#Review - The Grandest Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes #YA #Thrillers #Suspense

Series: The Grandest Game (#1)
Format: 384 pages, Hardcover
Release Date: July 30, 2024
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: Library
Genre: YA / Thriller / Suspense

Seven tickets. An island of dreams. The chance of a lifetime.

Welcome to the Grandest Game, an annual competition run by billionaire Avery Grambs and the four infamous Hawthorne brothers, whose family fortune she inherited. Designed to give anyone a shot at fame and fortune, this year’s game requires one of seven golden tickets to enter. With millions on the line, those seven players will do whatever it takes to win.

Some of the players are in it for the money. Some for power. Some for reasons all their own. Every single one of them has secrets. Amidst it all is Grayson Hawthorne, tasked with a vital role in this year’s game. But as tensions rise and the mind-bending challenges push the players to their limits—physically, mentally, and emotionally—it soon becomes clear that not everyone is playing by the rules. Do you have what it takes to play?

The Grandest Game, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, is the first installment in the author's The Grandest Game trilogy. Yes, this is a spin-off from the author's The Inheritance Game trilogy and its spin-off, The Brothers Hawthorne. At its core, The Grandest Game thrusts seven diverse challengers into the second annual iteration of a life-altering competition orchestrated by billionaire heiress Avery Grambs and the enigmatic Hawthorne brothers—Jameson, Grayson, Nash, and Xander. 

The prize? A cool $26 million, plus the intoxicating thrill of outsmarting everyone else on a secluded private island mansion that doubles as a gilded trap. Half the players are handpicked invites; the other half clawed their way in by decoding cryptic clues scattered across the globe. What follows is a 12-hour gauntlet of collaborative yet cutthroat puzzles, where teams form and fracture under pressure, alliances shift like sand, and buried family secrets bubble to the surface like champagne in a shaken bottle. 

Without veering into spoiler territory, the narrative pivots around three new POV characters: Lyra Kane, a sharp-witted former dancer haunted by her biological father's mysterious death (which she pins squarely on the Hawthorne's); Gigi, the bubbly yet deeply insecure younger sister of Grayson Hawthorne's half-sibling Savannah, desperate to prove her independence; and Rohan, a cunning wildcard with his own shadowy agenda tied to the Hawthorne's' ancestral estate, the Devil's Mercy. (The other characters are Odette Morales, Brady Daniels, Knox Landry, and Grayson Hawthorne). 

Lyra emerges as a standout, her grudge-fueled determination laced with vulnerability; she's no wide-eyed ingénue but a calculated avenger whose flashbacks to her father's demise add poignant depth. Lyra is also haunted by her father's death and the worlds he left behind. "A Hawthorne did this." Gigi, with her effervescent facade masking profound self-doubt, mirrors Xander's charm in the originals but carves her own niche as the emotional heart of the group—her arc of seeking autonomy amid sisterly shadows is quietly devastating. 

Lyra's fight to save her family's crumbling estate isn't just plot fodder; it's a stark commentary on how the ultra-rich's whims ripple through ordinary lives. Gigi's arc probes sibling rivalry and the pressure to perform "perfection" in a world that equates worth with winnings. Rohan is the dark horse, as his intentions are not quite as clear as those of the others. We know that he wants something badly, and what better way to get that than to win the prize? So, yes, this book does end on a cliffhanger. So no, I will not continue this series. I do know that there are players off-screen who we have not met yet, but after the first series wrapped up, I walked away from this series. Now I know why. 

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#Review - The Brothers Hawthorne by Jennifer Lynn Barnes #YA #Mystery #Suspense

Series: The Inheritance Games # 4
Format: Hardcover, 480 pages
Release Date: August 29, 2023
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult / Mystery / Suspense

Four brothers. Two missions. One explosive read. Jennifer Lynn Barnes returns to the world of her #1 bestselling, TikTok sensation Inheritance Games trilogy, and the stakes have never been higher.  
 
Grayson Hawthorne was raised as the heir apparent to his billionaire grandfather, taught from the cradle to put family first. Now the great Tobias Hawthorne is dead and his family disinherited, but some lessons linger. When Grayson’s half-sisters find themselves in trouble, he swoops in to do what he does best: take care of the problem—efficiently, effectively, mercilessly. And without getting bogged down in emotional entanglements.
 
Jameson Hawthorne is a risk-taker, a sensation-seeker, a player of games. When his mysterious father appears and asks for a favor, Jameson can’t resist the challenge. Now he must infiltrate London’s most exclusive underground gambling club, which caters to the rich, the powerful, and the aristocratic, and win an impossible game of greatest stakes. Luckily, Jameson Hawthorne lives for impossible.
 
