Opening Line:  “When I was a kid, my mom constantly invented games.”

Overall:  This is my favorite type of book!  An inheritance mystery that is really a game full of clues that have to be unraveled and solved.  (It reminds me of one of my favorite books from High School called, The Westing Game.  Which is also a inheritance mystery with clues to solve.)  But, this book is about Avery Grambs, a girl in  High School who has never had it easy growing-up.  She lost her mom to cancer and now lives in her car.  But, she is very smart and has plans to improve her future and go to college.  However, one day she finds out she is an heir to the fortune of Tobais Hawthorne, the richest man in Texas.  He is worth over 46 billion dollars, and at the reading of his will, Avery finds out that he has inexplicably left almost his entire fortune to her.  None of the Hawthorne family members even know her, or know why Tobias has left her their inheritance money.  As far as anyone knows, she is not related to them at all.  So why did he leave this stranger almost all of his money in the will?  One unusual stipulation to his will is that Avery must live in Hawthorne House ( a huge mansion with plenty of secret passageways and hidden rooms)  with the entire strange and very angry family for a whole year to inherit the fortune.  The older family members are all extremely outraged and resentful towards Avery.  But, the four gorgeous grandsons in the family, who are closer to her age, are more amused.  They know that their Grandfather was always up to something.  While they were growing-up, he was always challenging them to compete with eachother in yearly games and puzzles.  The grandsons believe that this inheritance might just be another game  of their Grandfather’s for the grandsons to test their wits against eachother and solve the mystery of Avery and the inheritance.  But, Avery wants to solve the strange mystery too.  She is a smart, strong girl who is up to this unexpected, extraordinary challenge.         

Ovations: I think this book would make a great movie!  The story is so imaginative!  The big family mansion is so mysterious with all it’s secrets to be uncovered.  As Avery and the grandsons try to solve the all the puzzles and unravel the mysteries, there are so many cool and unique things they get to see and discover and do.  The plot moves along at an exciting, fast pace.  It is very well written and keeps you interested and involved the whole way through.  I love how you are figuring things out right along with Avery, so you feel like you are finding the clues and solving them just as she does.  I love the strong, female, lead character Avery!  She is intelligent, brave, adventurous, attractive, creative, street-smart, and up for any challenge.  She is such a positive role model for a YA audience.  She had a tough upbringing, but does not ever let her pain make her bitter or drag her down.  It just gives her her fire!  Lastly, I also liked the fun, flirty interactions happening between her and two of the hot Hawthorne grandsons.  She has sort of a love triangle happening between her and Grayson and Jameson.  I always enjoy a good love triangle!  

Oh Well:  The only bad thing I have to say about this book is that I am still not sure how all this is going to end, because there is a cliffhanger at the end of the book!  I did not know that going in, and was freaking out that the book does not end…. it is a to-be-continued mystery that is still unsolved at the end of this book!  There is a second book that I did not know about, that I had to then buy immediately to find out what happened next!    

Opinion:   I loved this book!  The characters are well written and I love the strong, feisty, female main character.  The plot is inventive and modern and the puzzle solving story is quick moving and a fun ride.  The little spark of romance thrown in doesn’t hurt either.  I just wanted to keep reading to find out what happens next!  But, just to let you know, this is actually a trilogy.  There are 3 books to this series, The Inheritance Games, The Hawthorne Legacy, and The Final Gambit.  The Emerald, Sapphire and Ruby covers to these three books are stunningly beautiful!  The third book will not be released until August 2022.  I will of course be buying and reading the third book as soon as it  is released!  The first two books are out now, and I have read and reviewed them.  This first books rating is 10 out of 10.