Early Review – The Rosewood Hunt by Mackenzie Reed (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Mystery
Length: 368 pages
Publisher:‎ HarperTeen
Release Date: October 31, 2023
ASIN: ‎ B0BTHXVDWM
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley through NetGalley
Rating: 5/5 stars

“Lily Rosewood has lived with her grandmother since her dad’s death a year ago. She and Gram have always been close—Gram’s role as chair of their family’s luxury coat business has inspired Lily’s love of fashion, and Lily hopes to follow in Gram’s footsteps one day.

Then Gram dies suddenly, and Lily’s world is upended. Gram’s quarter of a billion dollar fortune is missing, and Lily has been banned from the manor she and Gram shared.

But Gram has always loved games, and even in death, she still has a few tricks up her couture sleeve. When Lily and three other seemingly random teens get letters from Gram sending them on a treasure hunt around Rosetown, they hope the fortune will be the reward. But they’re not the only ones hunting for Gram’s treasure, and soon the hunt becomes more dangerous than they ever could have imagined.”

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got a copy of this as an eGalley through NetGalley to review.

Thoughts: I really enjoyed this a lot. This was a fun and fast-paced scavenger hunt type mystery that is very easy to read and hard to put down. It’s a wonderful YA contemporary fiction and does remind a lot of Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ “Inheritances Games” but was different enough that it stands on it’s own well and I really enjoyed it.

The book follows Lily Rosewood. She is hoping to take over the Rosewood luxury fashion empire from her grandmother (Gram), but things go awry when her Gram suddenly passes away and the Rosewood fortune goes missing. All Lily has is a series of clues that her Gram left both her and some other random teens throughout the city of Rosetown. Now Lily must join forces with these other kids to solve the mystery before her Gram’s fortune and company get transferred to the wrong people.

This was a very intense and fast-paced read, so the book practically reads itself. I really liked Lily and the other characters in the book as well. The scavenger hunt they go on is a lot of fun and ends up being very dangerous. Lily and her co-hunters find that they are being hunted by men who seem bent on killing them rather than letting them solve these clues.

I enjoyed the writing style, the action, the mystery, and the witty dialogue. This is Mackenzie Reed’s debut novel and she is an author I plan on keeping an eye on. This was a super fun read.

My Summary (5/5): Overall I really enjoyed this book a ton. If you are a fan of Barnes’ “Inheritance Games” I think you will like this as well. This was fast paced, full of action and mystery, and had some fun characters in here too. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for Reed’s future novels.