Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - The Inheritance Games

Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

111 reviews

samid2072's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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sakina330's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I think this was a pretty good read. I was concerned about a third of the way through that the mystery seemed to not be leading anywhere but it did pick up. I’m not giving it a 5 star because it did take that while for it to pick up and I didn’t think it was written in any great way. The prose didn’t particularly capture me or anything. But I do think it was well executed which makes it a 3.5 and I would read it again personally and enjoyed it which is why it’s a 4. I was a bit underwhelmed initially but the final twist was pretty good. The Emily subplot was a little annoying but I liked the banter enough to make it a 4.

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cdoubet's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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krystalframe's review against another edition

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4.0

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foxo_cube's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

The writing style was good and I mostly liked the main character (bar the way her brain just turns off when she thinks a guy is hot - more on that in a bit, though!). At first, I thought the puzzles were a little bit too basic, but the way the ends tied up together was immaculate. The ending of this book is great: questions are answered in a satisfying way and a new plotline is teased, so you aren't forced to read the next one, but there's definitely a reason to.

Most of my qualms with the book are more down to personal taste. There are four Hawthorne brothers - the grandsons of the billionaire who left his property to our main character, Avery. Three of them are of an age range to make them romanceable options for her.

Nash, the oldest, is a cowboy. Why? I do not know. I like him and I was actually really rooting for him and Libby, Avery's older sister, to get together - I felt like they'd be cute together. Yeehaw.

Grayson is an arrogant twat

for most of the book

. He wears suits and has silver eyes and he's very nasty to Avery a lot of the time, but because he wears suits and has silver eyes, Avery can't help but swoon. Come on! He acts like such a pathetic little man. "Ooh, I've got money. I can sort things out because I have money." The most silver eyes in the world don't make up for that.

He does get a redemption arc and I actually ended up liking him. He had reason to be suspicious and standoffish (not excusing him, but explaining his actions) and he seems to acknowledge it was a him problem. He seems to be a decent-hearted guy.

Jameson is... I don't know. He has a personality. I just don't really get what it is. He starts out being drunk and speaking weirdly cryptically like he thinks he's the Sphinx who tells riddles. I was severely put off him when he used a secret passage to go to Avery's room and go "I am in your walls, let me in, let me in" in the middle of the night, and then, when she let him in, he was like "it would be a shame if we were related [with euphemistic intent]". That's nightmare fuel, and she's just like "he's kinda hot, though". What?! Although he becomes more likeable, I never really felt any real chemistry between them beyond her swooning over him occasionally. I just couldn't feel invested in them getting together even though that's clearly what the book's getting at.

Xander is a good boy, a sweet boy, and a boy of many talents. For some reason, despite acknowledging he is tall and attractive (both traits commonly deemed attractive by straight female protagonists in YA novels), he is never swooned over. To be fair, this goes both ways. Xander is much more concerned with eating scones.

That, and facilitating the game his grandfather set up to get his brothers to work together to solve a puzzle, occasionally prodding Avery in the right direction when she hits a wall.

Silly younger-brother-esque characters always activate the crumb of maternal instinct within me and Xander is no exception. He's my favourite of the boys both because I want to protect him and because we get to know him better than we do Nash.

Avery is definitely a little bit of a blank slate in the YA protagonist kind of way where you're meant to project yourself onto her, but she experiences her own character development and she feels believable.

I feel as though I'd have enjoyed this more if it weren't for the romance elements, which felt a little forced.

That said, I liked how the parallel was drawn between Avery and Emily in that respect.

I don't know if I'll read the other books in the series, but this was an engaging book that made me want to know what happened next, and if you're more inclined towards this sort of premise than I am, you'll probably love it.

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bethbooksandtea's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious 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

5.0

This book had me hooked from the first chapter! You go straight into the story with no messing around, the chapters are short yet gripping and all I wanted to do was keep reading!

This book reminded me why I love reading, it gave me that feeling of excitement and curiosity the whole way through, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes books surrounding mystery and solving puzzles!

5 Stars!! Favourite book of the year! Can’t wait to read the next one!

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ashleyvharris's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The Inheritance Games is a fun, twisty mystery with great atmosphere.

My thoughts on this book have been a bit uncertain. On the surface, I appreciate Barnes’ story of puzzles and mystery and ultimately the importance of relationships in our lives. But the more I sit with the story, the more I am bothered by the nonchalance with which the emotional abuse of the Hawthorne grandsons is treated.

Tobias Hawthorne pitted his grandsons against one another with his “games” and raised them to value winning over all else. No wonder

Emily

happened… Their own mother was seemingly more concerned with the money and status they did not inherit rather than the mental and emotional state of her children.

At the very least, it would have been nice to see some acknowledgment that Avery was manipulated and used throughout the first book of this trilogy. Avery understands this reality herself, but the abusive qualities of her relationships with the Hawthornes is never truly addressed.

I thinks there’s so much potential for this story in books 2 and 3. I look forward to continuing this trilogy and hope to see a more overarching commentary about the ways in which money and influence can perpetuate abuse that goes unaddressed. These young characters need a lot of healing.

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