Name: Cameron Gleeson 's review of The Grandest Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Item: The Grandest Game
Rating: 3.5
Author: Cameron Gleeson

Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Get caught up in the puzzles, games, danger, romance, and riches of this lush new chapter in the #1 bestselling Inheritance Games saga. 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. #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Lynn Barnes delivers a brand-new series in the world of The Inheritance Games, where fan-favorite and new characters collide in a game you'll never forget. Do you have what it takes to play?

Volume 1

The Grandest Game

Taylor Grace

The danger of touch is the cruel beauty of a moment gone too fast and burned into skin.

Bayly Hepburn

built and built and built, then it was rushed and gave us nothing. Still good just wanted more 

Cameron Gleeson 

A new start to the Grandest Game is beginning, and new contestants have won their places in the competition.  All of the players have some kind of history with the Hawthornes and also have a need to win the game.  As the game goes on, each individual realizes that there is more than just prize money at stake for the players.  It also becomes evident that there is someone else on the island that isn't part of the game but has his or her own agenda.  

It was hard to get into the story in The Grandest Game.  By necessity, there are many characters in that figure into the tale, making it tough to get invested in any of them.  Also, each chapter is told from a different characters perspective, causing the reader to be thrown from one subplot into another throughout the entire novel.  However, the game is extremely fun with lots of clues and twists, and overarching mysteries that will continue in subsequent books.  Overall, The Grandest Game is an interesting story that left this reader looking forward to the next installment.  

Lynn Braden

A new start to the Grandest Game is beginning, and new contestants have won their places in the competition.  All of the players have some kind of history with the Hawthornes and also have a need to win the game.  As the game goes on, each individual realizes that there is more than just prize money at stake for the players.  It also becomes evident that there is someone else on the island that isn't part of the game but has his or her own agenda.  

It was hard to get into the story in The Grandest Game.  By necessity, there are many characters in that figure into the tale, making it tough to get invested in any of them.  Also, each chapter is told from a different characters perspective, causing the reader to be thrown from one subplot into another throughout the entire novel.  However, the game is extremely fun with lots of clues and twists, and overarching mysteries that will continue in subsequent books.  Overall, The Grandest Game is an interesting story that left this reader looking forward to the next installment.  

Here we go again, Another Jennifer Lynn Barnes Adventure awaits following on from the Inherence games with all the new puzzles and mysteries galore! This book focuses on The Grandest Game, the competition teased at the end of The Final Gambit and what a competition it is and whilst I know that I would not be smart enough to start it let alone finish it getting lost in the world was just what I didn’t know that I needed.

The Grandest Game is the first book in a series that picks up where The Inheritance Games ended. It follows the seven participants of the second grandest game. While the original characters play a role in this book, it revolves around new, but also previously known side characters. It can be read as a standalone, however for plot purposes I think it's best if you've read the other books first.

I will at this point say that I found the changing POV in the characters addictive and annoying at the same time as each chapter is relatively short just as I got settled with one, we were swapping to another and whilst it just encouraged me to keep reading, I also had to get my brain to try and keep up!

It’s clear this book is the builder to the rest of this series as a reader you are left with a lot of unanswered questions at the end of the book and I know that I will be sat at the edge of my seat waiting for Summer 2025 to roll around so that I can get back to this game and see where the story is going to take us next.

Ian Brakspear

Here we go again, Another Jennifer Lynn Barnes Adventure awaits following on from the Inherence games with all the new puzzles and mysteries galore! This book focuses on The Grandest Game, the competition teased at the end of The Final Gambit and what a competition it is and whilst I know that I would not be smart enough to start it let alone finish it getting lost in the world was just what I didn’t know that I needed.

 

The Grandest Game is the first book in a series that picks up where The Inheritance Games ended. It follows the seven participants of the second grandest game. While the original characters play a role in this book, it revolves around new, but also previously known side characters. It can be read as a standalone, however for plot purposes I think it's best if you've read the other books first.

 

I will at this point say that I found the changing POV in the characters addictive and annoying at the same time as each chapter is relatively short just as I got settled with one, we were swapping to another and whilst it just encouraged me to keep reading, I also had to get my brain to try and keep up!

 

It’s clear this book is the builder to the rest of this series as a reader you are left with a lot of unanswered questions at the end of the book and I know that I will be sat at the edge of my seat waiting for Summer 2025 to roll around so that I can get back to this game and see where the story is going to take us next.

In words I'm intrigued but in my mind I can't stop thinking about Lyra and Grayson 😭 

Like always Jennifer Lynn Barnes never disappoints. This one was really entertaining and I was so intrigued to see how one of these games play out after the end of The Final Gambit. You for sure have to read these after all of the books that are currently out in this world because you will understand it a lot better that way. I absolutely love the addition to the new characters and what they will be adding to the series especially one who was mysteriously vague and questionable, but the nostalgic feel of the old characters having their cameos in here too. I also really appreciate one of the characters who I love in the series getting a good story and hopefully conclusion because that was the one thing that alway bothered me when I finished the trilogy. 

Priscilla Stanfield

4.25/5⭐️

Like always Jennifer Lynn Barnes never disappoints. This one was really entertaining and I was so intrigued to see how one of these games play out after the end of The Final Gambit. You for sure have to read these after all of the books that are currently out in this world because you will understand it a lot better that way. I absolutely love the addition to the new characters and what they will be adding to the series especially one who was mysteriously vague and questionable, but the nostalgic feel of the old characters having their cameos in here too. I also really appreciate one of the characters who I love in the series getting a good story and hopefully conclusion because that was the one thing that alway bothered me when I finished the trilogy. 

overall i really liked this book! it was more puzzle based than plot based which stopped it from being 5⭐️

i felt that the romance between grayson and lyra was rushed so i was slightly let down in that aspect 

i’m really looking forward to the next book though!

sophie bastow

overall i really liked this book! it was more puzzle based than plot based which stopped it from being 5⭐️

i felt that the romance between grayson and lyra was rushed so i was slightly let down in that aspect 

i’m really looking forward to the next book though!

millena

Jennifer woke up some random day and thought “let's go give them nothing!!!” Just to be clear this rating comes from someone who LOVES The Inheritance Games and was really excited to this release but idk what happened in this book bc it was completely boring???? 

I *hated* the choice of main characters and I felt that a Grayson’s pov would make a total difference. I felt zero connection with Rohan, the only good thing about his chapters was Savannah but when she started talking about revenge on Avery I automatically rolled my eyes, Avery has suffered for 3 books in a row literally no one can stand this plot anymore, please be more creative 😭

Gigi sounded like a child in all of her chapters, I HATE when a character who was supposed to be sweet and calm ends up being childish and annoying, her trying to win Knox’s sympathy didn't make any sense (???) girl if someone is treating you that way you don't try to win them over, you RUN AWAY

Lyra was also a huge disappointment, I was expecting a lot more chapters from her pov and a lot more development. I started the book without knowing/understanding the character and finished it in the same way, btw her romance with Grayson was practically non-existent and when they finally kiss it's such a lazily written scene that it makes you wanna cry

The plot was developed in such a poor way, you spend 90% of the book reading about them locked in a kind of giant escape room with stupid riddles and only in the last 10% something minimally useful happen but don't get too excited 🫵🏻 it's so insignificant that you simply ✨ don't care ✨

Anywayyyy, if I had known it would be like this I wouldn't have wasted months of anxiety waiting for this book

Bayly Hepburn &
The Grandest Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

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Bayly Hepburn &The Grandest Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

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Bayly Hepburn &
The Grandest Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes