Reading Between the Wines book review #70/135 for 2022:
Rating: 3 ½ 🍷 🍷 🍷
Book 🎧: The Blame Game
Author: Sandie Jones
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
Available now!

Sipping thoughts: I was really excited to read this one. It was just okay for me. It was one of those where the characters frustrates you to the point that you are eye-rolling and sucking your teeth after every idiotic move. I think the reveal was decent but not mind blowing. The last 15% climaxed and really pulled me in and there were other points in the story where I didn’t want to stop reading but overall it was just okay.

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley and @StMartinsPress for and advanced copy of @TheBlameGame.

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I would firstly like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for providing me an ARC copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This 3 star read was my first book by Sandie Jones and I got into it immediately. I liked the plot and all the twists and turns that I did not expect. Each time I thought I had guess the answer I was proven wrong. Our protagonist, Naomi was an interesting character and unlike any other therapist I have ever read about or known. While I enjoyed the writing I found it difficult to come to terms with how unethically Naomi practiced and it was one of the things that made this a tough one to believe or imagine. I do like how we kept visiting her family home in New York when Naomi was a child. Seems she was a liar as a child and brought that into her adult life too.

I think this is a good psychological thriller and it did keep me in suspense right up until the very last sentence.

I think folks should make up their own minds about this book and I will not say more except that I would like to read another Sandie Jones book to compare.

This book is about Naomi, a psychologist who specializes in domestic abuse patients. She feels an intense responsibility to protect her patients, even if it means crossing professional lines. After helping a patient leave his abusive wife, he goes missing, leaving Naomi as the number one suspect.

Naomi makes bad decision after bad decision, and her dark past leaves her not knowing who she can trust. You will find yourself second guessing your predictions throughout the entire book!

Thank you St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for the advanced copy for review. The Blame Game is out now.

What in the?!?!? 😳
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Sandie Jones, you got me!! What the heck!? Admittedly, I’m not a super sleuth but holy cats this was wild! Naomi, Jacob, Anna, Leon -who can I trust?!? These four are the stars of the show but then the author threw in a couple of estranged family members and I couldn’t put the book down! Naomi is the doting therapist who wants to be able to save her clients from abuse while her husband, Leon, thinks she goes above and beyond. Naomi gets herself into a web of lies by letting a client move into her former flat. Before long, lines are blurred and she’s questioning her sanity. All while the police are questioning her whereabouts. Who committed the crime though….especially when there’s no body…..yet?
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TW: domestic violence, death of a child (past tense), infedelity.

In The Blame Game, protagonist Naomi is a psychologist specializing in counseling victims of domestic abuse. She chose this line of work due to things in her own dark, tragic past. While she enjoys her work, in her eagerness to offer help and comfort, she often finds it difficult to maintain the ethical line between doctor and patient. When her patient Jacob shares with Naomi that he wants to leave his abusive wife, Naomi strays into the gray area and then crosses the line by offering Jacob a safe place to stay at a place owned by she and her husband. Soon, another client tells Naomi of her fear of her abusive husband, and Naomi also intervenes by giving her a place to stay. Naomi's husband cautions her, but she ignores him. However, when files go missing, and doors she knows she locked are found unlocked, Naomi has to wonder if she's gone too far or if her past has finally caught up with her. When the police come knocking at her door asking a lot of uncomfortable questions about the whereabouts of a missing Jacob, Naomi fears her secrets are about to be exposed. Has she gone too far?

As a reader, I found it interesting that Naomi crosses all ethical lines with her patients and yet she appears to maintain a personal Do Not Cross line with her own husband. While we know her past was dark, I wanted more of Naomi's backstory in order to better connect and establish empathy for her especially since the past proved to be relevant to her life choices. Jones has provided readers some details, but Naomi may have come across as a more likable, sympathetic character if readers could see more interactions of her with her estranged sister and convict father and if she actually had found some kind of closure. I'm left feeling a critical piece of the puzzle plus motivation for the main character's actions are rushed.

The Blame Game is exactly that as readers are charged with delving through the bits and pieces of the story and following the twists and turns until the final reveal occurs. I'll admit to seeing it coming which rendered less shock value, but I continued reading seeking answers to other questions raised. The author does a great job spotlighting the issue of domestic abuse and violence while showcasing the stereotypes often associated with abusive relationships especially a less typical female against male abuse. I applaud her for taking this approach and feel she did an expert job drawing much needed attention to the subject of domestic violence as a whole.

The Blame Game is well written, tense and at times quite riveting. While I enjoyed reading it, The Other Woman remains my favorite work from the talented Sandie Jones. I look forward to seeing what this author releases next. Highly recommended to fans of mystery and suspense.

