Image: The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Pictured edition: Penguin, 2020. Cover design by ?? Image used on this blog under the “Fair dealing for criticism or review” provision of the Commonwealth Copyright Act, 1968. Surrounding design made by me using Canva.
Avery is a smart girl from a poor background. Her mum’s dead, and she lives with her older half-sister Libby and her abusive scumbag boyfriend. Then she inherits a fortune – a Bill Gates style, four billion dollar style fortune – from a man she’s never met. There’s just one catch. She has to live in the billionaire’s house for one year with the family he disinherited, including his angry daughters and his four very dishy but screwed up grandsons. And the house itself is full of puzzles and riddles left by the dead man. Will Avery discover why she inherited the family’s fortune and, more urgently, which person on the estate is trying to get rid of her before the year is up?
Well, this is a super-fun read – a real page-turner. Everyone on the internet is comparing it to Knives Out, which is true: it absolutely has the same vibe, but its own plot. Avery is a feisty heroine who often doubts herself, but never gives up, and is great at maths and logic puzzles. The four grandsons bring a touch of romance and added suspense to the novel, as we’re never quite sure how trustworthy they are. It did take me a very deliberate effort involving word association to learn those boys’ names: four’s a lot. There’s Nash (motorbike, cowboy boots = Nashville), Grayson (wears grey suits), Jameson (joker) and Xander (X factor).
In every other way, this book is easy to read and you really won’t want to put it down. The riddles and puzzles are intriguing, everyone’s a suspect, and there’s more twists and turns than a labyrinth. There are some distant echoes of plot points from Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and even the faintest whiff of the Cathy/Heathcliff relationship from Wuthering Heights. It’s also quite funny at times – Xander in particular gets all the best lines, mostly involving scones.
One small criticism: the ending was obviously set up for a sequel (The Hawthorne Legacy is out now – the series will eventually be a trilogy), so I didn’t quite get the degree of resolution I prefer at the end of a novel of this sort. But do I want to read the next book? Yes I do. So I guess it worked.
This is a good, page-turning YA mystery novel, potentially suitable for a years 7-10 mystery genre study or an addictive wide reading novel for a mystery or suspense fan.
Title: The Inheritance Games
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Cover: ?? Still looking for this info
Publisher: Penguin, 2020
Genre: mystery, suspense, YA
Representation: BIPOC (supporting character), LGBTQIA+ (supporting characters)
Suitability: years 7-12
Fyi: minor, non-graphic domestic abuse, threats of violence, absent fathers, heart conditions, death/disappearance at a young age
Themes: resilience, relationships, friendship, family, trust, fame, puzzles, grief, charity, wealth, school, girls in STEM
Literary features: first person narrator, clues, red herrings, suspects, country estate mystery, puzzles
NSW syllabus: genre study (mystery or suspense); wide reading
If you like this, try: One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE LIBRARY... 
Leave a comment