The Inheritance Games
2020
- children's fiction
- nyt:young-adult-hardcover=2020-09-20
- young adult fiction, social themes, class differences
- young adult fiction, romance, contemporary
- young adult fiction, thrillers & suspense, general
- young adult fiction, mysteries & detective stories
The story
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.
What it’s like
Crisp, fast-turning pages with the sleek unease of old money and a house full of hidden doors: a contemporary YA mystery that moves like a puzzle box, with its tension built from clue-hunting, sharp banter and glances across dinner tables rather than from gore. Scenes are short and cut quickly between Avery's close-up perspective and the glittering, cool-toned world of the Hawthorne estate, all marble halls, locked libraries and candlelit rooms that feel more like stage sets than homes. The voice is brisk and wry, with a steady drip of rivalry and slow-burn attraction among the brothers, and the prose lingers on textures of wealth (dresses, cars, cutlery, gilded rooms) while keeping the mood playful rather than bleak. Violence is sparse and mostly threatened; there is some peril and a brief moment of physical danger, but no gore, and sexual content stays light, with kissing and a restrained romantic tension. Best for readers who want a mood-lifting puzzle on a rainy weekend, a propulsive binge after a long week, or a clever comfort read for fans of class-conscious, romantic mysteries.
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