Doesn’t that synopsis just sound delicious!

So, lets start with the players in the game. Avery is a great main character. She doesn’t have a clue what to think about everything new around her, and I love that she can see just how wild some of the things she find in this new world of extreme money. She seems so down to earth and normal!

Then we have the Hawthorn boys. Four rich spoilt boys, who’ve been brought up thinking they’ll get this big inheritance. But there’s much more depth to them than that, and each feels like an independent person. I also love that Avery is constantly questioning who she can trust. I would really love for us to further explore the relationship between the brothers in the next book.

Then we have the puzles. Tobias Hawthorne was a very ccentric billionaire who filled his mansion with puzzles at every turn and scattered through the boys lives. It keeps you as the reader (and Avery herself) on edge, questioning whether things are clues or if there’s some hidden meaning.

The puzzles and riddles were woven through the story really well and kept the pace up. This is definitely a really quick read which you can devour as you want to find out what’s happening!

I was so worried that we wouldn’t get any answers at the end of this given it’s the first in a series (duology?). But I’m pleased to say this managed to hit the difficult balance between a satisfactory ending while leaving us a little hint to get us wanting more. There were a few coincidences in the story that you have to suspend your disbelief a little, but that comes with the territory with this sort of story.

This is a really fun and addictive read and I can’t wait for the next one!

I absolutely loved this book 

Avery was an easy character to love and although she did annoy me a little I was In love with following her story. 

Jameson and Grayson were well written but I was more drawn to Grayson. 

I cannot wait for book 2

A young girl in dire circumstances. No parents, taken into the care of an older half sister who is already struggling to survive an abusive violent boyfriend. To avoid becoming his next punchbag she survives by living in an abandoned car. Bright, intelligent and motivated, her energy and focus is keeping her head down, surviving school and making a success of life.. And then the impossible happens, and like a magnet, we the reader are drawn into a fairy story of the 21st century. This book has hero’s and villains, murder and mysteries, puzzles and conundrums.  With no obvious rhyme or reason she inherits wealth beyond belief, a new family angry and vindictive at the usurper who stole their birthright and legacy and a future where all previous expectations were turned around completely and a foreign land awaits. The world is her oyster if against all odds she manages to meet the conditions of the will and survive one year in her benefactors mansion surrounded by his family. A princess in a castle where at every turn a dragon appears. This book personifies everything that good fiction gives to a reader. We have our heroine, we struggle to identify who are the villains and who the true knights who will ultimately save her. And then the puzzles, coming fast and furious. The who, the why , the danger and the mystery. Followed by a conclusion that resolves every unanswered question only to gives us an awe inspiring final puzzle that brings tears to the eye, and a magic to the final page. This  book, delivered every expectation of a well thought out storyline with three dimensional characters each blurring the lines of good and evil. A five star read that I was unable to put down until every question answered. Many thanks to Penguin the publisher, JL Barnes , the author and the ARC off NetGalley for enriching us with this sublime gem of a book that personifies everything wonderful about storytelling at its finest

I am very stingy with my 5 stars but I loved this book and gobbled it up as quickly as I could, It had young love,  rags to riches, mystery, intrigue and lots of riddles. What's not to love? Plus add witty dialogue, a spunky heroine some brooding, charismatic boys, and an unrelenting pace. Avery is barely scraping it together. Her dad is absent and her mom is dead. She lives in her car when she cant bear to be in the same room as her sisters boyfriend. But she has her wits and lots of potential. Suddenly she gets summoned to the reading of a will of a billionaire. He leave his fortune to her and she has no idea why. The true heirs are not happy but they know what their grandfather expects of them - they must solve the riddle...or riddles. The story keeps you on your toes with lots of twists and turns. It will be impossible to put this down!

An entertaining read. Good characters and a really good plotline. Lots of secrets and mysteries to unlock before the truth emerges. Highly recommended.

