Book Review: The Inheritance Games

THE INHERITANCE GAMES by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

3 Stars

Verdict: Great set up but I lost interest.

Avery is about to inherit a billionaire's fortune, despite never meeting the man - if she can spend a year living among the disinherited family.

This one starts off strong with a smart main character. It has complicated families and a whole cast of shady rich folk who may or may not be threatening Avery's life in order to get their hands on a not-so-small fortune, and of course, there's an epic mystery at the heart of it: why has Avery inherited this billionaire's estate to begin with?

More mysteries pile around Avery, from clues coded into letters and secrets within the mansion. The extended family all have their quirks, which pulled me for a good while.

However, not a lot gets answered, at least not in the twisty, exciting way I had hoped for. There's a large cast of suspects to whittle down but not enough time with the carving knife, and Avery's focus is pulled in a couple of directions, some more interesting that others.

Sometimes I liked the riddles and quirks, other times I just wanted a satisfying answer. I found I wasn't very interested in stories about Emily, a girl the family used to know, because it started to feel like Avery was in a video game, pressing 'a' for 'tell me more about Emily'. The more Avery learned about her, the less I felt Avery was the main character and more just a soundboard.

It's never good when you realise the main point of the book isn't what intrigued you to read it in the first place...

I didn't get the sense Avery was really up for romance, but somehow she finds herself involved to various degrees with the four brothers. It didn't have much spark for me. I don't need romance in a book to enjoy it, but this one felt like another anticlimactic, unfinished story thread hanging loose.

There's also a lot of talk and suspicion and not quite enough time developing interesting character dynamics and memorable moments. The writing is a little on the flat side which I often don't mind, but in this book, I was just hoping for it to entertain a little more. Even Avery, who felt edgy at first, felt a little dry towards the end.

All I know is that this one is just not quite there for me. Everything about this book is okay, but I had expected more from the set up, the concept, and the hardy main character.

Source: Bought the audiobook.

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