The Grandest Game summary - Read a full recap

Read a The Grandest Game summary with spoilers, book #1 in Jennifer Lynn Barnes’s The Grandest Game series. If you are wondering what happened in The Grandest Game, then you are in the right place!

Special thanks to Erica for providing this The Grandest Game summary! Check her out on Instagram at @itsneverthelastchapter or on her book blog or her personal blog.

Author
Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Ratings
4.3 stars on Amazon
3.93 stars on Goodreads
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The Grandest Game series
#1 The Grandest Game summary (this page)
#2 Glorious Rivals (synopsis)

***** Everything below is a SPOILER *****

What happened in The Grandest Game?

Your The Grandest Game summary:

This year’s annual Grandest Game is hosted by Avery Grambs, heiress to the Hawthorne legacy, and the Hawthorne brothers, continuing their grandfather Tobias Hawthorne’s tradition of puzzles and riddles. Avery invites three people of her choosing, while four lucky strangers must find tickets scattered across America to play. The prize money is $17 million.

Rohan finds three tickets and chooses whom to share them with anonymously. He is playing the game to inherit The Devil’s Mercy, a luxurious gambling club on the surface, but hidden and known only to select members. The Proprietor tells him he must buy his stake for ten million pounds to beat another interested party. He orders Rohan to leave London and not return unless he has the buy-in.

The players’ identities are kept secret until the day they meet. Brady Daniels is a prodigy at twenty-one years old. Knox Landry and he have played the game before.

Gigi Grayson and Savannah Grayson are twins and half-sisters to the Hawthorne brothers. Despite being related, Gigi and Savannah are complete opposites. Gigi hides a secret from her sister about their father dying while trying to kill Avery Grambs.

Lyra Kane, a former dancer, is trying to win the prize money to save her house. She witnessed her birth father’s death and remembers his final words included a riddle and a reference to the Hawthornes. Almost a year and a half ago, she tried calling Grayson to ask about it without revealing her identity, but he refused to help.

Odette Morales has a hidden connection to Tobias Hawthorne.

Grayson, the second-eldest of the four Hawthorne grandsons, was shaped by billionaire Tobias Hawthorne from a young age.

Players are not allowed to bring any supplies to Hawthorne Island. They are given until sundown to find clues and objects relevant to the game. Gigi finds her first clue near the shore and writes them on her body with a marker. She also draws a map of the island. Odette spends her time observing the others from a distance using opera glasses. When asked what she sees, she tells Gigi that Brady is talking to someone (Knox) about a dead girl. Rohan and Savannah find a lock with an inscription but no keyhole. Lyra stumbles upon a burned house-like structure and recalls that a local girl was once blamed for a fire on the island. She also finds versions of her father’s name written on strips of paper, tied to a tree. They burn by themselves, leaving no clue as to who would do this.

After sundown, each player receives a key to their room. Inside, they find a mask and an outfit for a ball. During the ball, Grayson asks Lyra to dance. He tells her he remembers her and that his grandfather had nothing to do with her father’s death. With no proof and thinking about the burned strips of paper with her father’s name, she wonders whether he told his siblings about her past. She asks him to stay away from her.

After the dance, players follow a sound and end up in pairs, locked in different rooms. Avery announces that their first challenge is to solve an escape room. The Hawthornes reveal a surprise eighth player—Grayson. The teams are: Lyra, Grayson, and Odette; Savannah and Rohan; and Gigi, Knox, and Brady.

Gigi learns that Knox and Brady have known each other since childhood, and Odette was right about their conversation involving a dead girl named Calla. Brady tells Gigi that Knox is being sponsored by someone betting on him to win.

To escape the room, each team must solve three anagrams. Afterward, they each find a sword, though its purpose remains unknown. The next room contains more puzzles. As the game progresses, Gigi learns more about Knox, Brady, and Calla. Knox is sponsored by Calla’s father, Orion Thorpe, whom he blames for her disappearance. But Knox secretly tells Gigi that Calla left by choice. Brady reveals that his mother is dying of cancer, and he needs the prize money.

While taking a bathroom break, Gigi accidentally breaks a pendant she found on the island in a hidden bag containing a wetsuit, a knife, and a necklace. While Knox fought her for the bag earlier, he didn’t know about the knife and necklace. Inside the broken pendant, Gigi discovers a two-way mic. She shows it to Knox and Brady, but they claim they know nothing about it.

Rohan and Savannah play a dangerous game of strategy as they try to deny their growing attraction to each other. Rohan suggests they form an alliance before the first phase ends.

Suddenly, the power goes out. The players speculate that it’s not the Game Masters’ doing, and there may be an uninvited guest on the island. When power is restored, Avery and Jameson reassure everyone that it was a technical glitch. But Gigi suspects someone she knows is behind it. Using the mic, she announces that she knows who is out there. A voice responds, calling her “sunshine,” a nickname only someone from her past, known as Code Name Mimosas, would use. Grayson had warned her to stay away from this person.

Grayson and Lyra discover that Odette was once an actress before joining Tobias Hawthorne’s law firm. Later, they must draw one another to earn a hint. Odette draws a Calla lily while looking at Lyra. Shocked, Lyra explains that her birth father gave her that same flower the day he died. They demand answers. Odette promises more if they make it out by dawn.

Rohan and Savannah are the first to reach the docks, followed by Avery, Grayson, and Odette. Gigi, Knox, and Brady arrive after the deadline and are eliminated. Odette offers her spot to Gigi due to health reasons. Grayson and Lyra try to stop her, knowing she’s terminally ill. Gigi refuses, so Odette offers it to Brady, who accepts and thanks her. That’s when Lyra realises that Odette, Brady, and Savannah were Avery’s invitees. This means Rohan, Knox, Gigi, and Lyra were the ones who found the tickets.

Lyra, Odette, and Grayson stay behind for answers. Odette tells Lyra that her father’s final words were, “A Hawthorne, not a Hawthorne”. The name of the person responsible for his death starts with A. Lyra reasons that Xander, short for Alexander, wasn’t born when her father died, so that it couldn’t be him. Odette hints at another Hawthorne. Grayson dismisses this, saying Alice, his grandmother, was dead and buried by then. But Odette insists she was involved. She also reveals that she and Tobias were romantically involved, which explains why her name was on a list Grayson had found.

How did The Grandest Game end?

Later that night, Lyra runs off in search of answers. Grayson finds her and confesses that he tried to find her but failed. She argues that he could’ve found her if he wanted to, because Avery Grambs did by personally inviting her to the game. Grayson insists nobody knew about Lyra until she arrived. Lyra remembers that her ticket came with a note saying she deserved this, which led her to believe Avery had chosen her. Now, she’s not so sure. Grayson also admits he regrets telling her to stop calling. They kiss.

Back at the house, Rohan finally understands why Savannah wants to win the game. When he asks her, they kiss, and she reveals she plans to tell the world that Avery Grambs killed her father.

Gigi returns to the spot where she found the wetsuit bag. Holding the mic, she threatens to show it to the Hawthorne brothers and demands that someone named Eve reveal themselves. There’s no response. Suddenly, a hand covers her mouth with a wet rag, leaving her unconscious.

There you go! That’s what happened in The Grandest Game. We hope you enjoyed this The Grandest Game summary with spoilers.

Special thanks to Erica for providing this The Grandest Game summary! Check her out on Instagram at @itsneverthelastchapter or on her book blog or her personal blog.

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