Drawn into twisted games on opposite sides of the globe, Grayson and Jameson—with the help of their brothers and the girl who inherited their grandfather’s fortune—must dig deep to decide who they want to be and what each of them will sacrifice to win.

The Brothers Hawthorne is the Fourth installment in author Jennifer Lynn Barnes' The Inheritance Games series. This book features both Grayson and James Hawthorne along with appearances from Avery Kyle Combs, Nash Hawthorne, and Xander Hawthorne. The book also has several flashbacks going back as far as 12 years to understand all the challenges the boys had to endure at the hands of their billionaire grandfather. 

Grayson Hawthorne was raised as the heir apparent to his billionaire grandfather, taught from the cradle to put family first. Now the great Tobias Hawthorne is dead and his family disinherited, but some lessons linger. When Grayson’s half-sisters, Gigi and Savannah, find themselves in trouble, he swoops in to do what he does best: take care of the problem—efficiently, effectively, mercilessly. And without getting bogged down in emotional entanglements. If you remember anything from the previous trilogy of books, you know that Grayson not only lost Emily, but Avery, as well as the troublemaker known as Eve. 

Thankfully for Grayson, he already knows the whereabouts of his sperm donor father, so if he can be successful in helping his sisters and their mother, maybe he can get over the past that has seen him left out in the cold when it comes to getting what he actually wants. Plus, with one 9-1-1 call each year per brother, he knows that his brothers will come running if he asks them to. There is also a curious caller in this story which isn't revealed to the readers which makes me wonder if the author intends for this mystery person to be the answer to Grayson's woes.

Jameson Hawthorne is a risk-taker, a sensation-seeker, a player of games, and the boyfriend of heiress Avery Grambs who has set a goal of giving away $28 billion in 5 years which the four Hawthorne brothers have agreed to assist with. But he continues to get in trouble where ever he goes. When his mysterious father Jameson appears and asks for a favor in getting back the Vantage back from a secretive society, Jameson can’t resist the challenge. Now he must infiltrate London’s most exclusive underground gambling club, which caters to the rich, the powerful, and the aristocratic, and win an impossible game of greatest stakes. Luckily, Jameson Hawthorne lives for impossible. Jameson is also keeping a secret that he discovered while in Prague. A discover that isn't revealed until the next to final chapter in this book so I won't spoil it!

*Thoughts* While this book is entertaining from cover to cover, and Grayson's part of the story is the best, I can't help myself in getting mad that a certain character from The Final Gamble seems to once again be aiming to take on Avery in a game of winners and losers, while trying to destroy the Hawthorne family. I also really felt emotions for Gigi. She's the daughter of a man who is a criminal and a killer, nothing that she had knowledge of, but her sister and her mother knew. 

So, she kind of acts out trying to solve the mystery of why her father abandoned her. Alas, along comes Grayson who is still trying to keep Avery safe from what happened in the Final Gambit. Grayson's desire to keep Avery safe, conflicts with Gigi and Savannah trying to find their father. One hopes that when everything plays out, and yes, there is yet another sequel, Grayson, Gigi, and Savannah all get happy endings.

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#Review - The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes #YA #Mystery #Thriller #Suspense

Series: The Inheritance Games (#3)
Format: Hardcover, 384 pages
Release Date: August 30, 2022
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult / Thrillers & Suspense

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.

Secrets upon secrets. Riddles upon riddles. In this game, there are hearts and lives at stake—and there is nothing more Hawthorne than winning. 

The Final Gambit is the final installment in author Jennifer Lynn Barnes' The Inheritance Games trilogy. This book picks up after the second one and is filled with more mystery and puzzles like before. For Heiress to be Avery Kylie Grambs, the countdown grows closer to when she will inherit billions of dollars from Tobias Hawthorne's trust fund. But one more challenge remains and a surprise visitor and an enemy from the past may cost her everything. For years, Tobias raised his grandsons (Xander, Grayson, Jameson, and Nash) to play puzzles, and riddles.

Over the course of this series, Avery, Xander, Grayson, and Jameson have pooled their research to not only reveal things about the family itself, but Avery's connection to the family. This included properties across the globe which may or may not contain more clues for Avery and the brothers to solve in order to understand Tobias mindset. It has even become a game between Avery and the brothers to reveal things about Hawthorne House that nobody knew about, including the number of secret passaways. A game that includes Ferris Wheel Leapfrog, to a Death Match, to uncovering clues in a swimming pool, and underground. It hasn't exactly been easy. 

Avery has made plenty of enemies along the way including Skye Hawthorne, the mother of the four brothers. She now has to worry about her security being targeted with offers of employment, while Tobias businesses face a slew of investigations. The media has offered big money for pictures of Avery with one of the brothers. And, it appears that someone from Tobias past may have set a new game in motion. But it is Eve's appearance that shakes the Avery and the Hawthorne brothers, especially Grayson, to the core and makes the games finish even more twisted. 

