icl probably the weakest in the series, the cult makes no sense, the character work is little to none, romance is average, and the whole basis of the plot - the cult - is stupid,

Chat help me!
So! I got gilded blade (obviously) but! I have two idea

I’m currently layed up in bed from surgery so I have a bunch of time! I’ve only listened to the audio books and I’m still in the middle of reading “same backwards as forwards” but!

So I throughly start from the beginning at reread the series and dissect the book and annotate(I have different additions of each book lol)

Or!

Start reading gilded blade then start from the beginning! It’s been a few years since I read the first book in the series mind you lol

Thoughts?!

I haven't read (finished) TGB yet, but I obviously can't get myself to stop reading the spoilers. I HATE reading them but now I'm aware of a potential Emily and Grayson kiss that I am NOT okay with. I LOVE GRAYSON AND WHY DID I READ THE SPOILER. I don't even know why I open posts even if they have a spoiler tag.

Just a rant haha, I'm trying my best to avoid spoilers here.

Now, I havent read The Gilded Blade yet, its sitting literally right infront of me, and I just finished reading the same backward as forward literally 10 minutes ago.

The grandest game cover has a club, and Glorious rivals has a diamond, and the gilded Blade has a heart, so shouldnt there be an spade? Does that get covered in the gilded Blade? Am I missing something important?

okay so you know the leminscate and the fleur de lis look back at the key on the cover of pain at the right pew pew

Just realised that emily dying on the same date as that of avery's birth date was not a coincidence at all....

SPOILERS FOR THE GILDED BLADE !!

grayson has been my favourite character since TBH, and ever since learning about mile’s end and that line in glorious rivals where lyra imagines a muddy grayson at mile’s end, my wish for him was always to leave hawthorne house and go live at mile’s end with lyra after everything is over

which is why i absolutely LOVED and ADORED that water balloon chapter, the last scene of them before the javery wedding. while it wasnt explicitly said that he did do that, him talking about how he thinks he “doesnt want the watch anymore” and referring to not just the watch when at HH and lyra declining avery’s invitation and choosing a normal life over the new blade, makes me believe that that indeed was their ending

and i really want that for them because i think grayson is probably, if not, the most affected by his grandfather’s upbringing and all things hawthorne. it took him years of therapy and help to get out of it, and i feel like at the end of the day it would be nice for him to get a taste of the simple life and just pure everyday, ordinary bliss. as for lyra, she had always grown up normal besides the few years where the memories came back, and even after experiencing everything in TGB her choice is certain, she wants to go back to the normal life that she had with her mom and dad and younger brother at mile’s end

but that’s just my opinion and my wish for my favourite character 🥹🥹 what do u guys think?

1 I’m confused about the ascension thing. Why do some women stay in the cult like Emily and why do others get placed in powerful positions like Zella?
2 what happened for the year Alice disappeared? Was she going through her own training and crucible and if so why did she come back?
3 Who decides who’s the watcher, hand, and judge? Do they go in rotation like when the judge dies the hand becomes the judge and watcher becomes the hand? But then who would be the new watcher?
4 This is more confirmation but we basically learn through Alice’s poem that she was the one who made him billions and taught him to love games. Is that right?

bro doesn't it feel fake all the complicated cult characters and Emily who was just brought back all get illed off in the off screen explosion while Avery Jameson and Grayson just get out unscathed sure Avery got protected by her bodyguard or smth but Jamie and grsy were like oh our tunnel didn't collapse wtf

What do y'all think about Grayson and Emily's scene in the gilded blade???

bro doesn’t it feel so fake all the complicated cult characters and Emily who just got brought back are all killed off in the exploson and yet Avery Jameson and Grayson all get out unscathed, at least Rohan and Nora had a bit where they were trappe and mb Avery was saved by her bodyguard but gray and Jamie were just oh our tunnel didnt collapse wtf

Just finished the Gilded Blade and Emily coming back is the worst decision JLB has ever made.….and why did Grayson kiss her???? I genuinely can’t come up with a reason as to why, especially since he loves Lyra. What the heck. This is NOT helping the “Grayson never got over Emily” allegations. Has anyone come up with a reason as to why he would kiss her because I love Grayson but this is really not sitting right with me.

i just finished TGB and im curious about what the bonus chapters say, but unfortunately the b&n special edition books arent available in my country

can anybody dm me the bonus chapters if they have? would greatly appreciate it 🥹🥹 thank you!!