The Inheritance Games is the first thrilling instalment in a new series from a storyteller who knows exactly how to write gripping young adult thrillers. When ordinary teen Avery Grambs is invited out of the blue to the will reading of late billionaire Tobias Hawthorne, an individual she has neither met nor heard of, she is flabbergasted to discover she has been left almost all of his estate, which includes most of his worldly possessions. The reading takes place at the Hawthorne House Estate, a stunning mansion stood in vast surroundings, and in attendance are Tobias's close family, including his two daughters and grandsons, none of which have any idea who the strange young girl is and why on earth she is involved in the sharing of his material possessions. They are equally, if not more, shocked and confused with a wave of anger bubbling inside of them. But in order to have access to what is now her fortune she must reside at Hawthorne House for a year living alongside his family. Some of them take the news well but a few of them who believe Tobias’s billions belong, at least, in part to them decide there and then that they'll do just about anything to retrieve the fortune.

This is an exciting, compelling and difficult YA thriller to put down from the very beginning as there is so much happening that it has you hook, line and sinker. The plot is completely original and unique in terms of the concept plus it was executed so well and the cast is relatable and superbly developed to where you feel you really care about them. It made a refreshing change to be reading a totally fresh idea and the writing was straightforward with little to no padding added. Protagonist Avery is a great role model as she navigates a tricky situation with such grace and aplomb making her the perfect central character for a young adult novel. There is so much mystery and intrigue between these pages as Avery investigates exactly why she was left Tobias’s businesses, property, charitable foundations and a huge amount of cash. She's an intelligent girl who appears to be a lot wiser than her years. It turns out that discovering Tobias’s motives is no easy feat and she must solve a number of puzzles and riddles in order to find out the answers to her burning questions. Many thanks to Penguin for an ARC.

I cannot remember the last time I devoured a book like this. I read the whole thing cover to cover, in a single afternoon and the moments in-between reading it were consumed with thoughts about it.
From the first chapter, I was sucked into this tumultuous world of riches and secrets and ultimately games. The characters had me rooting for them from the beginning and were each so distinctly different and well developed. It really did exceed all my expectations and I am so glad we will be getting a second installment because this was simply not enough.
It is richly dark without being scary, and has all of the elements of a classic mystery but with a fresh modern twist. Ultimately a must-read, and one I will no doubt be recommending profusely.
An absolute gem of a book, that is written so wonderfully and deserves all the attention.

This tale of teenager Avery standing to inherit from an eccentric billionaire has the makings of a fabulous computer game about it. In order to work out why Avery has been named as benefactor rather than his four grandsons (or any of the other remaining family members) there are lots of clues and puzzles to be solved. Emotions and relationships are put under scrutiny and untangled as the puzzles go along.
Hopefully this is just the first of a series as I want to know more about these characters.

Brilliantly written, Complex relations between an outsider and an interloper. Who would get the money? What a twisted ending. Enjoyed.

I was really looking forward to reading this book as it looked very exciting. Unfortunately this wasn’t the case, it was an ok read but, I found the characters spoilt, and irritating. I thought that it was a little bit boring and found my attention wandering at times. It’s a shame as it could have been a better read hence, only giving it 3 stars.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

As you may know, I love a good mystery and as soon as I heard about The Inheritance Games I knew I had to read it. It sounded like the perfect read for me and as soon as my copy arrived I dove straight in and well the rest is history. I was immersed in this incredible world of intrigue and riddles.

The Inheritance Games follows Avery, a teenager who is just trying to keep her head down and work towards a better future for herself. That all changes when one day she finds out an eccentric billionaire has died and she has inherited his fortune, and no one, not even Avery knows why. She moves into the mansion that is now hers and she soon finds out that it’s filled with secrets and the man’s surviving relatives who are set on finding out why Avery got what should be theirs. Avery is soon caught up in a life-threatening game that the whole family is playing, and must save herself.

This was honestly one of the best-plotted mysteries I have read in a long while, and as soon as I picked it up I was engrossed and found it hard to put down. You are instantly sucked into this world of wealth, luxury and selfishness and its addicting to say the least. The whole narrative of the story is written in a way that leaves you guessing, and I for one couldn’t think of a single theory whilst reading, as the twists and turns were so close together. Usually, with a mystery I find myself at least guessing something, and being right, but with The Inheritance Games I just couldn’t do that, and it was a little bit frustrating but I was glad in a way as it left me shocked come to the end.

