Rating: 3.75

I was immediately drawn in starting from the prologue and really enjoyed Steadman's writing style. She has a way of taking simple words and coating them in glitter. That is what kept me reading through to the end.
Although there were some likable traits with the protagonist, I didn't quite connect as deeply with her as I would have liked to. She was described as being strong willed, however her actions portrayed more of a pushover until the end. Character development was just a bit lacking for my taste.
It was a slow burn thriller and I felt some chapters could have been removed altogether. There were subplots that were too drawn out that I was hoping would end sooner.
The last 20% of the book was a page turner and when the action finally happened. The ending was just great and I'm glad I stuck through to the end.
My favorite part of this book was her writing style and the ending.
Going to give her other books a try!
Many thanks to Catherine Steadman and Ballantine Books for allowing me to read this advanced copy. Expected release date of September 29, 2022.

Omg what a twisted read! If you like thrillers that keep you on the edge of your seat trying to guess what is coming next, this is the book for you. It’s all in the family, love, secrets, terrifying family games. How far would you go to keep your secrets safe?

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you NetGalley Catherine Steadman and Ballantine Books for this edition and hearing my honest review. Looking forward to reading more with you
#partner

Tension. That is how it starts and continues until the end of this book with a plot full of secrets.

Daily events appeared to be normal for Harriet with a wildly successful first novel and a happy life with her adoring finance in NYC. Then she met Edward’s family for the first time. The Holbeck lineage was “generations of wealth, woven into the fabric of America since the Gilded Age.” She knew they were worth billions with huge connections and maybe a tad crazy but she didn’t think much of it until the day she stepped inside their circle.

Edward’s father, Robert, sent her home after a private chat with a personal message on a tiny cassette tape. She had to find a store that still carried a cassette player just to listen to it. And then she had to squeeze in time to hear his words. Her life was on the edge of being totally absorbed by finishing her second novel. That wasn’t all. Family members started calling. They were eager to get together during the holiday season. They loved to play games at gatherings -- terrifying ones without a lot of advanced warning. When she finally found a private place to listen to the tape, she found herself caught in his web.

I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough with an abundance of twists and turns from the first page forward. The author did a great job creating a mind-blowing plot with characters that one could easily see. I just wanted to hug the little boy, Billy, who seemed very sweet. The reader had to pay careful attention to the hints of who in the family had her back. It’s a different kind of holiday book; one full of surprises.

My thanks to Catherine Steadman, Ballantine Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read this advanced copy with the expected release date of September 29, 2022.

When I first read the synopsis of this book it reminded me of Slasher: Flesh & Blood, so of course I had to have it!
While this isn't quite a dark as the tv show, this is still a dark and suspense-filled wild ride.
There's family drama, there's bloodshed, and there's twisted good fun.

This book is an intricate cat and mouse game that starts off with a bang and will leave you second guessing until the end. That's all I'm going to say though because I don't want to give anything away.
I highly recommend it to anyone who's a fan of thrillers.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was absolutely amazing - I have a few qualms with it (ie some choices the main made frustrated me - being TOLD the main not recording something is frustrating but then not doing it? It felt like a cop out, and I was yelling at her to finish the tapes in one setting). I initially requested this book because it sounded like Ready or Not - and while there are some elements there, it’s definitely it’s own individual book.

I really enjoyed the main character - she was fun to read and was strong and (for the most part) pretty smart. I think one of the subplots where she’s attracted to another character was weird and unnecessary, and ultimately didn’t seem to serve any purpose, and I wish one of the reveals had more of a buildup or hints throughout the book - it’s something I felt like would play wonderfully onscreen, but on text felt a tiny bit random, though not completely out of the blue. I guess in hindsight writing this review maybe I should put this at a 3.5-7 with the critiques I have but the book was so fun that I can’t bring myself to make it any less than a 4.

I’d definitely read this book again though, and it was a fun time! I kept saying “okay just one more chapter” and then kept on going to kudos for the author for having such an engaging story.

Harry has a secret. But so does her father-in-law. Who wins the game determines who keeps the secret. Would you play? Would you win?

As a fan of Catherine Steadman's other novels, I was excited to see "The Family Game" available on NetGalley. The novel starts off with a strange relationship between Harry and her soon-to-be father in law. It almost put me off with reading the book. But it was going somewhere... Harry's soon-to-be in-laws had a twisted sense of humor and played weird games but those games also served as a sort of power play.

A high 2 stars. Fun to read, but in the end, not worth the effort!

This is an incredibly slow and sometimes choppy book. The story starts and stops a lot. Nothing really happens and while there is an attempt made at building some kind of tension, it sadly doesn’t succeed at all. At no point did the text convey the feeling of danger the protagonist was apparently experiencing.

