Jennifer Lynn Barnes

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.

*Avery's story continues in The Hawthorne Legacy and The Final Gambit

The Inheritance Games (The Inheritance Games #1)

THE INHERITANCE GAMES

 »\Weißt du, was das Schlimmste daran ist? lch kann nicht mal sauer auf dich sein, weil irgendwer versucht hat, dich zu erschießen.< Ihre Stimme wurde ganz leise und du brauchst mich 

»Du glaubst womöglich, dass du das Spiel spielst, Darling, aber das ist nicht, wie lamie die Sache sieht.« Nashs Stimme war sanft, anders als seine Worte. Wir sind nicht normal. Dieser Ort ist nicht normal und du bist keine Spielerin, Kleines. Du bist die gläserne Ballerina... oder das Messer<

donyatolosa

"All right, Heiress." Jameson flashed me another wild smile. "As you wish."

Better the devil you know than the one you don't--or is it? Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. All that glitters is not gold. Nothing is certain but death and taxes. There but for the grace of God go I. Dont judge. 

"He chose you for a reason, Avery. You're special, and i think he wanted us--wanted me-- to figure out why" 

"Grayson thinks you're some master manipulator. My aunt is convinced you must have Hawthorne blood. But i think you're the old man's final riddle-- one last puzzle to be solved" 

"Maybe you're blameless." Xander shrugged. "Maybe youre the evil genius that Gray seems to think you are, but at the end of the day, even if you thought that youd manipulated our grandfather into this, I guarantee that he'd be the one manipulating vou.

"Aren't you supposed to hate me?" I asked. "I do hate you," Xander replied, happily devouring his third scone. "If you notice, I have kept the blueberry confections for myself and given you-he shuddered-"the lemon-flavored scones. Such is the depth of my loathing for you personally and on principle."

"i'd also be willing to call you Heiress" 

"Traps upon Traps" Jameson murmured. "And riddles upon riddles" i could feel his dark green eyes on mine. 

"The remainder of my estate" Mr. Ortega read, "including all properties, monetary assets, and worldly possessions not otherwise specified, I leave to Avery Kylie Grambs". 

"Touché M. G." Jameson ambled past me, brushing his bare arm lightly over mine as he did. "Touché" 

"the answer to your first riddle" i told him "if yes is no and once is never, then the number of sides a triangle has... is... two" 

"if yes is no and once is never, then how many sides does a triangle have?" 

An utterly addictive and twisty thriller, full of dark family secrets and deadly stakes. Perfect for fans of One of Us is Lying and Knives Out. She came from nothing. Avery has a plan: keep her head down, work hard for a better future. Then an eccentric billionaire dies, leaving her almost his entire fortune. And no one, least of all Avery, knows why. They had everything. Now she must move into the mansion she's inherited. It's filled with secrets and codes, and the old man's surviving relatives - a family hell-bent on discovering why Avery got 'their' money. Now there's only one rule: winner takes all. Soon she is caught in a deadly game that everyone in this strange family is playing. But just how far will they go to keep their fortune? 'A fantastic rollercoaster of a book! We Were Liars meets The Da Vinci Code. I loved it!' Kat Ellis, author of Harrow Lake 'A thrilling blend of family secrets, illicit romance and a high-stakes treasure hunt . . . The nonstop twists kept me guessing until the very last page!' Katharine McGee, New York Times bestselling author of American Royals 'One of YA's more reliably twisty and brilliant thriller authors is back with a brand new series that's every bit as impossible to put down as her others' Buzzfeed

The Inheritance Games

deshna

She was one of the most beautiful people I’d ever seen, and she might as well have been invisible. 

“I don’t hate it.” I shrugged. “I just don’t care.”

“I’m fine,” I told Libby. But I wasn’t. 

Girls like me were supposed to be invisible. 

Braylee Grace

this was somehow slightly disappointing and also shockingly good at the same time. the plot was somehow predictable and the dialogue was extremely cringy at certain points but it was such an interesting and fun quick read i could barely put it down. in my opinion though this is such a great concept but wouldve worked so much better if this wasnt ya. 

tysh🌻

This was HIGHLY recommended to me and honestly it didn’t disappoint!! This was so good! 

I loved all the twists and riddles and games and honestly just had such a good time reading! The chapters being short really kept up the pace and I could hardly put it down. The characters are cool and the set up is really wild, I love the premise a lot and I definitely see the comparisons to knives out etc, it’s great!

