The Inheritance Games

Starred review from July 27, 2020
When high school junior Avery Grambs learns that the violent, domineering boyfriend of Libby, her half-sister and legal guardian, will be sharing their apartment, she moves into her car. Then Avery is summoned to attend the will reading of billionaire and complete stranger Tobias Hawthorne. Avery and Libby travel from Connecticut to Texas, where they are stunned to learn that Tobias left the bulk of his estate to Avery. To inherit, she must spend a year living in Tobias’s labyrinthine mansion with his two furious daughters, who think she is a con-woman, and his four brilliant, hypercompetitive grandsons—Nash, 25; Grayson, 19; Jameson, 18; and Xander, 16—who believe she is their puzzle-obsessed grandfather’s final riddle. As Avery gets swept up in the boys’ quest for answers, she starts to feel like she belongs—until someone on the grounds tries to kill her. Tony trappings and a boldly drawn, predominantly white cast complement the delightfully soapy plot of this strong, Knives Out–esque series opener from Barnes (Little White Lies). The denouement underwhelms, but an abundance of cryptic clues and tempestuous love triangles provides ample enjoyment. Ages 12–up. Agent: Elizabeth Harding, Curtis Brown.