Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

47 reviews

greenlivingaudioworm's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Violence, Addiction, and Kidnapping

livvmarks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Violence, Abandonment, Addiction, Medical content, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Self harm, Stalking, Cursing, and Death of parent

rinku's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

I’m apparently in the minority here, but I enjoyed The Hawthorne Legacy so much more than The Inheritance Games, making it my first five-star read of 2023. I’ve bounded more with the characters, and the stakes get higher, leading to a more interesting story. 

This book starts right where the first book ended with Avery and the Hawthorne brothers, mainly Jameson and Grayson, still trying to figure out why Tobias Hawthorne chose her as an heir. It’s a bit hard to talk about the story without spoilers. What I can say though is that I don’t really understand all the people that say that nothing happens in this novel. Avery and the Hawthorne brothers uncover so many mysteries here; they don’t find the final answer to the big mystery around Tobias, but I still was very invested and engaged in it, especially in the question what happened on the island. There’s so much drama around it, especially family drama which was so entertaining but also sad in parts. I furthermore still really enjoy seeing how Avery deals with the consequences of her inheritance, mainly integrate herself into new social circles, handling the publicity and other people trying to profit off of her. This leads to quite a threatening atmosphere which was written so well. In my opinion, those two elements are perfectly balanced, leading to not one moment where I was bored. 

The ending was so great as well and cemented my five star rating of The Hawthorne Legacy:

It was so obvious that something would happen to Avery while she was away from the Hawthorne house but it shocked me quite a lot that it was a bomb that almost killed her. This whole sequence was so dramatic and it doesn’t stop there since she’s kidnapped by Grayson’s dad which I didn’t see coming at all. What I expected though was that Toby wasn’t her biological dad but still loved her like she was his own daughter. Their final moment was so heart-breaking

. 

Looking at the characters, I can say that I really like the whole cast. Avery is a great protagonist; her feelings and struggles are portrayed so vividly and she has an amazing character development here. Besides her, the Hawthorne brothers and their dynamic with each other are great as well. I’m not the biggest fan of the love triangle and I definitely prefer Grayson since I love him so much. It was also nice that

Max became a part of the main cast, she’s quite funny

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As much as I loved The Hawthorne Legacy, I’m wondering where the story could be going next, and I hope that the conclusion will be satisfying. Other than that, this novel had everything I love about YA mysteries and I’m so happy that I finally could rate a book five stars this year.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Death, Stalking, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Kidnapping

Minor: Infidelity

taryn_g's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Classism and Death of parent

Minor: Infidelity and Medical content

alisonreadsitall's review

adventurous funny 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? Yes

4.5

This is the second book in the Inheritance Games series, and I can’t wait to read the final installment! I was actually surprised at some of the twists and turns in this one. I’m glad we learned more about the background of both Avery and the Hawthorne family, and got to see Avery’s character develop more. 

Secondary to the mystery aspect, there is a love triangle still brewing between Avery, Jameson, and Grayson. I know the obvious choice might be Jameson, but I am definitely Team Grayson! ☺️

Definitely read this series if you enjoyed Knives Out!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, and Death

Moderate: Abandonment and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gaslighting, Death of parent, and Infidelity

purplepenning's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

I want to reallllllly like these, but I'm only finding them mostly okay and entertaining, which is starting to annoy me. Yes, there are whiplash levels of twisty, interesting reveals, but the puzzles and clues feel kind of basic. Combined with the angsty love-triangle-ness of it all, it just feels a bit juvenile compared to other YA mysteries I've enjoyed. It's still a pretty fun ride, though, so I'm definitely go on to book 3. And Max is the best — she's with 3 stars just on her own!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Violence, Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Grief, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Medical content, Drug abuse, and Gun violence

Minor: Infertility, Sexual content, and Pregnancy

karissahodge's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

The plot is almost TOO fast. Not to mention practicality and “real life” errors scattered throughout.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, and Death of parent

Moderate: Infertility and Child death

danaegg's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

i was gonna give this somewhere between 4 and 5 but then so much happened in the last couple chapters it kinda felt a bit overwhelming and was a bit all over the place. i did realllyyyyyyy enjoy this tho!!! this is my favorite series i've read in a long time. again i'm always a little surprised on how heavy the romance is but honestly i think this had good moments where there was no thought of it. sometimes though i just wanna shake avery like GIRL STOP THINKING ABOUT GRAYSON OR JAMESON THIS IS NOT THE TIME 😭 something crazy related to the mystery will happen and suddenly you''ll just read one of those two names like girl 💀

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, and Infidelity

Minor: Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Child death, and Sexual content

tays_books's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Murder, Kidnapping, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Cursing, and Stalking

Minor: Addiction, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Infidelity, and Suicidal thoughts

neko_reads's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Infidelity, and Drug use