Eve reveals that Toby is missing and that she is his secret daughter who looks like Emily Laughlin. Eve who seems to be holding the missing card as to who is attacking Avery and why. Eve who seems to be everywhere she isn't supposed to be. 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. Secrets upon secrets. Riddles upon riddles. From secretive USB drives. To a game called Queen's Gambit, to an event that happened prior to Avery being born, secrets will be revealed. 

We even find out the secret behind Alexander aka Xander's father who may be holding yet another piece of the puzzle that Avery needs to defeat her newest nemesis. Avery is a character who hasn't exactly had things easy. She has a half sister, Libby who tried to raise her right. Her mothers sister Kaylie Rooney was a victim of Hawthorne Island fire. She met and played chess with a mysterious stranger, yet she isn't afraid of playing Tobias Hawthorne's games if it means helping others like her sister. When a new nemesis comes along, Avery knows that she is a pawn in a dangerous game, but run away from the challenges that are given to her.

My only real complaint is how predictable the ending is. When I started this trilogy, I could have told you how things would play out if Avery was to meet every condition that she was required to follow to the letter. My only regret is that I could have literally been okay with either Grayson, who was a major disappointing in this story when Even appears or Jameson, who literally goes to the ends of the Earth to find clues, ending up with Avery in the end. Have to say that once again, Xander is my favorite character. He's adorable and makes the story that much more entertaining to read.

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#Review - The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes #YA Mystery #Thriller

Series: The Inheritance Games # 2
Format: Hardcover, 368 pages
Release Date: September 7, 2021
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult  / Mysteries / Thrillers

Intrigue, riches, and romance abound in this thrilling sequel to the beloved bestselling The Inheritance Games

The Inheritance Games ended with a bombshell, and now heiress Avery Grambs has to pick up the pieces and find the man who might hold the answers to all of her questions—including why Tobias Hawthorne left his entire fortune to Avery, a virtual stranger, rather than to his own daughters or grandsons. 

Thanks to a DNA test, Avery knows that she’s not a Hawthorne by blood, but clues pile up hinting at a deeper connection to the family than she had ever imagined. As the mystery grows and the plot thickens, Grayson and Jameson, two of the enigmatic and magnetic Hawthorne grandsons, continue to pull Avery in different directions. And there are threats lurking around every corner, as adversaries emerge who will stop at nothing to see Avery out of the picture—by any means necessary. 

With nonstop action, aspirational jet-setting, Knives Out-like family intrigue, swoonworthy romance, and billions of dollars hanging in the balance, The Hawthorne Legacy will thrill Jennifer Lynn Barnes fans and new readers alike.

The Hawthorne Legacy is the second installment in author Jennifer Lynn Barnes' The Inheritance Games. As Sherlock Holmes allegedly once said, "The games are afoot!" 3 weeks ago, Avery Grambs was scrapping by trying to survive High School and living in her car hoping she could find a scholarship and escape. Then she learned that she was heir to Texas billionaire and philanthropist Tobias Hawthorne which came with bodyguards, lawyers, and hatred aimed towards Avery.

Over the past few weeks, Avery, Jameson, Greyson, and Xavier Hawthorne have been roped into solving a mystery from the recently deceased Tobias who left each of them a piece of a larger puzzle. Even though older brother Nash has stepped aside, for the most part, he's still involved because of Avery's half sister Libby who has her own issues. Avery, who is not related to the Hawthorne's, must move into sprawling Hawthorne House, where every room bears the old man's touch--and his love of puzzles, riddles, secret passageways, hidden components, and codes.  

The catch is that if she leaves before the year is up, she gets nothing. If she dies before the year is up, she gets nothing. She also has to deal with Jameson, Grayson, and Xavier who have decided that Avery isn't a conwoman, but someone who truly wants to do the right thing even if it means a twisted love triangle that develops. There's never a dull moment in Hawthorne House. It seems as though everyone has secrets, and everyone has an agenda, and everyone want something, even if it means getting in Avery's way at every turn. 

With Rebecca Laughlin and Thea Calligans working with Xavier on a secretive plan, Avery makes a deal with both Grayson and Jameson to work together without stepping on each others toes. In an interesting twist, Avery's best friend Max arrives, and Avery tries to solve the secretive message her own mother left behind about the day she was born. One of the key mysteries of this book is whether or not Toby Hawthorne is still alive? This takes Avery on a journey of exploration, and danger, and apparently someone is desperate enough to put together scheme after scheme to stop her before she can reach her goals. 

