Common Sense Media Review
By Andrea Beach
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based on child development research. How do we rate?
Uneven prequel goes back in time, goes big on romance.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
THE SAME BACKWARD AS FORWARD takes us back 20 before the events of the first book in The Inheritance Games series. This time we revisit a young Hannah and the story of how she saved Toby, left her small west-coast town and settled in New England with baby Avery. Flipping the book upside down tells the same events from Toby's point of view. Struggling with amnesia after traumatic injuries, and suffering symptoms of withdrawal from excessive alcohol use, Toby tries to get Hannah to not only nurse him back to health but to help him put the pieces of his memory back together. But Hannah is beyond furious at Toby and swears she will hate him forever, even as she can't help but take care of him. Can hate become love? And if it can, is love enough to build a life on when your last name is Hawthorne?
Is It Any Good?
Fans of the series will enjoy this sixth installment even though it's a bit lop-sided. Hannah's point of view inThe Same Backward as Forward may feel to some like it's rehashing familiar territory because the events are pretty well-documented in the series, and Hannah as a narrator doesn't offer much in the way of new insights. Toby's point of view is where the writing really shines, offering new insights as well as a chance to get to know a minor but important character in a lot more depth.
As to be expected, there are still some puzzles to be solved, though not as many as there are in other volumes. The puzzles themselves will be familiar to series veterans because they appeared before in the earlier books. It's refreshing to get away from the dazzling world of the ultra-wealthy for a while, although we never forget the long reach and endless resources of Tobias, Sr. The main appeal for teens will probably be the love-hate relationship at the heart of the story, which adds some zing and humor to an otherwise pretty gloomy story.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the two points of view in The Same Backward as Forward. Do you learn more about the characters and events this way, or is it more like reading the same thing twice? What else do you think about this fomat?
How does Hannah's compassion affect her relationship with Toby? Or with her family for that matter?
Have you read any of the other books in this series? If you did, how does this one compare? If you didn't, would you like to now?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Romance
- Topics : Family Stories ( Siblings )
- Character Strengths : Communication , Compassion , Perseverance
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Little, Brown and Company
- Publication date : November 4, 2025
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 12 - 18
- Number of pages : 400
- Available on : Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : April 17, 2026
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