Amy 
Lynnie 
young adult, contemporary fiction, audiobook
The Grandest Game is the first novel of a new
series which follows Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ The Inheritance Games series.
Picking up a year after The Brothers Hawthorne left off, this novel
focuses on the seven players of The Grandest Game administered by the
Hawthorne brothers and the heiress of their family’s fortune, Avery
Grambs. The seven players include three people readers already know
from the previous series, one who we had briefly heard about, and
three completely new people.
Amy's Review
Avery and three of the brothers
were secondary characters this time. But Grayson remained in the
spotlight. This is appropriate since, after the previous novels, he was
the one who needed the most attention as he was dealing with lots of
personal fallout and unresolved situations.
The Grandest Game is
told from three perspectives: Rohan, who had been the master of the
Devil’s Mercy games that Jameson had won in the last book, Gigi,
Grayson’s half-sister, and Lyra, a new character who was only briefly
introduced in The Brothers Hawthorne (presumably, specifically, with
this new series in mind). All three perspectives were equally engaging. I
really loved getting to know Rohan and Lyra better. I also liked all
the interpersonal character drama but could have done without quite so
much game detail. I mean, it’s really not all that fun “watching” other
people play games and there was a lot more of that in this novel than in
the previous ones.
Other than that, it was another
fun ride with a bounty of fun, creative adventures and lovable
characters. Unfortunately, unlike her first series, Barnes chose to end
this story prematurely. The game didn’t even finish. It feels like a
forced series which bugs me. She could’ve included fewer game details
and more of the character-focused story arc to get the whole game into
one book. At least the next novel in the series will be released in July
so I don’t have a long wait.
There were three narrators: Anjali Kunapaneni voiced Gigi’s sections, Christine Lakin voiced Lyra’s
sections, and Zachary Webber voiced Rohan’s sections. This was a great
cast. All three were awesome voice actors. I especially have always
enjoyed Webber’s narrations. There was an inconsistency which I can’t
recall specifically now, where one narrator voiced one of the secondary
characters completely differently, with an accent that the narrator who
mainly voiced that secondary character did not use. That was
disappointing but only happened once. I’ll give the cast an A!
Lynnie's Review
Another excellent addition to the Inheritance Game series of novels, The
Grandest Game focuses on its namesake - the game that Avery Grambs and
the Hawthorne brothers have set up in order to share her wealth with
"ordinary" people.
Of course, none of the game's players are
ordinary - several of them are from previous books and, while I enjoyed
getting to know those characters better, I also spent the first part of
the book thinking it was strange that the Hawthornes would include
people they know in the game. Then I remembered it was fiction and no
one in the fictional world cared, so why would I.
Anyway, told
through three difference viewpoints - Rohan (from the Devil's Mercy),
Gigi (Grayson's half-sister) and Lyra (who we met in an earlier book,
but may not have realized her importance at that time). The alternating
perspectives gave a great overview of what was happening throughout the
game and on the island. I enjoyed learning more about all of them and
meeting the new characters, though I admit that with so much focus on
existing characters I often overlooked the newer characters because,
while interesting, it didn't feel like Jennifer Lynn Barnes brought
these characters back only for them to disappear midway through the
book. Like a Hawthorne puzzle, Barnes writes with intention and nothing
is a coincidence.
We got glimpses of Avery and the Hawthorne
brothers, but this book gave me some of what I've wanted for most of the
series - an opportunity for Grayson to be in the spotlight and share
his story. I loved every bit of the book that featured Grayson and I'm
eager to see how his story, among others plays out.
I was
frustrated by the ending, only because I was gobsmacked at the stupid
decisions made by one of the players and my rating almost lost a star because
of that - I just didn't think it was realistic for that character.
Regardless,
I loved the wild, fast-paced adventure and can't wait to read the next
one. This entire series has been a delight so far and I can't recommend
it highly enough. I read the Kindle version while also listening to the
audiobook when I couldn't sit down to read & thought all three
narrators: Anjali Kunapaneni voicing Gigi’s sections, Christine Lakin
voicing Lyra’s sections, and Zachary Webber voicing Rohan’s sections, were
wonderful. Zachary Webber's Rohan voice was downright swoony. A
definite improvement from the original series' narrator.
Glorious Rivals
Amy
Lynnie
Amy's Review
This sequel to The Grandest Game (which is the
continuation series of The Inheritance Games series) picked up where the
last novel left off. The five contestants who have made it to the
second day of the contest progress through the new games, each hoping to
win the huge monetary prize.
Jennifer Lynn Barnes has finally
gotten the knack of interspersing gameplay with interesting character
storylines. I was never bored with gaming details in this one! Brava!