This one was wild; had me questioning everyone. Who do you believe? Who do you trust? I liked how everyone had suspicious behaviors.

At the same time, I didn't like any of the characters to be honest. This wasn't a character driven plot or not liking them might have ruined it for me. This was about the mystery and figuring out what actually happened versus what we think happened versus what they say happened.

I listened to this one while following my daughter around at the fair and I've got to say, it had me looking at people like, what do you have hidden?

Thank you to @macmillanaudio and @stmartinspress for the gifted review copies.

Review of The Blame Game by Sandie Jones

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoy most books but this author and I definitely enjoyed this one overall as well. It had a few twists I didn’t see coming. My main complaint is that I did not care for the main character and because of that it dragged in bits for me. I’m still a big fan and will absolutely keep reading all of her books in the future.

Quick synopsis: Naomi is a therapist with a big heart and a secret past. She can never turn away someone in need and I’d say gets too directly involved in her clients’ lives. She is trying to help Jacob safety leave his abusive wife when she starts noticing really odd things happening like her notes go missing and doors are unlocked etc. Is this due to Jacob’s wife or to her past life she would rather forget?

A huge thank you to @minotaur_books and @betgalley for my copy of this one which was out last week!

The Blame Game turned out to be a bit of a letdown. I’ve read and liked previous Sandie Jones books, but with this one, there wasn’t anything special that stood out and made me enjoy it. The police investigation felt very unprofessional and amateur and it really bugged me. Some parts of the story I don’t feel like added up correctly and it felt so far fetched, that I found it hard to connect to. The characters were basic and very unlikable. Even though this one didn’t work for me, I will try this author again in the future and give her another try since I liked some of her previous work.

Thank you St. Martins Press and Net Galley for an ARC in return for my honest opinion.

I absolutely love Sandie Jones writing. A delightfully twisted thriller that will have you questioning everything. Naomi is a psychologist that specializes in domestic abuse. She often struggles with demons from her own past, which leave her crossing the line to help her personal clients. Now she finds herself trying to help her client, Jacob, leave his abusive wife. But then, Jacob goes missing and the police are questioning Naomi.

The Blame Game by Sandie Jones came out yesterday - August 16th!

I'm honestly not sure what I read with this book! This is a fast paced domestic thriller about a psychologist who gets too invested with her patients and when one goes missing Naomi's worried she's gone too far.

I liked this and there was a good twist but I wanted more! Also at times you're really questioning the ethics of Naomi and the boundaries she crosses multiple times. I needed more character development as this was a short book at 256 pages and I felt like I just needed more.

Having read a few of Sandie Jones books, I really enjoy her writing style. This book, though, may be my favorite of her published novels so far. I liked the organized chaos of the story. The main character, Naomi is hectic in her own way. When we're first introduced she seems to have it all nicely organized and put together but really she stretches herself too thin for her patients and perhaps hasn't dealt with her past trauma.

She's secretly moved a patient of hers, Jacob, into her and her husbands rental property without divulging this to her husband (she's knows he'd object at the blurred lines here). He's a victim of domestic violence and has finally gotten enough figured out to leave his wife without a trace. But he calls one night frantic because his wife has found him. Naomi meets Jacob at a hotel she recommends to him and he confuses their relationship. Naomi leaves having firmly established they have a professional relationship and heads home.

But the little seemingly white lies she's told to get Jacob into a safe house have now unraveled. Jacob is missing and Naomi is the main suspect. She's at a total loss as to what is going on, especially when the police start producing evidence that imply Naomi and Jacob DID have an illicit relationship.

Naomi quickly begins to distrust everyone, even perhaps herself. As the book comes to a tumultuous climax I felt even Naomi couldn't be trusted as a reliable narrator. In fact, there is a part of me that is still a little uncertain about what we actually learned at the end. I can see readers interpreting the ending in a variety of ways and all are valid. This vague ending makes it all the more engaging in my opinion.

Ok, this one… I really enjoyed reading this and it kept my interest and I was curious, but ultimately it’s another one I found very predictable (even though there is a LOT going on to distract you). And all the same, I’m still not EXACTLY sure what ended up happening. The end was a little murky for me.

So to keep this short and sweet, I did enjoy the journey but I’m still up in the air on the destination!

I’d read this if you’ve read others by this author and enjoyed them. In that case, I’d say it’s work taking a chance on!

Sandie Jones has truly become a wonderful novelist! I have enjoyed every book I’ve read! Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Minotaur for the review copy!

Psychologist Naomi knows she isn’t going crazy but, things are happening and they’re being tied back to her. After the trauma of her Moms murder, she does anything she can to help her clients; so when a man Jacob comes in saying his wife abuses him, she believes him and actually lets him take refuge at an unused flat her husband and she own. Things take a drastic turn after she meets him for a drink at a hotel bar and that’s the last anyone sees of him. She’s now being looked at as the last person to see him. Where did he go and how does this all tie in to her life?

