Review: The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Hey everyone!
Today, I am excited to be sharing my review of The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes with you all.

Title: The Final Gambit
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Release Date: 1st September 2022
Publisher: Penguin
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Age Category: Young Adult
Page Count: 374
Buy It Here (affiliate links): Amazon UK, Waterstones, Book Depository

GoodReads Synopsis:

Avery’s fortune, life, and loves are on the line in the game that everyone will be talking about.

To inherit billions, all Avery Kylie Grambs has to do is survive a few more weeks living in Hawthorne House. The paparazzi are dogging her every step. Financial pressures are building. Danger is a fact of life. And the only thing getting Avery through it all is the Hawthorne brothers. Her life is intertwined with theirs. She knows their secrets, and they know her.

But as the clock ticks down to when Avery will become the richest teenager on the planet, trouble arrives in the form of a visitor who needs her help – and whose presence in Hawthorne House could change everything. It soon becomes clear that there is one last puzzle to solve, and Avery and the Hawthorne brothers are drawn into a dangerous game against an unknown and powerful player.

Secrets upon secrets. Riddles upon riddles. In this game, there are hearts and lives at stake-and there is nothing more Hawthorne than winning.

My Review:

I previously read The Inheritance Games (REVIEW HERE), and The Hawthorne Legacy (REVIEW HERE), and absolutely loved them, so I was super excited for The Final Gambit. I waited so patiently for this to be released, so when my copy finally arrived (late, thanks to Waterstones), I started it immediately, despite already having two other books on the go, and I’m so glad I did because it was everything I had wanted it to be and more.

It was so exciting to dive back in to the world of Avery Grambs and the Hawthornes. The Final Gambit flows on perfectly from the ending of The Hawthorne Legacy, and there was danger and games in store for them all from the get go, which was to be expected. Never a dull moment in Hawthorne House!

The characters in this series are some of my favourite literary characters at this point. Avery really holds her own within the folds of the Hawthorne family at this point, and I love to see it. A powerful female character who’s not afraid of a little danger. The Hawthorne brothers in particular are totally infectious. I absolutely love the differences in their personalities, the way that they all interact with each other, and the differences in the relationships that they form with other people, but how ultimately family is most important to every single one of them. The characters in this story and their relationships are so brilliantly written that you almost feel like you’re involved in their lives yourself.

The love triangle… I’m not usually a fan of romance, and love triangles can be really hit and miss, but I have been completely invested in this one since book one! The tension, competition, and emotion is ramped right up in this book though, and I was completely unsure on what the outcome of the situation would be. I am 100% team Jameson though! He’s intriguing, he’s exciting, and he’s also rather dangerous. He’s an enigma and I can’t help but love that.

The games, puzzles, and riddles are the most enjoyable element of this series and those that take place in this story are no exception, and with the addition of some new and unknown players, the stakes couldn’t be higher. With an explosive final game, with results that no-one could have expected, this book has you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end.

Everything is tied up so neatly with the end of the book, and this was the perfect ending to a fantastic series, I’m just so sad that it’s over. These characters have really stolen my heart, and honestly, I wish I could read about them forever. I am desperately hoping that Jennifer Lynn Barnes gives us lots more of the Hawthorne family in the future. This book, and this series as a whole is a definite must read!

I give The Final Gambit a 5 star rating!

About The Author:

Jennifer Lynn Barnes (who mostly goes by Jen) is the author of more than a dozen critically acclaimed young adult novels. She has advanced degrees in psychology, psychiatry, and cognitive science, including graduate degrees from Cambridge University, where she was a Fulbright Scholar, and Yale University, where she received her Ph.D. in 2012. Jen wrote her first published novel when she was nineteen-years-old and sold her first five books while still in college.

In additional to writing YA novels, Jen has also written original pilot scripts for television networks like USA and MTV, and she is one of the world’s leading experts on the psychology of fandom and the cognitive science of fiction and the imagination more broadly. Jen is an Associate Professor at the University of Oklahoma, where she holds a dual appointment in Psychology and Professional Writing.

YOU CAN FIND JEN HERE:
Website, Twitter, Instagram, GoodReads

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