Book Review: The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Final Gambit (The Inheritance Games #3) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Genre: Young Adult Fiction (Mystery/Romance)
Date Published: September 7, 2021
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Avery’s fortune, life, and loves are on the line in the game that everyone will be talking about.

To inherit billions, all Avery Kylie Grambs has to do is survive a few more weeks living in Hawthorne House. The paparazzi are dogging her every step. Financial pressures are building. Danger is a fact of life. And the only thing getting Avery through it all is the Hawthorne brothers. Her life is intertwined with theirs. She knows their secrets and they know her.

But as the clock ticks down to the moment when Avery will become the richest teenager on the planet, trouble arrives in the form of a visitor who needs her help—and whose presence in Hawthorne House could change everything. It soon becomes clear that there is one last puzzle to solve, and Avery and the Hawthorne brothers are drawn into a dangerous game against an unknown and powerful player.

The Final Gambit by Jennifer is the last book in the Inheritance Games Trilogy. Although, I heard there’s going to be another book? Hmm.

Ok. So, I really enjoyed this whole trilogy. My main complaint will be the romance aspect. I love Grayson, and I love Jameson. I think the pressure was getting to them or something, because these boys weren’t themselves. Jameson was insecure about Avery and Grayson… a lot of people complained about how changed Grayson was this time around. To me? His behavior made perfect sense. This guy feels very deeply, so I get it. If we didn’t see him start to crack, I feel like that wouldn’t feel real.  I’m not saying who she ends up with. I will say, I’m still Team Grayson.

The riddles and games were addictive. I don’t know how the author weaved so many puzzles, family ties, mysteries, and secrets all together and made it make sense. She must be some kind of genius, but it worked. It was a crazy spiderweb of happenings! 

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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