Founding Fathers and The Hawthorne Legacy

“The trick to being abandoned was to never let yourself long for anyone who left.” - Avery Kylie Grambs

The Broken Hearts Gallery Poster — Dear Evan Hansen Movie Poster (c/o Collider)

The Hawthorne Legacy

Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Amazon Kindle, Audible

7 September 2021

368 Pages

Synopsis:

Intrigue, riches, and romance abound in this thrilling sequel to the New York Times bestselling The Inheritance Games perfect for fans of Karen McManus and Holly Jackson.

The Inheritance Games ended with a bombshell, and now heiress Avery Grambs has to pick up the pieces and find the man who might hold the answers to all of her questions - including why Tobias Hawthorne left his entire fortune to Avery, a virtual stranger, rather than to his own daughters or grandsons.

Thanks to a DNA test, Avery knows that she's not a Hawthorne by blood, but clues pile up hinting at a deeper connection to the family than she had ever imagined. As the mystery grows and the plot thickens, Grayson and Jameson, the enigmatic and magnetic Hawthorne grandsons, continue to pull Avery in different directions. And there are threats lurking around every corner, as adversaries emerge who will stop at nothing to see Avery out of the picture - by any means necessary.

Minimal spoilers (Grayson vs Jameson results???)

First Impressions

Ria: Have you guys read “The Inheritance Games”? You should because that book was an absolute banger and it is the first book in this series. You can check out our review on it here, btw!! Now, the sequel is something I’ve been dying to get my hands on because of how the first book ended. I mean, who could possibly have ended there?!?! And I just want all the questions I have answered. But, none of those actually got answered here. I just ended up with more drama, more questions, and surprisingly, more cringe.

Jhanya: After the first book, I immediately wanted to read the sequel because of that ending. It was definitely one of the best “misdirects” I’ve read/seen in a while. Additionally, I was pleasantly surprised at how good of a contemporary mystery novel the first book was. The Inheritance Games was such a refreshingly fun book that made time fly as I was reading it. The characters and the creativity of the puzzles were so entertaining I couldn’t put the book down even if I had to LOL.

To say I had expectations for the sequel is an understatement. I expected answers. But what I got in The Hawthorne Legacy was one answer and a gazillion more questions.

Story + Pacing

Ria: Do you guys know books that are essentially:

Yeah, this book is exactly that. It was so slow and dragging that I had to force myself to get through about fifty chapters in, and only then did it get more interesting. But, too much information had to be crammed into those parts and in my brain, it just made my head spin. I honestly think I’d have to reread this book just because I feel like I’ve already forgotten so many crucial points that I’d probably need in the last book. Do you guys also know those love triangle books where the better guy is so obvious but, for some reason, the female character keeps hesitating? I, personally, hate those tropes so this book was super tough to get through. And the fact there was so much unnecessary (well, for me) family drama just irritated me. I mean, yes, I get it, you guys still don’t trust Avery and want the money.

Jhanya: If I were to describe The Hawthorne Legacy in one word, it would have to be “filler”. That’s all this book is, if I’m being honest. Don’t get me wrong. It was FUN and a tad bit stressful enough to have me wanting to keep reading no matter how bored or annoyed I got with some scenes and characters. But the plot didn’t progress much (the majority of the book takes place in the span of like 2 weeks) which made the story seem very dragging. The 1st half of this book was slow and dragging, while the 2nd half had too many twists and important plot points that will have you overloaded with information by the time you reach the end.

Ria: I spent more time staring blankly at the page at around 60% of the book because it got so boring for me. It was like I was walking around in circles with them and the only parts I’m pretty sure I still have with me are when Grayson appeared. The remaining 40% are all info! mystery! plot! that was pushed together so much I’m pretty sure I passed through stages of being confused, having a headache, and just ???????

This is also a sequel. So I expected more answers. Because as the plot continues, they should be able to resolve some conflict before new conflict arises. I’m not saying it has to necessarily be the main problem, but the smaller plot holes in the first book should have been closed off before opening more in this book. It’s a continuous story, not a stagnant one.

