Editors Reads Verdict
The Hawthorne Legacy deepens the mystery and the romance of The Inheritance Games with expert plotting and Barnes's signature propulsive pacing, revealing new layers of the Hawthorne family's psychology while keeping the central question of Avery's inheritance tantalizingly unresolved.
What We Loved
- The puzzle-box mystery deepens satisfyingly without feeling contrived
- The Hawthorne brothers are more fully individuated than in the first book
- Barnes's pacing is exceptional — chapters end in ways that make stopping difficult
- Avery's intelligence and adaptability make her a genuinely capable protagonist
Minor Drawbacks
- The romantic triangle generates tension that some readers find frustrating rather than enjoyable
- The Hawthorne family's eccentricity occasionally strains believability
- Some mystery threads are introduced primarily to be resolved in the next book
Key Takeaways
- → Inherited wealth comes with inherited obligations and inherited enemies
- → Games constructed by the powerful are rarely neutral — they always favor the designer
- → Identity questions become urgent when everything you know about your origins is questioned
- → Trust is built through consistent action rather than declaration
- → The pursuit of a puzzle can become a way of avoiding the emotional questions underneath it
| Author | Jennifer Lynn Barnes |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Little, Brown Books for Young Readers |
| Pages | 432 |
| Published | September 7, 2021 |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Young Adult, Mystery, Romance |
| Difficulty | Beginner |
| Best For | Readers who finished The Inheritance Games and want to continue; YA fans of mystery-romance hybrids with elaborate plotting and competitive sibling dynamics. |
Back in Hawthorne House
The Hawthorne Legacy picks up where The Inheritance Games left off, with Avery Kylie Grambs installed in Hawthorne House, still navigating the question that structures the entire series: why did billionaire Tobias Hawthorne leave his entire fortune to a girl he had never met, cutting out his own family in the process?
Jennifer Lynn Barnes has built the Inheritance Games series around one of YA fiction’s most durable pleasures: the puzzle that generates more puzzles. Each revelation in the first book produced new questions, and the sequel deepens this structure while giving the individual Hawthorne brothers — Grayson, Jameson, Xander, Nash — more room to become fully individual rather than personality archetypes.
The Brothers Distinguished
The series’ greatest casting challenge is its quartet of Hawthorne boys, each defined by a different intellectual obsession and emotional wound. The Hawthorne Legacy succeeds most clearly in differentiating Grayson and Jameson — the two most central to Avery’s orbit — by giving each genuine depth rather than simply competing romantic relevance. Grayson’s rigidity and Jameson’s recklessness are revealed as two responses to the same grandfather’s psychological architecture.
Barnes’s Plotting Machine
Barnes has spoken about her approach to plotting as akin to solving her own puzzle: she knows the answer and builds the misdirection backward. This shows in the most complimentary way. The red herrings are genuinely misleading; the solutions are genuinely satisfying; and the clues planted early in the book pay off late without feeling planted. This is craft, not formula.
Avery Kylie Grambs
What distinguishes the series from comparable YA is Avery’s self-awareness about her situation. She knows she is in a game designed by a dead man who had reasons she does not yet understand. She participates anyway, because the alternative is passive victimhood and because she genuinely enjoys the puzzle. This is a protagonist who chooses her circumstances rather than merely enduring them, which makes her considerably more engaging to follow.
Our rating: 4.3/5 — A deeply satisfying sequel that delivers everything the first book promised and extends the mystery with confidence, powered by one of YA’s sharpest plotters.
Ready to Read The Hawthorne Legacy?
Check the current price on Amazon.
Check Price on Amazon (paid link)Prices and availability are subject to change. See Amazon for current price.
Review last updated: