The Grandest Game
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Book Cover Rating: 9.7/10
(My personal opinion)
Pages: 384
Genre: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Mystery
Subplots: Romance
Series: The Inheritance Games #5
Published: 2024
Hook:
Welcome to the Grandest Game, an annual competition run by billionaire Avery Grambs and the four infamous Hawthorne brothers, whose family fortune she inherited. Designed to give anyone a shot at fame and fortune, this year’s game requires one of seven golden tickets to enter. With millions on the line, those seven players will do whatever it takes to win.
Some of the players are in it for the money. Some for power. Some for reasons all their own. Every single one of them has secrets. Amidst it all is Grayson Hawthorne, tasked with a vital role in this year’s game. But as tensions rise and the mind-bending challenges push the players to their limits—physically, mentally, and emotionally—it soon becomes clear that not everyone is playing by the rules.
Overall Book Rating: 8.8/10
I would obviously recommend this book
Review: The Grandest Game is such a dramatic title. I thought this book lived up to it though. I’ve read a lot of reviews of this book really hating on it for lack of in-depth plot, lack of interesting characters, and boring execution (obviously everyone deserves their own opinions so I’m not hating on the people who hate this book). But, my lasting impression of this book was actually that I really LOVED it. I definitely want to re-read it sometime. Thinking back, I really don’t remember loving any of the individual aspects that a lot of people complain about, but at the same time I never really felt dissatisfied. Maybe I was just in the perfect mood for this book, or I didn’t care if parts of it were weaker, because I really loved this book.
Main Characters
Rohan- Rohan is one of the three main characters. He is 17 years old. He generally keeps his emotions locked up, and tends to be more reserved. He’s strategic and smart.
Lyra Kane- Lyra is the second of the three main characters. She is 19 years old. She’s brilliant and enjoys daydreaming.
Juliet Grayson- Gigi is the third main character. She is 18. She’s outwardly FULL of energy and optimism, but she also has another side to her….
Character Rating: 8.9/10
Setting-
This book takes place on a secluded island. It mostly takes place in a massive mansion on the island.
Setting Rating: 6.9/10
Buy on Amazon:
-
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.
-
What did you think of this book??