Jennifer Lynn Barnes, another young adult author, has many degrees from psychology to cognitive science. And she attended both Cambridge University, where she was a LIghtbright scholar, as well as Yale, for her Ph. D. In addition to her impressive academic career, she published her first book, Golden, in her Freshman year of college soon after finishing her first “practice” book. Over the course of being an author, she has written 28 total published books including many standalones and around 2-3 completed book series. The two well known series of hers are The Naturals and The Inheritance Games.
The Inheritance Games, the very first book of the series, was published sometime in September of 2020. Beginning in a small town in Connecticut, Avery Kylie Grambs just wanted to graduate highschool and leave her sister’s house as soon as possible. However, some way or another she gets wrapped up into something bigger than her. After being invited to the Hawthorne’s mansion for a will reading of Tobias Hawthorne, she inherits the entirety of his family’s fortune without any true evidence as to why. So Avery and her sister, Libbie, brave the interconnected and secretive Hawthorne family to figure out what truly is going on.
Plot Overview
Entering the Hawthorne mansion, the reader is introduced to the four grandchildren of Tobias Hawthorne. Nash, the oldest, is 22 and the authoritative figure out of the brothers. Grayson, second oldest, is 19 and the smart stoic brother. Jameson, the middle child, is 18 and the embodiment of playful chaos along with rebellion. And Xander, also known as Alexander, the youngest, is 17 with a knack for inventions and other creations. Despite their differing personalities, each brother shares a common interest in competitions and wanting to outwit each other.
Familiar with their grandfather’s troubling and difficult riddles, the brothers are prepared to tackle the mystery of Avery and their grandfather’s suspicious will. With competition in their keen minds and Avery’s fresh perspective, they begin looking for clues to lead them as to why she was included so significantly.
As the reader delves deeper into Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ novel, the reader begins to pick up on her amazing writing skills. Barnes creates a wonderful story atmosphere with its mysterious mansion design and secrets buried, both literal and figurative, in the entirety of the mansion. Each room and office hid the history of previous conflicts along with some hidden aspects that are difficult to see at first glance. In addition, her novel has many well thought out and in depth aspects that begin to solve the mystery overtime. As well as suspenseful moments where characters are forced to choose between giving up on solving the mystery or adapting to their new lives without knowing why. On top of those suspenseful moments, the character dynamics as well as the characters themselves are well crafted and really add to the secret ridden Hawthorne mansion. Overall, the characters and the well detailed setting really makes her novel hard to put down.
Overall Opinion
I absolutely enjoyed this book and its mysteries that were placed by the author. The characters were written well and really worked well with the plot. Tobias Hawthorne’s place in the story making strategic mysteries for them to solve and figure out was really well thought out. The background setting was well detailed and helped the plot gain its steam as you read more and more. The romance subplot with Avery, Grayson, and Jameson didn’t overstep its purpose nor be the only focused plot. Avery Grams in general was written well and really worked as the main character. Overall, this book was an interesting read and it’s definitely worth reading along with the rest of the author’s books as well.
