Reviews with content warning for Bullying - The Hawthorne Legacy

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The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

12 reviews

khucc's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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unicorngirl's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

So much happened in the last 30-50 pages! It was still so good, but why couldn't there be more incidents? Some scenes needed a little bit of action. It dragged a little. One of the things that kept me going was the romance between Avery and Jameson. I know that Grayson and Avery "think similarly", but Avery and Jameson have more chemistry, even if Grayson and Avery help each other work on things personally. Because it dragged, it was still good, but not as good as the first book.

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siglerbooknook's review

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adventurous challenging lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This series is the definition of curve ball and somehow it always makes sense. There is no solving these books in advance. You, the reader, are definitely just along for the whirlwind ride, and yet they always keep me feeling engaged.
It takes forever to get to an answer but the pacing is done so well that the book never feels slow.
Once again, Jennifer Lynn Barnes has earned a gold star for dialogue. Every quip had me smiling. Every heartfelt confession tugged at my heart.
I don't know how the characters of Hawthorne House can be so mysterious and so loveable at the same time, but every one of them is thoroughly enjoyable.
Even though the story felt like it would have to leave loose ends, Barnes managed to wrap every mystery in a satisfying bow.
The plot may not be complex and the characters may not be the deepest you'll ever read, but I completely enjoyed every page of The Hawthorne Legacy and can't wait to dive in to book 3.

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lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I bought the first three books of this series as a FairyLoot exclusive set, and I have been making my way through them.
"The Hawthorne Legacy" is the fast-paced sequel to "The Inheritance Games". The mystery as to why Tobias Hawthorne left the majority of his fortune to Avery still needs to be solved, but luckily there are new leads for Avery to follow. Through a DNA test, she knows she is not a Hawthorne by blood, but she quickly learns that she has a connection to the Hawthornes that dates back over a decade. The three Hawthorne brothers are still not in agreement about what to do, but Avery wants to utilize all three of their expertise to get to the bottom of this mystery.
I was so excited to pick up this book as soon as I finished "The Inheritance Games", but I had to wait because I wanted to listen to the audiobook and there was a bit of a wait on Libby. I do HIGHLY recommend the audiobooks for this series. Avery is such a likable and relatable main character, and it is her approachable personality that makes this story so enjoyable for me. The rest of the Hawthorne clan definitely contribute to this story and continue to make this story intoxicating. The brothers are all interesting in their own ways, and I love how much they are taking Avery under their wing.
This book does get much more violent than the first, and there are serious threats to Avery's life. Some of these instances felt a little too action movie-y to me, but it was not too cheesy that it felt unreal.
We do get to see more of Max in this book, which I was so excited for. Max is the epitome of a best friend and I love seeing her pure love and support for Avery.
I am really enjoying all of the nuances to the mystery. Every time I think I have figured out what is going on, there is a curveball and I feel like I am back in the dark. This mystery is not straight forward, and this family has decades old secrets that weave a web that is difficult to break through. I do not know what will happen in the third book, but I do know I need to pick it up ASAP.

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hapalyn's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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mmage's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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oddduck's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

5.0

Jennifer Lynn Barnes is a very good suspense writer and this book is a perfect example of that. This is one of the fastest paced books I’ve read in a while. We picked up right where the previous book ended and did not stop moving forward until this one ended. The puzzles and developments were intriguing and made for some very good twists and turns. I’ve seen several people complaining about red herrings, but I personally loved that. It's a mystery and that's a common feature of the genre. The assumptions the characters made based on the information they had made perfect sense. I was almost fully on board with them as fact, though the reality also worked for me and didn’t necessarily come as a surprise either.

Though Toby’s real daughter was a bit of a surprise. I think it was foreshadowed well enough, though the connection with Mellie and Eli could have been on the page more.

The thing with Mellie and Eli as a whole made sense but also wasn’t foreshadowed enough for me. The explanation we got at the end gives us enough information to explain what happened and their motives, but it also came kind of late. Like, I never would have guessed any of what they said prior to them telling us. So that could have been executed better.

I love that we got to spend time with Max. She’s such a fun character, though I would have liked for her to have more of her own story. She kind of does, with her parents, but we really don’t know what’s going on with her. I would understand this if she and Avery had had a conversation when Max first arrived and Max had said she really didn’t want to talk about it, but we don’t get anything like that. Max is really just there to support Avery, but Avery doesn’t really do much for her in return, which is unfortunate. This is one of the few problems I had with this book, because I love Max and think she deserves better.

