Tricky riddles, cleverly encoded messages, and strategy games (where players cheat more than not), are the driving motifs of Jennifer Lynn Barnes’s YA mystery thriller series, The Inheritance Games. And in the series’ riveting prequel, the contemporary mystery-romance The Same Backward as Forward, published Nov. 4, Barnes explores, with her trademark wit (and clever book design), another enigma: the love between two fan-favorite characters from the original saga.
Set 20 years before the events of The Inheritance Games, The Same Backward as Forward follows Hannah Rooney, a nursing student and daughter of Rockaway Watch’s most notorious crime lord, and Toby Hawthorne II, a troubled young heir to a powerful billionaire.
Their lives change forever when Toby sets a fire on the Hawthornes’ private island, which kills Hannah’s sister, Kaylie. Thrown into the sea by an explosion, a badly burned Toby is rescued by Jackson Currie, a fisherman, and brought to Hannah, who chooses to save his life despite the deadly arson.
The most fascinating feature of the gripping novel is its structure: The Same Backward as Forward contains a dual narrative, packaged in a book that can literally be read backward and forward. The first page of the novel opens to one character’s point of view, and when flipped over, another cover, and another story, are revealed. Thus, the last page of the first story begins the second narrator’s version of their love story.
That sounds gimmicky, but somehow, it works.
The unusual storytelling device means many scenes — like Toby and Hannah’s meeting the first night after the fire — are repeated, but the story never becomes tedious. In fact, the dual narratives add depth to both the characters and to their bond. For instance, each conversation is unique to the narrator — Hannah takes her time contemplating one of Toby’s remarks in her story, while in Toby’s narrative, he quickly moves on to planning another game for her. Barnes also avoids repetition by including scenes exclusive to each character, such as Toby’s snarky exchanges with his rescuer, Jackson.
In contrast to other YA fantasy couples – like Shadow and Bone’s Alina and Mal or Red Queen’s Mare and Cal — who follow the “fiery and fated” love formula, sans chemistry, The Same Backward as Forward boasts a compelling and dynamic main romance. Toby and Hannah’s relationship is multi-faceted, of both deep love and conflict. The characters are not infatuated with one another, but rather grow together through disagreements, communication, and genuine concern for the well-being of the other.
But the most alluring aspect of their romance comes from the romantic tension from the shameless flirting of Toby and the secret yearning of Hannah. It’s a romance that will have readers rooting for them from beginning to end (and back again).
Another highlight of Barnes’s novel is her ability to write refreshingly three-dimensional protagonists.
Hannah’s sharp wit and compassion (her “weakness”) are hidden by an excellent poker face and constant desire to go unnoticed, a habit that reflects her upbringing amongst dangerous criminals. Her grief over her sister’s death is painfully authentic, not just a plot point for trauma but something that readers sympathize with. Toby hides crippling physical and emotional pain, but with obnoxious arrogance and a devil-may-care attitude, a contradiction to Hannah’s reserve.
Equal parts mysterious, suspenseful, joyous, and heartbreaking, The Same Backward as Forward delivers a fascinating dual narrative that will captivate longtime fans and new readers alike in this delightful expansion to The Inheritance Games universe.
