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Book: The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Read From: 2nd September - 5th September 2021
Rating: 3/5 stars
Summary (The Inheritance Games): Avery is mind boggled when she inherits an unfathomable estate from a complete stranger. Little does she know, the world that awaits her at Hawthorne House is filled with bitterness, resentment, puzzles, mystery and a band of mysterious grandsons who are just as desperate as Avery to uncover why she was the one who received their grandad’s fortune.
Waiting for this book to come out was honestly the longest year of my life! After the mega cliff-hanger in book one I was so excited to get the answers to all of my questions and Barnes DEFINITELY delivered. There were revelations and plot twists left right and centre - I could barely catch my breath from the last reveal and then yet another spanner was thrown in the works! This definitely helped keep my attention as I felt this book was not as fast paced as The Inheritance Games in terms of plot progression. However, the shock-factor included in most chapters definitely helped it seem more fast paced than it was!
I had no idea this book was going to be a trilogy but as soon as I found out I quickly began to realise that a lot of the storyline felt like a set-up for the grand finale. This is the case with most 'middle' books though, I find its so rare to find a book that doesn't actually succumb to the 'second book syndrome' in trilogies. So, whilst mildly annoying I can't say it's completely unexpected!
Obviously you wouldn't go into this book expecting realism but I think that is what makes it all the more delightful - it's so far detached from reality that this series is so good for a quick and mind-boggling escapist read. I really enjoyed being back with these characters and even though we get to know the Hawthorne grandsons a little more in this sequel, there is still an air of mystery about them which makes it all the more intriguing! However I have to admit, I wasn't a fan of the love triangle at all!😖 Thankfully, despite having much more of a feature in this book than the first, it's only a minor sub-plot so it didn't overshadow the main story too much.
Overall though, this was great! It had Barnes' signature quick and addictive writing style throughout which made this book so binge-worthy and I'm excited to see which direction she takes the final book in - especially as there are various avenues she could take it down!
Thank you Penguin for the gifted review copy!