This very messy family wasn’t as fun as it could have been as the characters were very flat. The relationship dynamics and the way everyone behaved made no sense. The protagonist and her actions were incredibly irritating, her thought processes were very repetitive and the central relationship, the one with her partner, wasn't believable at all.

The promised plot didn’t really start until 80% into the book. Those last 20% could have made for a fun thriller if they had taken up and been spread out over the entire novel.

I found the blurb to be incredibly misleading. It implies that this book is focused on a deadly game, which it isn’t at all, in my opinion. It's about a pregnant woman deciding if she wants to be a part of this wealthy family or not while dealing with her own past. Also, most of the plot points mentioned in the descriptions don't come into play until almost halfway through the book, with some elements only being introduced almost at the end!

I had an enjoyable time reading it. And while it was very engaging and I wasn’t bored, I was mostly waiting for something to happen. For there to be more to the story. For it all to actually make sense. There was clearly a lot of potential. But I was just very frustrated by the end.

🔥💰 The Family Game💰🔥
By Catherine Steadman (via #netgalley)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wow! What an incredible book! Full of twists that keep you guessing. At times it was strange and maybe a bit far fetched, but a true thriller and certainly unique nonetheless. 10/10 definitely recommend.

Harriet ‘Harry’ Reed has been keeping a deep dark secret. She did a terrible thing in the past, but she’s the only one who knows. Fast forward to adulthood and she’s a best selling author. Her boyfriend/fiancé introduces her to his family (soon to be her new family) and things seem to be on the up and up. But his family is different. Eccentric. Secretive. Mysterious. And the family loves to play daring games. Harry’s future father in law hands her a cassette tape of a recording. The tape holds a confession that will change Harry’s future and listening to the tape marks the beginning of the family’s traditional Christmas game. This game isn’t one for the faint of heart. Will Harry survive the game or will her secret be exposed?

The Family Game will be released November 2022!! Thank you #netgally for the ARC!

#netgally #netgalley #bookstagram #books #read #readmore

I really enjoyed this Catherine Steadman masterpiece. So I went into this book thinking it would be a rehash of one of my favorite thriller movies " Ready or not" where the bride is forced to play a cat and mouse game as her in-laws take to hunting her down with the intent to kill. But this book pleasantly surprised me with its fresh take on a similar premise. Bestselling author Harriet ( Harry) gets engaged to Edward who comes from a wealthy and powerful family. When Edward finally introduces her to his family the Holbecks, Harry is thrown into a game devised to test her to see if she is worthy of being part of this mysterious and eccentric family. She is given the rules of the game and they are quite clear; 1.) listen carefully 2.)Do your research. 3.)Trust no one. 4.) Run for your life. Harry of course does her research. She writes thriller novels for a living after all. What she discovers is secrets stacked upon secrets and even murder. There have been others before her that have failed this game and paid with their lives. Harry has no choice but to play along until the end because the patriarch of the Holbecks knows one of Harry's own darkest secret from her past, and he holds it over her head as leverage. Read the book to find out if Harry wins this game and gets to join the Holbeck family alive. Thanks to publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

Wow. Catherine Steadman has done it again! This is my favorite novel of hers. I was sucked in from the first page and I had to know how everything would play out.

This book is so fast-paced. It has a great plot twist, a main character harboring a secret, and a rich & mysterious family who plays high stakes holiday games. It has all my favorite characteristics in a thriller, and I can’t wait to get my own physical copy later this year!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for a digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

In a word, this book was NUTS!! A little over the top but you should go into this story blindly-quite a roller coaster of a book. I highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review.

I totally enjoyed this book! I could see it making a good movie and I was picturing it in my head the whole time.

The editor describes it better than I could:

THE RULES
1. Listen carefully
2. Do your research
3. Trust no one
4. Run for your life

Harriet (Harry) is an author, and gets engaged to uber wealthy Edward. He comes from a very powerful family who likes to play games. As Harry gets to know the family more, the games get crazier and crazier. You know someone is up to something, but you are not sure what it going on...

It was about 25% of the way through before anything even started - before she really met the family. But I was still tense and on my toes, because you could SENSE it coming. The writing was that good.

This book was different, it was suspenseful, it was fun.. Reading it was like boarding the crazy train - you didn't know what was going on. Who were the good guys - who was bad?

One sentence that i loved really stuck out. Harry is speaking with a cop friend. The cop says he likes her books because "she made you root for the protagnist even though you know she was bad". This stuck out because you just know Harry did something bad too - but how bad was it? And you like her anyway...

This was 5 stars until the end.. It felt weird - but I am not sure why I felt a little disappointment. Was it a little rushed? Was the endiing too trite? I am not sure- but it didnt live up to the rest of the book. Don't get me wrong - I liked the ending - I just felt like I needed MORE of something.

However, because I was up late because I could not stop turning the pages, and because I immediately looked up the author to see what else she wrote, I have to give it the full 5 stars, right?

