You can’t protect everyone, Grayson.

⭐ 3/5 Stars

Coming off the high of The Inheritance Games, I had The Brothers Hawthorne on my radar with eager anticipation. With Jennifer Lynn Barnes at the helm, I expected a return to the high-stakes mystery and sharply woven plot twists the series is known for. Unfortunately, this installment didn’t quite live up to those expectations.4

The major issue, for me, lay in the dual POV structure. While alternating perspectives can often deepen a story, in this case, it felt more like reading two separate narratives stitched together. The transitions were jarring, and the momentum built by one brother’s story would often be undercut or halted by a shift to the other’s. It diluted the tension, especially during moments that should’ve been edge-of-your-seat revelations.

What could have been a tightly plotted, singular adventure ended up feeling disjointed. I found myself growing frustrated at the pacing, as the duality often pulled me away from twists just as they were about to hit. A unified narrative or even tighter execution of the dual arcs might have allowed the story to flourish more naturally.

That said, fans of the Hawthorne universe may still enjoy revisiting familiar faces and decoding the riddles sprinkled throughout. But for me, it lacked the gripping cohesion and energy of its predecessors.