Ich liebe Jannifer Lynn Barnes und habe alle ihre Bücher verschlungen. Diese Erweiterung der Inheritance Games packt mich nicht ganz so sehr wie die anderen. Es gibt zu viele Personen und Perspektiven und der Fokus auf die Rätsel ist mir etwas zu stark. Ich bin persönlich einfach niemand, der da versucht das Rätsel selber zu lösen, ich will nur das Endergebnis wissen. Daher waren diese Stellen manchmal etwas langweilig… Trotzdem bin ich gespannt, wie es weitergeht und hoffe, dass alle offenen Fragen im Laufe der Trilogie geklärt werden.

Glorious Rivals is the sequel to The Grandest Game, a spinoff of the successful The Inheritance Games series. For me, it always evokes a sense of homecoming, of being reunited with close friends, and I unfailingly look forward to immersing myself in this world. The sequel takes us back to The Grandest Game, a game Avery Grambs and the Hawthornes have designed to award a considerable amount of money to the winner of the competition. The games and puzzles are sensational as ever. Each time the players are confronted with a new puzzle, I find myself obsessing over it and trying to solve it alongside the characters. However, most of the time I fail and I am unsure if this bodes well for me. It seems I would not last long as a participant in The Grandest Game. Pity! I adore the characters Jennifer Lynn Barnes has created, for they are funny, enigmatic and charismatic. Most of them have traits that make you love them regardless of their faults. Of course, not all characters are likeable, there are some I wish would disappear from the face of the earth, but they do contribute to the overall story, so I tolerate them as best I can. Since the focus of this book is on the contest, the reader does not get the opportunity to spend much time with Avery, Jameson, Xander and Nash. Instead, the reader gets some quality time with the participants of the competition, each one of them unique in their own way. The puzzles and games remain at the core of the story, but I did enjoy reading about the dynamics between the characters and their relationships. The interaction between the characters is deemed equally important as the puzzles they need to solve. It was fascinating, and every so often, frustrating, to follow the evolution of the relationship between Grayson and Lyra. They are both attracted to each other, and I was rooting for them to get the happy ending they both so deserved. The reader gets some insight into Lyra’s past and the veil that obscured the mystery behind Lyra’s childhood and the suicide of her father is lifted a bit. In opposition to the enigma that is Grayson and Lyra, the dynamic between Rohan and Savannah is of a different sort. From the beginning, both made it very clear that they are in the game to win and that they would not hesitate to betray the other to get what they want. As time progresses, things change between them. Rohan is making sacrifices for Savannah that I did not think possible. Perhaps spending time with each other and, in the process, getting to know each other better, they become the cure to their broken parts. Rohan does not trust anyone, and Savannah has accumulated so much anger that she cannot see past it. It is a pity that we did not get to follow the story from Savannah’s point of view. The writing is easygoing and witty as always. At times, it was impossible to put the book down as I had the unquenchable desire to know what happened next. The ending left me utterly shocked. I suppose after reading all the books in The Inheritance Games universe, I should be used to dealing with jaw-dropping endings that pull the rug from under my feet. But this particular ending - oh boy, I do not know how I will get through the time till the next book in this series is published. Jennifer Lynn Barnes has truly mastered the skill to keep her readers hooked. Well played!