The Same Backward as Forward

The Inheritance Games #0

by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

You’ve fallen in love with the Hawthorne brothers, now discover the love story of the lost scion of Hawthorne House. Read Hannah’s side of the story, then flip the book over to experience their love anew through Toby’s eyes in this unforgettable novel that you can read backward or forward.

Hannah Rooney knows how to be invisible. At twenty, she keeps her head down and her eyes open, and so far, she’s managed to avoid being pulled into the dealings of her notorious criminal family. Hannah lives her life in countdown mode, biding her time in nursing school as she waits for her beloved sister, Kaylie, to turn eighteen so Hannah can get them both far, far away from Rockaway Watch and start a new life.

Tobias Hawthorne II acts every inch the entitled heir that he is. As the only son of one of the country's richest men, there isn't a door that isn't open to him. Yet behind his razor sharp cheekbones and devil-may-care attitude, Toby is guarding a nest of deadly secrets and a fiery anger fierce enough to burn everything in his path.

Their lives collide in one tragic, stormy night, where an act of arson and nature leave Kaylie and two others dead and Toby just barely alive—with no memory of who he is. The fisherman who pulls him from the ocean enlists Hannah to help save the very person who she knows took away her sister. Fueled by her hatred, Hannah is determined to deny Toby's death wish by keeping him alive. He is the last person that she should ever develop feelings for, and she is the first thing he ever remembers seeing.

Some things cannot happen—and some things cannot be stopped.

*Hannah’s side of the story was previously published as a novella in Games Untold

*Reading them all? The ideal reading order The Inheritance Games , The Hawthorne Legacy , The Final Gambit , The Brothers Hawthorne , Games Untold ,  The Grandest Game ,  Glorious Rivals , and The Same Backward as Forward . 

*Looking for more unputdownable reads from Jennifer Lynn Barnes? Check out The Naturals series (The Naturals, Killer Instinct, All In, Bad Blood, and the enovella, Twelve), The Debutantes duet (Little White Lies, Deadly Little Scandals), and The Lovely and the Lost.

Genres: Mystery, Young Adult, Romance, Mystery Thriller, Fiction, Fantasy, Thriller

387 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 4, 2025

About the author

Jennifer Lynn Barnes (who mostly goes by Jen) was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She has been, in turn, a competitive cheerleader, a volleyball player, a dancer, a debutante, a primate cognition researcher, a teen model, a comic book geek, and a lemur aficionado. She's been writing for as long as she can remember, finished her first full book (which she now refers to as a "practice book" and which none of you will ever see) when she was still in high school, and then wrote Golden the summer after her freshman year in college, when she was nineteen.

Jen graduated high school in 2002, and from Yale University with a degree in cognitive science (the study of the brain and thought) in May of 2006. She'll be spending the 2006-2007 school year abroad, doing autism research at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

Reviews

[Ashley (semi-hiatus until gr works again)]

help they just keep on coming?? she's writing books on the inheritance games more often than i talk to my dad😭

[h i n d]

idc if she writes 10 more books in this series i will read every single one of them

[Belle₊˚⊹♡ (semi-hiatus)]

🖤💙Prerelease:

So this is about Toby and Hannah’s story????
Brb I’m litterally gonna be crying my eyes out with this book I fear 💀

[ray ౨ৎ (ia)]

jennifer girly, i love ur books but js make an ending alr

WE DONT NEED MORE STOP MILKING THIS 😭✋

like we alr got their story in games untold that was abt 200 pages?? HELPPP. the only difference is we get toby’s pov also 🙄🙄

when you go to the therapist needing closure but ur therapist is jennifer lynn barnes with her psychology degree so she wants to elongate it as long as she can

WHY I THINK SHE’S MILKING: y’all. she never planned on writing ‘the brother’s hawthorne’ and ‘grandest games’ like girl 😭 and before you say it’s HER books they’re clearly money grabs writing a whole ‘nother unnecessary series. like everything was closed up in ‘final gambit’ so she wanted to get more money from readers??

[ari [violet’s vrsn 🩵] [semi ia]]

pre-release

jlb is one of my favorite authors, and toby and hannah are my favorite book couple

BRING IT ON

[dilan]

she’s really milking tf out of this series omg

[sama]

JLB THREATENS to release ANOTHER spinoff to the inheritance games

[Aliyah Z]

I swear I manifested this when The Hawthorne Legacy came out

[kie (ia)]

ily jennifer, but FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYONE, please let this be the last book in this series

love, khiara (ps. no more milking, PLEASE, WE'RE DONE.)

[Dawn Solaris]

𓍯𓂃𓏧 Anticipated ᯓᡣ𐭩

⤷ I didn’t know this was going to be a thing until now! Give me more Hannah and Toby, yes please… I can predict lots of ugly crying and breaking stuff

[faith𝜗𝜚]

the way i screamed when i found out about this-

[ᖰhiᖱeɭia]

She had the audacity to write a prequel, and I had the audacity to immediately click that 'want-to-read' button. 😭😭😭

[mia ౨ৎ [semi ia]]

pre release:
omg omg omgggg i BAWLED when i read this 😭😭 im so exciteddddd. i swear jlb never sleeps

[vxmpslibrary [hiatus] · Rating 4 out of 5]

.3.95 stars.

