The Final Gambit is the third installment in the Inheritance Games trilogy, after The Inheritance Games and The Hawthorne Legacy. The series is made to be read in order, and though The Final Gambit establishes the basic necessary information, the preceding books clearly establish the overarching plot and the characters’ complex backstories.

The series falls under the young adult (YA) umbrella, geared toward people aged 12 to 18 (although readers of all ages can enjoy the books). The Final Gambit explores many elements typical of the YA genre, like coming-of-age and romance. One of the most significant secondary plots of the trilogy is the “love triangle” between Avery and two of the Hawthorne grandsons: Jameson and Grayson Hawthorne.

The Final Gambit is not only a YA book. It’s also a mystery, specifically a puzzle mystery. A puzzle mystery is a subgenre of detective fiction; in this case, Avery, the book’s protagonist, is the informal detective. Throughout the narrative, the reader, through Avery, is presented with riddles and clues. Readers can watch Avery solve the puzzles, or try to figure out the answers themselves. The author plants “breadcrumbs,” small hints, in the narrative to aid the solving of these puzzles.