I thoroughly enjoyed this read- it was exciting, dark, romantic, mysterious... It really did have a little bit of everything!

I think I need to preface this with: I LOVE EVERYTHING I'VE EVER READ BY JLB. So there's that. I loved this so much though. I loved trying to solve the puzzles alongside Avery and the Hawthorne's. I loved the twists. I loved the good characters and I loved to hate the baddies. I always find it the sign of a great book if the author can make the baddies so multifaceted. Well done there JLB. Most of all, I loved the intelligence within this story. The whole book was steeped in it and I am excited for more!

Received an arc from Netgalley

Really like the premise of the book and had high expectations going into it but it kinda fell flat for me. The characters felt very one dimensional and could be fleshed out more.

However the plot was good and it’s a quick read with short chapters

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Penguin Random House Children’s UK, in exchange for an honest review.

I adored Knives Out and was super excited when I heard there was a YA book about a vaguely similar subject. The Inheritance Games tells the story of Avery, a young girl who is plucked from her normal life when she is told she has inherited the entire fortune of a billionaire-a billionaire she has never met. Souring this exciting news though are the billionaire's existing family. It turns out the old man was quite a fan of puzzles and suddenly the whole family are keen to solve this one.

This isn't quite the book I was expecting from the blurb, which admittedly I think is more my fault than the book's. I was honestly expecting the puzzles to be a much larger part of the story and also the inheritance, perhaps with family members competing to outdo each other. Instead Avery has straight-up inherited everything, and the puzzles are mostly her and the other family members trying to work out why she has been given the money over everyone else.

The structure of this book feels very YA if you are an older reader. There are a host of attractive young grandsons to play love interest to Avery, and honestly it felt like there was one too many of them. Having said that, the characters are one of the strengths of this novel. I enjoyed the different family dynamics and the tensions that arose from them. The mystery sometimes takes a back seat but I was always engaged in trying to work out the puzzles in the book and guess why Avery might have been chosen. A lot of the puzzles you are actually given the opportunity to solve which I always like.

Overall, The Inheritance Games is an enjoyable book, if a little sparse as a mystery/thriller. There are some really great elements and I had a blast reading it, just don't expect something super tense or intricate.

Overall Rating: 3.5/5 stars

This book kept me gripped for about the first third but then completely lost me, I struggled to tell the characters apart and I lost track of the plot. However I know this is a 'me' problem as so many people love this book and I wish I was one of them. I won't continue this series but I will check out the authors other work as I have read and enjoyed her previous series. Thank you for the opportunity to read the book.

I spent the entire time thinking about the film Knives Out whilst reading this. So whilst that’s a little distracting overall I found the book very clever. That cliffhanger though! The clever old man.

Interesting, intriguing and unique storyline. I did find that I never felt that Avery was in any kind of real danger so it was more a puzzle to solve rather than a thriller. Could see this working as a TV special

The first thing that drew me to this book was the brilliant cover. It's so unique and eye-catching that it intrigued me from the get go.

This is the first book in The Inheritance Games series and is packed full of intrigue, mystery and a cast of characters that you can't look away from. Going in, I anticipated that this would be a similar thriller to A Good Girl's Guide to Murder or One of Us is Lying, but the concept was wholly unique and I found myself flying through the pages.

A brilliant book and looking forward to reading the sequel.

When a dream Avery didn't even dare to dream comes true, she finds herself with more money than she could ever spend in one lifetime. Still, the big mystery of why Tobias Hawthorne made her his sole heir and left his daughters and grandsons only a small fortune needs to be solved.

What I Loved

This book's pace is quick, with short chapters and plenty of suspense to keep the pages turning quickly. The story is full of secrets and puzzles that are interwoven into the fabric of the central mystery. They provide intricate layers of deceit and danger that left me breathless as I read.

Avery's main character is very mature despite her young years, as are the other teens in the story. If their ages had not been mentioned, I thought they were young adults rather than teenagers. Noted in the course of the tale, Avery does not spend a dime of her inheritance other than to provide a homeless man, with whom she plays chess in the park, enough to get him off the streets and give him food and medical care. The reader does not know the exact details of what the lawyer does to aid Harry, but the intent was to provide the basics if he would accept the help. She has lived a hard-knock life due to things outside of her control, and as a result, has grown beyond her years. She is uncannily intelligent and is the perfect person to help the Hawthorne boys solve their grandfather's puzzles and riddles.

