Scan barcode
torturedreadersdept's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Dysphoria, Infidelity, Abandonment, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Stalking
Minor: Misogyny, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Classism, Toxic relationship, Racism, and Sexual harassment
kimveach's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I enjoyed the first three books in this series, but this one wasn't as good for me. The number of characters continues to grow, and you need to have remembered people from the previous books. I didn't remember them all, which made me feel like I was missing something. If I had reread the last book or were reading it in a row (the way I would have as a teen), it would have been as exciting as the first three. I'll give up on this series now.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Violence, Abandonment, Classism, Gaslighting, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
rinku's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Infidelity, Grief, Violence, Classism, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Death, and Gun violence
Minor: Racism, Sexual content, Confinement, and Fire/Fire injury
bamfling's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, and Abandonment
oddduck's review
4.5
Another very fast read, and it was very fun getting to see more about the Hawthorne brothers. With every book that has a split pov, I tend to reach a point where I strongly favor one character over the other and it's a slog to get through the one I care less about, but both Grayson and Jameson's stories kept me riveted the entire time. The only thing I took a half star off for is because, while I trust Jennifer Lynn Barnes, I do feel that having another character who's been presumed dead for years not actually be dead is pushing it. I trust that this will be resolved in a satisfactory way in the next book, but still.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Infidelity, and Death of parent
Minor: Stalking, Grief, Violence, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcohol
colorful_lulu's review
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? Yes
3.0
Look I need the author to add a “previously…” to summarize all the major plot points from the last mystery and an updated family tree from all of the new family drama from the previous book because without looking at this fan-made family tree from The Final Gambit I would’ve been so lost.
In general, I didn’t love this book. It took me 25 days to finish this book. I was able to finish The Final Gambit in 11 days. I found the book to be quite boring and lacked the mystery and major plot twist. Grayson’s mystery wasn’t really a mystery, it was more of Grayson feeling guilty about betraying people but the betrayal in question was just withholding information about Sheffield Grayson’s death from The Hawthorne Legacy (which I totally forgot OK, I read that book 2 years ago). The mystery was underwhelming and way too predictable for an Inheritance Game book. Jameson’s mystery was better, but not as entertaining or mysterious as the previous mystery. They built up The Devil’s Mercy to be so mysterious to the point where it’s repetitive and disappointing in the end. The characters involved in The Game, besides Zella and eventually Branford didn’t stand out at all, they were just there.
Look my favorite Hawthorne is always and will always be Xander. But this book makes me actually like Nash because we actually see him do something in the book. Like he’s never really active on the surface during the past books. So that’s a win. The book connects to the next book, The Grandest Game, with a new secret revealed-ish and Avery decided to create The Grandest Game so I guess that’s good. (please tell me the significance of Alice Hawthorne being alive. I get the surprise of realizing your dead grandmother was not dead is huge but is it that huge?)
Oh and can someone please tell me why Eve is back? No one likes you. Please stop. And please let Grayson move on from Emily and Avery in the next book, please.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Death of parent and Infidelity
Minor: Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Sexual harassment
lily_georgia's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
i love it so much
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship
prashiie's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
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? Yes
4.0
“Let the rest of the players think I'm dealing with daddy issues. Hawthornes have granddaddy issues instead.”
A fun extra book where we get to see more of Jameson, Avery and Grayson. Unfortunately we don’t see a lot of Nash and Xavier. I think we can even add Avery to this list. They are present, but we only get to see Jameson and Grayson’s perspective. Jameson and Grayson both have to deal with their father’s side of the family. Jameson’s father asks Jameson a favour and Grayson wants to protect his little sisters and in turn meets Sheffield’s wife. I always enjoy reading about stepmothers that are good to their stepchildren, so I loved Acacia! She’s so sensible.
"I would like to believe," Acacia continued softly, "that I'm the kind of person who would never hold a child responsible for the actions of his parents."
Even Gigi, Grayson’s little sister, is adorable and incredibly funny.
"May his crotch forever itch in places that are very difficult to scratch and his fingers turn to sausages on his hands."
Grayson also struggles with his loyalties and the loneliness he feels. So I hated it when Eve showed up playing the victim! As if Grayson didn’t have enough problems, ugh.
And throughout the story, Jameson was talking about a big secret that he couldn’t even share with Avery. When the secret was revealed, at the very end of the story, I was amazed. Definitely wasn’t expecting that, though now I’m very excited for the next book! I have so many questions that hopefully will be answered in ‘The Grandest Game’. How unfortunate that we have to wait until next year, but worth it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Grief, Death of parent, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, and Stalking
Minor: Gaslighting and Death
lovelymisanthrope's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
After reading and really enjoying the rest of "The Inheritance Games" books, I was excited to get a new book from two of the Hawthorne brothers' perspectives.
"The Brothers Hawthorne" follows two perspectives: Grayson and Jameson. Grayson has worked hard to be the best and always put his family first. Unfortunately, his half-sisters have found themselves in a bit of a mess, and Grayson makes it his mission to deal with the problem. Jameson loves to take risks, so when his father appears and asks for his help to infiltrate an exclusive club, Jameson cannot resist.
I really, really enjoyed this book. I do not think it was necessary to add more to the world, but I appreciated getting a new book in "The Inheritance Games" world from two new perspectives. I also really enjoyed that Grayson's and Jameson's "missions" were not connected per say, so it almost felt like two new stories instead of one.
Grayson's story is the one that I think best highlights character growth, and understanding what is ultimately important in life. Grayson is such a great guy, and he does not bat an eye at anything related to keeping his family safe. He always puts everyone ahead of himself, but in this installment, I think we finally get to see Grayson realize what he wants and accept that it is okay to show a little emotion sometimes.
Jameson's story was more like the classic "The Inheritance Games" mystery. Jameson embarked on a wild mission that required him to think outside of the box and follow clues to uncover the mystery.
I still very much enjoy this series and this world, but I am very content with the ending. This was a great addition, and I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoyed the series.
"The Brothers Hawthorne" follows two perspectives: Grayson and Jameson. Grayson has worked hard to be the best and always put his family first. Unfortunately, his half-sisters have found themselves in a bit of a mess, and Grayson makes it his mission to deal with the problem. Jameson loves to take risks, so when his father appears and asks for his help to infiltrate an exclusive club, Jameson cannot resist.
I really, really enjoyed this book. I do not think it was necessary to add more to the world, but I appreciated getting a new book in "The Inheritance Games" world from two new perspectives. I also really enjoyed that Grayson's and Jameson's "missions" were not connected per say, so it almost felt like two new stories instead of one.
Grayson's story is the one that I think best highlights character growth, and understanding what is ultimately important in life. Grayson is such a great guy, and he does not bat an eye at anything related to keeping his family safe. He always puts everyone ahead of himself, but in this installment, I think we finally get to see Grayson realize what he wants and accept that it is okay to show a little emotion sometimes.
Jameson's story was more like the classic "The Inheritance Games" mystery. Jameson embarked on a wild mission that required him to think outside of the box and follow clues to uncover the mystery.
I still very much enjoy this series and this world, but I am very content with the ending. This was a great addition, and I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoyed the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Toxic relationship, Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Gun violence
More...