The Same Backward as Forward
An enemies-to-lovers, tragic love story from the #1 bestselling author of The Inheritance Games
Readers rate it 3.7 (13 on Hardcover)
327 pages · Released Nov 6, 2025 · Random House
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A note for parents
This is a tragic enemies-to-lovers romance set within the Inheritance Games universe, targeting older teens. The story involves significant plot elements including arson, deaths, criminal family involvement, and trauma, alongside romantic intensity between the protagonists. While the author is well-known for YA fiction, the mature themes and emotional weight of the narrative suggest an older teen audience rather than younger readers.
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From the publisher
6 MILLION COPIES SOLD OF THE #1 BESTSELLING SERIES! A TRAGIC, ENEMIES-TO-LOVERS STORY FULL OF DANGER, SECRETS AND EPIC ROMANCE . . . AND WHERE THE PHENOMENAL, NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING INHERITANCE GAMES SAGA BEGAN . . . You’ve fallen in love with the Hawthorne brothers, now discover the love story of the lost heir of Hawt... 6 MILLION COPIES SOLD OF THE #1 BESTSELLING SERIES! A TRAGIC, ENEMIES-TO-LOVERS STORY FULL OF DANGER, SECRETS AND EPIC ROMANCE . . . AND WHERE THE PHENOMENAL, NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING INHERITANCE GAMES SAGA BEGAN . . . You’ve fallen in love with the Hawthorne brothers, now discover the love story of the lost heir 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 so far, she’s managed to avoid the dealings of her notorious criminal family. Hannah is 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 to 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. Fuelled 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. *NB HANNAH’S SIDE OF THE STORY WAS PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED AS A NOVELLA IN GAMES UNTOLD Catch every thrilling twist and turn of The Inheritance Games Saga, including the Grandest Game, the thrilling new series set in the world of the Inheritance Games: The Inheritance Games (The Inheritance Games #1) The Hawthorne Legacy (The Inheritance Games #2) The Final Gambit (The Inheritance Games #3) The Brothers Hawthorne (The Inheritance Games #4) Games Untold The Grandest Game (The Grandest Game #1) Glorious Rivals (The Grandest Game #2) The Gilded Blade (The Grandest Game #3) The Same Backward as Forward *Looking for more unputdownable reads from Jennifer Lynn Barnes? Check out The Debutantes duology (Little White Lies, Deadly Little Scandals), and the thrilling Fixer duology (The Ruling Class and Lesson in Power).
Shelved under
- Young Adult Fiction
- Young Adult
- Fantasy
- Juvenile Nonfiction
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ISBN 9780241772232 · Random House