I love the setting. The setting is an unusually sizeable palatial mansion in Texas's heart with secret passages, underground tunnels, and many other little hidden nooks and crannies. It is the perfect place for people who love to create and solve puzzles to live and have fun. The characters found all the hidden pieces of the puzzle of Tobias' messages toward, hopefully, figuring out why he left everything to a teenager he doesn't even know. Or does he?

What I Wish

I wish that there would be a book about Tobias. He seems like he would be such an interesting character. I would love to know his story when he was alive.

To Read or Not to Read

If you love fun and suspenseful mysteries, The Inheritance Games is not to be missed.

Wow! There are no words to describe just how much I loved this book. Jennifer Lynn Barnes has been on my radar for a while but this was actually the first of her works that I have read. What the hell was I waiting for? This book is absolutely phenomenal. Right from the very start of the book I was completely obsessed and couldn't put this book down!

The Inheritance Games follows the story of Avery, a poor student who is living out of her car who is suddenly left a fortune (literally) by a total stranger. She is suddenly thrown into this dangerous world of the rich and famous... and the lengths that they will go to to get their inheritance.

I loved every moment of this book. I've really been into mysteries and thrillers lately and this one is definitely more on the mystery side of things, and I loved that. I just couldn't put this book down. I was so obsessed with finding out just why Avery was left all of this money, who was this mysterious benefactor and why didn't he leave his fortune to his family? Along the way all of the characters are left puzzles that they must solve to get the next clue... it truly is the inheritance 'games'. I loved it! It was completely unputdownable to me.

Jennifer's writing is addictive and fantastic. She throws all these little hints throughout the book and, like the characters, I was scrambling to figure them all out. It was such a clever and superb way to write this story and I was left dying to get my hands on book 2 to see what is going to happen next. Add in the small hint of romance along the way and this was just the perfect book for me. I loved every single second of it.

The Inheritance Games was everything I could have wanted and more. It was a wonderful mystery with twists and turns around every corner with the slightest hint of thriller. I couldn't put it down and I will definitely be picking up more books by Jennifer Lynn Barnes in the future. I absolutely loved it and highly recommend it. Roll on September so I can dive into the sequel.

Teenager Avery Grambs keeps her head down at school, waiting for the day she can leave. But when Avery is named as the heir to the recently deceased billionaire Tobias Hawthorne's fortune, her life is turned upside down.
However, there is one catch - to receive the inheritance Avery must live at Hawthorne House for an entire year, and she won't be the only one there as Tobias Hawthorne's family still live there. A family who aren't happy about Avery being named heir. A family that includes four enigmatic grandsons.
Tobias Hawthorne loved puzzles and the grandsons are convinced that Avery is one last puzzle for them to solve.
Can Avery survive one year in Hawthorne House?

Avery was a likeable and relatable protagonist. She hadn't had the easiest time of things and, given the magnitude of the way her life changed when being named Hawthorne's heir, I thought that Avery coped really well.
Avery's relationship with her sister, Libby, was interesting and I would have liked to read more interactions between the two of them.
I enjoyed reading as Avery got to know the Hawthorne family and tried to solve the puzzles left by Tobias.
The plot was enjoyable, but I wasn't gripped and nothing that happened surprised me particularly.
The writing style was easy to follow and quite quick to read. The short chapters made it seem like I was getting through the book quite quickly.
The premise for the book intrigued me, but I don't think it quite reached its potential for me.
I'm not sure if I will read the sequel or not.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read.

Unfortunately I had to DNF this title about 10 chapters in. I couldn’t connect to the characters and found myself easily forgetting who is who. However, I would understand how this book would appeal to others, as it’s a fun, YA mystery with a lot of different personalities and storylines.

A interesting read. It’s twisty, turny and intriguing. I found myself reading it compulsively and needing to know what happened next. I’m certainly interested in finding out what happens in book two

I. Cannot. Wait. To. Read. Book. Two. Great characters, an intriguing mystery with twists that keep on coming, and an ending that leaves you screaming for the next book. Great stuff!