I love Avery and the boys and after the ending I can’t wait to start book 2!

linhie

5/5 ☆
SO SO GOOD. the way the story builds up piece by piece is my favorite. and the secrets and the suspense and the tension bt everyone in the hawthorne house make this book so addicting to read. i could not put it down and probably would have finished in one sitting if i didn't have school the next morning 😭 this book will most definitely get you out of a slump bc of the wording and pacing. so easy to follow along while still keeping you on your toes. ngl the love triangle reminds me of the vampire diaries and i am so here for it!! fav show ever :) 
-
aaah every interaction avery had with jameson had me squealing and the tension bt avery and grayson was unreal. this book was just so enjoyable!! from the plot to the characters it was fledge out and thorough, making it so interesting and fun to read! im so giddy bc i havent felt this way about a book like this in awhile. so so conflicted on what team i am on but team avery first and foremost. she deserved the world and i love her character sm!! legit can't wait to read the second and third book!! <33

Kattalin Jones 

4.5 such a fast and fun read. I love all the characters and the overall vibe of this book. Now off to buy then next because that cliffhanger…

mercy

this was just so addictive from the mystery to the romance i ate it all up sorry ya genre redemption is NOW

bella <3

3.5** i feel like this book is soo overhyped lol. i was told this was like knifes out so my expectations were very high but it just kinda fell flat a little. i feel like there was a sense of suspense missing for most the novel until the end. i still enjoyed most parts but overall it was okay. idk if i’ll read the second one but we will see .

was it a fanfic plot? yes. fanfic-y on account of both its mystery plot and its romance plot? yes. did i find certain parts quite cliche and tacky? yes. did i eat it up and will i be buying the next book? guilty. 

🌙

Joud yactine

Can't stop thinking about the plot in the last chapter omg

victoria

The second part of this review will probably have spoilers but I promise to leave a warning before commenting on them!
 First of all...what was that ending?! I LOVED
 I just loved the book, the chapters are short and the writing is simple and very detailed so it doesn't get tiring, the characters are interesting and although not all of them have a more in-depth story, I was interested in practically everyone, especially the brothers. Not to mention the riddles, I wanted to solve them together with the protagonists! I saw people complaining about the lack of romance, but even though I'm a big fan of the genre, in this book I didn't even feel that absence of it, I was so caught up in the mystery that I barely remembered the love triangle. Anyway, when it was getting to the last chapters and the riddle had been "solved", I was a little discouraged thinking it was less than I expected, but the last chapter really took me by surprise and filled me with so many questions!!!
 (Here starts the spoiler part)
 Some ends were a little open so I hope that in the next book the author knows how to fit it in a way that makes sense! I really want to know if Tobias chose her at random or if it was because she played chess with Harry (I hope it's not a coincidence because it would be very unlikely), does he know that Harry is his son? If he knows these things why did he ask Alexander to find his son? 
I hope the sequel surprises me as much as the first one!

brianna

“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.”
 

ya knives out except grayson hawthorne steals my heart

lisa roeling 

Jules

grace richards

the first two thirds of this book are so slow but then what the fuck what the actual fuck?

eishal (warners lover)

even though i don't know which hawthorne brother i like better this was fun to read.

Midori Kobayashi

4.5/5stars


If yes is no and once is never, then how many sides does a triangle have?

You ever expect absolutely nothing from the book but it comes out as an absolutely fucking amazing story with well-developed characters? Yes, this was that! While the very valid arguments of how fucking unrealistic this is, are well- valid, the thing is it is fiction. It is supposed to help you have a good time and not be perfect, well-developed characters. More importantly, all of these characters did something I could see myself doing if I would be in a similar situation- realistic. 

Honestly, I went into it thinking it would be yet another YA book with the same old romance(Idk why I thought it was a romance, sorry? XD) but it is so much more than that. The whole mystery, the clues, the game, everything just kept me on the edge. AND THE LAST TWIST, I absolutely did not see that one coming! I CANNOT WAIT FOR THE BOOK TWO NOW. 

If you are looking for emotionally mature characters who do not make mistakes at all, please don't read this. As much as I hated Jameson for (view spoiler)[playing with Avery's heart when he was clearly stuck on Emily (hide spoiler)] I still loved that character. I think it gave the mystery the necessary sprinkle of romance to spice things up you know. (view spoiler)[But yes Grayson and Avery all the way! I will always ship them and yes I hate Grayson for the sacrifice, I would really really love either for Jameson's character to get over Emily or Grayson and Avery to happen in the next installment of the series (hide spoiler)]

He was arrogant and awful and had spent the first week of our acquaintance dead set on making my life hell. He was still half in love with Emily Laughlin. But from the first moment I'd seen him, looking away had been nearly impossible. And at the end of the day, he'd chosen me. Over family. Over his mother.

Fav character you ask? Nan, always and forever Nan. If I ever manage to be half as swag as Nan, my purpose in life would be fulfilled haha. Also Xander. Cutie. Absolute cutie. 
In conclusion, even if YA is not your jam anymore, pick this book up for a good mystery. I am sure you will not regret it!


  Book Trigger Warnings- Abusive relationship (emotional/physical), Alcohol abuse (implied), Cheating, Death of loved one/family member (including parental/grandparental), Gun, violence, Manipulation, Murder/attempted murder

Inheritance Games

I was sceptical about this book when I first picked it, however after only a few chapters I was pulled into the book, and couldn’t put it down!

Jasmine

3.75 Stars
I didn't know a lot about this series going in despite seeing it around quite a bit in the last couple of years. I'm not big on contemporary YA, if it's not fantasy or something magical I find there's something lacking for me in the genre. Occasionally, I'll find some cute standalone YA romance that I do really like, but that's about it. So yes, I'm surprised to say I had a pretty fun time with this, and the fact I had a massive migraine most of the time I was reading and still found it enjoyable says a lot. 

