Every year, ERHS gives all students going into grades 7-12 the same book to read over the summer. For the past few years, the school has picked a nonfiction book that showed real life events a person has lived through. In I am Malala, Malala dealt with the Taliban infesting Pakistan, all while being an activist for women’s education. Every Falling Star showed the journey of Sungju Lee surviving in and eventually escaping from North Korea. This year, however, the school deviated from the norm and assigned us The Inheritance Games, a fiction novel. I have to say, I like the change.
Although I’m sure every kid in school read the book (hint the sarcasm), here is a quick summary: Avery Kylie Grambs is a teenage girl who lives with her step sister Libby since the passing of her mom. When the mysterious billionaire Tobias Hawthorne dies, Avery is randomly called to attend the will reading, even though she has no relation to the man. In a shocking turn of events, Tobias left his whole fortune to this random girl. But, that’s not the only thing he left behind for her. Tobias was known for his riddles and games, so along with his whole fortune, he leaves Avery one last game to play. Why was she picked to inherit it all? Why did he disinherit his kin in the process? Avery has to tackle being a 17 year old billionaire, the tricks and riddles of Tobias’s last game, and the Hawthornes themselves.
I found this book to be a refreshing, quick read. The chapters were very short, maybe at most 6 pages in a chapter, which made reading the book faster. I wasn’t dragging through 20 page long chapters, and every idea was explained briefly yet thoroughly so you aren’t missing anything with the short chapters. The plot was also a breath of fresh air compared to my usual reads and the usual summer readings. On my own, I prefer to read dystopian and a lot of low and high fantasy. I was expecting another non fiction, hard hitting book describing terrible real life experiences, so an entertaining mystery book was a nice change of pace.
The plot in itself was easy to follow and kept you guessing about all the riddles. My only qualm was that it was hard to play along sometimes in my opinion. When reading something like a murder mystery, they give the clues and the suspects and you can make your own prediction on who the killer was. In this book, you can make predictions as to why Tobias did what he did but you can’t really solve the games alongside the characters. It could have been just me, but it felt more like she was telling us and solving the riddles on her own rather than letting us solve them too.
But don’t just take my word for it. Here’s what the students had to say about it:
Did you like the summer reading book?
Why or why not?
Yes – “I liked it because it was full of plot twists.” Anonymous, 11th Grade
Yes – “I thought it was very interesting and I did not guess what was going to happen in the end.” Anonymous, 12th Grade
No – “It was long and boring.” Anonymous, 9th Grade
Did you like the switch in genre compared to previous years?
Why or Why not?
Yes – “It seems like a novel I would more likely read” Joey Lu, 12th Grade
Yes – “I like the fact that we get to experience reading both fiction and nonfiction books. I also like the genre switch because generally I like reading fiction books more.” Evelyn Arabov, 12th Grade
No – “I like the non fiction books and I dislike the fiction books.” Anonymous 9th Grade
Overall, I found that most students did enjoy The Inheritance Games, with about 80% saying yes. I also discovered the genre change was well liked but about 40% of the students actually enjoyed the nonfiction novels we read better. The best way, however, to know if you will enjoy the book is to read it yourself. So find a comfy spot, get a nice drink and get reading!