Thank you to NetGalley and he publishers for sending me a copy of this book.

Inheriting billions of dollars from someone you have never met has to be something everyone dreams of but for Avery Grambs the dream suddenly becomes a reality. Unfortunately for Avery not everyone is so happy with her inheritance. With several immediate family members overlooked in favour of a complete stranger there are understandably a few noses put out of joint, but would one of them resort to murder to resolve the problem?

The Inheritance Games is a fast paced, enthralling mystery aimed at young adult readers. There are an interesting array of characters, including the four intriguing Hawthorne brothers, most of whom are hiding something. The games themselves refer to a series of puzzles that Avery and the brothers must work on together to unravel the mystery of when Avery was left the Hawthorne estate in the first place.

I really enjoyed the book, particularly the second half and I was kept guessing till the end. Had I been 20 years younger and part of the intended audience for this book it definitely would have been a five star read.

The main character in this book, Avery, is someone who I found, and I would imagine most readers would find, incredibly relatable. The way that the book is written and the way that things are revealed coupled with the character development around Avery really brings you into the story. I found it impossible not to invest myself in the events of this book.

Avery Grambs came from nothing, she’s an ordinary, invisible girl surviving high school and a difficult home life. The next minute she’s living in a mansion with a family who have every reason to hate her and attending the school of her dreams but as you can imagine, it’s not going to be plain sailing.

I like a twisty crime/drama/mystery novel as much as the next person, but too often I feel like I’ve figured it out too early and then it’s a boring slog to the end for what I already knew. This book was different. I was brilliantly entertained throughout the story, hooked and sneaking a page here and there. A chapter at lunch, several before bed.

I’m really pleased to be part of this Blog Tour because this isn’t the kind of book I’d usually choose for myself, and I don’t know of the author. However I will now be seeking out more titles by Jennifer Lynn Barnes because I absolutely loved this one.

I am hoping there is another book coming because I would love to continue following these characters. They’re all extremely well fleshed out not just with personalities but complex personalities. This might be one of the best books I’ve read all year!

Definitely pick up this book, it’s a ride you won’t want to miss.

I enjoyed this as I was reading it but found that a lot of things just didn't really go anywhere towards the end. The author builds up suspense but the pay off it not really worth it sometimes. Very unlikable characters that you do not really care for but mostly good plot and pacing.

As a purchasing librarian I feel there is A LOT going for this book. It had a fast pace, loads of twists and those irresistible Hawthorne boys. I finished the novel in 2 sittings whilst on holiday and I think this helped as you really need to follow the storyline closely to get the full impact. I know plenty of students who would really love the magic of this cinderella style mystery.
However, I feel it only merits 3* for a few reasons; firstly I saw the Toby twist coming from the moment he was mentioned. It's a great twist, I'm not knocking it, but if the second book is solely focused on that I think it will be quite dull and that is a concern. Secondly, this is personal, but I hate love triangles, especially when the female character seems not to have any real, tangible reason to like a boy other than him being gorgeous and mysterious. I adore the boys, I really do, but their approaches to Avery and her reactions were not inspiring. This brings me to my final issue: Avery, who at times I loved and rooted for. I really felt her journey and I think Lynne Barnes did a wonderful job of showing her emotions without overdoing it, but she was so PASSIVE when it came to the brothers. They pretty much just manipulated, educated, protected or validated her in every interaction. Her agency was practically nil, and I feel the Avery of the opening chapters would have done so much more with billions and a charitable foundation at her fingertips. I hope this can be explored further in the next book!
Overall, this was a really, really fun read but maybe not an academic one, so if that's what was wanted I would definitely recommend.

A really enjoyable and quick read, this book felt like an escape room. Our main character is dragged into a world of billionaires by an unknown philanthropist. Left a fortune that would make your eyes water, she has to compete with his grandsons to solve puzzles. I think the epilogue is setting up another book but I feel that the new mystery has already been solved so I probably wouldn’t read a sequel.

I enjoyed this puzzle thriller a lot although felt that the end was a bit rushed. This will be very popular with my Yr 7+ thriller readers who are just a bit too young for E Lockhart, Holly Jackson & Karen M McManus.