Inheritance Games

By: Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Narrated by: Christie Moreau

Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Don't miss this "impossible to put down" (Buzzfeed) novel with deadly stakes, thrilling twists, and juicy secrets - perfect for fans of One of Us Is Lying and Knives Out.

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 con-woman, 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.

©2020 Jennifer Lynn Barnes (P)2020 Little, Brown Young Readers

Critic reviews

"A thrilling blend of family secrets, illicit romance and high-stakes treasure hunt, set in the mysterious world of Texas billionaires. The nonstop twists kept me guessing until the very last page!" (Katharine McGee, New York Times best-selling author of American Royals)

"Part The Westing Game, part We Were Liars, completely entertaining." (Kirkus)

"This strong, Knives Out-esque series opener...provides ample enjoyment." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

A new favorite!

Absolutely loved this book! Couldn’t put it down. Definitely in my top 5. Highly recommend

Really entertaining

It’s a really fun and engaging read. I don’t know why people had a problem with the narrator. I almost skipped this because of those reviews, but she was fine.

Fun story

Fun all the way through, I love treasure hunting stories in big old mansion and a twist.

Good story, horrible Tex accent

The story was good. You wanted to see where the clues went. The performance was pretty good EXCEPT the Texas accent. It sound like someone trying to do an Alabama accent. It was nothing I’d heard in Texas…and I’ve lived or visited in pretty much all regions. It def was distracting at first.

Great Story.....Not so great narrator

I really enjoyed this story. However, the narration was pretty bland. The southern accents were really bad.

Not quite Knives Out, more Westing Game

So I definitely understand the urge to compare this book to Knives out, as that’s the most recent cultural reference, but it actually reminded me more of an older children’s book called The Westing Game. Eccentric old rich guy dies, puts on game where no one understands why it’s happening. Definitely darker undertones here.
One thing that really bothers me about female protagonists in literature is when they are ostensibly (and introduced as) strong, independent, and self sufficient, but then spend most of the book, up to and including the denouement depending on male characters that they haven’t had relationships with in the past. This particular one wasn’t super egregious and it was mildly understandable as she’d been thrown into a world where she wasn’t familiar with anything, but this book really wouldn’t pass a solid Bechdel test. Nevertheless, I found it a quick and enjoyable listen and will probably get the second one.
If you’re looking for a stellar example of this genre, definitely check out the Westing Game.

Great Story.

What a great story. I can’t wait for the sequel!!! The narrators did well contrary to other reviewers.

Amazing

I loved this book sooo much!! Everything was done really well and I can’t wait for the next one!

I say go for it!

TLDR: It’s a fun book and if you don’t take it too seriously, you’ll probably like it. Better for younger audiences. Just know, the narrator isn’t great so it’ll probably be better if you read it instead.

It’s tough deciding on a rating for this. Audible should really allow half stars. I’ll start with the performance because it’s my biggest beef. It’s bad. Not terrible and not unbearable, but I feel it did a huge disservice to the book. Her accents aren’t the worst, but not the best. What really made her performance bad was that all the Hawthorne boys sounded the same. Like…come on now. And her male voices aren’t convincing either. That sort of ruined any romance for me. Her female voices had more range, but not enough. The worst part of her performance though, was that her tone didn’t match the character’s 80% of the time. She’d read a bit of dialogue in a completely placid tone then read that the character said it “barely holding back tears” or something. So a lot of the emotional depth of the story was lost. And it also makes the characters feel flat and unrelatable. I really don’t like and/or feel indifferent to most of these characters and I feel like most of that is the narrator’s fault. So that’s where my rating comes from. I’m judging the audiobook as a whole, so points taken off for the performance.

The story itself is good. It feels like a pretty original idea. It seems well thought out. I think the pacing is perfect. The main character is well written. She only really did one thing that annoyed me (not just straight up ask her lawyer or bodyguard about Emily. That created a bunch of annoying and useless angst throughout the book).

I’m debating whether or not to continue to the next book though. I’m curious, but like I said, I’m pretty indifferent to a lot of the characters (except Xander! He made me smile a lot).

I was very unsure if I should buy this because of all the reviews and stayed away from this for a while. I finally bought it when it was on sale though and I’m glad I did. If you’re on the fence, I say go for it. Just maybe wait till it’s on sale again!

It’s ok

This book has not lived up to the hype for me. It was trying too hard to be something special. But I know my thoughts are in the minority.