The Hawthorne Legacy

“Go on,” she told the boys. “Out with the rest of it. In this family, there’s always a rest of it.”
There is always a rest of it in this family.
I’ve read book 1 recently and still felt like there were people whose names and connections I’ve forgotten. Who was the ex of Xander again? I cant remember.

I liked book 1’s mystery with hidden doors and cryptic clues, but as soon as the main cliffhanger from book 1 was revealed (“So, to summarize,” Max said, “the dead uncle? Not dead, might be your father. Hot boys are also tragic, everyone wants a piece of your fine ash, and the woman who tried to have you killed is foxing your father?”) I kind of lost interest?
I don’t care about the romances of these rich people, I show more truly don’t. And with the main cliffhanger solved the rest of the book didn’t do it for me.

The most interesting parts were about how confusing the high life was. Avery has to study what to say in public, attend auctions and is under constant security surveillance. It does a number on her wellbeing, and I liked reading about how she handled the constant stress that came with it. I also liked her friend Max, the one normal person in this weird rich people puzzle world. show less

Thank you so much to TBR and Beyond and Jennifer Lynn Barnes for providing me with a complementary digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

To view content/trigger warnings, representation info, and tropes, see this book's page on booktriggerwarnings.com

This book was one of my most anticipated reads of 2021, and I’m happy to say that it didn’t disappoint! Its predecessor The Inheritance Games was one of the best YA mysteries (if not the best) that I’ve ever read.

Since I loved The Inheritance Games so much, I couldn’t stop myself from comparing the two novels. Although I didn’t enjoy this novel as much, I remain incredibly impressed with Jennifer Lynn Barnes and her writing. Not only does she have a writing style that show more keeps me interested and compelled, but it is also clear just how much brain power goes into her stories. I read a fair amount of YA mysteries and something that usually bothers me about them is that the main characters almost always do something completely stupid for reasons I never understand. While the characters in The Hawthorne Legacy do frustrate me sometimes, it always because they were emotionally reacting to something in a way I didn’t like, not because they were being unnecessarily foolish.

I read a few reviews before sitting down to write this and some people have complained about the pacing of the story because a lot of the action happens at the very end. While I agree that pace at the end of the book picked up quite a lot, I was perfectly fine with the pacing of the rest of the novel. The reason I love Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ mysteries is because she keeps my brain churning in the most satisfying way throughout the novel, and there was no lack of that here. I never felt like the book was going “too slow” because my thoughts never stopped moving.

Something that I think I should mention in this review, just in case some of my readers are like me when it comes to tropes: this book was a love triangle going on. This was hinted at in the first book, but explore more in this installment. I’m someone who normally can’t stand love triangles, but somehow Jennifer Lynn Barnes made it work for me. I’ve never rooted for all sides of a love triangle before, yet that’s what I found myself doing here. I honestly think that no matter what the outcome of the triangle will be, I will be fine with it. It’s amazing that Jennifer Lynn Barnes was able to pull it off so well. show less

This was a great sequel to "The Inheritance Games "and I enjoyed it just as much as the first. I love the Hawthorne grandsons - Jameson, Nash, Grayson and Xander. They all brought something to the novel, especially Jameson and Grayson but I must admit that Jameson is definitely my favourite!! I also love Max, Avery's best friend. She is a delight and always had me smiling at her comments.

Avery is a wonderful protagonist. She is still overwhelmed at her fortune and how to behave as a celebrity, but she is determined to solve the clues and unravel the mysteries, and I love her interactions with the Hawthorne boys.

Must of this novel focuses on identity. Avery and the boys spend a lot of time learning about themselves and their pasts. There show more are certainly a lot of plot twists and reveals throughout this novel and the short chapters make it a quick read. Now I am impatiently waiting for the next instalment to be released in later this year. show less

Another fabulous, captivating book from Jennifer Lynn Barnes! This book was just as exciting as it's predecessor, The Inheritance Games. I loved every twist and turn and it devoured it in two days. I had order the third book in the series before I was even done with The Hawthorne Legacy, because I knew I was going to need more answers.

The Hawthorne Legacy is filled with more twists, turns, and puzzles that Avery and the Hawthorne grandsons were set out to solve. Trying to locate Toby Hawthorne and solve why he was a piece of the puzzle. Is he Avery's father? Is he the key to why she was left the inheritance? Following all the different clues that were left for them, we learn more about the incomprehensible inheritance that Avery was now show more becoming in charge of. Lavish properties all over the world, all seeming to hold new clues and keys to various puzzles and games. This book was a roller-coaster and no matter how sure I am that I have solved the puzzle...I am always left surprised and humbled. Amazing book! show less

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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WHAT'S THE HAWTHORNE LEGACY ABOUT?
Almost all the puzzles in The Inheritance Games were resolved by the end, just in time for it to introduce a new one in the closing paragraphs. Which is where we pick this up—and it casts a little doubt on some of what we thought was resolved before.

