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A review by ghostyreader
The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
The Inheritance Games is a fun, fast-paced, twisty mystery that kept me on the edge of my seat. When Avery gets a sudden, life-changing inheritance from a total stranger, she is thrust into the family drama of the brilliant Hawthornes. As she tries to solve the mysteries of why the billionaire Tobias Hawthorne left his fortune to her and how to survive the year she must spend in his mansion, she's faced with the more pressing challenge of which Hawthornes to trust (if any of them are trustworthy!).
Hawthorne House is its own character, a massive mansion full of secret passages, hidden compartments, and all of the rich-people nonsense you can imagine (a bowling alley! a huge climbing wall! an arcade! six libraries!). I liked how the narrative presents our understanding of it, as well as the other characters, that grows and changes with time. The narrative closely follows Avery's experience, including her initial impressions the Hawthornes and how she attempts to figure them out.This focus on Avery's life and experiences explains why she stays in the mansion, even with the huge lifestyle change and threat of death - she's been destitute and alone except for her sister/guardian Libby and Libby's abusive on-again off-again boyfriend. Who could possibly give up living in the lap of luxury, with the possibility to do an amazing amount of good through the Hawthorne Foundation, to go back to living in their car?
I was surprised when Skye turns out to be the one who tries to have Avery killed, because I had bought into Avery's initial impression of her as an airy, frivolous sort of person. But then I realized that Jennifer Lynn Barnes had masterfully laid the foundation for this reveal in Skye's mercenary approach to having children. When Nash lays out the way his mother would leave and come back pregnant every year to have his younger brothers, it is clear that she was a woman with a goal: have those four kids she said she wanted at the beginning. Was Tobias always planning to leave a four-digit message? What would it have been before Emily's death -- perhaps something about Tobias II, the missing son? I can't wait to read the next book and find out all about the search for Tobias/Henry.
I highly recommend this book for fans of mysteries, books about weird mansions, and/or puzzles. It reminded me, in parts, of Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (though less creepy and with less critique of colonialism), The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (though I remember that as a bit more light-hearted), and of course the movies Clue (though, unfortunately, without Tim Curry) and Knives Out (though without the outside-genius private investigator trope).
Hawthorne House is its own character, a massive mansion full of secret passages, hidden compartments, and all of the rich-people nonsense you can imagine (a bowling alley! a huge climbing wall! an arcade! six libraries!). I liked how the narrative presents our understanding of it, as well as the other characters, that grows and changes with time. The narrative closely follows Avery's experience, including her initial impressions the Hawthornes and how she attempts to figure them out.
I highly recommend this book for fans of mysteries, books about weird mansions, and/or puzzles. It reminded me, in parts, of Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (though less creepy and with less critique of colonialism), The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (though I remember that as a bit more light-hearted), and of course the movies Clue (though, unfortunately, without Tim Curry) and Knives Out (though without the outside-genius private investigator trope).
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death and Domestic abuse