My Rating: 4/5 Stars

My Thoughts: 

One of the most popular YA series of the past three years, The Inheritance Games, recently wrapped up with its third novel, The Final Gambit. I read books #1 and 2, The Inheritance Games and The Hawthorne Legacy, last fall and since finishing the sequel, I couldn’t wait for the third book to come out late this summer. The Final Gambit was also so hard to get me hands on an actual copy – it was sold out it so many bookstores and took a few weeks for it to come off my library holds list.

As the third book in a series, I’m going to do my best to avoid spoilers, but The Final Gambit begins shortly before Avery is set to finally inherit the billions left to her by Tobias Hawthorne. Of course, a person connected to the Hawthorne family’s past – and misdoing – arrives, throwing another complication and another game in the way of Avery getting to finally start her new life. The book of course includes the classic trademarks of the series, including but not limited to the four Hawthorne brothers’ antics & competitiveness, Avery’s feelings for Jameson and complicated relationship with Grayson, and new secrets and games revealed throughout. 

The Inheritance Games is the type of series where it’s probably best to binge read the books back to back because there are a lot of characters and connections to remember. About fifty pages in, I had to pull up a recap of The Hawthorne Legacy because I didn’t understand why the arrival of a character was so important. Once I refreshed, I felt like I had a better grasp on what I needed to remember a 100 pages in, even though there were a few moments where it took me a little bit to recognize some character connections again. Regardless, there is something about this series & Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ storytelling that makes it so hard to put down – I read the last 200 pages in one sitting on Saturday afternoon. 

Nearly every chapter in this book presents a new twist and turn (sidenote that I love how each chapter is only anywhere from 2 to 6 pages in length) that makes you fly through the book. There’s action and puzzles throughout, and while I’ve seen some reviews call the ‘final game’ near the book a bit lackluster, I loved how it unraveled (and how it connected to the book’s title). 

Overall, The Final Gambit was a solid final to The Inheritance Games series. I really like the way that the story concluded, although I could see Jennifer Lynn Barnes writing some kind of spin-off in the future. 

Have you read The Final Gambit? What are your thoughts? Have you read The Inheritance Games or any other books by Jennifer Lynn Barnes? Share in the comments!