Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - The Final Gambit

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

64 reviews

eri_off_the_shelf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

This book including the rest of the series was absolutely amazing! A perfect series for the mystery genre. It was definitely complicated but it wasn't so out there that you couldn't play along. I could make predictions and it was actually possible to be right. The romances were perfectly complicated, and sometimes silent smile or squeal worthy. This book was an experience. Through Avery you could understand other and her own expressions and tones implication's. Amazingly written, a roller coaster, a thrill, an adventure. A gambit.

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esme_t's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.75

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lizgriffinwords's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

Great conclusion to the trilogy! Higher stakes and more twists (that brought some resolution to some of the things in book 2 that irritated me).

I still give some side-eye to Avery remaining emotionally entwined with Grayson while she is apparently SLEEPING WITH Jameson… but maybe that’s just me???

Content notes: gun violence, references to past death and murder and arson

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serena_hien's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

3.5

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foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

It took me awhile to get back into this one because it had been awhile since I read the second book. So there was lots I had to catch up on and so many characters and their personalities to remember. Thus, I found it slow and a bit less interesting than I expected. That is until I got to the last third of this book and could not put it down. I loved the climax and ending so much, altogether this trilogy has been so much lighthearted, mysterious fun. I would definitely recommend.

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sweetsxrrxw's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny 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

[this review will contain several spoilers. please make sure to avoid it until you have read the full book!]

i was a bit afraid to read this book. i wasn't sure of what to expect as the ending and i was also worried about how the love triangle would develop. but i have to say i am overall satisfied with everything!

this book, altogether, was the one where most of the characters got to show their most emotional side of themselves. it was a bit slow paced in the beginning so it took me a while to get into the story but once i did i just loved to see everyone's vulenrability.
the general realization that tobias hawthorne was a morally grey person, who had to do some horrible stuff in order to maintain some stability in his life, was so important. i could say that it was one of the most important themes in the book. it impacted all of the characters, specially his close family but i believe it was a very needed reminder. most people you look up to usually have a dirty path behind them.

however, i can't properly talk about that topic without talking about each character so just let me do it real quick, while i also give my opinions on them:

first of all, let's start with xander. i am convinced i have said this in my previous reviews to this series BUT man, i absolutely love him. he owns my heart, he is a softie but also the funniest person you'll ever meet. if it's not one of your favorite characters, i'm sorry but i can't trust you. like, honestly, most of my annotated quotes revolve around him. i just love him so so so much, fr. i love how in this book he wasn't left besides that much and that he got to rebond with his dad <33
nash and libby still own a piece of my heart, of course, but xander will always be famous to me <3 like ok maybe they're not that relevant to the plotline but i still relate a lot to both of them. also we got to learn where nash's savior complex came from and i think that was interesting. idk my love for him just grew a bit more. and same goes to libby! her "survivor" tattoo hit me :/
i can understand why grayson acted the way he did during the book. i've read other reviews saying he was annoying for sticking with eve but, tbh, i think most people would do the same stuff he did if they were on his spot. also, i feel like during this book he let his walls down more often which is a detail that made me really happy. i love it when though characters give themselves an emotional break. and, even though i believe he deserves a happy ending, i'm not mad at the ending he got. i think he really needed some time for himself
oh, and let's talk about jameson! well, he was my fave love interest since the first book. i related maybe a bit too much to his "i was never enough and everyone always prefered jameson" speech, lmao. and of course, i was afraid that the author was going to pull up the cliché love triangle trilogy line where jameson's character would magically become an asshole and avery would choose grayson bc of his dark sad past which makes him mysterious and cool. but i'm glad none of that happened. i love grayson but i would have been very heartbroken if, after opening up to her about never feeling enough, avery didn't choose jameson. and i'm also happy that, instead of letting his insecurities set him apart, he fought through them because he was totally sure he loved avery <3
and focusing on avery now, i don't love her as much as i love other characters but i don't dislike her either. i think she's a good main character who has grown throughout the three books. of course she had always been a clever girl with clear goals but by the end i think she turned out to be more mature than what i was expecting. like, i don't think any reader was anticipating the fact that she would give away most of her inheritance.
another character i liked was toby. i was very upset when he lost the chess game and was forced to oficially become toby blake. but, on the other hand, i believe that's part of the consequences of his actions so i don't think i can complain much about it.
oren kept me intrigued because he knew about tobias' plan all along but he never showed any clue of it. idk, i just feel like if i were him i could not keep my mouth shout lmao. so shoutout to him for keeping the mystery a secret during this whole story!
even side characters such as thea and rebecca which were given more importance in this book, made my heart melt and shatter a bit. i don't really understand how thea became an influencer but she speaks so softly and beautifully about bex so i like her! and idk i feel like rebecca's story was what got me to like her more. like, yes baby, you deserve to live a happy life doing whatever you want and to shine on your own <3

