The Grandest Game is a life-changing competition put on by a billionaire and the four infamous Hawthorne brothers. Many strive for one of only seven tickets in the hope of finding great wealth and power. Lyra Kane, however, comes looking for answers to a deadly mystery.
They call it a game.
But the annual Grandest Game, put on by billionaire Avery Grambs and the four infamous Hawthorne brothers, is far more than simple fun.
It offers the winner $26 million, for one thing. And that kind of life-transforming prize money is no joke.
However, just getting one of seven tickets to the competition is nigh unto impossible. In fact, getting entry is, in a way, part of the game itself. You must connect with the right people, open the right doors, make the right impressions and be the right kind of brilliant person before anyone even notices you.
Even if you’re wily enough to actually get your hands on a ticket, you’ll still be competing against other impressive contenders in a competition packed with brain-numbing puzzles and daunting escape-room mechanics. Working your way through those obstacles will require physical strength, acute observation skills and incredible mental flexibility.
And all of that is simply the winnowing challenge during the first 12 hours or so. Then the true contest begins for those few who make it through.
The handful of contestants this year are a varied lot. Some are there simply for the promised prize purse. Others search for an improbable legacy, or a key to power. Some want the ability to seek revenge.
Lyra Kane is there for something unexpected, however. Lyra wants answers. When she was just 4 years old, she walked in on the bloody murder of her father. She has recurring nightmares to this day that recall snippets of that horrifying moment: the scrawled message drawn in his own blood, the riddle that points to the name … Hawthorne.
This “game” is Lyra’s chance to gain access not to money, but to the elusive and secluded Hawthornes themselves.
Lyra is determined to win. Because no matter the odds, she’ll have her answers.
None.
Power, money and revenge are the altars that most of the characters kneel before here, metaphorically speaking.
You might say that billionaire Avery Grambs is an “authority figure,” since she is hosting the game itself. But because she was the central character of author Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ “Inheritance Games” books, we’re not told much about her. And she rarely interacts with the others.
Instead, the story is woven between an ensemble cast of characters—both those playing the game and a couple who are outside of it.
There’s Lyra, who’s brilliant and kind, but who is also plagued with melancholy memories and emotional nightmares. Rohan is a manipulative guy who appears bright and very able to read those around him, much like a chess player. However, he’s also ruthless at his core and projects a sense of threat throughout the tale. Knox is another hard-edged guy who wraps himself in a cloak of potential danger.
Brady is physics-minded player who turns out to be friends (or rather, former friends) with Knox. They lash out regularly at one another over a painful event from their past.
Savannah and Gigi are a pair of sisters with very different personalities and perspectives. Gigi is bubbly and bouncy, always trying to defuse tense situations and to make friends with her fellow contestants. She also has a mind that can absorb a large amount of fact and detail and organize them creatively. Savannah’s main strength, on the other hand is her fierce competitiveness and athleticism.
Lyra describes yet another character, Grayson Hawthorne, as looking “like weaponized perfection: inhuman, in control, without mercy.” But he turns out to be much more tender and caring than the young woman anticipates.
One other person worth mentioning here is Odette, a mysterious older woman who quietly guides the younger players with her experience and seasoned insight. But she’s also hiding a secret connection to the Hawthornes.
We find out that several parental figures have died or been killed in connection with Avery Grambs and the Hawthorne brothers. It should also be noted that several characters subvert the contest’s rule, such as hiding weapons and breaking into other’s rooms and the like. Lies and deceit are an ongoing part of the story.
We read several exclamations of “a–hole,” “d–n” and “h—” in the dialogue. Someone is grabbed and rendered unconscious by a cloth soaked in chloroform.
As mentioned, the story carries a sense of threat from several characters. And we see that threat materialize in several minor physical altercations during the game. No one is badly hurt.
That said, there are a few bloody moments. Someone smashes an hourglass and drives a glass shard in between his knuckles, for instance. Another character falls and bashes her head on a large rock, splitting her brow open.
Lyra also has a flashback to the scene of her father’s death when she was 4 years old. She describes the blood and mess and the fact that his face was obliterated by a gun blast. Another game entrant talks of her father being murdered by someone as well.
We find out that Odette has a terminal cancer. And she falters with the pain of her disease several times, once during an incapacitating seizure.
Early on, Lyra crosses paths with Grayson Hawthorne, whom she is obviously attracted to. He’s chiseled and handsome, and Lyra balks at her own attraction to him. They end up working together, in the game and grow closer, however. He holds her up to reach an elevated object, and she secretly thrills at his touch. He later gently helps her recover from a triggered emotional reaction to her father’s gory death. The two eventually kiss.
Another pair of contentious gamers kiss passionately, too. But this male-female couple doesn’t do so out of love as much as a desire to conquer their opponent.
Odette talks a bit about an affair she had in the past. We hear of other related characters having affairs, too. Odette also mentions that she was married three times and divorced once.
None.
This book has quite a few twists and turns that readers can enjoy. And the expansive escape room puzzles, riddles and conundrums are fun for those who enjoy figuring things out before the story characters do.
However, YA readers on the younger side of the scale will encounter some adult conversations, a description of a bloody murder, and an ongoing sense of male-on-female physical coercion and threat from individuals who would do anything to win.
And while the sexual content here isn’t too racy, a few passages are suggestive and/or allude to illicit affairs.
Readers should also note that this is only part one of a multi-part series.
You can request a review of a title you can’t find at [email protected].
Book reviews cover the content, themes and worldviews of fiction books, not necessarily their literary merit, and equip parents to decide whether a book is appropriate for their children. The inclusion of a book’s review does not constitute an endorsement by Focus on the Family.
After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.
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