This book kept me reading, I’ve been in a slump lately while trying to juggle college coursework and I actually made time to finish this. It was good, interesting and the tiny details are what made the story. I enjoyed it and the setting was perfect for the story. Four stars!!

The Blame Game by Sandie Jones is an intriguing, attention-grabbing, fast-paced mystery. A big Thank you to Minotaur Books, NetGalley and the author for the advanced digital copy of the book. I love a book with a totally unreliable, messy protagonist and The Blame Game gave me just that, along with lots of dizzying twist and turns throughout. Naomi Chandler is a caring psychologist specializing in domestic abuse wanting to help her patients, but in doing so she gets way to involved and crosses many boundaries professionally and personally. When her patient Jacob decides to leave his wife, Naomi steps in to help. But this time she might have gone a bit to far. And when things really start to go awry she makes some terrible choices, keeps secrets, continually lies to her husband and the police. A storyline with tension building suspense, that kept me reading trying to figure out what was going to happen next, and what the truth actually was right until the very end.📚📖⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Synopsis: 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.

Really enjoyed this book. I only gave it 4 stars because I felt that some of the story line was predictable, however, there were some really great twists at the end. The epilogue really tied it all together nicely.

Ok so, I will preface this with I love Sandie Jones, but this one was just not for me. I read about 100 pages and then I have to stop. I was bored and the story just did not hit me this time.
It is a short book so that was nice but even with that I could not get into it.

What in the world did I just read?! I feel like my brain is mush and I'm in a little bit of shell shock over here. 🤯

I went in with trepidation seeing the mixed reviews, but I've read a previous book by the author and enjoyed it, so I wanted to give it a chance. I'm glad I did. This book is quick, fast paced read and had a different feel to it from other thrillers I've read in the past.

I didn't know who to trust, what was going on and I never could figure out how it was going to end. I will say the ending did feel rushed and I was a bit confused with how some of it played out. But overall, I enjoyed the book and think anyone who picked it up would also.

**Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced copy of this book and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion. I am posting this review to my Goodreads account immediately and will post it to my Amazon & Instagram accounts upon publication.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress-Minotaur for the complimentary copy of #theblamegame - the opinions are my own.
This books starts of strongly with Naomi, a therapist specializing in domestic abuse who sees clients at her home. The two clients we meet are Jacob, a man being abused by his wife and desperate (but afraid) to leave, and Anna whose marriage is crumbling after the death of their toddler. Naomi believes in going the extra mile to help her clients and that gets her into trouble. When Jacob goes missing, she's frantic to find him but each effort she makes can be perceived as suspicious, and then she lies about each thing both to her husband and to the police. The more she lies, the more suspicious she is. You see the spiral.

Told in the first person, and as things spin out of control in her mind AND her life, Naomi is desperate to fix everything - help her client, fix her marriage, stay out of jail. But does she tell the truth? NO! The whole story is based on and wrapped up in lies - her lies, her husband's lies, Jacob and Anna - everyone lies.

Because the focus of The Blame Game is Naomi, we really get sucked into the whirlwind that is her life. That feeling of losing control and not understanding why things are happening really sucks the reader into the maelstrom. However, in looking back, the chaos is totally self generated. As a character who is supposedly a trained therapist, she's amazingly out of control in her own mind and life.

I liked the first twist (which happens pretty early on) about Jacob which was a bit unexpected. However, the whole premise of the story is based on the stack of lies that everyone tells, which eventually just becomes boring. The swirling aspect of the lying, the secrets, the clues for the police, etc. does build tension, but the repetition of the same storytelling device also became tiresome. Almost every novel needs secrets to propel the plot. Well these secrets overwhelmed the plot and became too unwieldy.

I never really got the point of the secondary storyline with her dad and sister. There were lots of implications and it was clearly not memories Naomi had resolved, but I don't feel like it added anything to the story and in fact left all sorts of unanswered questions.

I feel like this is a pretty average thriller. I wanted to like it more but was a little disappointed. Hubby and I had an interesting talk about people in general and truthfulness and when is a lie ever okay, etc. Maybe the book could spark a similar conversation for you.

Reviewed on Bookshelf Journeys, Amazon, Goodreads and Storygraph

Good read but felt the ending was a little rushed. There were still a few unanswered questions I had, but all in all thought it was a good book

What a wild ride!! Read this one in a single sitting in a few hours! It was so twisty and constantly changing; never knowing who was coming and who was going. This was my first Sandie Jones novel but it will definitely not be my last.