Book Reviews

Book Review: Games Untold by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

A collection of novellas and short stories within The Inheritance Games series.  This was a fun read overall and a great way to see all our favorite characters! Check out my full review for Games Untold by Jennifer Lynn Barnes below!

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Book Information

Games Untold follows many characters from the world of The Inheritance Games including Avery and Jameson in Prague, Avery’s mother as she meets Tobias Hawthorne, Libby and Nash, Xander, and many more!

Review | Heidi Dischler

That Night in Prague

  • This story follows Avery and Jameson as they have many different games in Prague, and ends with Jameson keeping a secret that he doesn’t want Avery to know. To be completely honest, this was a fun story but left me so frustrated haha. I wanted Avery to wrench his secret out of him even though we already know what it is!!! Jameson is not allowed to keep secrets from her… All-in-all, though, this was more of just a “hey, let’s solve a lot of fun puzzles” kind of novella with the added tension of Jameson’s secret (the chapters alternated between a day before his secret and the day after). Probably a 3.5/5 stars for this one. 

The Same Backward as Forward

  • This one was SO GOOD!! Probably my favorite out of the entire collection. It’s basically about Hannah Rooney (Avery’s mother) and how she saved Toby Hawthorne after the explosion on Hawthorne Island. You get a sweet romance, Avery’s birth, and the origin story of the whole series. I loveddd it. Hannah was such a great character and Toby was just as good. I wanted so much for them. If you don’t want to read any of the other stories, READ THIS ONE!!!! 4.5/5 stars.

The Cowboy and the Goth

  • Wow, this one was super cute, too!! I love the softly sweet romance between Libby and Nash! It gives you two chapters where it’s present day, but the rest are about their love story and how they got together. I really enjoyed it and it was a quick, super fast read. My favorite part is that they mention the baby 🙈. 4/5 stars!

Five Times Xander Tackled Someone (and One Time He Didn’t)

  • This one was sooo funny!! It reminds me exactly why Xander was always one of my favorites. It also makes me so sad that we haven’t gotten more of Xander and Max!! They deserve justice because they were just so cute together. This one is pretty self explanatory in what it’s about, but it basically follows Xander through a bunch of tackles from age 2 to present day. So fun and so adorable that I just want to go back and reread the series just for him. 4/5 stars. 

$3CR3T $@NT@

  • This one was pretty fun. It’s basically Jameson, Xander, Nash, Libby, Avery, and Grayson playing assassin/secret Santa. They have to stalk each other then give the perfect gift if they get their target out. It was sweet to see Jameson and Avery and Grayson interact (even though we all know Avery is with Jameson). It’s a sweet little Christmas story, but not mind-blowing. 3.5/5 stars!

One Hawthorne Night

  • So, this one was okay. Not really the greatest and didn’t capture my attention. It’s basically about Grayson as he has to atone for his missed 911 call from Xander. There is karaoke and tight leather pants for Grayson, and while I thought it would be fun, it was mostly just meh. 3/5 stars. 

What Happens in the Treehouse  

  • This is probably the story I liked the least. It’s basically about the Hawthorne bothers as they go on Nash’s bachelor trip. Other than that, I can’t even tell you much more because it was that unmemorable. They did a few stunts, talked a little about their feelings towards their grandfather, and that’s it. 2/5 stars.

Pain at the Right Gun

  • NOW THIS IS WHAT I WANTED!!! I’ve been wanting to know the details about Prague for forever! This story is about Jameson and what happened in Prague for him to know that Alice was alive. Basically it involves kidnapping and is super short but so worth it! I feel like it’s setting the foundation for a LOT more in terms of reveals whenever Glorious Rivals comes out. 4.5/5 stars!!

Overall, there were a lot of fun stories in Games Untold! I loved loved loved Hannah’s story, Xander’s tackle story, and Libby and Nash’s love story. 4/5 stars for this book! I am now going to eagerly wait for Glorious Rivals and hope we get so much fun in that novel!!

If you want to check out my reviews for the rest of the series, click on each of the links: The Inheritance GamesThe Hawthorne Legacy, The Final Gambit, The Brothers Hawthorneand The Grandest Game

Source: Audiobook from Libby Public Library

(P.S. You can read this book for free by signing up for a free trial of Audible, which gives you two free audiobooks of your choice!)

“Who's calling this laundry dirty anyway? It's just lived in.”

– Maggie Smith, You Could Make This Place Beautiful