Skip to main content

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.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Your Best Character: Quiz and Contest

The best characters are put through hell and yet can still carry the story forward on their broken shoulders. Your plot will fall flat if your characters are one dimensional and strong characters can make a cliché story really shine; characterisation takes work and thought. The key to character development is to ask questions. Maybe spend time thinking about the scenarios that have happened to your character which won’t make the final cut of the novel. The questions below are designed to test that (to some degree). [NOW CLOSED, REVIEWS PENDING] Answer at least 5 of these in a comment with a link to your story and I’ll give you an in-depth review. Reviews are approximately 1000 words and take me well over an hour, so if you’re looking to polish up your manuscript then don’t miss out. Also, the opening chapter with the most interesting and well-developed character will be featured on this blog! Feel free to write about anyone as long as they feature in the same story. You can ans...
9 comments
Read more

Dialogue Marks and Taglines

I’m having to point out how to format taglines on a regular basis now, especially when the dialogue takes the form of a question. I thought I’d throw together a quick guide in hopes that everyone who was unaware will see this and instantly understand... Or even just one person. “I fancy a biscuit,” said Samantha. – And I do (how could you tell?) although that’s not the point. My point is you need a comma after biscuit and ‘said’ is in lowercase because the following words form a tagline. It’s a tagline because it refers to how the dialogue is said or who says it. “I fancy a biscuit.” Samantha grabbed the tin. – There’s no tagline. Therefore you need a full stop and to start a new sentence. “I fancy a biscuit.” She smiled. – This doesn’t refer to how the speech is said. Therefore you need a full stop. “Where are my biscuits?” shouted Samantha. – You need lowercase into the tagline. Think of it as part of the sentence. “My biscuits!” she cried. – Again, lowercase. Whether...
2 comments
Read more

Book Review: Children of Blood and Bone

CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE by Tomi Adeyemi 5 Stars Verdict: So good it hurts. The night magic died, Zélie watched her mother's murder as the Maji were slaughtered. Now Zélie has a chance to bring back magic. With the help of her brother and a rogue princess, she must outrun the crown prince and battle her self-doubts to restore magic to the world. This West-African inspired fantasy is powerful and all round awesome from start to finish. The writing is emotive and imaginative, the pacing is as perfect as it gets, and the characters are real with flaws and charm. I hardly know what to say. A brilliant book like this tells the editor in me to shut up and enjoy the ride, so I'd need to read it again to offer more of a critique. If every book was as good as this one, I would never be able to stop reading. The struggles, anger, and pain are carved into this book so deeply that the desires bleed through the pages and the triumphs feel earned. The emotion in this book is ...
13 comments
Read more