The Hawthorne legacy

Gr 7 Up--Best-selling puzzle mystery The Inheritance Games has a sequel, and the stakes are higher than ever. Avery Grambs isn't a Hawthorne. DNA proved that, but she does have the entire Hawthorne fortune as long as she can survive in Hawthorne House for one year. The first novel ended with a cliffhanger, and readers learned that the late billionaire didn't build just one Inheritance Game but two for Avery and his grandchildren to work through. If she wants any answers about her mother and why she of all people got this fortune, Avery will need the help of all four Hawthorne boys. As the puzzles and power plays begin to pile up, the protagonist learns a Hawthorne trade secret: "There are no rules that matter more than winning." With past and present intersecting, Barnes's deepened characterizations paint a complex and emotional web of loyalties. Avery's strong narrative voice and quick thinking bring layers to the story, carrying readers through riddles, as well as adeptly confronting grief, betrayal, and love. Avery's love triangle with the two swoony Hawthorne boys becomes more compelling as the characters grow into themselves. There is diversity in the secondary cast in race and orientation, with an on-page f/f romance. VERDICT Not to be missed, Barnes's duology manages to flawlessly tie up all unanswered questions and will find readers in every library.--Emmy Neal, Lake Forest Lib., IL

In this sequel to The Inheritance Games (2020), Avery has a new Hawthorne family puzzle to solve. Picking up where the last volume left off, Avery and the four Hawthorne grandsons are on a mission to find Toby, the billionaire patriarch's only son, who was presumed dead after a fire but, it turns out, may still be alive. With enigmatic clues and more cryptic mysteries left by the deceased family patriarch and Toby himself, Avery and the young Hawthornes piece together the details of the latter's disappearance. Assisting the mostly White cast this time is Avery's best friend, Maxine Liu, whose name cues her as Chinese American. Once again, action-packed chapters with more threats against Avery's life and an ongoing love triangle among Avery and two rival Hawthorne grandsons drive the momentum. This novel relies less on the brainteasers that made the first book so much fun and more on sleuthing to fill in the backstory surrounding the Hawthorne lineage and Avery's own heritage. Are the two connected? The answers occasionally lead to more questions as the pace quickens and red herring upon red herring prevail, leading up to the conclusion of this installment. An open ending--and a bolder Avery--are ready for the next set of Hawthorne challenges. A solid sophomore novel that keeps readers involved in the entertaining series. (Mystery. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.