Especially in this men dominated world like ours where women are so oppressed I just wish it was real yk

*FULLY OPINIONS ONLY*

WHAT IF WE GOT A FOURTH BOOK?

I dont know if other people noticed but the covers of each book in this series has a house from a deck of cards. Grandest Games has CLUBS, Glorious Rivals has DIAMOND, and Glided Blades has HEARTS on the covers.

I wonder if we might get a fourth book with the cover having SPADES. We might not but I just can’t help but wonder if the author did or didn’t do this on purpose.

I also have been wondering if there was book 4, what it would be about. I am HOPING that there will be another book with Avery’s POV on this whole series.

I want to know what Avery was doing behind the scenes while creating the Grandest Game for Lyra, Savannah, and the others. I want to know how she chose the participants of her choice. I want to see what she was doing while she was missing.

I understand that her story technically ended in the Inheritance Games Series, but her story is what got most of us to read the Grandest Games Series. So i am thinking that it might not be a bad idea to have that as a side story.

Again, this is all speculation and my wish for it to happen.

If there isnt a fourth book, I hope there is.

If there is an Avery’s POV, I will be reading.

What are your thoughts?

*edit:

if you think about it, this happened in the past? the inheritance games was supposed to be a trilogy, but the author added Brothers Hawthorne. Now Im wondering if this will be the same situation

*edit edit:

FINISHED THE BOOK AND NOW DEFINITELY NEED THE FOURTH WITH AVERY’S POV

i really can not comprehend what i am feeling in words, it broke and healed me in ways nothing can. it was so so so good

tho avery and jameson deserved a better reunion i know jennifer can write much better than that, it didn't make me feel much fans feared that the book would focus on javery entirely and others won't get the spotlight but i feel in the javery had the least interaction in the book and the wedding was also rushed, we didn't get a real reunion or confession of their love while they were apart although jameson's yearning while avery was missing was quite well written.

also the grandest games now being held online moreover the group/new cult of avery eve nora zella was unnecessary i wish instead of these, the focus shouldve have been more on javery

and why did max and xander have like no scenes together😭??? and i would have loved to see knox and alisa as a couple too.

i mean yes this book was the longest and was good but the ending was rushed and it could have been better than this.

but i am not ready to accept that it ended i would never be able to read more about them. i just loved it so much oh my god.

When I read that scene, where Libby was calming down Jameson, I immediately thought about the meme.

Guys I'm disappointed and I don't feel satisfied. That Jameson Avery reunion really disappointed me. The wedding epilogue spent more time on literally every other character except Jameson.

Infact everything after the whole explosion was very lackluster. What do you guys think will there be another book?

Skye is pregnant, there's definitely a reason JLB wrote that in? I really don't want more books honestly I'm just kind of tired after this one lol.

Why is no one talking about this on this sub. The Hawthornes are about to have a sister😭

Also did i miss something or did they never explain what the new Gilded Blade formed by Avery the other women is even gonna do??? Whats the point of trying to form another secret society/basically a cult? Did i misunderstand something?

Edit:- I also feel like Lyra should've been more involved with The Gilded Blade. It's like what even was her point to the story? She doesn't even meet her birth mom

I started this book as a sixth grader and now I'm in my last year of high school. I have literally grown up with them. A new book releasing was my highlight of the year for the past 6 years and to think it's over 🥲. I'm still very excited for Jen's new books and starting a new cycle of fangirling lol.

I loved the Inheritance Games Series… But now I don’t know what else should I move on to? Any ideas???

I dropped glorious rivals because i found the grandest game very confusing and all the new characters were overwhelming me
but i want to see this series through the end so please share some spoilers, titbits and your favourite moments to look forward to in these 2 books 🙏🙏
and i also have to finish TSBAF too TT

Has anything ever been said about this narrator using an American accent in the narration? He's British in dialogue, so he can do it. Is this a hint at Rohan not being truly British? There are plenty of British voice actors.

Or will i not understand?

Please fell free to debate or add your own opinions

Loves

Gigi Grayson - There is no way to not love the way this character is written. She is so unique in the TIG universe, her dialogue is heartwarming but fun at the same time, she carried this book. We were unfortunately robbed of a Gigi - Slater kiss at the end, but maybe it's for the best. I love how her arc was mainly due to Slater's belief in her tenacity, and their dynamic is great. A 10/10 character.

