Thanks Netgalley for a copy of Blame Game by Sandie Jones .
3 1/2 stars I love Sandie Jones writing style, this one was a little more predictable than her other novels.

The Blame Game, by Sandie Jones, is a psychological thriller set on a descriptive English country manor with a story told by an unreliable narrator who appears to also be a pathological liar.

The novel features Naomi, a somewhat unbalanced psychologist with a troubled past and a fair bit of paranoia, who sees patients in a cottage on her own estate. She focuses on domestic abuse cases, and her client, Jacob, is no different. He suffers from spousal abuse and makes his escape with Naomi’s encouragement, taking up residence in her rental property, despite the unethical implications. Naomi has a well-intended, but unhealthy habit of becoming overly-invested in her patients’ problems and disregards appropriate boundaries. So when Jacob goes missing, she’s the number one suspect, and her poor choices, tragic past, and habit of lying do her no favors.

Despite the interesting premise and tense, atmospheric setting, The Blame Game is a rather frustrating story given the poor decisions and ridiculous actions the protagonist continually makes and takes. The characters are difficult to like and the story, though intriguing, is also quite ludicrous at times. That said, while a somewhat convoluted tale, it is certainly full of plot twists and unexpected turns which keep you flipping the pages, and the conclusion is shocking in a good way.

The Blame Game poses some thought-provoking, worthwhile questions of trust and relying on one person’s side of a story. This latest thriller wasn’t my favorite Sandie Jones novel, and it’s highly implausible, but it is a wild, tension-filled read.

This is my 3rd book from Jones and I have yet to give her stuff anything more than 2 stars, so I guess it’s my time to sever ties with this author. Another insufferably naive protagonist (which annoyed me so much in The Other Woman), and I felt like there were just so many things going on that didn’t make a lot of sense, there were several parts I had to re-read a few times to make sure.
And on a more personal level, I really don’t like this recent trend of unorthodox/unethical therapists - there’s already enough stigma surrounding mental health…

This book started off interesting but overall fell flat in the end. The plot was just meh and far too unbelievable. It was just far fetched. This is the story about a possible unmoral therapist and her boundaries or lack thereof. This was a quick read but just missing that spark to make this more. Overall it was an okay read, with an okay ending. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Blame Game by Sandie Jones was quick, suspenseful read. The storyline was good, if a little unbelievable. The characters were all unlikable and truly embraced their flaws. Everyone is living with past trauma that they cannot get over so it makes them do despicable things. All in all, this is a good read during a relaxing afternoon.

***** I received an ARC from NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my honest review. *****

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this advance copy of The Blame Game by Sandie Jones in exchange for my honest review.

I’m late to the party but I loved Jones’s ‘The Other Woman’ recently so I was really excited to check out her newest title - in a comparison, this one is not as good, only because there are some strange progressions with the plot that don’t really work. For example, Naomi, our main character is a terrible therapist - to even think that she’s doing things that all therapists do is hard to get by, and we’re introduced to the “I’m going to help Jacob” storyline almost immediately - right off the bat, I was thinking…..is this believable? I’m all about suspending some reality because this is a work of fiction, but you want the characters to feel like you can relate to them. That being said, the other characters are outlandish and have a lot of stereotypical qualities that made it challenging to enjoy the story.

In terms of the ending? A bit predictable, I figured it out pretty quickly, whereas with The Other Woman, she kept me on my toes and I didn’t seem it coming! If you’re a thriller lover, I’d still say give this one a shot, because the author is clearly talented, just might’ve been a miss for me.

Again, thank you to NetGalley and the publishing team for the ARC - publish date for this one was last week (8/16/22), so you can snag a copy of your own!

This was a quick read and it started off entertaining, but then became a mess. Naomi, the therapist, was unbelievably dumb and I'm not sure how she would have even gotten her license, let alone keep it with her unbelievable bad choices. . It became a confusing mess to figure out what was going on and it left me with more questions than answers. I'd skip this one.

Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not going to lie, this book let me down...hard. The premise and plot had a ton of promise, but that was about all the positives for me. Naomi was highly unlikeable. As a psychologist, she crossed every boundary given. I had a hard time enjoying the story based on how much her character annoyed me. There is a weird backstory to Naomi that the reader never gets answers to. It is brought up every now and then but never addressed. In the end, I had SO many more questions than I did answers. The epilogue of the book left me even more confused. In the end, this book was not for me and I would have a hard time recommending it to others.

3.5/5 stars

The Blame Game is a thriller. It's my fifth book by this author.

Naomi (1st person POV) is an American psychologist specializing in domestic abuse who works from home (in the UK).

I really liked the beginning of this book. Naomi has a disturbing past that she likes to keep hidden. She keeps secrets from her husband. And tries to do whatever her patients need from her. But as the book progressed her secrets and lies were harder to understand.

There were a bunch of things that happened that could not be explained. I was curious to find out the truth. I did figure out one of the big reveals. But it was still hard to try to understand everything that I was reading.

