Book Review: The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Inheritance Games (The Inheritance Games #1) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Genre: Young Adult Fiction (Paranormal/Fantasy Romance)
Date Published: September 1, 2020
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Avery Grambs has a plan for a better future: survive high school, win a scholarship, and get out. But her fortunes change in an instant when billionaire Tobias Hawthorne dies and leaves Avery virtually his entire fortune. The catch? Avery has no idea why -- or even who Tobias Hawthorne is.

To receive her inheritance, Avery must move into sprawling, secret passage-filled Hawthorne House, where every room bears the old man's touch -- and his love of puzzles, riddles, and codes. Unfortunately for Avery, Hawthorne House is also occupied by the family that Tobias Hawthorne just dispossessed. This includes the four Hawthorne grandsons: dangerous, magnetic, brilliant boys who grew up with every expectation that one day, they would inherit billions. Heir apparent Grayson Hawthorne is convinced that Avery must be a conwoman, and he's determined to take her down. His brother, Jameson, views her as their grandfather's last hurrah: a twisted riddle, a puzzle to be solved. Caught in a world of wealth and privilege, with danger around every turn, Avery will have to play the game herself just to survive.

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is the first book in The Inheritance Games series. This kind of reminded me of the movie, Knives Out. Only it was more serious and not as goofy as the movie. Through an inheritance from someone she’s never heard of, Avery is thrown into one giant game with a bunch of people she doesn’t know, and they don’t know her either. I have no idea who to trust. Even after finishing this book, I still don’t trust a single person. Not even her sister or best friend. I’m looking at them all with squinty eyes as I read. And the more you find out, the shiftier these folks seem. It’s really a fun book. You get to solve some of the puzzles right along with the characters. This is a keeper, and I’m anxious to get started on the next book.

Jennifer Lynn Barnes (who mostly goes by Jen) is the author of more than a dozen critically acclaimed young adult novels. She has advanced degrees in psychology, psychiatry, and cognitive science, including graduate degrees from Cambridge University, where she was a Fulbright Scholar, and Yale University, where she received her Ph.D. in 2012. Jen wrote her first published novel when she was nineteen-years-old and sold her first five books while still in college. In additional to writing YA novels, Jen has also written original pilot scripts for television networks like USA and MTV, and she is one of the world's leading experts on the psychology of fandom and the cognitive science of fiction and the imagination more broadly. Jen is an Associate Professor at the University of Oklahoma, where she holds a dual appointment in Psychology and Professional Writing.

To learn more about Jennifer Lynn Barnes and her books, visit her website. You can also find her on Goodreads, Tumblr, and Twitter.

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