Ranking Books by Favorite Authors | Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Posted August 22, 2024 / Book Lists, Features / 2 Comments

I thought this was going to be a more common series on my blog but I basically wrote one post and never tried it again! The idea came from the late Grace at Rebel Mommy Book Blog. I still miss her positivity in the book community and hope I can keep doing this post justice! Previous installments include Sandhya Menon, Rachel Lynn Solomon, and Christina Lauren. Today I’ll be featuring…

Jennifer Lynn Barnes

I wrote my review for the latest Jennifer Lynn Barnes book and realized that she’s definitely one of my favorite authors. I always forget that she wrote one of my favorite YA duologies THE FIXER – that series is due for a resurgence like THE NATURALS has gotten! I’m not going to rank series (since that’s what she usually writes!) – I’m going to actually rank individual books across all of her series, much like I did in the TTT the other day.

5 Stars

The Long Game // Clearly JLB knows how to finish a series! The sequel to THE FIXER is one of my favorite books by her. I just remember wishing she’d continue this series and let’s hold out hope she could if people start reading it again, okay??

The Final Gambit // I really enjoyed the way she initially wrapped up THE INHERITANCE GAMES series, before writing some spinoffs. I think it had a super satisfying ending with lots of final twists along the way.

4.5 Stars

The Fixer // If you actually look at average rating, THE FIXER duo is technically my highest-rated series by Barnes. I just loved the setup and found it to be incredibly fun and unique. I think I’m due for a reread!

The Inheritance Games and The Hawthorne Legacy // I remember thinking the premise of this series was SO unique when I first started reading it. Anything with mansions and rich people and puzzles and mysteries was right up my alley. I still don’t think there are any other books quite like these.

4 Stars

Little White Lies and Deadly Little Scandals // The Debutantes books were really fun and also pretty unique, as far as premises go! I don’t think they’re super memorable compared to her other two series/duologies but I still have super fond memories of reading these ones.

 

The Lovely and the Lost // Again, another unique premise – a girl grows up alone in the woods and later works with search-and-rescue dogs to find people in the forest. I don’t remember much of the plot but honestly if Barnes hadn’t written this, I likely wouldn’t have picked it up. There was an intriguing mystery involved here if I remember correctly.

The Grandest Game // As I mentioned, this is the first book in a new spinoff series featuring the game that Avery creates at the end of the initial books. I think it had a lot of the same magic as the first series because it’s super heavy on the puzzles and riddles. I don’t love the character as much but it was still a very enjoyable read!

The Naturals // Yes, I rated all four books in this series four stars! It was very solid but I do remember there being a few things in each book (whether it was romance or characters or something else) that just didn’t push any of the books to the next level for me. I’m really glad I read this and bought the rereleased covers because again…holding out hope that her backlist resurgence gets me more FIXER books!!!

3 Stars

The Brothers Hawthorne // The lone book in the three-star area. This was very much a bridge book between the original three books in the series and the next two books in the spinoff series. It took me a long time to read and didn’t have the same magic as the first books, but I do think the plot and characters were helpful in introducing THE GRANDEST GAME books.

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