Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

66 reviews

karapillar's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Oh my god. Wow. Wow wow wow! I regret not reading this book sooner. It is so. Stinking. Good. I like to think I’m pretty good at predicting endings, but this one through me for a loop! I had nooooo idea what was going to happen throughout the entire book. Twists, mysteries, and suspense kept  me turning up until literally the very last page. I’m obsessed. I’m starting book two immediately. Good bye, sleep!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Violence, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Classism, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Blood, Stalking, Infidelity, Murder, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Child death, Chronic illness, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

mmage's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Cursing, Grief, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, and Murder

Minor: Car accident

lri_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Domestic abuse, Murder, and Death

cateemma's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Murder, and Toxic relationship

nessabali's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Hate crime, Murder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Stalking

norwegianforestreader's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious relaxing 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Death, Grief, Gun violence, and Murder

Minor: Abandonment, Biphobia, and Self harm

theespressoedition's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Wow wow WOW! When people say this book is good, they're not messing around. This book is good. You've probably heard that it resembles Knives Out, and that description is spot-on! I was only a few chapters in before I exclaimed aloud (to my very kind husband who regularly has to listen to me spout my thoughts on books while we're in bed at night and he'd rather be watching YouTube) that "OMG this is so much like Knives Out!" But... it might be, dare I say... better? 

I have always been a sucker for a good mystery. As a kid, I loved finding the most obscure kid's mystery books (no Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys for me) and seeing how quickly I could solve them. Bonus points if it happened before the halfway point. As an adult, this has become nearly a toxic trait because I see things coming from a mile away. Usually, even with mystery books, I'm disappointed when I realize that I've discovered all of the plot twists before they happen. This is even the case when I'm watching TV shows (again, bless my dear husband who has to listen to me tell him my predictions, which often ruins whatever we watch because I'm typically right - oops) and it becomes quite irritating after a while. I just want something to surprise me!

The Inheritance Games surprised me - over and over and over again. There weren't necessarily jaw-dropping moments where I thought, "OMG IT WAS THEM?!" so much as subtle twists and turns that kept me on my toes. It was so satisfying to read, predict, and then be swept away towards another direction, only to be pleasantly surprised when that earlier detail came back up again in a way that was unexpected. I had a tough time putting the book down for this exact reason!

I loved the different characters in this. You really never know who to trust, who's to blame, and what the motives are for any character at any given time and that is such fun. I certainly have my favorites (Xander and Libby) but it'll be interesting to see how everyone develops over the rest of the series.

Do yourself a favor and read this book ASAP because it really is that good (in case my earlier pronouncement of this wasn't enough).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Death

Minor: Abandonment, Gun violence, and Murder

jfield351's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense 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? No

4.25

Wow! This was a really good book! It is the most fast paced books I have ever read, the author Jennifer Lynn Barnes does not waste words and cuts right to the chase. I also loved the short chapters (around 3 pages long) as they allowed me to read how much i wanted to read. It was gripping. And the idea of the book - amazing. The whole time I was dying to know the twist.

I did guess that the boys’ middle names’ were places, but that is the only thing i guessed

. It was very family friendly. I really loved and appreciated how the ‘clues’ in this book were not far fetched, it always made sense that the participants would discover and interpret them.

The ending was interesting, at first I was like okay that’s cool, whatever. Then the last page before the epilogue had me shook. That is a good twist. I wish it could have ended with an in-depth letter from Mr Hawthorne but there is another book so i’ll just have to read that! I’m still a bit intrigued / confused by the Drake thing so the next book will hopefully clarify a bit more

. Very easy to read and very clever. Gave me ‘Rebecca’ by Daphne Du Maurier vibes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Death, Medical content, and Car accident

Minor: Cursing, Blood, Infidelity, Sexual content, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cancer, Abandonment, and Murder

young_adult_bookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.75

 Review:

I really enjoyed reading the inheritance games, as it was fast paced and full of secrets and mystery to solve. Barnes writing just kept you hooked all the way through, with a fast pace and short chapters I flew through the book. 

Avery was an interesting character, going from a girl as plain as wallpaper to the media's new biggest sensation. She is set on cracking the clues and finding the truth behind her being picked to inherit everything. 

One thing I loved about this is that everything is there for a reason, everything is a hint or clue to what is to follow. What I mean is everything has a reason or consequence, which means without realising it you are trying to figure out the clues along with the characters. The few loose ends that are left i am one hundred percent sure will be wrapped up in the two books that follow this one

I am excited to read the next books in the series. I am also annoyed that I didn't buy them when I got the first one. I need to know what happens next and how everything wraps up.

If you are looking for a book that is adventurous, challenging but easy to read, emotional, mysterious and tense, The Inheritance Games is for you.

Favourite Quote:

“Everything’s a game, Avery Grambs. The only thing we get to decide in this life is if we play to win.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Alcoholism

caitcosentino's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Murder