This book should come with all the trigger warnings: domestic violence, child’s death and so so much grief. Maybe because I listened on audiobook, I found the scenes of domestic violence (experienced by at least 3 different people) very brutal and hard to read.
I love a twisty novel and this book had some twists, but I found them really dull (the big twist is the SAME twist used earlier in the book.) a lot of reviewers don’t seem to *get* the end but I think it’s left purposefully unsettled.

This book felt so familiar. I think we've all read books where we aren't sure if we can trust the narrator and even if we do, we are cringing at the decisions they make. This was so that book.

Naomi is a therapist and to say she is overly invested and unprofessional is putting it mildly. She gets overinvolved in her clients' lives, going so far as to give them lodging and free sessions.

I did this book on audio and it was a very quick read. The narrator was great and really helped keep the story interesting and exciting for me.

If you read a lot of thrillers, and maybe even if you don't, you might find this one pretty predictable. I questioned myself at times, but ultimately, this book went exactly where I thought it would. It was still entertaining, but not one that will likely stick with me.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the copy.

This book centers around a woman named Naomi. A psychologist with a traumatic past who has devoted her life to helping victims of domestic abuse. Sometimes the line between her professional life and her personal life blurs as she pours herself into the stories of her clients. So what happens when one of her clients goes missing and she finds herself in the middle of the investigation with more questions than answers?

What I liked: This was an incredibly fast read. There were a lot of questions that I had that made me want to know what was really going on and who was actually telling the truth.

What I didn’t like: I found it somewhat hard to sympathize with the main character. She was way too involved in her clients’ lives and crossed the professional line way too often in my opinion. I also didn’t like that she lied all the time which just made matters worse for her and the police. I wasn’t really a fan of the ending either. I felt that it was abrupt and that the story had some loose ends that needed to be tied up after some shocking revelations. I also felt that there were a few too many red herrings thrown in just to try to make the ending more surprising.

Overall, this was a fast read with some surprising twists. It didn’t have a ton of closure at the end, but worth the read. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this book!

I enjoyed reading this suspenseful story. This is my first book by this author which I look forward to seeing what is next for them. I found this book to be well written and engaging. I enjoyed how the author used their writing skills as well as attention to details to make her story pop. The twists and turns had me turning pages fast just to see what would happen next. The are a few subjects in this story that could cause some triggers but if you can get past them you will find a great story that is hard to put down. I enjoyed how the characters bring the story to life on every page. This is a story where you realize that sometimes your clients are not the only ones in danger but you are too. This is an easy and entertaining story to read. A fast paced story that is full of suspense, mystery and action which you do not want to miss. I highly recommend this book.

The Blame Game, Sandie Jones’ newest thriller, is a propulsive page turner! Perfect for fans of Ruth Ware, Megan Miranda, and Freida McFadden.

Naomi is a psychotherapist with tragedy in her past. She’s worked hard to overcome her catastrophic childhood, and now has a successful career and happy marriage. Due to her childhood experiences, Naomi has a soft spot for victims of domestic abuse, and to the chagrin of her husband, goes beyond her professional duty to help her patients experiencing this. This time, somebody is out to get Naomi, and she is being framed for the disappearance of a patient who was living in a house that Naomi owns. Every way Naomi turns, she is pulled deeper into the quicksand that this mystery person has woven, and her small lies of omission wedge her in deeper. Can Naomi prove her innocence and save her life, career, and marriage?

The Blame Game is written in alternating timelines. This allows the reader to learn about Naomi’s tragic past while progressing through current events. Sandie does a good job of alternating these timelines to keep the reader engaged and propel the story forward. Since Naomi had significant professional accolades, I was surprised by her lack of professional boundaries with both patient confidentiality and friendships. However, the lack of boundaries was important to move the story forward. This can be accounted for by the collision of her tragic past and traumatic present day events.

I thoroughly enjoyed Sandie Jones’ The Blame Game and definitely recommend it!! Thanks for the copy - published August 16, 2022. Grab your copy now!!

Unfortunately, this book wasn't for me. I found it confusing and thought the main character was completely overstepping with her clients in a way that made me uncomfortable.

Perhaps one of the worst, most confusing thrillers I've read all year. I'm still confused on whether or not Anna was the sister or not. I think if there were 100 more pages this could have been very interesting. I wish the epilogue was also part of the story. Shame because the concept was good!

Sandie Jones always delivers!! The Blame Game was everything I wanted it to be, and so much more. Looking forward to what this authors brings to the table in the new year/

This was a good book. It wasn’t my favorite that Sandie Jones has written, but it did keep me hooked to the very end. I feel slightly disappointed by the end, not because it wasn’t good, but because I don’t like loose ends and I feel like they needed to be tidied. Overall though, I would recommend this book.

