The Inheritance Games (The Inheritance Games #1)

I have (mostly) patiently waited for MONTHS to read this book. I wanted to read it as soon as I found it, but then I saw it would have a sequel, which means cliffhanger, which means utter lack of control on my part. So, I made the mature decision to wait until the sequel was out to start.... The book? "The Inheritance Games" by Jennifer Lynn Barnes.

["A Cinderella story with deadly stakes and thrilling twists.

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 con-woman, 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."]

People have compared this novel to fabulous book #OneOfUsIsLying (by Karen M. McManus) and the even more fabulous movie #KnivesOut (fucking loooooooove that movie). And I got to say, I was far from disappointed.

One of my favorite quotes (and there were a fuck ton of them--because these Hawthorne boys are dangerous and magical and fucking intense) was about Avery and her situation: "'To some people, you will be Cinderella. To others, Marie Antoinette.'"

I had a favorite grandson from the start. Mostly because I have a weakness towards certain character types/tropes. Though, in all fairness, each and every Hawthorne grandson filled a different type/trope. And holy shit.

I have a lot of things to say, but all of my thoughts are fractured and none of it makes any sense (though, that might not be the sickness I've saddled myself with this time, it might be the actual plot of the novel--it makes sense, but its all scattered gems and broken puzzle pieces).

And I don't know if I predicted one of the major plot twists because I'm that good (aka that paranoid). Or if checking on the page count and accidentally seeing the last two words in the novel gave it away... Either way, go me. :D

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