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The Inheritance Games

Pages
384
Published
2020
Language
English

Synopsis

Avery Grambs is a pragmatic high-school senior with a plan for her future — one that has nothing to do with sudden wealth or handsome strangers. Then billionaire Tobias Hawthorne dies and leaves almost his entire fortune to Avery, a girl he never met. Overnight she goes from getting by to being worth billions, on one strange condition: she must move into Hawthorne House, the sprawling, secret-filled mansion where the tycoon's sharp, disinherited family still lives.

The Hawthornes were raised on riddles, ciphers, and elaborate puzzle-hunts of their patriarch's design, and they are certain Avery's inheritance is the old man's final game. None of them know why she was chosen — least of all Avery. As she's drawn deeper into the mansion's hidden passages and coded clues, she finds herself caught between two very different Hawthorne grandsons, and realizes that solving the puzzle of her own inheritance may be the only way to stay alive.

Twisty, addictive, and packed with clues, The Inheritance Games is the first book in Jennifer Lynn Barnes's bestselling YA mystery series.

About the author

J
Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Jennifer Lynn Barnes is an American writer of young adult fiction, born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1984. She wrote her first novel at nineteen and has since published more than twenty-five books, among them the Inheritance Games series, the Naturals, the Debutantes and the Fixer. Barnes studied cognitive science at Yale University, graduating in 2006, and received her PhD from Yale in 2012. A Fulbright Scholar, she holds graduate degrees in psychology, psychiatry and cognitive science. She was for...

Characters

Avery GrambsProtagonist

A high schooler who unexpectedly inherits a billionaire's fortune and must live in his puzzle-filled mansion.

Grayson HawthorneSupporting

The controlled, protective eldest grandson wary of Avery's intentions.

Jameson HawthorneSupporting

The reckless, puzzle-obsessed Hawthorne grandson who treats the inheritance as a game.

Xander HawthorneSupporting

The youngest Hawthorne brother, a good-natured tinkerer and Avery's ally.

Nash HawthorneSupporting

The eldest Hawthorne brother, laid-back and estranged from the family's games, with a growing bond with Libby.

All characters in The Inheritance Games

Frequently asked questions

  • Does this book resolve its main mystery or end on a cliffhanger?

    The central mystery regarding the inheritance is fully resolved by the conclusion of the third book in the core trilogy, though the narrative continues to expand through subsequent spin-off titles and companion novels.

  • Is there a specific order I should follow for the series?

    Reading the books in their original publication order is recommended to maintain the intended progression of the plot and character arcs across the core trilogy, the bridging novel, and the spin-off series.

  • Does the author's background influence the writing style?

    Jennifer Lynn Barnes holds advanced degrees in psychology and cognitive science, which she frequently incorporates into her writing to explore the motivations and complex decision-making processes of her characters.

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