The Inheritance Games
The Inheritance Games (The Inheritance Games #1)
By: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
[Fulfilled ‘A book with a competition’ prompt as part of Shelf Reflection’s 2025 Reading Challenge]
“‘Everything’s a game, Avery Grambs. The only thing we get to decide in this life is if we play to win.’”
As someone who loves puzzles, riddles, and secret passageways, this was a fun read for me!
It’s your classic: someone randomly and unexpectedly inherits a bunch of money but there’s a mysterious catch about actually getting the money and let’s race to find out kind of story.
It seems like this book has more positive reviews than the rest of the series, but I have to at least read the next one because we didn’t get all of our questions answered in this book, and it leaves you on a bit of a cliffhanger!
The main characters are all teenagers so it definitely feels like the YA genre it is written in. Plus there is a love triangle scratching at the door the entire book waiting to be let in. *I think* we might have escaped it, but you just never know with this genre. Teenagers love to love and be loved so give the people what they want…
But seriously… there was too much love amongst all the teenagers. Friendship is a really great option too. Just ask Paul from Big Brother.
Okay, here’s the sitch.
Avery Kylie Grambs’s mother passed away a year ago and she finds herself living with her half-sister, Libby. But also out of her car sometimes because Libby’s deadbeat ex keeps coming back and he is the worst. Get outta here, Drake, no one likes you.
But surprise! One day Avery is summoned from science class to Hawthorne House as the beneficiary of an inheritance worth BILLIONS of dollars from an old guy she’s never heard of and never met. Yes, that’s a b- he’s— I mean WAS— the richest man in Texas. And now all of his family hates her because what the heck? that’s supposed to be THEIR money!
“‘The only string attached to my inheriting billions of dollars is that I must move into a mansion… A mansion where a large number of people who were expecting to inherit this money still live. And I can’t kick them out.’”
Avery finds herself in danger from any number of people now that she’s worth billions.
To top it off, the old man— we can just use his name— Tobias Hawthorne was a man full of riddles and puzzles and traps, even in his death. His four grandsons figure out there are clues to follow from the letters they received during the reading of the will.
Avery is her own version of genius (“‘Statistical risk assessment.’ It was the closest I could come to double-majoring in poker and math.”) and not one to back down from proving herself capable. She joins in the race to figure out where the clues lead. Hopefully it will explain to her why Tobias chose her to inherit his estate instead of his own family.
“‘If there’s one thing the Hawthorne family isn’t, it’s fine. They were a twisted, broken mess before you got here, and they’ll be a twisted, broken mess once you’re gone.’”
Can Avery survive this ‘scavenger hunt’ amongst ulteriorly motivated and handsome wolves AND keep herself out of a love triangle between brothers???
I admit it was a bit confusing in the beginning trying to keep all the characters straight— especially the brothers— so here’s a little character list for ya:
Tobias had four grandsons through his daughter, Skye, and all from different fathers:
Nash- the protective, order-keeping, oldest brother who could care less what he inherits
“Even wearing a suit, he looked every inch the cowboy, ready to meet a rival at high noon.”
Grayson- the hostile, intimidating, but also benevolent because he loves the Hawthorne foundation, brother who believes Avery to be a manipulative con artist
“The world bent to the will of Grayson Hawthorne. What money couldn’t buy him, those eyes probably did.”
Jameson- the thrill-seeking, flirty, intuitive brother who recognizes Avery’s intellect and seeks to team up, showing her around the house
“Sometimes things that appear very different on the surface are actually exactly the same at their core.”
Xander- the carefree, engineering, witty, youngest brother who plays smart and complicated, not hard… just go with it
“I am a human Rube Goldberg machine. I do simple things in complicated ways.”
Then we have these other guys:
Skye- daughter of Tobias, mother to all four boys
“Skye was flowy fabric and oversharing.”
Zara- daughter of Tobias
“pencil skirts and pearls.”
