The Inheritance Games is Very Deceiving

I appreciate books with short chapters. As a slow reader, at times averaging two minutes per page, short chapters help me take the book places and read when I only have minimal time. So a few days ago, I was reading at the library, between completing tasks, and a librarian, having seen the cover, came to me and asked me what I thought of the book. I had just started and told her that I hadn't adapted to the author's style yet, and so was having trouble getting into it. She told me when she finds herself in that situation, she skips a few pages until something grabs her. I have never done that, I usually skim the pages or only read the dialogue. After that little conversation, I decided to emply my strategies. Since the chapters were so short, I was sure the pace would pick up and I would get really into it. What I didn't expect was I would dislike this book so much, that I would have to do it throughout the whole thing.

I thought that it had just been a while since I had read any YA and I was used to more adult language, so I would eventually adapt to the YA in this book. I was wrong. The writing is some of the worst writting I have ever read. It is so infantile and overexplains everything as if to say the reader isn't as smart as the characters in th story, when most of the characters' intelligence looks like a facade. The author also relys over and over again on flashbacks to different moments and dialogues that the narrative grows so repetitive it is hard to not skip a few pages, or just give up on the whole book. At first, I called it "bad YA," which it definitelly is, but I think a better way to describe it is "edgy middle grade." The language is so basic that I would sooner recommend this to a fifth grader than a peer of mine. The "edgy-ness" of it comes in with the poorly crafted romance and the mystery, but I still think that a more mature middle grade reader should be the target audience.

Not even the characters motivated me throughout the reading of this book. Avery has absolutely no personality and was very unlikable at times. I also didn't like Libby from the start. There was something annoying about her and no matter how many times we were told that she was a ray of sunshine and super positive, all I saw was an emo girl who was interested in the money her sister just got and getting back with her horrible boyfriend. She was supposed to be a conforting person to Avery, but everytime she popped in, I wanted to pop my eyes out. Thea was also annoying, but in a more amusing way. The Hawthorne women also didn't bother me much because they weren't that relevant. Alisa was annoying at times, but mostly because it was hard to keep track of her motives and she was completely unpredictable. The trophy for worst character, however, goes to Max. I literally could not read the bits that she is in the book for, and for a character who isn't even physically in the story and does not impact the main plot at all, she is ridiculously unlikable. I like quirky characters, even when people say they are too quirky, and I hated her. She was way too quirky.

I will admit that the Hawthorne boys were one of the only good parts of the book. All four had personalities and I liked their dynamic. Jameson was a little much for me, though. I do not understand what Avery could find attractive about him. I liked Grayson the most and thought he was the most interesting. I do not understand why a love triangle was set up because Grayson is the obvious best option. However, none of the characters were that compelling and their development was shallow.

The plot is probably the part I was most disappointed on. The mystery and twist elements were not that good. We were introduced to Harry once and then he is randomly mentioned throughout even though his apperance in the beginning wasn't especially memorable and no real compelling relationship was developped between him and Avery. Therefore, the reveal that he is Toby Hawthorne comes out of nowhere. The twist is completely unpreditable, but in the worst way possible: there is no lead up. A good reveal in a book is exciting and satisfying because you have all the necessary information to piece it together but it is cleverly hidden by the author so that when it is read, the reader feels like there is closure with the end to the given mystery. This one was merely a hook for the next book, where it would hopefully be more thoroughly explained. Although the rest of the book has been so bad, I am surprised anyone picked up the sequel.

The reveal of the connection between Avery and Tobias was also not interesting and completely unsatisfying. Something more direct or a better lead up would have made it much better. It was so pointless that the family spent so much time talking about the DNA test since the readers know that they aren't related due to the developing love triangle.

The "games" are also very not interesting. The middle name thing was alright but nothing extraordinary. It doesn't make any sense that they would have to search for the book with a wrong cover in such a manual way and the rest of them more riddle-like. There should have been even more riddles, maybe some side quests, and, just all-around, more games. It felt more like a quest and less like actual games

I came very close to DNF-ing it at the end of basically every chapter. I was just overall very disappointed. It was advertised as much more of a twisty mystery with dramatic romance and adventure. Comparing it to Knives Out is an abomination. I would not be surprised if it was based on Knives Out, since the main premise has uncanny similarities. This book feels like the author peeled off a sticker from the afformentioned movie and attempted to stick it somewhere else, but, no sticker glue is as affective the second time used. Add to it basic, childish elements and you have the absolute mess that is The Inheritance Games.