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★★★★★ 4
Fun puzzles, cliffhanger ending
Format: Kindle
If you’ve read the earlier books about the Hawthornes, you know that Avery Grambs, the heiress to the Hawthorne fortune, established an annual game of puzzles and riddle in which the winner would win a whole lot of money. This book is about one of those games.
I finished this book late last night, and the first thing you need to know is that it ends in the middle of the game! Barnes calls this a new series, and obviously, it’s the kind of series in which books are tightly linked. The next book comes out next July. So forewarned.
I found I had to concentrate at the book’s start because there’s a lot to sort out. There are 8 players, mostly new characters Hawthornes there, mostly in background with Grayson having a bigger role.
There are also three points of view. So it took me quite a while to be sure I knew who was who and what their backstory was. I’m not actually sure I understand all of them even now, partly because Barnes withholds some information for the next book
Still, page by page, I enjoyed this book. I liked solving the puzzles and was pleased with myself when I did it faster than the characters did though that wasn’t as often as I’d like. The books takes place over 2 days, I think, but there’s some insta-attraction I guess, which is interesting.
The ending was unsatisfactory for me, and Barnes obviously intended it to be that way. I’ll undoubtedly pick up the second book next year, but I’ll have to reread this one to have any hope of following it.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2024
