Previous book here.
I feel like I'm getting tired of this series? (Looking at the last book review, I clearly pooped out on writing it.) Honestly, it might be just me, but this book felt looooooooong and I kept reading it off and on when I had a lot of time to kill (in between scenes at the theater, and finally finished it while waiting on the union Zoom call from hell, and I was just relieved. I'm conflicted between feeling really tired of some aspects of the series and at the same time, still finding the characters delightful? I dunno, man. This is is a "maybe it's just me" sort of review today.
Avery is a side character in this one, as the book veers back and forth between the adventures of Grayson and most of his other siblings, and Jameson and Avery getting involved in a gambling adventure with his dad's side relatives. (Honestly, I missed Avery as a lead here, especially since these are in third person and I'm usually not as into third person narration.)
- Jameson is hit up by his bio-dad, Ian, to join some secret exclusive gambling club that Ian has been thrown out of to win back a family property. I dunno how much family loyalty Jameson has to this guy, if any--Ian is charming but flaky and un-trustworthy--but you know Jameson is all "secret society? gambling? HELL YES," and despite being um, teenagers, he and Avery get in and end up playing yet more games, creating strategy, dealing with people you may or may not be able to trust, etc. I like Jameson a lot and I think he and Xander are the most fun of the brothers, but I wasn't as into this plot. I know the author writes teens in improbable situations a whole lot and the Hawthorne boys have been raised for this kind of thing and money gets you everywhere, but it seriously felt like we had teens doing James Bond casino scenes here and I just wanted to roll my eyes at this. I'm not entirely sure if I get the entire plot of this, though I did enjoy that Jameson's uncles turn out to be better dudes and I enjoyed Zella, who helps them out. Then the surprise revelation out of nowhere was all, huh?! Where'd this come from?
- The plot I liked better was Grayson's. Grayson's biodad was awful, rejected him the one time they met, and oh yeah, has been.... well, people think biodad has run off, and we'll leave it at that. Grayson knows the truth, though. And when he finds out that one of his twin sisters on his dad's side has gotten herself into a bit of legal trouble trying to find dad, Grayson steps in, being all authoritative/mysterious/weird, trying to throw Gigi off the track and befriend her while making sure she can't find out the truth at once. Gigi's twin Savannah is basically a female version of Grayson except also a jock, and she already knows who Grayson is (I note it's funny when Grayson has to give his name which is their last name) and is cold as ice. Their mother, Acacia, is quite nice to everyone. The Grayson family is why I liked this plot, especially Gigi. Gigi is utterly charming and super fun and sends incessant cat pictures and bounces off walls and is exactly the lively sort of person we need in this world. Love her. Nash and Xander join in on this plot after awhile, which is also great fun.
Overall, this is a three star review for me. Some things were fun and great, other things seem to have palled on me. When I read "oh, there's going to be another book," I just felt tired. I may be getting off the train after this one.