The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

 

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barns

    The Inheritance Games was another book that I picked up because of BookTok and a book that I had a hard time getting my hands on! I really enjoy going to the bookstore and finding a book that I'm looking for. There's just something missing when all you have to do is click "Buy Now" on Amazon. But after three trips to different bookstores, I ended up having to have the third store order it for me. With the book finally in my hands, I placed it on my TBR shelf, where it sat. And sat. And sat. For about three months it sat. There was just always something else that seemed like it was going to be bigger or better than this book. After a two day binge read of this book, I can say now I was wrong!!

    The Inheritance Games is a YA delight for anyone who loves "Knives Out" or a good Agatha Christie style mystery. Our main character, Avery, is a high school girl who has had some really tough breaks. Her mother has passed away and her father is absent. She lives with her half sister and her abusive boyfriend and she struggles to make ends meet and keep up her grades. Everything changes for her when a handsome but smug young man named Grayson shows up at her school to tell her that he has been looking for her. 

    Avery has been left the estate of billionaire Tobias Hawthorne, a man she has never met or even heard of before. The only stipulation to her inheriting is that she must live in his mega mansion for one year, with all of the family members who were passed over. Tobias Hawthorne was an eccentric man and his house is no exception. Choosing to add on to the home every year, it is filled with secret passageways, tunnels, and puzzles. Avery is set on a path to solve the mystery of why she was chosen and she is met with very real danger on her adventure!

    I really only have one complaint when it comes to this book but I suppose when I stand back and look at said complaint, it's a pretty big one. I was reading this at a break-neck pace. Dying to solve the puzzles and get to some answers, I couldn't put it down. But as I was running out of pages, I started to realize that there were lots of things that still needed explored and answered, and that I wasn't going to get them. It was then that I did a quick Google search to discover that this was not a stand alone novel, but rather the start of a series. Cue disappointing music. I don't know if it was because I started the book thinking it was a stand alone, or if I have just been knee deep in too many series since the start of this year, but  this revelation hit me like a sack of bricks. I just don't think every story needs to be a series and I was so loving how this book was unfolding thinking I was going to have all my answers by the end of it. So if you embark on this adventure, reader be warned, the end is not the end. And you have to wait until September to continue the story. 

    Disappointment aside, I thought this was a really fun book. The puzzles are head scratching, but not impossible. I was dancing around the reveals but never totally guessed what was coming next. There was adventure, danger, mystery, suspense. And my personal favorite, short chapters. Add ingredients together with ice, shake, and serve for my favorite book cocktail. I thought the characters were developed enough, but could have been a bit more dimensional. Perhaps that's what will happen in Book 2. As a reader, you never fully know who is a "bad guy," creating a feeling of distrust with all of the characters that I'm sure Avery must have felt as she was shoved into this new life with a group of strangers that hate her just for existing. I was a little confused in the beginning because there are a lot of secondary characters, but you get there eventually.  

    Final Assessment: Keep in mind that you are starting a series, take a deep breath, and dive into this shadowy YA mystery. This book was best served lakeside with a floatie and plenty of sunscreen. You won't be coming in until the book is done and your skin has turned into a raisin.  

Happy Sleuthing Fearless Readers!