Book: The inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes 

Genre: Mystery, Fiction 

"You're not a player, kid. You're the glass ballerina - or the knife." 

Rating: 4/5

Summary (Including Spoilers)

We are immediately introduced to Avery and her older half - sister, Libby. 

They share an absent father and when Avery's mother died, Libby stepped up and became her legal guardian. However, because Libby is still quite young, the sisters are barely getting by, with no help from Libby's emotionally abusive boyfriend - Drake. 

One day, Grayson Hawthrone, shows up at Avery's school, summoning Avery to the reading of his grandfathers Will. Avery and Libby are extremely confused as none of them know who Tobias Hawthrone is or what he wants with her. When they get to the reading, Avery (along with everyone else), is shocked to find out that Mr. Hawthrone left all of his wealth, his estate as well as all of his properties in Avery's name, except the little that is left to his grandsons- Nash, Alexander, Jameson and Grayson -  and staff. 

The Will states that Avery has to move into the Hawthrone house for a year as contingency for inheriting everything and if she rejects the inheritance, then it still wouldn't go to any of the family members, so she half-heartedly accepts. This angers almost everyone in the house, obviously, considering none of them know who she is.  

 Alexander, being as friendly as he is,  shows Avery the letter that his grandfather left him in the will, which is full of riddles.  Avery comes to the conclusion that all of the grandsons got similar letters and makes it her job to figure out what it all means with the hope to get some answers. She finds out that, regardless of how strange all of this is, the boys treat the situation as a game, a riddle, and claim that its something that their grandfather always did. 

Because Grayson was next in line - after Nash - to inherit everything, he's very harsh and mean towards Avery even though she didn't do anything wrong. Jameson, on the other hand, becomes friends with Avery and they work together to figure out answers. However, its difficult to understand if Jameson actually likes Avery, or if he just sees her as a puzzle piece. 

Eventually we find out a whole lot of other drama surrounding the brothers, why there's so much of tension between Grayson and Jameson and about a girl named Emily. 

Emily and her sister Rebecca moved in with their grandparents - the Laughlins - who were part of the live in staff at the estate. They went to the same school as the brothers and all became really good friends. When Emily was younger she had a heart transplant and because of this she was a very reckless person, she basically lead on Jameson and Grayson and dated both of them at the same time (without the other one knowing obviously) not because she was in love with either of them but because she loved the thrill and excitement of it. 

When Jameson broke up with her, she lied and told Grayson that she chose him and to celebrate wanted to go cliff - diving, but it was actually because she was hurt from finding out that her sister and her best friend, Thea, were dating and they never told her anything. She manipulated Gray into taking her cliff-diving and while waiting for him to return with towels, she had a heart attack and died on the beach. We also find out that Jameson was there before she died, but he thought that she was playing him once again and left before anything actually happened. 

Emily died on the 18th October, which coincidently is the same day that Avery was born and also the date of all of the clues left by the grandfather - Tobias. 

Once everyone confesses their own parts of the story, Alexander confesses that he actually knew the answer from the beginning and that Tobias (grandfather) told him to make sure that Jameson and Grayson solve it together with Avery. He basically played everyone the entire time. 

Eventually, they all find the real letters that was left by Tobias. In Avery's letter, there's only a packet of sugar. We find out that Avery met Tobias when she was six at a restaurant where her mother said her name. He found her name amusing (I guess) and kept tabs on her the entire time. When Emily died, he probably remembered Avery and used her as a means to end for his grandsons. 

We also find out that Tobias and his wife lost their son, Toby to a fire 20 years ago. That was when he last changed his will. Avery finds out that Toby is actually Harry, the guy that she plays chess with in the park. And if Tobias was keeping tabs on her, he knew that Toby/Harry is actually alive.

Thoughts: 

I'm usually not  a fan of mystery, but I was pleasantly surprised when I finished this book. It was very exciting, and enjoyable and I had a lot of theories while reading and I honestly couldn't put it down.  

My favorite character is obviously Avery. For some reason I felt so protective over her and I couldn't stomach the thought of someone hurting her. When the whole shooting scene happened, I started crying, for some reason, and I wanted to jump into the book and hug her. It's so weird because I've never felt so protective like this over a character like this before. I felt like we couldn't trust ANYONE. I hated how she was basically alone the entire time, even when she had one of the boys with her, we were never really sure we could trust them entirely. Even her friendship with Maxine didn't feel solid. Like I understood where Max was coming from but Avery almost died and Jameson left her right after and then she felt like she couldn't trust Libby. That was the Worst!!

And then the ENDING when Avery kept saying 'I thought I was special' but EVEYONE JUST USED HER? Like yes she inherited billions of dollars, I get it but WHY? BECAUSE OF HER NAME?? That was kind of ridiculous for me and I honestly feel like we're missing something because my girl Avery deserves more than that. Everyone used her for their own personal gain and that hurt so much more than I'm willing to admit. 

Her personality was amazing! I love how smart she is and how quickly she worked through things. I loved how protective she is over Libby, she'd literally do anything for her and it made me feel so soft, and how she always chooses to believe the best in everyone even after she was hurt. I look forward to reading more of her in the future. 

Libby. I LOVE LIBBBYY!!! I would protect her with my life honestly. She is so so precious and I feel like we needed more of her. I love that she bakes every time she feels guilty or whenever somethings wrong, its so cute and I hate what happened to her in her past, it hurts. Also I SHIP HER AND NASH!!! We better get them together because they are adorable. Nash best boi. #LASH

Xander. This kid is honestly so precious! He's obviously a lot smarter than he lets on and there's so much more to him than what meets the eye. He's genuinely kind and good and would do anything for someone that he loves. I'm excited to see how his role plays out in the next book and how he solves the whole Toby mystery. I love his friendship with Avery its so precious!!

Grayson. The way I went back and forth between Gray and Jameson during this book...Grayson was so mean in the beginning, but I always lowkey knew that I'll be rooting for him in the end. He has such a calming and trustworthy aura and I just grew so attached to him. He seems so intimidating but once you get to know him you can see that he wouldn't hurt a fly, he's so mature and gentle and soft and I'm so weak for this man. AND THE WAY he put his brother before Avery just made me like him even more. We ALL know that he and Avery are endgame, don't play. 

Jameson. Who doesn't love a smart boy with great hair, light eyes and a whole lotta sass?? In the beginning I most definitely rooted for Jameson and Avery but that changed somewhere during the middle. Jameson is very impulsive and I feel like when he puts his mind to something, he gets so into it that he doesn't realize when he's hurting someone. He's too fast and being with him - even just reading about him- gives you an adrenaline rush. Its very easy to fall for him, you can just tell by the way he carries himself, which also means that it's very easy to get your heart broken by him and you'll thank him for it. I just feel like Avery deserves someone more stable (no offense to Jameson, cause I love him) and Gray would be a better fit for her. 

Overall, this book was a whirlwind of emotions from the get go and I'm looking forward to the next one. I have no idea what to expect, I just know that if this is a trilogy then we better be prepared to get our hearts broken in the next one. Because this was the first book, it felt like an introduction to everyone. We just got a very brief glimpse into everyone's story and their personalities, but I have hope that in the best book we see a lot more of....everything honestly and hopefully some proper answers, because the ending left me feeling very empty.