The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

 

The Inheritance Games

April 14th, 2024

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Mystery, 372 pages

2021 Teen Buckeye Book Award  winner, YALSA's Teen's Top Ten

In The Inheritance Games, Avery Grambs is your every day normal teenager. Well, perhaps not super normal: Avery struggles to meet ends meet after her mother dies from cancer. Avery lives with her half-sister Libby since their dad is out of the picture, and decides to use her fairly impeccable wit to pass a near impossible test at school. Then, Avery's life changes in an instant. Avery is informed that she will inherit nearly the entire fortune of billionaire Tobias Hawthorne--a man she has never met, nor heard of before. The only catch? Avery must live in the Hawthorne house for one year. The other catch? Tobias Hawthornes' two daughters and dangerously handsome grandsons, who have been disinherited, will live there too. Avery soon learns that Tobias Hawthorne's will, house, and family are anything but simple. Everything is a puzzle to be solved or game to be played. Danger, mystery, and envy lurk all around her. With her very life at risk, Avery only has one thought on her mind when trying to solve the mystery of Tobias Hawthorne's: Game on. 

I knew I needed to add The Inheritance Games (Book 1) to my reading list after this past Christmas Eve. In the middle of my family's chaotic Christmas party, I saw my cousin's teenage son with his nose deep inside of a book; he wouldn't put the book down for the life of him. As an English teacher, I had to know what book he was devouring. If there was a book to make a teenager ignore CHRISTMAS, then I knew I had to read it as soon as possible. 

Teaching and Content Considerations:

I would suggest this book to both middle school and high school readers! I think this book would work really well as an independent reading novel, especially because it is the first book of a trilogy that will leaving readers hungry to read more. There is one abusive relationship that is briefly focused on when we get t know Libby further. Teachers may want to provide students with a trigger warning before lending out the novel. Besides that, young adult readers who love a good mystery, puzzle, fast paced action, and a little bit of romance will certainly be hooked! 

Instructional Ideas

Character Development: What is one thing this book has A LOT of? Characters. Characters who all have their own complex personalities, pasts, and secrets that are gradually revealed throughout the book. However, the entire novel is written from Avery's perspective. Hence, students could write a series of letters from different characters' points of view (perhaps Jameson, Grayson, Libby,  Thea, and Sky) to start. The goal would be for students to "fill in the blanks" between initially meeting a character and their true feelings or past being revealed to Avery. Although letters are fairly old school, Avery finds plenty of them throughout the storyline. 

Escape Room Review: Avery can't have all the fun solving puzzles and riddles, can she? Teachers could create an escape room (either digitally or using a lock box) to review important narrative elements of the novel, such as plot, characterization, setting, and conflict! Teachers could even make the theme of the escape room match the novel: begin with a will stating they have just inherited billions of dollars--if they can figure out each of the puzzles laid out for them. On the flip side, students could also create their own digital escape room as a project to demonstrate the important narrative elements they have learned from the novel in their independent reading. 

Toxic Relationships: Most characters in the book have some sort of toxic relationship that has a hold on their life. Libby has Drake, the Hawthorne brothers have their mother, Avery has her dead beat dad. Students could take a closer look at each toxic relationship and explain how each character has been manipulated by those closest to them. To push students further, teachers could also ask students why each character chooses to invest in this relationship or finally cut it off. 

Possible Read Aloud Passages

• Pages 38-41: "'The remainder of my estate, Mr. Ortega read, 'including all properties monetary assets, and worldly possessions not otherwise specified, I leave to Avery Kylie Grambs.' This is not happening. This cannot be happening. I'm dreaming. I'm delusional."  
• Avery is invited to the Hawthorne estate to hear Tobias Hawthorne's will. This is the moment that Avery, as well as the rest of Tobias Sr.'s family, realize that Avery has essentially inherited his entire fortune over them. The tension and shock of these pages will have students begging to keep reading on!
• Pages 101-102: "Think what you want about me,' she said. 'But the last girl at this school who got tangled up with the Hawthorne brothers? The last girl who spent hour after hour in that house? She died."
• Thea (it's not every day I find a character with my name), Zara's niece, continues to chat Avery up at school. She then gives Avery a chilling piece of information: the last girl to get involved with the Hawthorne brothers died in their house. Students can create predictions of what they believe happened, who this girl might be in relation to the Hawthornes, and why Thea is telling Avery this startling fact.  
• Pages 215-216: "'Get down!' Jameson yelled. I barely heard him. My brain couldn't process what I was hearing, what had just happened. I'm bleeding. Pain...Gun. Someone's shooting at us. There was a stabbing pain in my chest. I've been shot."
• Someone attempts to assassinate Avery as she and Jameson are in the Blackwood trying to solve the next clue of Tobias Sr.'s game. Each time Avery gets one step closer to understanding the mystery at hand, Avery's life gets thrown into jeopardy. 

Thoughts and Reflections

I ripped through this book like I did when I was a teenager with The Hunger Games and Divergent. Once I was done with The Inheritance Games, I immediately began reading the second and third book of the trilogy because I was that invested in the fast-paced mystery that has become Avery's life. Barnes provides the perfect balance of suspense, action-packed twist and turns, and unforgettable characters that I believe could capture the interest of any hesitant reader. 

My goal after reading The Inheritance Games is to finish reading the trilogy (I have the final book to go) to see how this plays out for Avery! I would also like to check out some of Barnes' newer books that take place within the same universe. The Brothers Hawthorne is most likely where I'll begin, as it is told from Jameson's and Grayson's perspectives. These two brothers only reveal so much of their thoughts and struggles to Avery in the initial trilogy--I'd love to see more of the world through their eyes!