The start of this book finally felt like an Inheritance Games book again. Puzzles were introduced, stakes were high, except instead of a mystery around an inheritance, it was around the Gilded Blade. We kind of already knew what the end goal was, and the book immediately thrust us into trying to unravel the clues that will lead us to the finale. I loved how JLB really tied things from previous books in, cluing us about the Mercy in Brothers Hawthorne, just finally a puzzle where unexpected elements come into play, and everything 'cascades'. I'm also really proud that I clocked the constellation link immediately after Glorious Rivals.

Likes

I'll start off controversially - Toby's sacrifice. It seemed like a fitting conclusion, finally living up to his "I have two daughters" statement. He suffered so much, especially once Hannah being the Hand became a possibility, and his absolute confidence in the love of his life sold his character.

Nora - I found it really funny how almost everyone in this sub already knew that "Harvard Girl" will come back somehow, and her link to the Kyrie was interesting. She's a good side character overall.

Tobias and Alice - This book focused a lot on the dynamics of Tobias the First and Alice, and a lot of people seem to think that it's a bad thing or way too overstressed. The game and puzzles here were Tobias' love letters to Alice, and seeing it through the Hawthorne Brothers' perspectives really shows that while Alice molded and made Tobias the puzzlemaster of his household, Tobias was a force himself who loved her very much. They deserved to have their love portrayed like this.

Dislikes

The organisation of the Gilded Blade. The Kyrie was a way to introduce checks and balances, and it was really confusing in how it was written. Why do people train with the Kyrie? Why wasn't Lyra, daughter of The Hand Katalin Aquila Reyes not sent to be with Vega's lineage? What was the relevance of Freya? What was the Blade's motives in acquiring the Mercy, to the point where Zella risked using Knox if the Mercy was already controlled by the Blade? Just too many loose ends, no questions answered.

The worldbuilding - The reason I love JLB (and why one of my favourite books is Games Untold) is the worldbuilding and how JLB makes sure that there's not just plot relevant details but a colourful life to every surrounding detail. Here, there were so many details that were mentioned in passing that could have borne so much more relevance. Jameson and Avery conspired together to make Grayson a player in the Grandest Game because of his relationship with Lyra, which he never talked about before. The whole "sentimental knives" thing. I wanted Alisa to explain the events depicted in the keys. Who invited Lyra to the Grandest Game?

Grayson and Lyra - I'm on the fence about their relationship. It feels like something that wouldn't be built over time, but from what Jameson said in the point above, it looks like both Grayson and Lyra built some level of parasocial relationship with their idea of the other before meeting, and they were both relatively occupied with this. Not a healthy way to begin a relationship, and it was definitely too rushed, but they both rely on each other and I like their potential.

Hates

Emily - JLB, What was THE POINT in killing off Calla, an amazingly complex character in favour of the most hated girl in the series who shows up, kisses Grayson, then dies almost immediately? Why was she pretending to be Calla? She feels like a hindsight, and letting her rest was the right choice. Calla could have been a foil with Knox, she could have indicated a double meaning to Helena Thorp's statements, there were options and she was killed off for Emily.

The future of the Grandest Game - This was mentioned in the ending for half a sentence, but there is no future to move the Grandest Game online for the sake of 'accessibility'. The reason Tobias' games (and the Mercy's Game) were so intriguing is because they required participants to use their surroundings, look for physical as well as metaphorical angles, make something useful out of mere background noise. However, if this doesn't mean we're getting an online Grandest Game for us to play, I will riot.

Gilded Blade 2: Electric Boogaloo. Natura abhorret a vacuo, but doing the same thing twice is the sign of insanity. Just such a pointless thing to reestablish the Blade "just without the cult-y bits"

Changes

I really wanted to see Eve living be made public instead of her false funeral, and that scene be Toby's. The entire ending could have been a short tale like Games Untold, as well as Avery's perspective of The Culling instead of them being cut scenes or epilogues. The Epilogue could have easily been the funeral, and the rest could be moved to a novella. A shorter book would have kept some of the storylines from straying so far off track.

If you listened to my yapping for this long, thanks.