She is the world to me, and I cannot pretend that she is anything else.

.my thoughts.
Hannah and Toby's story is famous (atleast for me) since I have been practically spoiled by the whole story of inheritance games like haha what the heck.

When author first announced this book, I thought, what better to start the book with the parents? but I guess I just don't know if I should have read the TIG first or this.

Following two perspectives seperately, Toby and Hannah go through hardships together, yet at the same time seperately, Toby a lost soul, and Hannah the sun whom he keeps coming back to.

I believe I actually did not connect them to a lot than I hoped for, there was a strange grasp in this book that kept slipping, so I didn't connect to Hannah and Toby as much I was bringing myself to believe. The grief hit me hard enough, yet it was nothing for me to feel afterwards, it was all plain, black and white, and mind you after I came back from preboards I started reading this and got a terrible headache.

of course the puzzles my head ached so bad for a relief but I'm of course I'm impressed by authors creativity like of course I expected it but it just seemed more like a puzzle book story as well, Toby gave puzzles and Hannah solved it. i know Hannah is so much smarter than I am but you can't blame a girl for banging her head against the wall after coming from a brainstorming exam and have to face this thing again.

The ending made me shed a few tears soon enough, yet I hoped for an everlasting pain my heart that I did not get (bahaha im so sadistic) but yes I wasn't connected so much as I'm mentioning it in the last few sentences EVERY TIME.

I would definitely recommend you to read this after TIG? I think many would prefer that way but then I don't think it changes anything because I had bunch of spoilers and I knew how they are gonna end. And then even a few tears are enough to rate it 5 stars but oof, I expected so much more pain and heartbreak.

6/11/25
did this book made me cry? yes. did this book exceed my expectations? no. rtc soon

[Melissa (So Behind) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is novella first featured in Games Untold: An Inheritance Games Collection, and it gives the back story of Hannah and Tobias. This one supposedly gives Toby's side of the story too, so we shall see if there's much difference.

[Ava ୨ৎ (matching pfp with izzy and tassy!)]

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝑷𝒓𝒆-𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 ౨ৎ

Why did no one tell me that this was announced literally months ago??? Here I was, thinking the only new release by Jennifer Lynn Barnes this year would be Glorious Rivals, but no this is also coming out!!? And one day after my birthday??! I am so so so excited!!!

[maria ₊˚ෆ is back?]

THE COVER REVEAL I AM SHAKING, I NEED IT IN MY HANDS JUST FOR THE COVER 😭

if the uk cover isn't as gorgeous as the us one, I will COMBUST!!

[erin ۶ৎ]

jlb, i love this series, but…do we really need another one? even if it is supposedly about tobyhannah

[⋆. shiloh 𝝑𝝔˚]

as soon as this was announced on instagram I was squealinggg 🤭 I hadn’t even read their novella in games untold—but now I have and it was so. good. I rated it 6 stars 🫠 so needless to say I’m esctatic for this!!

I understand why people are saying JLB is “milking” this series but I don’t agree 😭 like guys she’s the author they’re HER books, so she can write as many as she wants. why do you care?

but yeah. this will be preordered. 😌

[zahia]

its time to stop i beg like respectfully queen i hate seeing ur name in these new releases

how jlb feels when she announces another book:

[jo ୨୧]

the rent was due ig..

[Emily McCormick]

I am so glad I am a part of the hype for this series! This story is a NEED!!

[faith𝜗𝜚]

it’s ugly. but i am excited nonetheless.

[chehed ౨ৎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

perfection. this book is perfection.

[sophia ❀]

EXCUSE ME?! A NEW JENNIFER LYNN BARNES BOOK?!

[aanya]

every time i’m like ‘okay, it’s done now,’ a new book gets announced.
jennifer, GO TAKE A NAP

[Paola Melendez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I... Don't know how I feel right now.

I did not believe this 8 plus book series needed more books. Or a spinoff series. And I stand by that.

Was the first book a fun time? Sure.
Did I rate The Grandest Game 4 stars? Also yes.
Did I come into this book expecting to hate it? Affirmative.

And yet against all odds... I really enjoyed it... for the most part. Hannah's side was beautiful. Toby's side was for the most part (and like the rest of the books in this series) redundant. However, those last 10ish chapters really, really made me feel things. Sad things. Gut wrenching things.

So for that it's a 3.5 I'm rounding up to four.

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is my favourite book from the series. I knew Toby’s POV would be the most heartbreaking but I still wasn’t prepared for how many tears I shed reading it, especially the ending.

[Kie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did I know how this was gonna end? Yes.
Did it still break me?
Also yes.

[alyymaas]

pre-read:

i'm late to this but ANOTHER ONE??? okay but this is abt toby and hannah soooo.......i'm gonna let this one slide and plus i know that once this series ends i'm gonna cry tbh. but i rly need to catch up on this series wow i've only read the first 3 WHOOPS 😭