Naomi is a psychologist specializing in domestic abuse, something that is part of her past history. She is currently residing in London with her husband Leon. She tends to get very invested in her client’s lives, so much that she even offers them a place to stay on her estate. She is currently treating Jacob, who claims that he is being physically and mentally abused by his wife. When Jacob goes missing, Naomi is the number one suspect since she was the last person to see him. She knows that she has nothing to do with his disappearance, but how does she prove it? There is numerous evidence that all point to her involvement- text messages, emails, CCTV footage. Who is behind all of this? Is it her husband? Jacob’s wife? Her long-lost sister who she abandoned when they were separated as young girls? Is it her father who was just released from prison?
The story is told from Naomi’s perspective. I found it somewhat confusing at times with all the different possibilities. The plot was fast moving and you wanted to keep going to see where all the different leads were going. I suspected some of the events but was still surprised by the ending.
If you like domestic psychological thrillers, this may be the book for you.

I've read The Guilt Trip by Sandie Jones and really enjoyed it so I was excited to receive an eARC of The Blame Game. This one was great too! Having to do with domestic violence, stereotypes and boundaries, it was a gripping read full if twists and turns; some were unexpected but I also saw a few coming as well. I'm sure this one will keep most readers interested until the very end.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

This was a fast paced book and I enjoyed all of the twists as well as the ending. Sadly I found Naomi to be insufferable - between her overstepping with her clients and blatantly lying to literally everyone, I was so sick of her by the time I was halfway through the book. That being said, I did question every single character and had no idea what the truth was by the end, so a job well done there.

Overall it was just okay and not one I would go out of my way to recommend to friends.

I listened to the audiobook and Karissa Vacker did a fantastic job narrating this story. It's a twisty thriller with an unethical psychologist and two different clients with unreliable stories. I always enjoy being surprised when reading this genre and there were a few shockers here. Despite a little confusion here and there, the epilogue wrapped it up nicely.
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Every since The Other Woman, I RUN at any chance to read a Sandie Jones book. And so I dropped everything to read The Blame Game.

As a psychologist specializing in domestic abuse, Naomi has found it hard to avoid becoming overly invested in her clients’ lives. But after helping Jacob make the decision to leave his wife, Naomi worries that she’s taken things too far. Then Jacob goes missing, and her files on him vanish. . . .

But as the police start asking questions about Jacob, Naomi’s own dark past emerges. And as the truth comes to light, it seems that it’s not just her clients who are in danger.


The Blame Game kept me up ALL night. The plot was clever, and Naomi's backstory was developed perfectly. It was one of my favorite books of 2022!

I always love a Sandie Jones book - I never know what interesting plot twists she'll come up with and I'm eager to dive into her world. To get into Naomi's mind and past were page turning - its scary that all of us may have that side to our personality buried deep.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the EArc of this book! Once I started reading it, I had a hard time putting it down, I binged this book in just a couple of sittings and found it to be a really fast paced and interesting Thriller.

The plot line was interesting, I always love when thrillers lean towards being psychological and the mystery isn't as straight forward as it might appear. And the twists in this book were truly unpredictable for me, I didn't see them coming at all.

The one aspect of this book that didn't work so well for me were the characters themselves, I had a hard time connecting with any of them or even liking them. Which I know isnt always the goal of a thriller, but I just lacked any sort of connection to them. I found Naomi and Leo to be a strange pairing as well, as they didn't have any chemistry in my opinion.

Love seeing a new book by this author, and this one was no disappointment. There were many twists and turns throughout the book that kept you thinking about everything the author was throwing at you throughout the read.

I don't know if I was a fan of how many time a therapist who gets extremely close to her clients, and breaks the therapy code in doing so.

I will always look forward to books by Sandie Jones.

Naomi is a psychologist specializing in domestic abuse. She tends to get overly invested in her client's lives. After helping Jacob make the decision to leave his wife, Naomi has begun to worry that she’s gone too far this time. On the morning of Jacob’s first session after his escape, doors that Naomi is sure she’d locked have been mysteriously left open, and Jacob’s client file is missing.

Another client approaches Naomi for assistance in leaving behind her abusive husband. Naomi is once again unable to turn aside someone in need. Are the missing papers and unlocked doors symptoms of Naomi’s own dark past raising its ugly head, or something more? Is it possible that her clients aren’t the only ones in danger, but Naomi herself?

This one was tough for me. It felt incredibly unbelievable. All of the characters were unlikeable, though that was likely on purpose. I was left with a lot of questions by the end. I enjoy books being wrapped up. I did like some of the twists. This had potential, for sure. I do recommend it. You may love it.

The Blame Game started out strong for me but ultimately didn’t do it for me. Some of the twists were far fetched. I’d give it 3.5 stars. It was entertaining and kept my attention but not a favorite. I would definitely read more from this author and look forward to her next book.

Oh man what a good book. This was one of those books that all the characters were terrible. All the lines were crossed in this one and I enjoyed the demise of the characters.