Scan barcode
tays_books'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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Gun violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Death, and Alcohol
Minor: Death of parent, Stalking, Chronic illness, and Child death
danaegg's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
4.0
ooooo i really liked this!! loved how fast paced it was, and the chapters always ended with a cliff hanger, kept me wanting to read more. i think there was a good amount of things-you-are-trying-to-solve, it didn't get too busy but it had just enough to keep me engaged. i didn't think it was going to be so heavy on the romance though?? like i swear every other thought avery had was about one of the brothers. i think it would be cool if she didn't end up with any of them, but i don't think that will happen djkdshfk. personally i am team jameson but i see what they are doing there with grayson š. that last scene between them,,,, i see them writing in that forbidden romance. i see all the problems jameson has but š idk i like a little FUN. hoping for that healthy character arc š
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Death of parent, Death, Child death, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence
cdoubet's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Physical abuse, Violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Classism, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship
mcc004's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Stalking
Attempted murder by gun, attempted murder by car crashmermaidmommy19's review against another edition
slow-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? Yes
3.5
I enjoyed this book a lot, but it's definitely not in my top 10 for the year or anything. It was a little slow going at first and pretty predictable all the way around. I am excited to start the second book now. I'm hoping it'll be one of those series that gets better as it goes.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, Grief, and Gun violence
Minor: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Death
ecravens's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Death, Blood, Grief, and Toxic friendship
foxo_cube's review against another edition
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.
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
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Alcoholism, and Physical abuse
Minor: Homophobia, Infidelity, and Biphobia
ashleyvharris's review against another edition
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 Barnesā 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 āgamesā and raised them to value winning over all else. No wonder Emily happenedā¦ 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 thereās 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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Death of parent, Gun violence, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Physical abuse, Car accident, Classism, Domestic abuse, and Toxic relationship
zoeelora'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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Stalking, and Terminal illness
nehanaomi's review against another edition
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? No
4.0
I hate love triangles.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Gun violence, and Blood
Moderate: Car accident, Physical abuse, Grief, Medical content, and Domestic abuse