YA Book Review: Inherit Midnight by Katie Kae Myers

Inherit Midnight by Katie Kae Myers

Avery VanDemeer is trying to escape her boarding school when she is summoned home for an emergency family meeting. Her grandmother, the matriarch of the vastly wealthy family, has decided to host an Amazing Race style competition in absentia. Madame VanDemeer is tired of her family not paying attention to her stories or family history, and is especially tired of all the bickering over the family fortune.

The game will decide once and for all who will inherit the enormous family fortune (and control of the businesses), and who will simply get a sizable, but significantly smaller, check. Avery isn’t keen on playing. She doesn’t really like most of her family; she finds them rude, overbearing, despicable, and a list of other unkind words. But at the same time, her grandmother wants her to play, and the game rewards traits that Avery believes she possesses: resourcefulness, unity, and intellect, among several others.

Readers who enjoyed the 39 Clues series when they were much younger will very much enjoy Inherit Midnight. The bratty cousins and creepy uncle make for solid bad guys, and readers will relate to Avery’s self doubt even as she seems to know the answers to most of the games.

The resolution might leave some students disappointed, especially those who like an ending where David beats Goliath, regardless of the odds. The story is popular with teens and should appeal to a wide range of readers, especially those who like watching reality TV competitions like The Amazing Race or Survivor.