🧩💰 The Inheritance Games Review: I Bought the Entire Series?! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Okay… we need to talk about this.
Because something unprecedented happened here.
I PAID for a book. 😳
Not just a book—the entire series. Before I even finished the first one.
If you know me, you already understand how absolutely unhinged that is. I have ARCs, library holds, Goodreads wins… I am never in a position where I need to spend money on books. And yet, here we are.
That alone should tell you everything you need to know about The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes.
⚠️ Trigger Warnings
Death of a parent (off-page)
Fire / presumed death
Emotional manipulation
Family dysfunction
Violence / attempted murder
Gun violence
📚 Overview
The Inheritance Games is a YA mystery/thriller published in 2020, and it is PURE entertainment from start to finish.
We follow Avery Kylie Grambs, a broke-but-brilliant high schooler whose life flips upside down when billionaire Tobias Hawthorne dies… and leaves her basically everything. 💰
The catch?
She has to live in his massive, secret-filled mansion—Hawthorne House—for one full year.
Oh, and she’ll be living there with the family he didn’t leave anything to.
No pressure.
🚨 Spoiler Warning 🚨
From this point on, we are getting into FULL spoilers—including the ending. You’ve been warned!!
🧠 Plot Summary (With All the Twists)
Avery is your classic quietly brilliant main character—good with numbers, strategic thinking, plays chess in the park… casually outsmarting grown men while juggling financial stress and waitressing shifts.
She lives with her half-sister Libby, who is basically her emotional anchor (and honestly, one of the more wholesome relationships in the book 💛).
Then BAM—Avery gets summoned to Texas for the reading of billionaire Tobias Hawthorne’s will.
She assumes it’s a mistake.
It is not a mistake.
Tobias leaves:
💸 Almost his entire fortune to Avery
🧩 A mansion full of puzzles
😈 A VERY unhappy family
🏠 Welcome to Hawthorne House (aka Chaos Mansion)
Avery moves into Hawthorne House with Libby, where she meets the four Hawthorne grandsons:
Nash – the oldest, cowboy energy, least interested in the games 🤠
Grayson – controlled, serious, emotionally repressed rich boy™ 🖤
Jameson – chaotic, puzzle-obsessed adrenaline junkie 😏
Xander – quirky, lovable, slightly chaotic genius 🎧
Immediately, the tension is chef-level dramatic (don’t worry, no overused phrases here 😌).
No one understands why Avery was chosen.
Including Avery.
🧩 The Games Begin
Tobias Hawthorne was OBSESSED with puzzles, riddles, and psychological games—and his will is just the beginning.
Avery quickly realizes:
The mansion is full of hidden passages and coded clues
Tobias left behind a trail of riddles
Solving them might explain why she was chosen
Naturally, Jameson is ALL IN (this is basically his love language), and Grayson gets pulled in too, despite himself.
And yes… there is a love triangle brewing. 😏
💀 Danger Enters the Chat
As Avery gets closer to answers, things escalate FAST:
Someone shoots at her
She’s nearly killed multiple times
Libby’s awful ex, Drake, shows up and becomes a real threat
The Hawthorne family (especially the daughters) are not above manipulation
The stakes become very clear:
👉 If Avery dies before the year is up, she gets NOTHING.
So yeah… people have motive.
🔥 Family Secrets & Tragedies
Avery uncovers key pieces of the Hawthorne family history:
Tobias’s son Toby supposedly died in a fire years ago… but no body was ever found 👀
The family fractured after Toby’s disappearance
A girl named Emily (Grayson & Jameson’s shared past) died from a heart condition, leaving behind a lot of guilt and unresolved tension
Every clue ties back to these emotional fractures.
This isn’t just a puzzle—it’s a family autopsy.
🤯 The BIG Reveal
Ready??
Because this is where it all clicks:
👉 Avery realizes that Toby Hawthorne is actually alive.
👉 And not just alive…
👉 He is HARRY, the homeless man Avery used to play chess with back home. 🤯
YES. THAT HARRY.
This means:
Tobias did have a connection to Avery
Avery’s kindness to “Harry” mattered
The entire inheritance was, in part, a test of character
It reframes EVERYTHING.
🎯 Ending Breakdown
By the end of the book:
Avery survives the attempts on her life
She’s deeper into the Hawthorne world than ever
She now knows Tobias did know her
The mystery is only partially solved
And most importantly…
👉 The game is not over.
The reveal about Toby/Harry opens the door for even bigger secrets, setting up The Hawthorne Legacy perfectly.
💭 My Thoughts
I had an absolute BLAST with this book. 🎢
This is one of those stories where:
The pacing is addictive
The twists actually hit
The puzzles are clever without being exhausting
The characters are messy in a fun way
And the WRITING??
There’s just something about how Jennifer Lynn Barnes constructs a story. It’s sharp, engaging, and ridiculously readable.
Also… I cannot stress this enough:
👉 I BOUGHT THE SERIES.
That is the highest compliment I can give.
⭐ Final Rating: 5 Stars
No hesitation. No notes.
This is a 5⭐ read all day.
📖 If You Loved This, Try These:
One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
If you love puzzles, rich-people drama, hidden secrets, and characters with just enough emotional damage to keep things interesting, this one is absolutely worth your time.
And possibly your money.
(Still not over that.)
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