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A review by emmalaure
The Brothers Hawthorne by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is by far my favorite of The Inheritance Games series. Typically, multiple POV books are not my favorite because I tend to find characters and storylines that I like more than others, but I was very happy to find that both storylines in The Hawthorne Brothers captivated me equally. I was never disappointed to switch POVs because it meant getting back to an equivalently engrossing story.
This book is focused on Grayson and Jameson. One side of the story centers around Grayson traveling to Phoenix, where his half-sisters reside. He initially arrives in town to get Gigi (the bubbly of the two twins) out of jail, and ends up entangled in her scheme to find out what happened to her father. Grayson is determined to protect his and Avery's secret regarding his father's disappearance without getting emotionally attached to his half-sisters and the ideas of what could have been had they grown up at least somewhat together. I love Grayson as a character. He's very complex; he's been raised to be the heir apparent of Tobias Hawthorne, to be perfect and commanding of respect, but he's hurting. This storyline allowed us readers to see more of Grayson, what goes on in his mind and how the cold front he puts up with strangers is equally a shield and a strategic method of obtaining what he wants or needs. His internal conflict made the story interesting, and his half-sisters charmed me very quickly, too.
In the storyline, we have Jameson who's father contacts him again to help him. His father has recently lost the deed to a manor that has been in their family for a long time, and needs Jameson's help retrieving it. Naturally, Jameson can't refuse. He loves the game too much. He and Avery end up entering an exclusive underground gambling club in order to enter a game organized by the Proprietor, owner of the club, and win the chance to retrieve the deed. I found this storyline to be just as enthralling as Grayson's, and it actually made me like Jameson a lot more. In my mind, he was still the rash young man who lives for danger and has no sense of consequence if it means winning a game. Reading his POV, however, gave me a lot of new insight on Jameson and how his childhood and teenage years shaped him to be who he is now.
I will also quickly add that there are multiple flashbacks to the boys' childhood in which we see more of their relationship with their grandfather that helped flesh out their characters a lot more. This book was such a great addition to the series!
This book is focused on Grayson and Jameson. One side of the story centers around Grayson traveling to Phoenix, where his half-sisters reside. He initially arrives in town to get Gigi (the bubbly of the two twins) out of jail, and ends up entangled in her scheme to find out what happened to her father. Grayson is determined to protect his and Avery's secret regarding his father's disappearance without getting emotionally attached to his half-sisters and the ideas of what could have been had they grown up at least somewhat together. I love Grayson as a character. He's very complex; he's been raised to be the heir apparent of Tobias Hawthorne, to be perfect and commanding of respect, but he's hurting. This storyline allowed us readers to see more of Grayson, what goes on in his mind and how the cold front he puts up with strangers is equally a shield and a strategic method of obtaining what he wants or needs. His internal conflict made the story interesting, and his half-sisters charmed me very quickly, too.
In the storyline, we have Jameson who's father contacts him again to help him. His father has recently lost the deed to a manor that has been in their family for a long time, and needs Jameson's help retrieving it. Naturally, Jameson can't refuse. He loves the game too much. He and Avery end up entering an exclusive underground gambling club in order to enter a game organized by the Proprietor, owner of the club, and win the chance to retrieve the deed. I found this storyline to be just as enthralling as Grayson's, and it actually made me like Jameson a lot more. In my mind, he was still the rash young man who lives for danger and has no sense of consequence if it means winning a game. Reading his POV, however, gave me a lot of new insight on Jameson and how his childhood and teenage years shaped him to be who he is now.
I will also quickly add that there are multiple flashbacks to the boys' childhood in which we see more of their relationship with their grandfather that helped flesh out their characters a lot more. This book was such a great addition to the series!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Abandonment
Moderate: Death of parent