The Inheritance Games - Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Another audiobook for the commute. I'd been seeing this series on multiple book lists and challenges for a while so it's been on my virtual TBR list for quite some time. I enjoy a decent Young Adult (YA) story, particularly mysteries so this ticked that box. I read the blurb this time (congratulatory pat on the back for me!) so I knew the basics of the plot and was hooked from chapter one.
The narrator for this audiobook was, I have to say, brilliant. She gave each character a slightly different accent, tone, and personality through her voice, making dialogue easy to digest and helping the story flow smoothly from one part to the next. This made a massive difference for me, I felt like I was listening to different people. Sometimes the narration can detract from the immersion (thankfully not often, these people are incredible at what they do).
We follow high school student, Avery, who inherits a massive fortune from an elderly philanthropist, Tobias Hawthorne, whom she's never met or heard of, while his family is disinherited. The terms of the inheritance involve Avery and the Hawthorne family living together in the mansion for one year. Through this time, Avery builds relationships with the family (more specifically the four grandsons of Tobias) and they start to follow the trail of breadcrumbs that Tobias has left.
With plots and riddles galore, I was immediately intrigued by the story of the heiress (though I did initially think that the narrator was saying Ares with an unusual pronunciation the first few times she was given this nickname, one slight downfall of listening rather than reading. Luckily I did realise eventually! Heiress is definitely more in line with the story!). She lives with her half-sister (an alt girl after my own heart!) who has her own story of a manipulative and violent partner/ex-partner, adding an extra layer to the main plot (and an additional potential villain of the piece!).
Avery develops a crush on most of the grandsons at some point and struggles with teen angst related to that throughout. I knew she'd probably end up hooking up with one of them, every second thought she had was about their muscles, eyes, voice, you get the drift. It was not the main focus though which I liked as I'm not massively into romance. I suspect that this will develop a little as the series continues.
Truly had no idea who the "bad guy" was, I got the clues as Avery did and I really enjoyed the intentional lack of blatant foreshadowing which kept me guessing until the exact moment that I was meant to find out!
This was a great start to the series, leaving me with just enough of a thread into the next books, without feeling that it wasn't finished. It stands firmly in one of my favourite reads of the year. While it didn't leave me feeling emotionally wrecked like some others, that doesn't take away from how well it drew me into the story and the characters. I can't wait to read the next one!
If you're looking for a new series to get your teeth into and enjoy the likes of Harry Potter (for the mystery, problem-solving, and family secrets, not the witches and wizards!), this is for you.
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