Like the last novel, Glorious Rivals changed perspectives from chapter
to chapter between multiple players. Of the five competitors, Grayson
and Lyra are still acting as a team, Savannah and Rohan are still acting
as a team, and Brady is alone. Meanwhile, Slate has abducted Gigi so
that she won’t get in the way of Eve’s plans. Games, discoveries, and
hijinks ensue.
I will say that while I loved the good balance
between gaming and character development in this novel, I did not enjoy
the shady, attempting-to-be-mysterious “bad guy” storyline interwoven
throughout. It was too veiled and convoluted and seemed to come from
nowhere. I mean, I knew what little of a backstory existed from Barnes’
short story book, Games Untold. But, the way this “evil undercurrent”
was built into this story seemed highly insufficient and nonsensical to
me. Instead of making the novel more appealing by adding some tension
outside of the game players’ own dramas, it was pesky like a fly that
you try to ignore yet it keeps reappearing to ruin your meal. It was
unclear and felt overly manufactured by the author. The actual evildoers
were comically ridiculous in their affectations also. This storyline
was not the reason I was into the book. The players and the games
themselves were the hook for me. And I enjoyed the book despite the
crazy who-are-these-people-and-why-do-they-keep-interrupting-the-story
stuff.
But, if you are enjoying this series (and I’m sure you are or you wouldn’t be reading this novel) it’s another fun installment!
The
narrators were all fantastic for this novel! In addition to the three
from The Grandest Game (Anjali Kunapaneni voicing Gigi, Christine Lakin
voicing Lyra, and Zachary Webber voicing Rohan) we also had Maxwell Hamilton voicing Grayson, which he had done in Games Untold.They were
all perfectly cast and displayed a nice range of other voices and
accents sufficient to the task. I give them an A as an ensemble. Lynnie's Review
Another fun and exciting installment from Jennifer Lynn Barnes!
Coming
to the Inheritance Games late, this is the first book in the series
I've really had to wait any length of time for and it was worth it. I'm
already mad I'm going to have to wait an entire year for the next
Grandest Game book.
Regardless, Glorious Rivals picks up moments
after The Grandest Game's ending. If you're reading this book, surely
you've read all the previous Inheritance Games/Grandest Game novels,
because if not, you would be hopelessly lost so I'm not going to waste
time with a plot summary here. Suffice it to say, we are midway through
the Grandest Game and the five remaining contestants are continuing to
try to solve puzzles and determine who they can and cannot trust while
fighting toward the finish line.
I think it was a smart move by
Barnes to get rid of some of the players between The Grandest Game and
Glorious Rivals. It allowed the game itself to feel more focused and
controlled and I appreciated its streamlining. As for those characters,
while they may have been moved off the game board, they did not
disappear entirely and while sometimes I rolled my eyes at how they were
used in this story, there were also times that I felt they were
effective in moving the story forward. I found that in this book, I
cared less about the puzzles and games, but much more about how those
games moved the people around and the issues those puzzles often caused
them to confront.
Like the previous book, this one is told
through multiple perspectives - Grayson and Lyra, who are still working
as a team, Rohan, who is still working with Savannah in the game, and
Gigi who was abducted by Slate (who we know is working for Eve) at the
end of the Grandest Game. Also still playing in the game is Brody, who
is playing by himself.
I might have given the book 4 stars if
not for one issue - this novel relies a LOT on knowledge that came from
Games Untold - a collection of novellas based on the Inheritance Games
series. Generally, I don't read novellas based on YA book series because
I often find they don't add much to the story and can be lazily
written. I thought the series of novellas were ok - again, some stories
were better than others. But some of them are downright critical to
understanding what's going on in Glorious Rivals - there are a few
characters and events that I don't think you could begin to understand
if you didn't read that collection and I find that annoying. If you want
to make that part of the series, then include that information in one
of the main books please.
Anyway, all this is to say that if you
have made it this far into the Inheritance Games series and you love
the Hawthornes and Avery and this insane cast of characters and you've
bought into the premise of the Grandest Game, you don't need me to tell
you that you're going to enjoy this. Find a comfy chair and something to
snack on and strap in for an exciting day of reading (but also make sure that you read Games Untold)!
I
listened to the audiobook and I think all four narrators did an amazing
job. Amy mentioned each of them above, so I won't repeat, but know that each of their
voices were fantastic. My only complaint is when Zachary Webber voices the Proprietor, which he does as if he has marbles in his mouth.
It's clearly an intentional choice, but I often have a really difficult
time understand the words he's saying and miss much of that dialogue,
even when I rewind to listen more than once; I simply can't decode it.
Fortunately, there isn't much of it, but I find it very frustrating.
They are a wonderful cast of voice actors though & they make the
audiobook experience a joy!