I want to thank the author #catherinesteadman the publisher and #netgalley for the ARC which did not impact my review.

I have really enjoyed all of Catherine Steadman's books, and this one did not disappoint. I was hooked in from the start. Harry (Harriet) is a British author with a recent best selling novel, who has recently become engaged to Edward, heir to a wealthy family. Edward has kept Harry away from his family while they dated, but now she is getting to know them. They have some scary family secrets, and they are also digging into Harry's past.

This was a fun romp through a wealthy family's dirty laundry. I couldn't put it down. I think it could have established some of the siblings better, but I did really like Harry's character and how she would stand up for herself and do what she had to do.

This was a real page turner - especially the last quarter of the book! I've been a fan of Catherine Steadman for a while now and this book definitely didn't disappoint. There's really good character development and the story kept me interested all throughout. There were just a few quirky things that made me wonder why they weren't caught in editing (who is able to make a regular doctor's appointment on THANKSGIVING day??). But I would definitely recommend this book. You won't be disappointed!

The Family Game is The Inheritance Games’ older, much darker, slow-burn brother.

This story has Catherine’s signature realistic dialogue and excellent sequence of reveals. While the story was more slow to build than some of her others, it was riveting—so many mundane moments made tense, conversations layered with double-meaning and deceit. It’s a bit of an over-the-top premise, I’ll give it that, but it was masterfully done, and though I don’t entirely understand everything that happened in the end, I was much to invested to be frustrated. I would’ve loved a clearer wrap-up, some details/motives/what characters knew explained, but it was still an excellent idea, and a satisfying execution.

I’d recommend to fans of slow-burn psychological thrillers.

Abounding thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc!

-A

Finally. Harriet, a writer with a best seller, has put the past behind her. Her secrets are safe, and she's engaged to the love of her life, Edward. He's handsome , loving, and has millions. And now she's getting to travel to his family estate for Christmas and take part in festivities, including a game.

If you like rich people behaving badly, trusting no one, and large, isolated estates, this book is for you. It's got Steadman's trademark writing and is maybe my favorite of hers. I enjoyed the secrets coming out and the cat and mouse elements of the game.

This is a suspense novel-Harriet is a novelist, she meets Edward who comes from a VERY rich and powerful family. It all seems too good to be true, and then she meets his family. The family plays crazy/dangerous games, and there are stories of former girlfriends who have disappeared. Who does she need to be afraid of? What is happening in this family? #thefamilygame #catherinesteadman #catherinesteadmanbooks #psychologicalthriller #suspensenovel #bookstagram #booklover #bookblog #booksaremagic #booksbooksbooks #lovetoread #readersofinstagram #bookloversofinstagram #cassettetape

This is my third book by this Author and probably my favorite….. I loved the twists this book took. I really enjoyed her descriptions and characters. While I wasn’t really sure what the back story was or who the real bad guy was I was pleasantly surprised with how it all worked out.

Since thrillers have been my primary genre for well over a decade now, it’s very uncommon for me to find one that’s completely different. A thriller that doesn’t have a plot, trope, characters, twist, etc that’s never been used before is a rarety. So I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered the unique story that is Catherine Steadman’s The Family Game.

The story centers around Harriet aka Harry, a British novelist living in NYC. Harry just releases her debut novel which has become a hit and she is in love with her seemingly perfect boyfriend Edward. Edward comes from the Holbeck family who is uber-rich because of old money(think the Carnegie’s and Guggenheim’s). Edward keeps his family at arm's length but being the eldest son, he is expected to inherit the Holbeck’s fortune. When Harry meets the family, the patriarch Robert slips her a cassette tape which reveals a shocking story that sets a real-life game of cat and mouse into motion.

Going into this one, I expected it to be similar to Good Rich People by Eliza Jane Brazier but it's not! The Family Game is a completely unique and original story. Harry made a very interesting main character and I felt so much empathy for her. I also enjoyed getting to know the morally grey Holbeck family who is a very eccentric bunch with a very dark sense of humor. Of course I revel in thrillers because of the plot twists and there is an unexpected twist towards the end that completely knocked my socks off!

Some parts of the book were a little slower paced but over all this story kept my attention throughout and I found it highly entertaining. This is my second read by Catherine Steadman, the first being Something in the Water, which I also really liked. So I'll definitely be looking into reading more of her work.

The Family Game by Catherine Steadman will be available on November 8. Many thanks to Ballantine Books and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Ballantine!

Harriet is newly engaged to Edward, the heir to a powerful and rich family. His father, Robert, hands her a tape of a book he has been working on. It's about a murder. Is it a confession or fiction? She'll have to play the game to find out.

Alright, I saw this one coming from a mile away. It's still a decent thriller that kept my interests, but the twist was very obvious. And geez, that family was so odd!