The Inheritance Games
YA Thriller
Tundra Books
March 23, 2026
In the wake of her mother's death, Liliana Chamberlain's estranged (and very wealthy) grandparents swoop in. Or their lawyer does. Her grandparents aren't ready to meet her, but they want her to have the life her mother walked away from, starting with Westdale Academy, the elite boarding school her mother attended. It should be a Cinderella dream come true, but Lili has serious misgivings. Yet she doesn't have a choice, being under eighteen and dead broke.
Westdale Academy is a school of secrets as well as intriguing classmates, including Hollywood golden boy Theo Dubois and the mysterious Maddox Moreno. As she gets to know them all, Lili realizes there's more to the school than elite-level networking. Something deadly.
For the new girl at school, investigating the deaths of past students — including Maddox's own sister — is a very dangerous game. Do those deaths have something to do with why her mother fled Westdale at the cost of her inheritance?
When a fun night out turns bloody, Theo is the prime suspect, and Liliana must race against time to connect the past with the present and discover the truth behind her inheritance.
A story full of mystery and secret societies amongst teenagers, without petty drama.
While our main character is a woman on the cusp of turning 18, her story isn’t filled with silly secrets and unrequited love. Liliana has survived losing both of her parents, and is still an easy admittance into an college she’d like if she could just finish high school first. When she’s whisked away to an exclusive school meant to prep for college, more prestigious than Harvard, she quickly finds her footing with her rich and spoiled peers. Once settled, her mission is to discover why her mother fled the school, and lived without her trust fund worth billions of dollars.
I loved this story because it had more than one mystery to solve at a time. Liliana was most concerned about unraveling the mystery of her parents, but soon is involved in uncovering the seemingly innocent murders of students over the course of decades. It’s really hard to see how they connect. Even harder to pin point who has the most to gain over such a long stretch of time. I found myself distrustful of everyone who was suddenly her friend. Yes, it’s exciting to get to know the “new girl”, but who has ulterior motives? Kelley Armstrong threw in a minor romance storyline as well which added to the full picture, but didn’t distract from the mysteries. If anything, it felt very easy and natural to follow and I appreciated a showing of a positive and healthy depiction of love for younger audiences.
A Deadly Inheritance by Kelley Armstrong is out, today!
Here’s a link to order your copy (yes its an affiliate link): https://amzn.to/4m6TCG5
Kristin lives in the PNW with her husband, and three kids. She loves to read YA fiction, fantasy, and romance. She enjoys a few side-hustles, including creating bookreels/booktoks for authors. The only shows she watches are re-runs, and if she’s not reading a book, she’s listening to one.
