The Inheritance Games (The Inheritance Games #1) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

 

The Inheritance Games (The Inheritance Games #1) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

400 pages - First published 2020

With thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This was a very tricky book to review. I've never read any of Jennifer Lynn Barnes books so I'm not used to her style and I found it to be very repetitive and sometimes clunky in places. Certain phrases were used in almost every chapter such as:

'They were a twisted, broken mess before you got here, and they'll be a twisted, broken mess once you're gone.'

I understand that authors use this method to convey a person's thoughts and therefore tension about the story itself. Done well it can be a very interesting read but this just felt like Barnes was trying to bump up the word count.

' "You don't like me much," Thea noted. "That's ok. I'm a hypercompetitive, bisexual perfectionist who likes to win and looks like this. I'm no stranger to being hated." '

I found some of the sentences strangely worded and I was very close to even putting the book down altogether. Sometimes the dialogue was extremely forced as though the author felt the characters just needed to speak at that point, even if it meant they didn't speak like actual people, let alone teenagers.

' "Will you show me where you were hurt?" Grayson asked.

I lifted my hand to the collar of my shirt. I pulled it downward - below my collarbone, exposing my wound. '

I was extremely close to giving up on this book at several points but persevered when I felt that something might actually happen...but it didn't. The book is labellled as perfect for fans of Knives Out but is in fact nothing similar, other than a rich old man dies and leaves his family out of his will.

I really did not enjoy this book and will most likely avoid any books by this author in the future. A lowly 2 stars this time ⭐⭐