Review: The Final Gambit (The Inheritance Games #3)

The Final Gambit (The Inheritance Games #3)
By Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Published By: Penguin
Publication Date: September 1, 2022
Date Read: April 16, 2023
Genre: YA – Mystery / Thriller
Source: Bought
Format: Hardback
Pages: 374

From Goodreads:
Avery’s fortune, life, and loves are on the line in the game that everyone will be talking about.

To inherit billions, all Avery Kylie Grambs has to do is survive a few more weeks living in Hawthorne House. The paparazzi are dogging her every step. Financial pressures are building. Danger is a fact of life. And the only thing getting Avery through it all is the Hawthorne brothers. Her life is intertwined with theirs. She knows their secrets, and they know her.

But as the clock ticks down to when Avery will become the richest teenager on the planet, trouble arrives in the form of a visitor who needs her help – and whose presence in Hawthorne House could change everything. It soon becomes clear that there is one last puzzle to solve, and Avery and the Hawthorne brothers are drawn into a dangerous game against an unknown and powerful player.

Secrets upon secrets. Riddles upon riddles. In this game, there are hearts and lives at stake-and there is nothing more Hawthorne than winning.

“I love you. I would die to protect you. I would make you hate me to keep you safe because damn it, Avery—some things are too precious to gamble.”

The Inheritance Games series is one that completely took me by surprise. I don’t usually read mystery books but when I started this one just after the first book released, I was obsessed. I don’t know why it has taken me so long to pick up the final book in this trilogy, all I can think of is I didn’t want it to be over. Well, I finally picked it up as part of my ‘Catch Up On Series Challenge’ and I am so glad that I finally picked this one up. I loved it.

The Final Gambit follows Avery and the Hawthorne Brothers as they embark on the final set of challenges and mysteries left by the late Tobias Hawthorne. I honestly couldn’t read this book fast enough, I was desperate to finally find out all of the secrets and mysteries surrounding this family. I really enjoyed the ending, though a part of me did find it a little bit lack-luster in terms of the mysteries. I just wanted something epic that made me gasp and be completely shocked, and while I didn’t guess many of the mysteries I just didn’t have that shocked reaction I was looking for.

I do feel like The Final Gambit was the perfect ending to Avery’s story and her journey. I felt like the ending was so fitting for her as a character and I really loved seeing her come into her own after getting the inheritance. The ending for our boys Gray and Jameson was also perfectly fitting. I am definitely excited for the companion novel that is coming out so I can see more of the boys. I am being purposefully vague so you don’t know which one of them is the love triangle ‘winner’, but I am excited to hopefully see a happy ending for the other guy, because one thing I adored about this series is just how much I loved both of them.

The Final Gambit was a fantastic conclusion to an incredible series. I honestly cannot praise this series enough. I honestly adore everything about it, and while there were things I wish were different in this one, it’s still such a fantastic ending! This is a series that will forever be on my re-read list. This was the first series I have read by Jennifer Lynn Barnes and it certainly will not be my last. I loved everything about this series, and Jennifer’s superb character development and writing style were just the cherry on top! I can’t wait to dive into more of her work. If you’re looking for an addictive YA series that will take over you life… look no further. This one is a must-read.

“I can’t even hate him now. He’s a part of me. He’s in me. But mostly, I can’t have him, Avery Kylie Grambs, because he brought me you.”