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itstruly_flower's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Abandonment, and Violence
Minor: Alcohol
bujo_bellel'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I didn't really enjoy this book because the povs kept changing and it was really disorienting and frustrating when we finally get to something interesting in one pov then it's just abruptly changed to the other pov like there were plenty of parts where the pov could have been changed when there wasn't any new discovery where the pov could have been changed but that did not happen at all. Another thing is (spoiler for the earlier books in the series) I didn't really like being in Jameson's pov and seeing what he thinks about Avery and how they are together, idk if it's because I'm on Team Grayson, but like how they are together kind of annoyed me, like it feels like something isn't right. (spoiler over) Anyway I think like after the 60% mark it started getting interesting and got my interest but before that I wasn't hooked and kept putting the book down to read other books. The mystery of the safe box at the bank plot line was quite intriguing and more interesting than The Devil's Mercy plot line so I was definitely more interested and got more frustrated when the parts of the pov got cut off and switches over to the other pov. I liked seeing Grayson's family and getting to know his sisters and his mother and basically the history behind them and I like their characters and am now interested to see what Grayson does about the ending in the next book. About Jameson's family I would say his uncle is interesting but we didn't get much about their history and all that and I'm assuming we get to learn more about them in the next book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Infidelity, Death, Death of parent, Violence, and Grief
kirstenpod_'s review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Death, and Death of parent
avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
The first The Inheritance Games full-length book strictly from the Hawthorne brothers' POV.
I know this is probably the publisher's fault, not the authors, but I hated that it was two different stories going on at once and switching back and forth. This book really should have been two separate books! The constantly switching POVs took me out of the story. I would have preferred it as book 1 and book 2, one with Jameson's story and one with Grayson's. Plus, they didn't even have different narrators for each brother!
I didn't enjoy this book nearly as much as the others. I don't know if that's because this is the first one I listened to on audio, or if it's because of the problem of it being too long and the POV switching all the time.
Overall it was okay to good, but nowhere near great. It was also a bit predictable.
Narrator Rating: 3 stars
The narrator was good at doing different voices. But not great at changing tone for mood shifts. And didn't use much emotion in the reading.
Extra ratings: Fluff - 3/5 Heartfelt- 2/5 Helpful -NA Horror -NA Inspiration -NA Love aka Romance- 2.5/5 Mystery -2/5 Predictability -3.75/5 Spice-0.5/5 Suspense - NA Tear- 2/5 Thrill - 1.5/5 Humor-2.5/5
I know this is probably the publisher's fault, not the authors, but I hated that it was two different stories going on at once and switching back and forth. This book really should have been two separate books! The constantly switching POVs took me out of the story. I would have preferred it as book 1 and book 2, one with Jameson's story and one with Grayson's. Plus, they didn't even have different narrators for each brother!
I didn't enjoy this book nearly as much as the others. I don't know if that's because this is the first one I listened to on audio, or if it's because of the problem of it being too long and the POV switching all the time.
Overall it was okay to good, but nowhere near great. It was also a bit predictable.
Narrator Rating: 3 stars
The narrator was good at doing different voices. But not great at changing tone for mood shifts. And didn't use much emotion in the reading.
Extra ratings: Fluff - 3/5 Heartfelt- 2/5 Helpful -NA Horror -NA Inspiration -NA Love aka Romance- 2.5/5 Mystery -2/5 Predictability -3.75/5 Spice-0.5/5 Suspense - NA Tear- 2/5 Thrill - 1.5/5 Humor-2.5/5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Death of parent, and Infidelity
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, and Violence
Minor: Alcohol, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Death
katiejohns's review
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-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? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment and Grief
Minor: Death of parent
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
kaitlynnnng'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I loved that this book flipped back and forth between Grayson’s storyline and Jameson’s storyline. Each time the focus shifted, I found myself desperately wanting to get back to the other’s storyline, only to, then, find myself even more invested in the new storyline, and this cycle repeated.
I learned to love all of the characters even more in this book!
I was onto something with Jameson’s secret, but it still wasn’t what I expected.
The Epilogue has me freaking out a little bit, and, as always with Ms. Barnes, I can’t wait for the next book!
THANK GOD VINCENT BLAKE IS GONE! Though Eve may be a bigger threat.
I learned to love all of the characters even more in this book!
I was onto something with Jameson’s secret, but it still wasn’t what I expected.
The Epilogue has me freaking out a little bit, and, as always with Ms. Barnes, I can’t wait for the next book!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, and Stalking
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Alcohol
kassidyreads's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault, Abandonment, Death of parent, Addiction, and Infidelity
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
saoirse_the_thespian's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-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
3.75
The ending of this book had me slapping my mouth. Jennifer Lynn Barnes never fails to make you think with her Hawthorne puzzles and this book was no exception. I loved the duel perspective with Jameson and Grayson. My only issue is how their thoughts felt too calculated and less natural. Also, I felt like Jameson and Avery’s chemistry was a little off in this book. Overall, I enjoyed this book (especially Gigi who is now my second favorite character just behind Xander).
I don’t know if this was just me, but it felt like Jameson was slightly svicid@l at times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Infidelity
Moderate: Grief and Classism
Minor: Suicidal thoughts