Reviews with content warning for Murder - The Final Gambit

~1st Reread~
Well, I guess I was wrong. This book was SO MUCH BETTER upon rereading. It's a five-star book now. My heart wasn't set on things being a certain way. I knew what to expect. I saw all the little things I'd been missing before. As a result, I saw just how amazing and absolutely genius the finale of this trilogy really is. I'm so glad I decided to reread this series before the release of The Grandest Game.

~Original Review~
This book warrants a well-earned 4.25 Stars! For the first half of the book, I wasn't loving it nearly as much as the others in this series. It's kind of hard to pinpoint the all-encompassing reason why that was. The mystery itself was great. The story was intriguing. There were some really great moments in this book (some involving the romance). The only things I can really point to for sure were a couple of the characters. Grayson was a lot different from what he was like in the other two novels. The given explanation for this made sense to me (his past), but he started out as being very unlikable. I also did not like a certain newly introduced character at first. She came off as annoying and childish to me at first. She was like this for a little over half the book. Then the plot really kicked in. I can't say much without risking spoilers, but I was left very content with the ending this book gave, and with the characters of both Grayson and our new arrival. If you aren't loving the book at first, trust me--- it gets better.

A note on the romance in this novel. The beginning of this book changed my outlook on Grayson. Yes, he is still one of my favorite characters in the book. I'm just not sure I'll ever truly forgive Grayson for how... different... he was during the first half of this book. Jameson has slowly grown on me as a character as I've read this series similar to how Warner from Shatter Me is growing on me.

I applaude Ms. Barnes for how she concluded this novel--- not just in terms of the romance, but also in terms of the story and the character development. This is NOT a Fantasy series. I am NOT usually a fan of that which is not Sci-Fi or Fantasy. That changed with these novels. The Inheritance Games is a new favorite of mine. I will be rereading it in the future. I will think about it often. It has earned its place on my bookshelf. And, I am SO excited to preorder and eventually read The Brothers Hawthorne next August. This Tiktok-famous series deserves its praise. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone and everyone who loves YA and wants a fun read.

Content Warnings

mjeanette_'s review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

- overall a fun read!
- plot points all felt fleshed out, no lingering mysteries at the end
-

nash and libby together <3

Content Warnings

aas's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-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

4.75

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heidipretzel's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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nikkiblack17's review against another edition

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4.0

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teabrewer's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

1.5

The series should have ended on the second book, at least. All I could think since the very first page was that the author was really scrapping the bottom of a barrel where the food was also slightly past expiration date. Maybe if this book wasn't part of this series I would have been slightly more tolerant. To b honest, at some points I just skipped full pagest to end the suffering sooner. I do appreciate that the author at least tried to pretend this all had been planned from the beggining but there are only so many places a story that was already finished could go.

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literarymary95's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging 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

Just like the previous books, this kept me guessing the motives of Hawthorne bringing her into the fold and giving her his inheritance. The ending made sense and made reading the trilogy worth it. I don't plan to read the other books that follow as they're extra and not necessarily continuing the current story line but seem more like a companion style book but after the events of the trilogy.

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