The Inheritance games, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, is a very fast-paced modern take on poverty, economy, mystery, romance, and action that reminded me vaguely of The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin. I rate this book a 4/5 as one of the better reads I’ve read but not necessarily one of the BEST books ever. This young-adult mystery read was a very intriguing one. I constantly found myself craving to just read one more chapter to find out what happens next. Jennifer Barnes beautifully illustrates the life of Avery Kylie Grambs, an insignificant orphan whose big sister Libby is taking care of her as Avery tries to pay for rent with 2 extra jobs, get through high school, and keep her sister safe from her abusive boyfriend. When Avery ends up tumbling all the way down the rabbit hole into a crazy story of murder, money, and trying to fit in at a new rich, snobby school she ends up falling in love with all of the crazy Hawthorne brothers all at once. Grayson, the gray-eyed posh. Jameson, the crazed-eyed adrenaline junkie. Nash the redneck, the eldest of the brothers. Xander, the youngest, croissant lover, and most creative with robot wrestling of them all. However, that’s when these pros lead to cons. This story is incredibly interesting around every corner, but for the wrong reasons. The love that Avery seems to have for these boys is soon seen as infatuation as Grayson thinks Avery hoodwinked his grandfather into giving her the fortune and wants to make Avery’s life a living hell. Jameson only seems to like Avery when they’re getting closer and closer to solving the old man’s riddle, and Xander who is only seen as the cute little brother but a studly one at that. The thing that nobody realizes until the end as Nash the sage chimes in with this one phrase over and over again. Nash and his brothers used to play games together, which is when they’d sit down at the dining table, pick up the pieces and try to put them together in the old man’s riddles. A fish hook, a glass ballerina, a knife, and a price tag which by the end those brothers would have used all the pieces and she needs to realize that this isn’t just a game for his brothers it is their lives. She’s not a player here she’s the glass ballerina or the knife. Nash’s words would come to haunt her over and over again throughout the book telling her that she’s not a player in this game but is merely a tool being bent to the will of this game. There are some cons to this book but there are also a lot of pros. However, Avery is not a pro at solving riddles and sometimes she needs to take it slowly, putting together the pieces one at a time instead of jumping in headfirst. It might take you, readers, some time to put it all together as well, after all, isn’t it better if we have to solve the riddles ourselves instead of the answers being given to us on a silver platter? The Hawthornes say yes.
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