THE INHERITANCE GAMES

 

THE INHERITANCE GAMES

Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Summary:

Avery Kylie Grambs, the protagonist of this novel, experiences what every single one wishes to experience; inheriting lots of money. But you know what they say, money can't buy everything. So while the money does keep the wolf from the door, Avery has to face a much bigger problem; the family of the testator who are left with almost nothing.

Review:

Avery’s life is a detailed rags to riches story. In a span of less than 24 hours, she goes from sleeping in her car to inheriting billions. I know that sounds spectacular, because every single one of us has thought about inheriting money at least once. But everything has its drawbacks.

Avery inherits almost 99% of assets owned by the Texas billionaire, Tobias Hawthorne including tons of vacation homes, crown jewels, an extremely strong legal team and a mansion filled with endless hidden passageways. In order to inherit the assets, she has to fulfill only one condition: live in the mansion for a year. Sounds easy, right? Living in a  gigantic mansion with a bowling alley, a theater, a garage filled with dozens of cars, a playroom, an armory, a spa, a ballroom and tons of people at your service 24/7 including bodyguards, a lawyer and even a personal chef; doesn't sound too bad, does it?

Well, except for one problem: Tobias Hawthorne’s family. These people were definitely not pleased about Avery inheriting everything. It is comprehensible, when you think about it, because imagine your father/grandfather/son-in-law giving his entire fortune to a stranger while leaving only some money (cough hundred thousand dollars cough), the right to stay at the mansion, and a couple of not-very-valuable things (i.e. basically penniless in billionaire terms) to his actual blood-related family. I’d be pissed too. Spending an entire year in a house with people who despise you doesn't sound very fun. 

Avery has two options: go back to her old miserable life, or survive the year and inherit the fortune. And like any sane person, she chose the second option. However, she was determined to find out the answer to a question everyone had: Why did Tobias Hawthorne hand over his fortune to her rather than his own family? She does some digging about the deceased billionaire, only to find out about his lateral mindset and some extremely messed up things he and his family did.

A lot of you might think “Why bother? She just has to survive a year in the mansion to inherit the fortune. There is more than enough security to ensure that she isn't harmed. Why do so much digging and risk finding something that could potentially make her lose the fortune?” The answer being the message written to her by the testator.

Dearest Avery,

 I’m sorry.

 —T. T. H.

~Avani Endait