No, it wasn't jaw dropping or completely original but there is still something addictive to the setup of this book. The fact it's pretty easy to get into and keeps your mind constantly guessing where everything is leading to made me stay invested. There is a hint of danger that upped the stakes some, but I wouldn't mind for this series to be a little darker and a bit more sinister. I hope going forward the puzzles they solve are a bit more thrilling but I do like the overall concept and the mysteries with Hawthorne house and the family. I also do like the characters and I think it's the main reason I will continue reading this series. Also, I don't care about the love triangle because Jameson and Avery are my ship and nothing is going to change my opinion. I've ordered book 2 and I look forward to where this story will go from where that ending left us off!

I loved it, it kept me on my toes all throughout i can't wait to read the third one.

isabella marie breese

Brittany Jenkins

This book wasn't really what I was expecting and was a bit too YA for me (I don't particularly enjoy YA as much these days, who knows I might have really liked this book when I was in high school). So in a way, I think the ending and book overall left me feeling a little disappointed? I get that it's a series so I wasn't expecting everything to be tied up by the end of this one, but the answers we did get and the twists in the book fell a bit flat for me as a reader. 

After spending most of the book in the dark about what was going on, I felt that when the truth was revealed, the buildup/anticipation was very anticlimactic. I wished there would have been more clues/seeds planted throughout the book so that then I could have felt like "Whoa it was there all along and now we're piecing it together!" but instead the answers and twists were surprises simply because the author never mentioned anything previously for the reader. And a lot of information being withheld from Avery and the reader was simply due to the fact that the characters just wouldn't communicate what they knew, so by the end of the book when they do talk it's like, "Really? You could have said that like ages ago" and then it wasn't even as mysterious or shocking as we were led to believe. 

And I just didn't find Avery interesting as a main character. She often repeated lines of text verbatim in her thoughts and explained things in her internal dialogue that were already obvious to the reader, which I found annoying. The brothers also weren't as interesting as I hoped, although I did like Xander and Jameson the most. Also maybe I'm not really into love triangles, but the fact that Avery was drooling over whichever Hawthorne brother happened to be in front of her at the moment was weird. The characters weren’t really fleshed out or developed, and the romance aspect seemed a bit shallow and unrealistic.

I personally wanted more of the focus to be on the mystery and the puzzles and the game rather than teenage drama. But I guess it is a YA book, after all. 

The ending left me slightly curious about a couple of things, but not enough to actually jump into the rest of the series right away. I will say that this book was fast-paced and easy to read, so it does have that going for it, and that's probably why I gave it two stars instead of one. The chapters are short and kept me propelling along; plus I really liked the cover and the feel of the book in my hands (trivial I know, but there it is).

I read this as a buddy read so that part was fun because there are plenty of moments to share reactions.  

Glad I could check this one off my list, but now I’m off to other things ✨

Raquel 

This was an easy fun read that made me second guess everything I thought would happen. Such a clever ya mystery book. I Can’t recommend this enough, please go read it, it won't disappoint you and it will keep u hooked from start to finish.

50 Milliarden Dollar – Eine unbekannte Erbin – Vier mörderische Nachkommen Avery Grambs hat einen Plan: Highschool überleben, Stipendium abgreifen und dann – nichts wie raus hier. Doch all das ist Geschichte, als der Multimilliardär Tobias Hawthorne stirbt und Avery fast sein gesamtes Vermögen hinterlässt. Der Haken daran? Avery hat keine Ahnung, wer der Mann war. Um ihr Erbe anzutreten, muss Avery in das gigantische Hawthorne House einziehen, wo jeder Raum von der Liebe des alten Mannes zu Rätseln und Geheimnissen zeugt. Ungünstigerweise beherbergt es aber auch dessen gerade frisch enterbte Familie. Allen voran die vier Hawthorne-Enkelsöhne: faszinierend, attraktiv und gefährlich. Gefangen in dieser schillernden Welt aus Reichtum und Privilegien, muss Avery sich auf ein Spiel aus Intrige und Kalkül einlassen, wenn sie überleben will. Ein süchtig machender Thriller voller dunkler Familiengeheimnisse und tödlicher Herausforderungen. Die Inheritance-Reihe: The Inheritance Games (Band 1) The Inheritance Games: Das Spiel geht weiter (Band 2)

Rebecca

I found this really fun and can’t wait til the next one. I’m hoping we’ll flesh out the main character a bit more, as this book felt like she was just a foil for other peoples drama and narratives (something which kind of makes sense given everything). The POV switch of the epilogue also makes me wonder if we’ll be able to flesh out the whole cast a bit more in the next book.

WHAT IN THE WORLD. I truly DEVOURED this book. It’s a game of clue with four hot brothers with people trying to kill you? I loved it. Loved loved loved it. This is illegible nonsense but it was truly so good I cannot think. Also the ending made me sob 

The Inheritance Games (The Inheritance Games #1)

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