The Inheritance Games
Avery Grambs has a plan for a better future: survive high school, win a scholarship, and get out. But her fortunes change in an instant when billionaire Tobias Hawthorne dies and leaves Avery virtually his entire fortune. The catch? Avery has no idea why -- or even who Tobias Hawthorne is. To receive her inheritance, Avery must move into sprawling, secret passage-filled Hawthorne House, where every room bears the old man's touch -- and his love of puzzles, riddles, and codes. Unfortunately for Avery, Hawthorne House is also occupied by the family that Tobias Hawthorne just dispossessed. This includes the four Hawthorne grandsons: dangerous, magnetic, brilliant boys who grew up with every expectation that one day, they would inherit billions. Heir apparent Grayson Hawthorne is convinced that Avery must be a conwoman, and he's determined to take her down. His brother, Jameson, views her as their grandfather's last hurrah: a twisted riddle, a puzzle to be solved. Caught in a world of wealth and privilege, with danger around every turn, Avery will have to play the game herself just to survive.
Themes & atmosphere
What you might want to know about The Inheritance Games
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
High school senior Avery Grambs is studying for the SAT in a Connecticut diner when she learns that Texas billionaire Tobias Hawthorne has left her almost his entire fortune. To collect, she has to live for a year in his Houston estate with his disinherited grandsons, who want to know why.
Jennifer Lynn Barnes has published five main books: The Inheritance Games, The Hawthorne Legacy, The Final Gambit, The Brothers Hawthorne, and The Grandest Game. More are planned.
Yes. Amazon Prime Video ordered a series adaptation of The Inheritance Games. As of 2025, the project remains in development.
The Inheritance Games was written by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, published in 2020 by cbt.
The Inheritance Games is 392 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The Inheritance Games takes most readers 6 to 8 hours to finish.
The Inheritance Games is a standalone novel by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, not part of a series.
The Inheritance Games is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.