Plot-wise I thoroughly enjoyed going along with Avery as she tried to uncover the mystery of why she had inherited this fortune and like I’ve previously mentioned I couldn’t think up a single theory as to why. The way the mystery is planned through riddles and clues brought something unique to the story and I did find myself trying to solve some of them myself. Also, the way that Avery tries to solve it with the help of the Hawthorne brothers, despite them resenting her, is admirable. I found it to be quite uplifting how they wanted to help despite her having what should have been theirs.

Avery as a character was one that I connected with straight away, and I found that you really do get into her innermost thoughts. Going from a normal hard-working teenager to an heiress overnight would be overwhelming for anyone, and this was the case with Avery. She didn’t let it go to her head and she was still the same girl as she was before inheriting the fortune. Her relationships with Jameson and Grayson Hawthorne were ones that I found rather intriguing, and there is a slight enemies to lovers trope there, but I didn’t mind that and it didn’t overshadow the overall plot. I have a feeling that as the series progresses we’re going to see a love triangle form.

The Inheritance Games was a gripping, electrifying mystery that had me entranced. The way the story ends is frustrating and leaves you wanting more and I will now be impatiently waiting for book two next year.

Fantastic novel. Had me hooked throughout. Need the demons instalment right now so I can see how the plot continues.

I enjoyed this novel - I was very quickly absorbed by the concept and enjoyed the interplay between the main characters. Avery - a feisty lass - is left an inheritance and has no idea why. She is thrown into the Hawthorne household and has to learn how to behave as the Heiress and find out why she has been put into this position.

I enjoyed the ‘game’ and the reason behind it was not as I expected.

This is definitely a book which I will purchase for the school library and I will look out for the follow up.

This is probably one of the most surprising reads I’ve had this month. I was looking for a light YA mystery but ended up with such an enthralling read that made me think about the story for a long time.
The story evolves around Avery, a high schooler who suddenly finds out that she has been named heiress to a billionaire’s fortune — even though she does not even know him. Soon, she is thrown into the world of the Hawthorne family who might or might not resent her for taking their fortune away. There are soon some major mysteries that take up the most space of this book — who was Tobias Hawthorne (the generous deceased benefactor) really? What is on the four Hawthorne boys’ agenda? And why has Avery been named heiress at all? Throughout the book I couldn’t decide if the author is a wicked genius or just a crazy maniac who is talking through their books.

Something that I was pleasantly surprised with was the setting of the book which turned out to be haunting and enthralling at the same time. Although I was initially hesitant — Hawthorne Manor’s facilities sounded a little bit too ‘rich’ to be true — I quickly fell for the chilling and ‘escape room-like’ atmosphere that it added to the twisted story. Another thing to know about this book is that it doesn’t live from its mysteries only (they weren’t too hard to solve in fact and I pretty much figured them out halfway through the book) but from its characters. Perhaps it is Avery’s calm voice and clear approaches to riddles that makes her such a unique and likable main character, but I quickly found myself rooting for her, alone among the ‘wilderness’ that she finds herself in. 
While I was initially very confused about the many characters that are introduced in the book too, I was glad to see that every single character plays a role that is crucial to the overall story. Every side character added a new puzzle piece to the whole book, and seeing them having to interact with each other to solve the big mystery was very refreshing.

The biggest surprise of this book is not the mysteries that Avery is sent to solve, but the ‘past romance part’ that is very unlike what you would expect. It’s not canonical romance, it’s a story of obsession and failure. While I also wasn’t necessarily a fan of any budding romance the first half of the story, it is the way this part of the book is weaved into that story that it covered some of the best and worst sides of so many characters.

Overall this book is not the greatest mystery book that has ever been written; however the author makes use of the readers’ prejudices and expectations of a typical mystery read and turns and twists it into her own story. I was enraptured by the gripping story, the unexpected depth of the plot and the sharp and brilliant ending. This book is the first in a series and I can’t wait to find out what will happen in Book 2!