i think that another detail i kinda loved was the cyclical "ending", it was nice to see toby and avery play chess once again, maybe it all felt a bit weak and it was hard for me to believe that vincent would risk so much with just a bunch of games.

so yeah, in general it was a good ending for the trilogy. but i think i can't give it 4 full stars because of the slow pacing at the beginning. it just did not keep me hooked the same way the first book did, but still it was good!

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guitarmonkey4's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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oceanwriter's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? Yes

4.0

Once again, I have managed to become completely invested in the Hawthorne (and honorary Hawthorne) riddles and games.

Upon turning eighteen, Avery is heading toward the complete inheritance of the Hawthorne billions. However, the arrival of Eve brings another game, this time one that contemplates friends and foes.

It took a little while for me to get into the plot of this one. I still had some trouble keeping the Hawthorne boys straight. I think I might finally have it down now. Everything picked up in the second half, and then I didn’t want it to end. I liked how much Avery lead this game compared to the others where she was still learning the ways Hawthornes play.

I’m sad to see this particular part of the series come to an end. I never anticipated getting as hooked on the books as I have. Though my feelings are mixed on a lot of things, I have to say this has become one of my all-time favorite series.

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colorful_lulu's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious sad 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

4.75

Overall I really liked the book. If you read the other two inheritance game books then you must read this. This is the final inheritance game novel where the protagonist is Avery and the ending concludes the series really well. We see more of Xander and Nash, both underrated Hawthorns brothers, as well as Rebecca and Thea. And 3 new characters that are really interesting.

Can’t wait for The Brother Hawthorne next year!

What I loved: Unlike the first two books where the main mystery was about finding out why Avery was chosen or about Toby, this book focuses on power and money that Avery is very close to inheriting. This brings us a whole different type of mystery for us to solve and Tobias Hawthorn’s shadow is always present everywhere Avery goes.

I the ending to be a perfect way to end the series but I want to know all the trips that Avery and Jameson went on as well as Xander working with Isaiah (and the obvious relationship between Xander and Max). Hopefully, The Brother Hawthorn will cover more about Jameson’s adventure with Avery and just overall give more details about the brothers. I understand how the amount of information that we know reflects Avery’s relationship with each brother but I wanna know more!

What I didn't like/wanted different: I personally found Grayson's quiet OOC during the middle of the book. I understand that Grayson is taking more time to process Emily's trauma but we never saw him break like this before, and the only reason why he breaks is that Avery chooses Jameson instead of him. I haven’t read the other 2 inheritance game in a while but Gray never acted like this before. Also, his reason why for becoming close to Eve was so weird. “I’m close to this stranger who claims to be Toby’s daughter not because she looks like Emily, the girl I feel responsible for letting die, but because my crush, the strange girl who inherited my rich grandfather's money, chose my brother instead!” His motivation to get close to Eve could’ve just been that she looks like Emily and he hasn’t moved on, which Jameson literally explained, but at last we must maintain this weird love triangle.

Minor complaint, maybe it’s because Tobias Hawthorn said “Don’t trust them” but I knew Eve was going to become evil. Maybe it was good foreshadowing that I was able to find but it was quite obvious from how Avery was suspicious of her while everyone told her that she shouldn’t be suspicious.

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librariangeorgia's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, just as much as the previous ones!

This one focused more on Tobias’ history which was … interesting, to say the least.

With more new characters being introduced, and old ones being fleshed out more, the relationships between them all started to become more and more complicated - it became hard to keep track at one point.

The highlight for me was that ending though. I actually cannot believe that Avery actually did that!! Even though it kinda fits in with what she’d do, it was completely unexpected!

I’m really looking forward to seeing what the upcoming books bring - I’d like more on how their lives are following the end of this one, but I’d also like to see Tobias bringing up the Hawthorne boys (and the chaos that inevitably comes with them).

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