Book Recap: The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Inheritance Games
Publication Date: September 1st 2020
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

When Avery's mom dies, she moves in with her half-sister Libby. Their mutual dead-beat father hasn't made contact with Avery in over two years. Her goal: get through junior and senior year with fantastic grades and get into a scholarship program at Uconn. Her life changes when Greyson Hawthorne of the famous (and rich) Hawthorne family shows up at her school, requesting her presence at the reading of his grandfather's will.

Avery is set to inherit something from this uber rich man she has never met. The big upset? She actually inherits everything, leaving family pennies. His money and assets: the cars, the NFL team, the Hawthorne foundation, even their family home is to become hers. Hawthorne's one condition? She has to live at the family estate for one year before all assets become hers.

The big question on everyone's mind, including Avery's: Why her? Hawthorne's grandsons Jamison, Greyson, and Alexander (his assumed heirs) each set off on a series of puzzles left behind by their grandfather to figure out just that. Is Avery another a player in the games, or is she just a pawn for the boys to use?

Spoilers: It's theorized that Avery might somehow be tied to Greyson and Jamison's dead girlfriend Emily. Avery's Birthday and Emily's Deathday are the same date: October 18th. Avery also has chemistry with both boys, and is attending their private high school in Texas with them. The last twist? Their uncle, Tobias Hawthorne II, was presumed dead but it is revealed that he actually faked his death. When Avery eventually sees a photo of Tobias, she instantly recognizes him as the homeless man she has been playing chess in the park with every morning. The man she's been buying breakfast for before going to class. The book ends with us all wondering, does Avery have more of a connection to this family than she thought?

ARC Review: The Medici Heist by Caitlin Schneiderhan

Medici Heist
by Caitlin Schneiderhan
Publication Date: August 6th 2024
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Find This Book: Medici Heist
Source: NetGalley eARC
Rating: 4/5

Welcome to Florence, 1517, a world of intrigue, opulence, secrets, and murder. The Medici family rules the city from their seat of wealth, but the people of Florence remember the few decades they spent as a Republic, free from the Medicis and their puppet Pope, Leo X.

Sharp-witted seventeen-year-old con-woman Rosa Cellini has plans for the Pope and the Medicis - and, more specifically, the mountain of indulgence money they've been extorting from the people of Tuscany. To pull off the Renaissance's greatest robbery, she'll recruit a team of capable Sarra the tinkerer, Khalid the fighter, and Giacomo, the irrepressible master of disguise. To top it all off, and to smooth their entrance into the fortress-like Palazzo Medici, Rosa even enlists the reluctant help of famed artist and local misanthrope, Michelangelo.

Old secrets resurface and tensions in the gang flare as the authorities draw closer and the Medicis' noose pulls tighter around Tuscany itself. What began as a robbery becomes a bid to save Florence from certain destruction - if Rosa and company don't destroy each other first.

Get ready for an absolute swashbuckling riot, beginning with a 'mud' pie to the Pope's face, and ending with a climatic heist that would give Danny Ocean a run for his money. Bursting with snark, innuendo and action, Medici Heist is your next un-put-downable obsession.

The scene is renaissance Florence, 1517, and the Medici family rules the city with a puppet Pope at their side. Extorting the people of Tuscany, the Medici’s sit upon an exorbitant pile of indulgence money. Con-woman Rosa Cellini hopes to steal it right from under their noses, *if* she can pull off the greatest heist of all time.

Medici Heist introduces us to a diverse cast of characters, each getting their individual times to shine. Rosa will need to rope the best of the best into her crew if she wants to steal a mountain of money and live to tell the tale. Her team consists of Sarra the tinkerer, Agata the apothecary, Khalid the fighter, and Giacomo the master of disguise. To top it all off, Rosa even enlists the reluctant help of Michelangelo (yes, THAT Michelangelo).

This was a super fun read that solidly sets the scene in historic Italy. It does a fantastic job of incorporating the setting into the story and has beautiful descriptions, great scheming, and entertaining action scenes. This was truly the foundation of a terrific book. What knocks this down a star is the lack of dimension. I’d liken the experience to reading a play. The play loses something in the written form without actors adding in the depth and emotion. Actors bring a lifeless script to life by adding emotions and tone to the text. My favorite authors craft characters that jump off the page and while Medici Heist was descriptive, cinematic even, the characters fell flat. I was not surprised to find out after reading that Schneiderhan is a script writer.

Let’s dive into the character work more specifically. The characters were funny, they had their roles to play, and I enjoyed the story they had to tell. Yet, they were all just too shallow and underdeveloped. Some further revision of the novel could have massaged a bit more life and personality into them. While I could suspend my disbelief and still enjoy the ride (it is a great heist), the POV’s were just too weak for me to give this book five stars.

If you love a good setting with a great atmosphere, I’d still recommend this read! It has great vibes but could have benefitted from deeper character work.