THE GRANDEST GAME: FIRST READ REVIEW

THE GRANDEST GAME by JENNIFER LYNN BARNES

THESE COVERS JUST GET BETTER WITH EVERY BOOK BTW!

So, we finally got Grayson's book after waiting for so long, with no Grayson's POV unfortunately, but we are not really complaining. I started reading this book the day it was published, but it took me ten days to absorb it enough to write this review now.

In short, I am going to say: it was everything the fans wanted. We had Grayson silently crazy for Lyra, Lyra trying hard not to fall for Grayson, Savannah and Rohan ready to tear each other’s clothes off any minute, cutesy Avery-Jamie scenes, Big Brother Nash and adorable Xander. Everything the fandom ever wanted, JLB delivered.

I will be honest. I squealed and screamed and giggled like a crazy ass fangirl every two pages. Grayson and Lyra were trying so hard to not look like they were thinking about nothing except each other, and Savannah and Rohan had the chemistry that would have burned the pages if I was reading a hardcopy. Gigi was a babygirl throughout and I (and Grayson) will kill anyone who even thinks of trying to hurt that precious soul. But all that was in the starting.

The book started great, and then started to fall flat. By the end, I felt so unsatisfied I had to reread a few dark mafia romances.

The problem? JLB delivered everything the fandom wanted but it wasn’t what the series needed.

Savannah and Rohan was not needed. The slightly heart-to-heart scenes between Grayson and Lyra were not needed. Their kiss at the was definitely not needed.

JLB is trying to milk this series for all it is worth with its huge popularity on TikTok and I do not blame her one bit for that. It’s business and she gotta take the opportunities. But the fact is that this series gained popularity by how it was originally written, without the TikTok cliches being added to it. Jameson-Avery developed naturally, Nash-Libbie developed naturally, even Xander-Max had genuine scenes whenever they were shown together on the rare occasion.

Grayson-Lyra felt forced. Not in the sense that they belong each other – Lyra is very obviously written for Grayson – but in the sense that none of the events felt natural. Reading them was like a badly written fanfiction where every thing that happened, happened because readers would love that and not because it was supposed to happen. We all knew they were going to get together. We were ready to wait four more books to watch them grow into the best power couple ever. But it all happened so fast, so soon.

Grayson following her to the ruins of the mansion to “warn” her? He wouldn’t do that. Grayson is the kind of dude who will follow her to the ruins, snatch her closer so she can’t run, and threaten her to get any thoughts of any vendetta against his family out of her head.

Grayson telling her about his insecurities? NEVER. That guy would rather give Jameson a lap dance than confess his insecurities to a girl he only really met a few hours ago and who has a good reason to be a danger to his family. Him accepting that he was trying to learn to be wrong is possible with all the changes in his life in last three years. But anything more than that? Hard NO.

And don’t even talk about that kiss at the end. It was so out of the moment! There was no buildup, no tension, nothing. One moment they are talking about how Lyra was not invited by Avery (which is a very big concern and something Grayson would never take lightly) and the next they are kissing. It all felt so awkward. My first make-out was less awkward than reading that and that’s saying a lot because that make-out was the most awkward experience of my life.

The only scene in character with both of these was the ball dance when Lyra told him to keep his distance and Grayson curtly acquiesced.

And in the deleted scenes, we see Gigi stalking Mimosa (Tall, Dark, Handsome), which is so in character for her I wonder why JLB removed it. As Gigi would herself admit – she has “very impressive powers of deduction and also snooping.” There is absolutely no way Grayson told her to stay away from Mimosa and she did. She is definitely the kind of nosy to go behind his back and stalk him under “internships.”

Savannah’s POV was removed because JLB wanted to keep her motivations a secret. I think I am saying this for a lot of readers that with how often Gigi thought about THE SECRET, we knew by the first third of the book what Savannah’s motivations were. Though I do agree removing her POV was better – it gave us more to analyse Rohan, who is definitely more of an asshole slash enigma. But in the end, Savannah telling him her reasons for coming into the game was quite anti-climatic (for us, not for him).

And about Odette. I really think that woman should have gotten more page time and focus. She came off like she had many more intentions than the one she confessed to. And now she is out of the game? Without more explanation? Are we really not going to see her in the next book? What happened with Tobias and Alice?? I really, really think we needed more Odette.

Oh, and Odette drawing a calla lily? Lyra getting flashbacks of a calla lily when her biological father was killed? Knox and Daniels (I already forgot that asshole’s name) in love with a  disappeared girl named Calla? Now this is a good mystery to solve in the next book. No way are these three not interconnected.

Let’s not even talk about that bitch Eve. I really wanted for her to have a redemption arc but with every book, she just keeps going farther and farther from redemption. Now I just hope we get Mimosa’s redemption (I am still shipping him and Gigi).

All in all, I expected better but I still loved the book. Savannah and Rohan are very hot and intense but Grayson and Lyra need more time to develop. I hope there aren’t more forced scenes in the next book just because fans are begging for it. We are always begging for something. But considering the next book is titled Glorious Rivals, I think were going to see more Savannah and Rohan than others.

Still. Waiting for the next, hopefully better, sequel!