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A review by shaun_trinh
The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
4.0
3.5/5
So going into this sequel I did know that there were a fair bit of people that didn't like it as much as the first book and I can see why. The first half of Hawthorne Legacy was just missing SOMETHING in the writing that made the mystery and the relationships in book 1 feel rich and dynamic. Also it didn't help that Max is the most annoying, juvinile, and pointless character and for some reason just had to come and be a more frequent component in the story. And by that I mean she existed to give cringey dialogue and commentary that really wasn't necessary. Max has the role of being a friend to Avery and being a convuluted way to bring her back to Hawthorne house after the explosion, but she as a character offers nothing besides annoyance. We got more of her and LESS of Oren and that just makes me so sad. Love that man. Also I can't be the only one who finds it weird that there's just no issue with Thea going along with the mystery. She tags along and everyone accepts it despite the shit she kept pulling in the last book.
I also just didn't like how Avery was getting bullied by literally everyone. Yeah she's got some serious issues with other people, but could she not one up them, ever? She had issues with other characters in book 1 yeah, it just felt like she was getting piled on so much more in this book.
However comma, with all of this said I loved the 2nd half. The mystery, the relationships felt interesting again. Dramatic rich people problems got that bit of spice that the first half was missing. I felt enthralled again and not just trying to read through the story to find something interesting. I honesty don't even know how to describe the difference between the first and second half, the vibe was just different. The characters felt like what they were saying and doing had more weight too it even if the scene itself wasn't super severe and just chill or mundane. The mystery felt like it was more engaging and had more substnace. Also the 2nd half's drama was just better. Plain and simple.
I'm not sure how I feel about the ending climax. I did just say the drama was better but something about this last climax between, Avery, Sheffield, Millie, and Toby felt very rushed and executed poorly. I assumed Avery wasn't actually Toby's daugher due to us being told about it so early on in the book and and Millie always did come off suspicious, but just how it all accumulated in the end was all so weird. I feel like Millie and her kid are gonna come back and challenge the will and I really don't wanna read about that.
Lastly I don't agree with Avery going for Jameson at the end. I think her dynamic with Grayson is a lot more interesting and I feel like the book is going to go towards Grayson anyways in The Final Gambit so I wish we didn't have to go through Jameson first and all that drama and comparisons with Emily.
So going into this sequel I did know that there were a fair bit of people that didn't like it as much as the first book and I can see why. The first half of Hawthorne Legacy was just missing SOMETHING in the writing that made the mystery and the relationships in book 1 feel rich and dynamic. Also it didn't help that Max is the most annoying, juvinile, and pointless character and for some reason just had to come and be a more frequent component in the story. And by that I mean she existed to give cringey dialogue and commentary that really wasn't necessary. Max has the role of being a friend to Avery and being a convuluted way to bring her back to Hawthorne house after the explosion, but she as a character offers nothing besides annoyance. We got more of her and LESS of Oren and that just makes me so sad. Love that man. Also I can't be the only one who finds it weird that there's just no issue with Thea going along with the mystery. She tags along and everyone accepts it despite the shit she kept pulling in the last book.
I also just didn't like how Avery was getting bullied by literally everyone. Yeah she's got some serious issues with other people, but could she not one up them, ever? She had issues with other characters in book 1 yeah, it just felt like she was getting piled on so much more in this book.
However comma, with all of this said I loved the 2nd half. The mystery, the relationships felt interesting again. Dramatic rich people problems got that bit of spice that the first half was missing. I felt enthralled again and not just trying to read through the story to find something interesting. I honesty don't even know how to describe the difference between the first and second half, the vibe was just different. The characters felt like what they were saying and doing had more weight too it even if the scene itself wasn't super severe and just chill or mundane. The mystery felt like it was more engaging and had more substnace. Also the 2nd half's drama was just better. Plain and simple.
I'm not sure how I feel about the ending climax. I did just say the drama was better but something about this last climax between, Avery, Sheffield, Millie, and Toby felt very rushed and executed poorly. I assumed Avery wasn't actually Toby's daugher due to us being told about it so early on in the book and and Millie always did come off suspicious, but just how it all accumulated in the end was all so weird. I feel like Millie and her kid are gonna come back and challenge the will and I really don't wanna read about that.
Lastly I don't agree with Avery going for Jameson at the end. I think her dynamic with Grayson is a lot more interesting and I feel like the book is going to go towards Grayson anyways in The Final Gambit so I wish we didn't have to go through Jameson first and all that drama and comparisons with Emily.