The book got quite crazy towards the end. The epilogue was definitely very interesting and explained a lot. But I do still have more questions. Too much was left unresolved.

Thank you NetGalley, Sandie Jones and St Martin’s Press for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

I have to say that I really enjoyed this one! It’s quick paced, twisty and well planned out. I loved the characters and how involved in her patients lives she was to get herself deep into this misery. I adored the twists and the epilogue was such an awesome end after you think you’ve seen it all tied up in a bow.

I am a big fan of Sandie Jones but The Blame Game was not my favorite of hers. Slow start (and a restart because I couldn’t recall what I had read) - intriguing plot but a bit messy and over complicated. I look forward to seeing what she writes next! Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a slower paced thriller and honestly I just get like I needed a little more from it. I’ve read almost all of Sandie Jone’s books and I wouldn’t say this one is my favourite but it was ok.

First line: I’m sure, as soon as I see the door ajar, that something has happened.

Summary: Naomi Chandler is a psychologist who specializes in domestic abuse victims. She wants to help people like her mother but she tends to become too involved in her patient’s lives. When Jacob finally decides that he wants to leave his abusive wife, Naomi offers him the use of her vacant flat. But then he disappears. And so does his files. As Naomi starts to worry things go from bad to worse. The police are now asking her about her involvement with Jacob and what might she have to do with his disappearance. But with more answers comes even more questions.

My Thoughts: I don’t know if I should just give up on Sandie Jones. The last few books have not been very thrilling for me. I am usually just irritated with her characters. They all act very stupid in their situations. Lots of lies and secrets. Unstable relationships. And women that should not be dumb acting dumb. I very quickly figured out how the story was going to end. It seemed rather obvious but maybe just to someone who reads TONS of thrillers. However, I stuck with the story to end. I enjoyed listening to it. I kept hoping I was wrong but when I was not, I was a little disappointed but also satisfied that I guessed correctly. Well we will see if I pick up her next one or not.

FYI: Domestic abuse.

Naomi is psychologist who specializes in domestic abuse. She has had it extremely difficult to not become overly invested In the lives of her clients. But after helping Jacob make the decision to leave his wife – Naomi begins to worry she took it one step too far. After Jacob’s first session post escape from his abusive wife, his file mysteriously goes missing.

After Naomi crosses the line, personally & professionally; Jacob goes missing. And all eyes are on Naomi….
____

Well, this one wasn’t awful, but it definitely wasn’t wow either. Naomi was EXTREMELY unreliable, and made some questionable decisions. I didn’t connect with ANY of the characters – and thought Naomi’s marriage to Leon lacked SO much chemistry, and quite honestly he was a big ole J E R K!

As soon as things were starting to wrap up, situations became TOO coincidental and way too far-fetched to be realistic. The epilogue was very interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed the ambiguous way it ended!

I did enjoy the sub plot, and really wished we could have gotten more insight into Naomi’s past. The times that we did get some background knowledge into Naomi’s childhood was VERY intriguing and was my favorite part of this book.

I also wouldn’t call this a thriller – there wasn’t anything “thrilling” about it. It was a semi-decent mystery for those who prefer “lighter” reads in this genre.

I loved this so much, but felt like the ending was way too rushed and confusing. We never got any closure on her sister, which I felt like played a big role the whole book, but then never came to anything.

🔪 Book Review 🔪

#theblamegame
#sandiejones
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#NetGalley published 8/16/2022
#MinotaurBooks

🔪🔪🔪/5

I wanted to like this book so much more. The story was really pretty good. The main character was just a #stupidfemale. She lied and kept secrets from both her husband and the police. Smh. She kept digging her hole deeper and deeper. Only told the truth at the very end of the book. Oiy. Just not my thing.

Easy enough read. Even with the stupidity of the MC. Didn't dread having to pick the book back up. So that pulled the score up some. As I said, the story was good. But I'm surprised that a woman would write a book with such a ridiculous woman. It seems more like something a man would do. Sorry, men. 🤷‍♀️

Don't have much to say. Not sure if I'd be interested in another book by this author. I'd be too afraid of the same idiotic main character.

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This was the perfect palate cleanser. It's not a book I'll remember for long, but it kept my attention and had interesting twists and turns that felt unique enough for the genre.

🎧⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ooh, boy! Often when I’m listening to a book I can’t stop. In this case I had to force myself to stop to mentally process everything. Just as in “The Other Woman” Sandie Jones takes us literally into a psychological thriller where I was kept trying to figure out what was going on, just like Naomi. Let’s just say that Naomi pushed her boundaries as far as they could go and that is where the story takes off.

Thank you @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for selecting me to listen to The Blame Game by Sandie Jones

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#audiobook

This was a super fast read that kept my interest! I found the narrator very interesting in her outlook on things. I also immediately trusted no one!

This was an incredibly fast paced thriller. It was full of twists, turns and angst with the main character. This is the perfect vacation read you can read in one sitting. The Blame Game is truly nothing memorable for a thriller novel.

Thank Minatour Books for the advance reader copy.