Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - The Brothers Hawthorne

The Inheritance Games is my guilty pleasure series. It’s so wild and something I wouldn’t normally enjoy, alas, here I am for the fourth installment. Though this wasn’t my favorite in the series, it was still a fun time by the end.

Brothers Grayson and Jameson are at the forefront of the games this time around with a heavy focus on Grayson and his sisters. We see some over Avery, but this one is ultimately for the boys.

It looks like I’m not alone in feeling like the first half of the book dragged. I was, frankly, so bored that at one point I stopped reading during a commute and opted just to stare out the train window instead. It took a little while to pick back up again. Thankfully, the last third of the book picked up immensely.

Of all the brothers, Grayson and Jameson are the ones I care about the least. I felt like Jameson’s story was summed up decently in The Final Gambit alongside Avery. Grayson? Meh. I’m a Nash girl. (Side note: I think a lot of this book tried to amplify a reader attraction to the brothers and I am not in the age group where I have any interest on that front. So that was weird.) I was disappointed that we didn’t see much of Nash and Xander.

The book left me more confused than pumped for another installment. There are questions left unanswered but without an urgency that was found midway through the first two books. I don’t think this book needed to exist to make the series complete. Will I read a fifth book? Sure. Will I have the same level of excitement I initially had about book four? No.

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rinku's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

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savheath's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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courtneys_reading's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Honestly didn't know where this book was going after the trilogy left things off in a nice place. But these Hawthorne brothers just have more and more going on.

I have to say though I enjoyed diving in with Grayson and Jameson this time and leaving Avery as a side character. These boys have got their own stories to tell. That being said, this could have easily been two different books. At first the switching was taking a while to get used to but then sunk into a groove.

I was thinking the only reason they would be interwined would be

because they somehow were connected but that was wrong.

On top of that, they still left a few questions up in the air...

First off, what is Eve planning? I guess she just wants some attention because she's jealous of Avery but like what's her game?

Second of all, who is the mysterious woman calling Grayson and what will we find out about that?

Oh! And Jameson revealing his grandmother is alive?! Not what I was expecting for his big secret in Prague but they have to tell us more.

I suppose these things will be answered in the next book - because ya know there's going to be another one. I am just wondering how long this goes on. Not that I'm complaining, I'm enjoying the series but I hope it doesn't become one of those things that keeps going just because there is money to be made. Because even I know there's only so far this mystery and puzzle thing can be taken...

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oddduck's review

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4.5

Another very fast read, and it was very fun getting to see more about the Hawthorne brothers. With every book that has a split pov, I tend to reach a point where I strongly favor one character over the other and it's a slog to get through the one I care less about, but both Grayson and Jameson's stories kept me riveted the entire time. The only thing I took a half star off for is because, while I trust Jennifer Lynn Barnes, I do feel

that having another character who's been presumed dead for years not actually be dead is pushing it.

I trust that this will be resolved in a satisfactory way in the next book, but still.

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toris_in_her_own_world's review

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adventurous challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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