A review by fauna_n_fiction
The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

5.0

This book was damn-near perfect! I loved it so much. I sped through this book in two days because I COULD NOT put it down. The pacing is done so well and we are pulled along so beautifully that there was never a moment when I wanted to put the book down. We get straight to the action, straight to the drama and I was here for it. 

However, damn-near perfect means that it wasn’t perfect. So, let’s get into it. 

The Good 

Character

All the characters we were meant to love, I loved! All the characters we were meant to hate, I despised. It was brilliant. 

Barnes did a fantastic job at immediately letting us know what kind of person each character was. From the moment Drake said his first words, hated him. From the moment Jameson spoke, loved him. She immediately set the tone for what you’re in for with each character. 

Another thing Barnes did SO well is that none of the characters strayed away from who they were. Everyone was authentic with the type of person they were and they never changed or did anything that seemed out of character for them. 

I am talking about *the* bathroom scene! It was such a gut-punch but SOOO real and raw. I was here for the pain. 

Atmosphere

I LOVED Hawthorne House! The secret passages and the huge plot of land and the description of the architecture. I am sure we can all relate to wanting a big old-school estate, that is totally my aesthetic and dream life so I was living for all the rooms and secret entrances and secrets wings! I loved it. 

Writing 

This book flew by so quickly. The pacing was immaculate and there was never a moment when I was bored. Don’t get me wrong, there was nothing phenomenally lyrical or poetic but it worked for the story and what needed to be said was said. 

The Bad

The love triangle

I have never been a fan of the falling-for-two-brothers thing. So as soon as I started seeing that come up, I was rolling my eyes. However, if you’re like me and hate that trope, I wouldn’t let it turn you off the book because it was barely a triangle. There is very clearly one of the brother’s who Avery has chemistry with and is infatuated with and then the other brother is brought in PURELY in order for us to compare Avery to Emily. 

I felt like there was no reason to have Avery into both of the boys and I think it wasn’t executed perfectly because the one brother was only mild attraction and it wasn’t needed. I understand the thought-process of trying to have her as a parallel to Emily but the story would have worked perfectly well without that. 

Avery

Avery was a bit of a pick-me girl. She was constantly saying “girls like me” and asking “oh, why would they be interested in me?” Sometimes it worked and other times I felt it completely unnecessary because she never actually showed a side that was strange or unique or particularly “quirky.” She was an average plain-Jane and had no reason to think of herself as weird or “not like the other girls.” 

Conveniences 

SPOILERS:
<spoilers>The fact that Emily HAPPENED to die on the same day Avery was born… I refuse to believe that’s the whole story. The fact that Tobias met her at six and kept an eye on her (number 1 is kinda creepy) doesn’t really make up for the fact that this entire game was based on that detail. </spoilers>

I cannot wait to read the next book because I KNOW we don’t have all the answers and I NEED them! 

SPOILERS:
<spoilers>The Assassination Attempts 

There was already so much going on with the mystery and Emily and everything that the assassination seems a little bit too much for me. Don’t get me wrong, I loved it but it didn’t fully fit in with everything else that was happening. 

I feel like genuinely the story would have gone the same way without the assassination plot line so it didn’t feel completely necessary.</spoilers>