Essentially the core of this book focuses on Avery. Why was she chosen to be Tobias Hawthorne's heir? What is her connection to the family?

Avery and the brothers (with some assistance from her sister, best friend, and her staff) plunge into this mystery and end up unearthing—and shedding a lot of new light on—Hawthorne family secrets and history.

Also, someone is pretty determined to kill Avery. show more Somewhere along the way, that should be dealt with, too, right?

Beyond that, it's pretty near-impossible to talk about the book's plot without giving everything past page 3 away.

MAX
Avery's best friend, Max, was one of the brightest points in the previous novel—despite her minimal appearance, and I'd hoped that we'd get to see her more in this book.

My wish was granted and we got plenty of Max. It's the one improvement to The Inheritance Games. She's just a lot of fun. Thanks to her particular brand of minced oaths and personality—and being one of the few people who don't assume that their position, money, and privilege will get them what they want in the book—she shines brightly against the rest of the characters.

Also, whatever is going on between her and one of the Hawthorne brothers? I'm digging it. No matter what the next section may indicate.

YOUNG LOVE
In The Inheritance Games there was a romantic subplot or two right underneath the surface—well, one or two involving Avery, anyway, plus some others. They're not under the surface anymore. And I frankly couldn't care less about them.

The novel doesn't need them, the characters aren't made more interesting because of them, and the almost-triangle nature of it seems overly stereotypical.

But I know that I'm the statistical outlier for the reader of this book, it wasn't written for me and my typical tastes. So...take this griping with a giant rock of salt.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT THE HAWTHORNE LEGACY?
Bottom Line: If you enjoyed The Inheritance Games, you're going to like this—it's more of the same. The two could've been one really long book. But thinking of it as "one really long book," it sounds dull, and it's anything but that. I guess it's better to think of it as Season 2 of the series, adding layers or dimensions to the ideas from The Inheritance Games and carrying the storylines forward. It might have been easier to just repost what I said about it with a minor tweak or two than to write something new.

I'm not sure I appreciated it as much as the first book—and a couple of times I sort of rolled my eyes at it, but...there's something about Barnes' storytelling that gets under your skin and keeps you turning the pages as fast as you can, you just need to find out what twist is coming next and what will be revealed as a result of it. Compelling feels like a slight understatement.

I think my lack of enthusiasm comes from the way that Barnes showed off all the same tricks in the previous book that she does in this one, so the "discovery" factor isn't there. So the problem* I have with the book is that I was wowed so much already. She lived up to expectations rather than surpassing them is a really lousy complaint.

* Other than the YA Romance/kind-of-triangle. But that's just me being a guy way outside the target audience and my inherent immunity to that. show less

Book #2 in The Inheritance Games series, this one picks up pretty much where the first one left off. Avery has has managed to win over most of the Hawthorne clan and together with the brothers, has solved a lot of riddles and learned a lot of secrets left by her grandfather Tobias Hawthorne. But there are still more puzzles to solve, danger to avoid, and secrets to uncover. Plus a little bit of a questionable love triangle.

I have the advantage of having access to this series of books all at once, so I'm reading them back-to-back and while that makes remembering the plot much easier, it's hard to separate each when I go to write a review. I need to start writing my reviews before immediately starting the next book in the series. :) show more Anyway. I was a little worried that this 2nd book may not live up to my expectations and suffer from 2nd book syndrome, but it did not disappoint. Along with all the puzzles and secrets to solve, there were a lot of plot twists in this one, many of which I did not see coming. Again, this was a fast read but super fun, even if you have to suspend disbelief a little bit. I can sort of make a guess as to where book #3 will go, and I hope it doesn't lose too much steam. They can't all be great, right? show less

The sequel to The Inheritance Games was another exciting, puzzle-filled adventure. Avery Kylie Grambs thought she had finally figured out why multi-billionaire Tobias Hawthorne left her almost his entire estate, disinheriting his daughters and grandsons, but she might have only uncovered one of Tobias Hawthorne's secrets.

She is dealing with disgruntled relatives - both Hawthornes and her own - while trying to locate the missing heir who supposedly died in a fire some twenty years earlier. She has to find a way to stay alive while untangling all kinds of family secrets.

The characters are smart and relatable. The mysteries and puzzles are intriguing and the story is fast-paced. The writing is engaging. I really liked getting to know Avery show more and all of the fascinating Hawthorne brothers. show less