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A review by cordelia_gretson
The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
It wants to be better, but I don’t think the author is capable at writing at all higher, less juvenile level. Where she tries to have a romantic feels with the FMC and potentially two of the four brothers, it reads 6th grade or first crush vs 18/19 year olds. Like, ma’am these are seniors to early college- hormones are popping off and you’re making it sound like a crush at bible camp. Where there could be tension, it falls flat.
“Puzzles” and mysteries aren’t strong enough to make me “not want to put it down.” Not until the last 80 pages, maybe, did much happen and the low level of imagery made world building difficult to paint an accurate picture of the scenes. Mapping out actions to puzzles came across as messy, but potential was there.
Characters aren’t lovable, more annoying than anything. The FMC bff wants to have Lily vibes from Princess Diaries, is my initial thought, with super strict parents that don’t let her swear and you’re fed ridiculous lines the author put in their hoping to make her lovable, avoid swearing (oh fucking dear), and make the book “age appropriate” (what was her target audience??)
Sometimes it feels AI written or guided with good premise but lacking any kind of emotion or suspense when the premise begs for it.
Notes to friend at 65% read:
Also, I don’t officially know yet, but I think I know why she’s chosen and if it’s the reason I think- womp, womp 🙄 😒 boring. The “who done it” aspect was guessed early on with a bizarre encounter combined with an inadvertent homage to Fred on Scooby Doo kids, “it’s the Red Herring,” but it was… might as well of had House (MD) guess lupus and be right every time.
Epilogue felt like an after thought that should’ve been the penultimate chapter instead, providing an adequate hook to suck you into the next book. As it is, it fell into the, “I don’t care anymore. Yay! The book is over.”
Overall it has promise and potential and if you’ve never ready any mystery before or puzzle ridden books it could be for you. I don’t envision myself caring to continue.
“Puzzles” and mysteries aren’t strong enough to make me “not want to put it down.” Not until the last 80 pages, maybe, did much happen and the low level of imagery made world building difficult to paint an accurate picture of the scenes. Mapping out actions to puzzles came across as messy, but potential was there.
Characters aren’t lovable, more annoying than anything. The FMC bff wants to have Lily vibes from Princess Diaries, is my initial thought, with super strict parents that don’t let her swear and you’re fed ridiculous lines the author put in their hoping to make her lovable, avoid swearing (oh fucking dear), and make the book “age appropriate” (what was her target audience??)
Sometimes it feels AI written or guided with good premise but lacking any kind of emotion or suspense when the premise begs for it.
Notes to friend at 65% read:
Also, I don’t officially know yet, but I think I know why she’s chosen and if it’s the reason I think- womp, womp 🙄 😒 boring. The “who done it” aspect was guessed early on with a bizarre encounter combined with an inadvertent homage to Fred on Scooby Doo kids, “it’s the Red Herring,” but it was… might as well of had House (MD) guess lupus and be right every time.
Epilogue felt like an after thought that should’ve been the penultimate chapter instead, providing an adequate hook to suck you into the next book. As it is, it fell into the, “I don’t care anymore. Yay! The book is over.”
Overall it has promise and potential and if you’ve never ready any mystery before or puzzle ridden books it could be for you. I don’t envision myself caring to continue.