Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

84 reviews

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I bought the first three books of this series as a FairyLoot exclusive set, and I have been making my way through them.
"The Hawthorne Legacy" is the fast-paced sequel to "The Inheritance Games". The mystery as to why Tobias Hawthorne left the majority of his fortune to Avery still needs to be solved, but luckily there are new leads for Avery to follow. Through a DNA test, she knows she is not a Hawthorne by blood, but she quickly learns that she has a connection to the Hawthornes that dates back over a decade. The three Hawthorne brothers are still not in agreement about what to do, but Avery wants to utilize all three of their expertise to get to the bottom of this mystery.
I was so excited to pick up this book as soon as I finished "The Inheritance Games", but I had to wait because I wanted to listen to the audiobook and there was a bit of a wait on Libby. I do HIGHLY recommend the audiobooks for this series. Avery is such a likable and relatable main character, and it is her approachable personality that makes this story so enjoyable for me. The rest of the Hawthorne clan definitely contribute to this story and continue to make this story intoxicating. The brothers are all interesting in their own ways, and I love how much they are taking Avery under their wing. 
This book does get much more violent than the first, and there are serious threats to Avery's life. Some of these instances felt a little too action movie-y to me, but it was not too cheesy that it felt unreal. 
We do get to see more of Max in this book, which I was so excited for. Max is the epitome of a best friend and I love seeing her pure love and support for Avery. 
I am really enjoying all of the nuances to the mystery. Every time I think I have figured out what is going on, there is a curveball and I feel like I am back in the dark. This mystery is not straight forward, and this family has decades old secrets that weave a web that is difficult to break through. I do not know what will happen in the third book, but I do know I need to pick it up ASAP. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

berry21's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Actually liked this more than the first! Felt more exciting and the characters have grown on me more, some twists really kept me engaged.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Violence

Minor: Miscarriage

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

tabea1409's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

kmsander4's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

Back again for book two in the Inheritance Games series. I liked the first one but this one was even better! Action packed with twists that I didn't see coming - even some that were "obvious" turned out to be res herrings.

Yes, it's definitely a YA series. So if that isn't for you, then leave this one on the shelf. But if you're open to a puzzle-packed mystery, full of ancient family drama, this one may just be made for you!

I loved the character growth for Avery and the Hawthorne brothers. I'm already looking forward to diving into book three when I can get it from the library!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Violence and Murder

Minor: Gun violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

trips's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

The first book in this series was fun and exciting with all the mysteries and puzzles Avery was solving. Unfortunately this second book took a turn for Riverdale as the mysteries became convoluted, excessively dramatic and honestly muddled by Avery's indecision on boyzzzz.

It was very easy read and I wasn't bored at any part of it, but goodness I could've used with more mystery solving and less "Oh no...what if this boy is just using me?" gorl you have bigger problems, people are trying to kill you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Drug abuse and Suicide

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

Minor: Infertility, Sexual content, and Pregnancy

saramsara's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Moderate: Child abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

cc_shelflove's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

BRB, searching Amazon for invisible ink kits. 🤣 I think I’ve found a YA mystery series that I enjoy more than the A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder books! While I was a bit disappointed by the ending of book two, it was not because the story was bad; I simply had hoped for a different outcome. There was a reveal that I didn’t feel was necessary (see character: Mellie) and the love triangle between our main character and two brothers was a little weird and icky to me (iykyk). HOWEVER, the puzzles of the book still took the spotlight and kept me reading! I’m hoping book three brings a lot of surprises. 

“Picture yourself standing on a cliff overlooking the ocean. The wind is whipping in your hair. The sun is setting. You long, body and soul, for one thing. One person. You hear footsteps behind you. You turn. Who’s there?”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Drug use, Miscarriage, and Suicide attempt

haileyyfin's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence