2022
WISE Score
Amazon
Think 'Knives Out' meets 'The Westing Game'—a high-stakes scavenger hunt through a billionaire's mansion where the prize is billions and the cost is your sanity.
4.5
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This is the opposite of 'brain rot.' It’s a sharp, fast-paced mystery that actually respects the reader's intelligence.
If your kid is obsessed with 'Knives Out' or loves solving puzzles, this series is a home run. It’s one of those rare YA books that actually lives up to the hype without needing to rely on shock value or explicit content to stay relevant. It’s just a really well-crafted game.
Best for 12 to 17-year-olds. It’s sophisticated enough to keep a high schooler interested but clean enough for a mature 7th grader who loves a good mystery.
It deals with complex family dynamics and the messiness of extreme wealth, but the core characters generally look out for one another. The romance is present but stays within standard YA boundaries—think 'swoonworthy' rather than 'steamy.'
The book is basically one giant escape room in literary form. The riddles, secret passages, and the sheer eccentricity of the Hawthorne House invite a lot of curiosity and lateral thinking from the reader.
Very safe for its intended teen audience. There's some mild peril and 'threats' to the protagonist, but it's not gory or traumatizing. Language is mild and there's no explicit content to worry about.
It's a workout for the brain. Solving the puzzles alongside Avery requires logic and attention to detail. It also offers a decent look at how money and legacy can warp people's motivations.
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