Jhanya: During the 1st half of it, I wanted to take a break because of how “draggy” the plot felt. The book did get a bit more exciting as it progressed during the 2nd half, but the ending annoyed the heck out of me. I get that the author wanted to have another huge surprise before going into the last book, BUT it didn’t make sense??? As usual, there were multiple (too many tbh) red herrings while investigating, but they suddenly brought up twists for minor characters out of nowhere (even a character we haven’t met). It would’ve been okay if there had been some signs, like the one in the first book, but for that final twist, there was none which made it feel super unrealistic and over-the-top. Instead of having my mind blown, I was simply annoyed at how messy the book ended. The last 3 chapters were also super duper short and rushed that I was fuming by the end of the book.

Puzzles, Mysteries, and Writing

Jhanya: The first book ended with a jaw-dropping cliffhanger and an urgent puzzle to be solved during the sequel, however, we didn’t solve it until the end of this book and it took almost half of the book for them to seriously start investigating everything. In place of the parts where they should’ve started solving the puzzle, we get tons of family drama and short filler chapters about media and publicity that had me skimming the paragraphs. We had some clues in between these parts, but it was too long a wait in between that made me want to put down the book.

A lot of the puzzles in this book were reused from the first book. A lot of them also got repetitive (ex. Invisible ink) that even Avery herself said “You Hawthornes, and your invisible ink.” LOL. The lack of puzzle description I pointed out in the first book was still there and it didn’t help this book’s case of boring as it seems like they just skimmed through the solving and immediately got an answer.

Ria: Guys, redundancy is real. Like what Jhanya said, many puzzles were just repeated and the thrill of solving the puzzle yourself and identifying who did it, or how it fits as a whole was sort of gone. And it’s super obvious that this isn’t the main theme of the book anymore. I’m just really disappointed because I expected this book to focus on the mystery, like what the synopsis said.

Regarding Barnes’ writing, it wasn’t bad. It was relatively similar to her style in the first book, it just focused on the romance part, which I swear is the worst thing ever. Additionally, I feel like Barnes’ wasn’t able to execute a good sequel. This book has become a filler just to achieve the trilogy. I might’ve preferred that this became a duology instead.

Characters

Jhanya: I was disappointed in the characterization of our beloved characters in this book. Avery wasn’t relatable anymore and was reduced to simp for Jameson, Jameson was thoroughly pushed to be Avery’s main love interest, Xander suddenly had to rely on others to solve puzzles, and there was a severe lack of Grayson Davenport Hawthorne.

Ria: Avery, what happened to you? I used to love Avery so much because her relatability was through the roof. And now, all she’s become someone obsessed with Jameson, and I feel like this is even because of how good he looks, which is SO not toxic -_- I honestly questioned many things she did in this book because I feel like it got to a point where she was the one chasing Jameson so much instead of investigating the actual problem and conflict in her life. Get your priorities straight, girl.

Jhanya: Other than being obsessed with Jameson throughout the book, it seemed like she didn’t change much from the first book? I expected her to be a bit more open and mature than how she was, but nothing changed. Avery was still childish most of the time and made so many irrational decisions. I get that being a sudden billionaire at 17 can be overwhelming, but she needs to take a bit more responsibility and watch out for her safety and others.

Ria: Jameson became the ultimate “bad boy” everyone was supposed to love and pine for, but I honestly didn’t. I didn’t really like the standoffishness he exuded on Avery. I felt like he wasn’t serious enough with her and I definitely don’t think that’s good for a relationship between the two. His character also of taking nothing seriously might’ve become too much. At the end of the first book, I felt like he did take things seriously, but just masked it. Right now, I don’t think so anymore.