Same with Libby. She’s definitely going through something in this book, but we don’t see a whole lot of it. And yeah, it's Avery's story and Libby's problems should not fall to her to solve (or be in any way responsible for), but it doesn't really feel like we see enough of what's going on with her. And this wouldn't be a problem if they weren't reasonably close, but they are. So it's kind of weird that Avery doesn't seem to wonder about what Libby's dealing with or want to talk to her about it.

I’m very glad that we seem to be done with the love triangle. I’m really not a huge fan of love triangles, and it certainly seemed like Avery already knew who she wanted pretty early in this book, but then it got dragged out and I was not into those parts as much. I’ve also got mixed feelings about the whole Jameson or Grayson thing, just knowing their past with Emily. I can appreciate what it does in terms of parallelism, but I also think the whole thing is kind of dumb and a little sexist? Like, they’re fighting over who gets to date a girl and not taking into account what she might want. Which is kind of gross to me. It was skirted around with Emily, because her thing was causing problems, apparently, but it still doesn’t sit right with me. I think it was a little better with Avery, but it’s also just kind of a weird situation. I would like to move on and not revisit this in the final book, but I suspect we are likely not quite done with it, unfortunately.

On a related note, I liked Avery’s hesitance to get involved with either Jameson or Grayson. Avery has had to take care of herself in a lot of ways for many years, so she's not used to feeling like she can rely on people or be vulnerable with them. I'm so happy that this extends to potential love interests and that it isn't a case of Love Fixes Everything or the love interest is just So Special he's the Exception. Even when she makes her choice at the end, she's still nervous and a little scared. But she has made the choice to try this, so it works.

This was an excellent follow up to a fantastic start and I'm very excited to see how this trilogy gets wrapped up.

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allisonwonderlandreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This feels like the book version of an escape room, under the wire to hunt down clues with the giddiness of a game afoot. It's just ~fun~ pure and simple. In this puzzle of a sequel, we follow the Hawthornes deeper into their (many, unnecessarily fancy) closets for creepier skeletons. We delve into a family history that is twisted and secretive with complicated repercussions in the present.

In terms of Avery's life, the unnecessary love triangle marches on. I was pleased with the resolution at the very end of the book where an actual choice is made. I'm not sure I was cheering for anyone in particular before, but I like what Avery decided. My only concern is that the series isn't over, and sometimes love triangles have the last laugh when I think they're over, so. Just hoping the current choice is endgame, and we can focus on different drama in the next one. In non-romantic news, best friend Max shows up instead of just being a voice over the phone, which is a vast improvement for everyone. I desperately needed someone to say "smash the patriarchy" in front of all the rich people.

In terms of the mystery, there's some light (private) jet-setting, which adds to the makeover montage moments to remind us that there is ridiculous wealth on the line. Like an alarming amount. Like I think Max has her work cut out for her with the smashing part. I didn't find most of the reveals particularly shocking as the mystery unfolds, but I was entertained at all times. Also, the sheer number of twists and turns made for an intriguing path for the characters even if you suspect what's coming at the end. This book was pure escapism for me, and I loved it.

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kimveach's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I enjoyed this one but not as much as the 1st book in the series. That's not unusual for the second in a trilogy.

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michellemaas's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Hawthorne Legacy is considerably better than The Inheritance Games (and that's saying something since I really enjoyed The Inheritance Games).

I didn't realize how lost I was with the first book until I read the second book and things finally started clicking into place. The Hawthrone Legacy did a good job of answering nearly all the questions sparked from its predecessor and it's always a good feeling to get answers to questions that have been burning since your first read.

Furthermore, I want to commend Jennifer Lynn Barnes for creating a love triangle that wasn't annoying. Typically being a fantasy reader, there is little that irks me as much as a love triangle but she wrote in a way where it didn't feel like an unnecessary trope to set the drama in motion but more so a natural repetition of history (and most likely a manifestation of Jameson and Grayson's unresolved guilt over Emily's death).

Like with the first book, the plot twists were also really an insane man. I kept expecting Jennifer Lynn Barnes to go in the typical plot twist territory but she specifically wrote in a way that lead your mind there to yank the rug from under your feet.

Examples of this were when she set up Avery's father being Toby (which is quite the executed, almost cliche thing to do), only to reveal that he wasn't her father!?

I was quaking.

Even the part of Toby being adopted was unexpected and last (but not least) the love triangle?

It was the first time I genuinely couldn't tell who the MC was going to pick.

It was obvious that Avery had a more serious relationship with Jameson, but I kept expecting Jennifer Lynn Barens to do the "obvious and unexpected" thing by making her end up with Grayson. Only that didn't happen?

The best way to keep things unexpected when using popular storylines is to do the expected since the reader expects the author to do the unexpected thing (which is no longer unexpected since it gets done so much).

I don't know if you got any of that but the book was good and I was entertained, so what more can I ask?

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