By Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Published: 2020

Word Count: 88,493

AR Level: 4.7

AR Points: 13.0

Why this story puts a new spin on Cinderella

Everybody loves a good “windfall” story. Rags to riches, right? We all dream of it, even if we aren’t exactly living in rags or under the rule of a cruel stepmother.

But The Inheritance Games is a story that goes far beyond a nice girl getting rich. Yes, Avery Grambs is likeable, and we can only dream what it must be like to inherit billions of dollars from someone we don’t know. But Barnes does a great job showing us just how complicated such a situation might be. Also, she creates such an intrigue into Avery’s past that we can’t help but keep reading.

Why this story resonates with readers

Teens like fantasy because it helps to escape the real world sometimes. A contemporary story like this is a fantasy–what would you do if you were Avery? We all ask ourselves the question, what would you do with a million dollars? So now we get to ask Avery the same thing (well, a billion dollars), and also see how she navigates her choices in a world where not everyone is as they seem. We love mystery, and we love an underdog, and this book brings those two items together seamlessly.

What writers should know

This story shows that an intriguing, well planned novel can reach almost 90,000 words and still have pacing that keeps readers flipping the pages to the end. Barnes has a background in psychology, and her ability to build intriguing characters and a complex plot is something all writers should aspire to do. Whatever your background, studying the people in your daily life may enable you to build better, more realistic characters in your story.

Learn more about the novel here.