I've said this previously, but this book reminds me of Knives Out with twists, and shocks, and surprises. There's literally a cast of dozens who could either be villains or allies of Avery depending on what the situation is. The only person in this entire book Avery can trust is Max who I adore because she is just straight up fun and doesn't give a damn who she offends. As I was reading the final chapters, I was praying that Avery finds time to deal her own brand of payback to a whole cast of characters. I eagerly await the final chapter in this trilogy called The Final Gamble coming in 2022.

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#Review - The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes #YA #Thrillers #Suspense

Series: The Inheritance Games #1
Format: Hardcover, 384 pages
Release Date: September 1, 2020
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: Library
Genre:  Young Adult / Thrillers & Suspense

Avery Grambs has a plan for a better future: survive high school, win a scholarship, and get out. But her fortunes change in an instant when billionaire Tobias Hawthorne dies and leaves Avery virtually his entire fortune. The catch? Avery has no idea why -- or even who Tobias Hawthorne is.

To receive her inheritance, Avery must move into sprawling, secret passage-filled Hawthorne House, where every room bears the old man's touch -- and his love of puzzles, riddles, and codes. Unfortunately for Avery, Hawthorne House is also occupied by the family that Tobias Hawthorne just dispossessed. This includes the four Hawthorne grandsons: dangerous, magnetic, brilliant boys who grew up with every expectation that one day, they would inherit billions. Heir apparent Grayson Hawthorne is convinced that Avery must be a conwoman, and he's determined to take her down. His brother, Jameson, views her as their grandfather's last hurrah: a twisted riddle, a puzzle to be solved. Caught in a world of wealth and privilege, with danger around every turn, Avery will have to play the game herself just to survive.

The Inheritance Games is the first installment in author Jennifer Lynn Barnes The Inheritance Games series. This book has been compared to Knives Out, and One of Us is Lying. High School Junior Avery Grambs is a really good student who wants to attend the University of Connecticut upon graduation, if she can get enough scholarships. Avery has been living with her half-sister Libby since her mom died. But, after an argument with her sister’s boyfriend, Avery finds herself living in her car. Then the unexpected happens.

Avery is called to the principal's office where she receives the shock of her life. Thanks to her sister’s idiocy of tossing away mail, Avery discovers that she has been named in the will of a recently deceased Texas billionaire and philanthropist Tobias Hawthorne. She has no idea who the man is, or why he would have left anything to her, but she has no choice. Avery is flown to Texas where the reading of the will take place by Tobias's lawyers. Avery discovers that Tobias left much of his money to her. But there is a catch. She must move into Hawthorne manor and stay there an entire year or lose everything. 

She must share a home with Tobias's four grandsons; Grayson, Alexander, Jameson, and Nash who have no idea where this interloper came from. Could she be Cinderella or is she Marie Antoinette? She must deal with the angry Hawthorne women who are willing to be cutthroat if it means getting rid of Avery for good. She must figure out why any of this happened to her by playing a mysterious game while trying to survive the Hawthorne family who have all been disinherited. If she can survive for a year living with the boys, she will inherit a fortune. If she doesn't, things get really twisted as to whom will get the money.

Avery is not only likable, but someone you want to root for. While she isn't perfect, she cares about those around her and learns from her mistakes, which is an excellent example for readers of all ages. She finds herself attached to Jameson, as well as Grayson who seems to want to help. Then there is Xander who may be the most intelligent member of this cast as well as Nash who seems nonchalant about the whole charade. They all have  a game to play as well, and I don't think that we've uncovered the end of the games that Tobias left behind for Avery and his Grandsons. Then there's the mystery that her own mother took to the grave when she said, "I have a secret."

After living with her older sister and struggling to get by, she enters a strange world of money, power, danger, and family secrets where everyone seems to be carrying daggers ready to stab Avery in the back. The closer she gets to the truth as to why she was chosen to be the heir, her relationships with the boys, and her very survival are tested. Even though the boys and Avery have vastly different agendas, they end up working together to solve the games puzzles and clues. Just when you think you have solved the clues; each clue revealed another secret.

The Inheritance Games will captivate readers with not one, not two, but three mysteries--all interwoven in one masterful thriller. The puzzle-filled family estate, privileged and complicated family, and fish-out-of-water protagonist all make The Inheritance Games a must read. Avery not only lives the dream of inheriting billions from an unknown benefactor (not to mention a mansion and staff), but she also moves in with four gorgeous, intriguing guys who are all playing a game where Avery is either Cinderella or Marie Antoinette.

This was a fantastic mystery with a lot of twists and turns right up until the final page. Give this to fans of the high stakes teen mystery of One of Us is Lying, the clever puzzles and riddles of The Westing Game, the love triangle of Jenny Han's The Summer I Turned Pretty, and the clever, snarky, high stakes action of Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls series.

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