BOOK REVIEW: The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
A twisting puzzle where one answer leads to three more questions.
Ok, so I absolutely loved The Inheritance Games. I mean it was one of my favorite reads of 2021. As a result, I couldn’t wait to get started on book 2. I even purposely put off starting it just so that there would be a little more time between the reads because now I have to wait until the end of August for the final book to be released!
This book did not disappoint at all. As a sequel, it could go either way. Sometimes sequels are just there to fill narration between the beginning and the conclusion but really don’t do much of anything on a stand alone basis. The Hawthorne Legacy was devilish, intriguing and just one really big logic puzzle. I enjoyed the twists and turns, the link between events and people. The jealousy, animosity and uncertainty that the characters display. I had a really hard time putting the book down.
“Sometimes all a girl really needed was a very bad idea.” (238)
What is most amazing is how the author created such an amazing plot. I would love to sit down with Barnes and just find out how long it took her to put the pieces of this puzzle together, and not just one puzzle, but puzzles that involved and overlapped multiple characters. How in this book the Hawthorne boys and Avery couldn’t really do it alone. Zara and Skye had to be involved to some degree. As did so many smaller characters.
Even with the creative and innovative storyline, it all would have fallen flat if the character development didn’t continue to build. Through book 2 of this trilogy, we see more depth to the characters, we see them continue to evolve. I love that Max has a bigger role, and it shows just how important having your best friend is. Libby also grows and shows some vulnerability, and her past sheds light on their childhood at the same time breaks your heart. Zara, Thea, Rebecca and even Oren have their moments to shine in this book with some revelations that are at times surprising but important in solidifying their motives and allegiance to the Hawthorne family.
Avery and the boys don’t change or grow as much as the secondary characters though. Nash isn’t very visible, Xander seems to be developing his own new friendship which just leaves the triangle of Avery, Grayson and Jameson. While we saw this coming in the first book, their triangle aspect isn’t as big a deal as one might think it is. The triangle definitely leans much more clearly toward one brother than the other. There really are only a handful of times where Avery questions her feelings between the two. In the end, I appreciate the cleverness and sweetness of how the decision is made. It does show that the Hawthorne boys may be open to putting themselves out there without knowing for sure what will be coming back at them than previously thought. Alisa still feels a little bit like an enigma. I am still not quite sure what to make of her and her decisions other than she takes her job very seriously.
The hunt for Toby, aka Harry, is the primary focus of the story, but through that we have to learn the history and story and connection between Harry and the rest of the family. Tobias Hawthorne clearly thought he knew and left everyone puzzles and clues to lead them to the answers, but in the end are we really 100% sold on why he left Avery the inheritance? I don’t think so. I will say that the reasoning isn’t as blurry and foggy, but it still feels like something is missing and throwing in the new information makes you wonder what book 3 is going to hold. What doesn’t change is Avery’s feelings about what is happening to her.
“I couldn’t shake the feeling that this life was never meant for me.” (154)
Foreshadowing? Just normal self doubt? Hmmm… Still so many questions.
Whenever you get a group of determined teenagers together who collectively are too smart for their own good, with unlimited resources, ingenuity and no care for self preservation, you will definitely have some very frustrated adults. As true with book 1, Oren and Alisa have to do a lot of cleaning up of their messes, but at the end of the day the recklessness of the kids is exactly what is needed to solve the games and puzzles left to them. Tobias Hawthorne raised his grandsons to act and think a certain way, and their influence on Avery is clear.
Hawthorne House itself is what a true fictional house of a billionaire should be. There always seems to be some new hallway or secret location or hidden treasure to be discovered. The house seems too big for anyone to truly learn all the minute details in only the six weeks that Avery has been there. Discovering it with her and through her eyes adds to the draw of everything else that is going on.
The setting changes were fun. I love True North, and the implications that we have not seen the last of Rockaway Watch or even Hawthorne Island are not lost on me. I’m sure that all the secrets we learned about Avery’s mom will factor into the final book. I think this is what intrigues me the most about what is to come next. The Hawthorne Legacy ends in a way that the reader could potentially believe that it concludes a duology. Granted I’m happy it didn’t because there are still some avenues I want to explore a little more.
Where does this book fit onto my bookshelf?
Top Shelf! This has become one of my favorite series. It is fun, fast paced, unique, clever, and engaging. The characters are witty and diverse with backstories that you differently can’t figure out all the way. Being thrown into this Cinderella, rags-to-riches media frenzy, Avery in many ways reacts how I think others might. Forced almost to be someone else for the media when you just want to be who you are comfortable with when you are overwhelmed with the world. The puzzle after puzzle and riddle after riddle will pull you along for an entertaining ride. If you haven’t read book 1, you have to start there as book 2 picks up right where the first ends.
Needless to say, I will be sad when book 3 comes out and my time with the Hawthorne boys comes to an end.