Hawthorne Legacy: Inheritance Games 2

Nice story with lots of emotions.

I mean, I read the entire book. And I didn’t hate it.

But it took all the aspects of the first book that weren’t so great and made them worse. It also felt very much like a repeat of the first book in some aspects. I kept a mental checklist: here’s where Avery kisses _______, now here’s where Avery kisses ________, here’s where someone tries to kill her and fails, here’s the kindness moment from Mrs. Laughlin. (I could go on and on.) Maybe it was my imagination, but these all seemed to happen in the same story moments (25%, 62%, etc.) of the story.

The puzzles were even less puzzling than the first book. I figured most of them out way before Avery and the Hawthorne’s and many were so dead obvious that Avery and the Hawthorne’s started to feel a bit dense. I figured out the family dynamics/connections hundred of pages before they were revealed. And there were a number of dead-obvious clues that no one else noticed. I kept wondering when someone was going to follow up on ____________________, but then they never did.

The theme of ‘I can’t because I feel too guilty’ felt tired in this book. Too much of a repeat of the previous book. Made the conclusion unsatisfying.

I also found several aspects of the plot unbelievably cruel. The first was Avery’s Mom endlessly telling her ‘I’ve got a secret about the day of your birth.’ It’s hard to discuss this without giving away spoilers, so I’ll make my own metaphor as an example of what happened (this is not what happened). Let’s say A Person grows up poor with a Family Member saying that one day the person would inherit a billion dollars. Over and over again the Family Member says this. But then when the inheritance comes in, it isn’t The Person who inherits, it’s the Family Member. The Person gets zero because they have zero connection to the money, only the Family Member does. Even worse, The Person is expected to be just as happy about the Family Member having their dreams come true as if it actually had been The Person themselves. (I hope that makes sense.) In this situation, it was CRUEL of the Family Member to endlessly tell The Person that they would inherit billions because it had nothing to do with The Person. This is pretty much what Avery’s mother does to Avery. And of course Avery is thrilled with getting nothing and her mother’s cruelty. That her mother did a hugely unkind thing isn’t even mentioned. (Truth, it occurs to me as I write this that Avery is becoming a Mary Sue.)

And then in the same vein, Avery spends the book continuing to develop romantic relationships with both Jameson and Grayson. Not once does she pause to consider that’s she creating a repeat of the Emily fiasco, which nearly destroyed both boys. Avery just switches back and forth between them, without even considering whether this is a good idea or not. She is supposed to be so brilliant, such a good reader of people, and yet in this aspect she also came off as cruel. The only person who showed any common sense in this three-some was Grayson.

The thing is, I have a feeling all of this is unintentional on the author’s part. One of those situations where the author just didn’t think things thru well enough.

I’ll probably read the third book. I’m curious how the author redeems Avery’s situation. My guess is that Avery is going to become even more of a Mary Sue. But we’ll see.

You must read Book 1 to really fall in love with the characters. There are so many surprises. I’m usually good at figuring things out, but not entirely with this book. Read the series. You will not be disappointed.

I like the ending. It wasn’t what I was expecting and that’s the point and what makes it good. I really enjoy Avery as a main character.

The twists and turns in this book kind of had my head spinning for a little while. I am anxious to read the next book in the series.

I Love LOVE LOVE LOVE this book! Its a excellent second instalment to the Inheritance Games series! Its similar to the first book in the way that it doesn’t move that fast, but it still keeps you engaged and waiting. Some times the pace picks up, and than it goes back to normal.
Jameson is a lot more tolerate able in this book, and you start to love Greyson even more. You have a bunch of awesome moments between Libby and Nash, and we get a lot more inside into Xanders personality, and Thea and Rebecca’s relationship. Obviously Toby is a central character in the book, and you lean a lot more about the Hawthorns.
In all, 5 stars, and its amazing book, highly recommend!