can’t give this novel five stars is Eve who annoyed the hell out of me. I almost hated every scene with her, and it was so terrible to see how irrational Grayson behaves since she looks like Emily and

it’s even more terrible how much Eve manipulates him because of it. Luckily, he’s able to free himself from her and consequently Emily in the end

. I also felt so sorry for Avery who started to feel like she doesn’t belong to the Hawthorne’s and Eve’s presence in general creates so much drama.

Just like in the previous books, I was really invested in all the still fun riddles and the family drama, even though I was a bit confused this time because I couldn’t remember all the relationships – maybe a family tree would’ve been nice, I don’t know. The reveal that

Eve is working together with Blake

was not really shocking to me though since it was kinda obvious from the beginning.

In contrast, I really loved how everything slowly comes together which was just so satisfying. Towards the end, it becomes clear that

Tobias Hawthorne predicted almost everything up to this point. He’s honestly so evil for using Avery so that his boys don’t get hurt, if I understood it correctly. Still, “hearing” his voice for the first time was such an impactful moment

. We of course get more drama with

Blake kidnapping Alisa and Grayson swapping himself for her. It was so amazing how Avery was able to win against Blake, even though Toby had to sacrifice himself for it, and how she wants to give away most of her fortune

I’m probably repeating myself, but I love all the characters so much (besides Eve lmao). Avery’s development throughout the trilogy is amazing and I love how she’s already doing good things with all her money. It was even greater how she takes the initiative and makes her own plans. The Hawthorne brothers are still all so precious, and I can’t even say who’s my favorite since I like them so much. I especially liked Xander here; he’s funny as always and it was so wholesome

how he met his dad who’s the only dad of the brothers who accepts his sons. I also love how we learn in the epilogue that he now works with his father

Other mentionable characters are Thea, Alisa, and Oren who I like so much; especially

Oren saving Avery from Eve was such a great moment. Of course, it’s his job but it was still amazing

. Another thing I appreciated was that we got more backstory for Tobias Hawthorne and that he gets more criticized. We also need to talk about the elephant in the room: the solution of the love triangle that seems to really divide people. I

was also team Grayson and hence I’m a bit sad that Avery ends up with Jameson. Grayson’s confession was so heart-breaking, and I hope he still will find happiness one day

All things considered, the main trilogy of The Inheritance Games deserves its hype in my opinion. After reading the first book, I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy the series as much as other people do, but I did in the end. I know that many people don’t like the second book but it was my absolute favorite. We get to know the amazing characters so much better, and the mystery is so engaging throughout the whole series and leaves us with a great conclusion. The premise of the series is just so creative and I’m really curious how the story will continue in The Brothers Hawthorne.

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taryn_g's review

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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heatherwardlaw's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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saraavowlerr's review

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adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This was probably my favorite in the series. The reason why it wasn’t a 5 bc Avery’s relationship with the brothers kind of confused me along with some writing choices, but I loved the story line and the ending.

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