In the final instalment, we skip forward to the end of Avery's first year at Hawthorne House, when she's just days away from coming fully into her inheritance of billions. But a surprise visitor starts the clock ticking on another mystery, with the very real possibility that, if she doesn't solve it in time, Avery could end up right back where she started... or worse...

I will come out and say it immediately - this one just doesn't quite match up to the previous two in my opinion. The concept feels a lot less structured; the only way I can describe it is that it feels like the author had a good idea and had various scenes in her mind, but didn't have the complete story to fill in the gaps. For example, there are a few flashbacks to events that we as readers haven't actually seen, which seem quite important to one aspect of the story. While you get the gist, presenting them in this format lessens the emotional impact. I'd perhaps have started the book with a whistle-stop tour through Avery's year so that you could include these scenes in the correct chronology to shred the reader's nerves before the real story starts!

It feels like you get to know the Hawthorne boys in more depth in this one; their shells have been cracked and you get to see them in a more vulnerable way. The sibling rivalry is still there, but they seem to be more of a unit in this one. However, it does come across that the author gave up on the idea of the love triangle idea, as while there are plenty of places that that simmering tension could have been carried over into this book, it just doesn't quite hit the same heights. I had expected there to be a bit more to-ing and fro-ing on this front before a choice was made, but actually it just settles down without much else being said. And from other reviews I've seen, I don't think I'm the only one who's just a leetle bit disappointed at whuch brother got the girl? But despite my personal disappointment, I get it - it serves the story as it's not about the boys being rivals this time.

I definitely did enjoy this one though; I think the author is incredibly clever at tying together the individual mysteries with the overarching question of 'why Avery?' as each of the books give you part of an answer, but THE answer... I'd say the one we're given is satisfactory, but there's plenty of room for more.

A random thing I love: The fact that Oren appears out of nowhere all the time. And it's not because he's popping out of walls, but rather because the author doesn't always mention him in a scene until he speaks. Like a good bodyguard, he fades into the background and you forget that he's always there until he makes himself known. It's a small thing, but to me it shows how deeply the author has thought about her characters. 

While this one isn't my favourite, it's still a very strong ending to the trilogy. And I'm desperate to read the next one when it comes out next month!