Thea- daughter to Zara; she doesn’t even go here
“hypercompetitive, bisexual perfectionist”
Libby- Avery’s half-sister who just hanged around doing boring stuff (if you know where this phrase is from, please tell me where I can find the YouTube video because I’ve been looking for years)
“My sister was seven years older than me and way too empathetic for her own good— or mine.”
Max- Avery’s only friend; is not allowed to swear so she gets creative with using words like fax, fox, elf, and ship; she’s basically the phone-a-friend character and I’m hoping maybe we’ll get to meet her in person in the next book
Oren- Avery’s new bodyguard and security detail; probably like The Rock but without the fan club
Emily- she’s dead. And Grayson and Jameson know why.
Are the characters loveable?
Um. Not really?
Except Xander. He’s my favorite. And it’s not just because I enjoy a good scone. It’s partly because he’s great with analogies.
“‘Hawthorne House is just a tiny bit hard to navigate. Imagine, if you will, that a labyrinth had a baby with Where’s Waldo?, only Waldo is your rooms.’”
And because he just bops around cracking jokes and blowing stuff up. In some ways he’s the glue that holds everyone in that house together and you gotta love a people-holder-together.
I haven’t decided how I feel about Avery. I don’t find her as annoying as some reviewers have. I like her fierceness and determination. Turns out that even though I hate playing chess, I do tend to appreciate characters in books who do.
I think I was kinda waiting to find out why Tobias picked her to inherit and that that was going to help inform my opinion of her. But we don’t really get that information yet. We have scraps, but hopefully will get the whole story in the next book and then I can tell you my confirmed, diagnosed feelings about her character.
I would also like more clarity on her mom’s secrets. Her mom was referenced a lot but we still don’t get enough to really understand her as a character. Do we like her? Or was she dodgy?
So I don’t think you necessarily read this book because you are looking for loveable characters. I was drawn to this book because of the puzzles and riddles and mansion and mystery. (I hope to be a part of one someday.)
And on this front, it definitely delivered. I had a good time following along on the hunt and seeing what new thing we would discover!
The guy had billions (which isn’t even a real number) so the author could go as extravagant and insane as she wanted in building out that house and all its luxuries and hidey-holes. A race track? Sure! A bowling alley? Obviously. A library? How bout 5 and one of them has a slide! A hallway dedicated to picking locks? Definitely. A network of underground tunnels with secret entrances? Throw ‘em in!
Hey, I’m here for it. I want this thing made into a movie just so I can see this monstrosity of a mansion outside my imagination.
Are there some crazy things here other than the house? Yes. Like how the heck did this old man constantly come up with puzzles and riddles and elaborate scavenger hunts? As someone who has made up a lot of such things WITHOUT having to build an entire room or wing of a house to encase the intricacy… how did he have the time or ability to do such things apparently weekly? And be a billionaire with billionaire problems. Doesn’t add up.
Secondly, I echo one reviewer’s thoughts about Tobias’s surveillance of Avery over the years without any attempt to help her financially until he dies. They talk a lot in the book about how Avery is just a tool, a puzzle, a piece of the game. That she’s being used. And at this point, it does seem to point to that. My hope is that the next book makes sense of why Tobias included her later but not earlier. Otherwise, that’s a dang plot hole.
Recommendation
If you like scavenger hunts and teenagers and cool mansions and imagining having access to billions of dollars, I would recommend this book.
If you hate stories about rich people or Drake (ugh, he’s the worst!) then it might not be for you.
As mentioned before, I need more information and thus will be reading the second book. Depending how that one goes, I’ll look into finishing the series. Based on some negative reviews of the later books, it appears it may be a case where the plot idea works great as a standalone but when drug out into a series loses some of its luster.
BUUUUUT…. Both the first and second books were nominated for best YA fiction in the Goodreads Choice Awards and the third book WON the award, so maybe peoples don’t know what they’re talking about.
If you do love books about inheritances and tricks and rich people and all that, then I would also recommend these books:
The Rosewood Hunt by Mackenzie Reed
The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins
How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin
[Content Advisory: 1 b-word, 10 d-words; a mention of an LGBTQ relationship but does not play out in the book]
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