I loveeeeeeeeeeed it. The thrill rush anticipation its on different level in this book. Started reading it in morning and completed it in this evening you can imagine how much ingrossed i am in this book. 
Review to be live on my tour stop

The Inheritance Games is a fast paced Young Adult mystery. It is to the point and does not linger more than necessary on the events. When Avery, a nobody, is named as the heiress in a rich man's will, a number of questions are asked. Who is she? Why has no one heard of her before? What is her connection with the family? Why did no one else form the family get much?

The plot highlights the philanthropic aspects of Avery's nature. The four boys of the Hawthorne family are her competitors and helpers at the same time. As Avery tries to integrate into the family and understand her place, she is confronted with questions about her own past and how she is connected to Tobias Hawthorne who left her an heiress. Tossed into the elite society, Avery must learn the ways of the rich while as the same time holding on her identity. Knives Out is an appropriate movie comparison and like that film, the plot has many twists and turns, with desperate step-sister, a needy boyfriend, a mystery girl who died before Avery arrived and puzzles that the Hawthorne love challenging each other with.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it if you are looking for a page-turner read.

Many thanks to the publisher for providing a complimentary review copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, part of the WriteReads tour. Full review and reading experience coming September 3.

One of the most exciting books I've read this year. On top of the mystery to be solved, there are riddles upon riddles and traps upon traps - just as Avery is warned. It's a well constructed, thoroughly planned novel that has characters you want to invest in just from them being present. 

The multiple dynamics to explore let your mind think in every direction, wondering just who might be held accountable for what, and exactly what Tobias Hawthorne was thinking when he picked Avery. 

It's hard to write about this book without just shouting "READ IT" because that's how I feel. A true hit of 2020.

Someone needs to make this book into a TV series! It’s perfect for it. It’s SO enjoyable, whether that’s because it’s YA fiction or just because the plot is fantastic and FRESH. I haven’t read anything like it for so long and it sucked me into the world of Hawthorne manor and the four brothers living there. 

Miss Avery Grambs is informed she’s the sole heiress in the billionaire philanthropist Mr Hawthornes’ will - whilst his own family are left wondering who she is and what they had done to be left with such a small portion of his estate. Who is Avery? 

The manor is full of hidden tunnels, puzzles and challenges leading them to their answers about who Avery is and what happened to their friend Emily a year earlier... a mystery within a mystery. It’s a cracking book and I’m gutted there’s only 1 of them - I really hope the author turns this into a trilogy because I’m dying to know what happens next to the family.

I knew nothing about this book before reading and that truly paid off as it was such a brilliant surprise. Combine the fish-out-of-water rags-to-riches of The Princess Diaries with the rich infighting of Knives out and Succession and you get this addictive thriller of a read. The story, teen Avery comes from nothing and is then left with the entire inheritance of an eccentric billionaire, was an instantly compelling tale. Come each end of a chapter I *had* to read on, such was my desperation to know what was going to happen next. Avery is a great character, emphatic and breath of fresh air in terms of her intellect and maturity. Hawthorne House, where the majority of the action plays out, feels instantly iconic with labyrinthine design. Then there's the four Hawthorne boys, each so intriguing and alluring in their own ways. 
The fact I found myself picturing it all in my mind is the highest compliment I can give it, the writing is so visual and immersive. This needs to be adapted into a TV programme STAT!

Confession,  I  am not the target audience for this book but that didn't stop me really enjoying it. Pretty Little Liars meets Knives Out with the gloss of an impossibly rich world and the twists and turns of a good puzzle. Avery is feisty and determined, loyal to the family she has and with a quick independent mind. The boys are not drawn in as much detail, but there are 4 of them and this is only book one, so plenty of time to get to know them. I did not guess the ending and would definitely like to read more and would recommend to YA readers who wanted something escapist, not based on school politics and cliques,  not dystopian just good fun. I can definitely see this on Netflix. Thanks to Penguin and Netgalley for providing this ARC in return for an honest review.