Jhanya: Our resident bad boy is still the resident bad boy. But this time he’s more straightforward about his feelings for our female lead to a point that you’d think he’s really doing it just for the games and the puzzles. Like Ria said, Jamie didn't seem serious about his feelings for Avery despite him saying the same thing about his older brother. His moments with Avery also felt very forced by the author imo??? It was like the both of them were super drawn to each other right at the start of the book even though it wasn’t like that previously… If I had trouble deciding between Jameson and Grayson for Avery before, this book convinced me to go with Team Grayson LOL.

If there was one thing that I hated about this book, it was the fact that Grayson seemed like a side character with Jameson and Avery getting tons of moments together. Ever since the first book, he’s been my favorite, so of course, I’m bitter that he had way fewer scenes in this book. Despite this, however, Grayson’s character is still the same as in the first book. Just with a bit more emotions and playfulness. His few moments with Avery were very meaningful and important to Avery and the story’s overall plot, and he still says some of the best lines in the book. Additionally, his relationship with Avery really feels natural and healthy unlike the other Hawthorne.

Ria: Grayson, I love you, please love me instead. I don’t even know where to begin. I just love Grayson so much that the number of scenes he has become so sparse. I swear he’s like the best guy ever. I’m crying because Avery let go of such a great guy. He’s so much more superior compared to Jameson, in almost every way. I mean it’s already been established he’s good looking too, and his personality and character top Jameson so much. Legit, Avery, what are you thinking???

There was an influx of characters in this book that I got so confused about who’s who. The number of supporting characters introduced was astounding and I felt was redundant. We could’ve already made do with the existing characters and maybe just added another or two because it's so obvious that the main characters are just Avery, Jameson, and Grayson. I mean, as I said earlier, this book focused on the love triangle.

Jhanya: Like Ria, all the other characters that were suddenly added into the story had me confused with names. Having multiple characters and storylines isn’t always a bad thing, but the way it was executed in the book was very unorganized and random. It’s nice to see all of them working together, but the addition of unnecessary characters aside from the original cast in the first book lessened the purpose of the original cast and left them out. It would’ve been better if Barnes enhanced/built the original characters’ personalities and stories instead of just the main love triangle and “new” characters.

Favorite Moments

Ria: Minimal spoilers so all I can say is: Grayson.

Jhanya: All scenes with Grayson. I had to cherish the few, yet beautiful moments he had in this book. Oh also, chapters 62-64 ;D

Final Thoughts

Ria: This book is the epitome of “filler book” in a trilogy. The amount of force and self-discipline I had to finish the whole book was something I didn’t expect actually. The amount of frustration and annoyance I had on the book was also something I didn’t expect. I looked forward to this book so much that I was definitely just let down. For our Filipino readers out there: napaasa lang ako. Mali ako dapat di nagpaasa kasi. Anyways, I think there are two ways to react to this book. Either be really happy that the third book’s release is still far away because you need to just forget you ever read this or be really really sad and even more annoyed that the third book’s release is so far away because you just want to get the story over with. Honestly, I’m in the latter category. Overall, I’d recommend reading this only if the third book has been released so that the cliffhanger (was it really a cliffhanger tho???) in this book won’t be too much and so that you won’t need to go through the hardship of rereading this book.

Jhanya: The Hawthorne Legacy got the 2nd book mediocrity syndrome and it has left me more annoyed than expected. I’m just really thankful that the 3rd book of the trilogy will come out in August 2022 as this will give me time to cool down my dislike for the 2nd book. Overall, the book was fun and a rollercoaster of emotions BUT it was a struggle to finish with all the negative points we’ve pointed out above. For now, I’m willing to read the last book because I believe and want to see that Grayson and Avery are endgame (PLEASE). The “huge” plot twist at the end really turned me off as the main mystery that we will be solving in the finale and I’m not too keen on facing another wave of drama that unfolded in this book in the finale.

Rating

Criteria	Jhanya	Ria
Story / Plot (2)	1	1
Characters (2)	1.5	1.25
Writing (2)	1	1.25
Morale (1)	0.5	0.5
Originality (1)	0.5	0.25
Relevance (1)	0.25	0.25
Reread Value (1)	0	0
TOTAL	4.75	4.75
Final Score	47.5