First of all, thank you to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for an advanced copy of The Blame Game by Sandie Jones.

I have read all of Sandie Jones' books and have to say this one was my least favorite.

Naomi is a psychiatrist who focuses on domestic violence. Naomi had a traumatic childhood herself and goes above and beyond for her clients which has caused some friction in her marriage and landed her in a very sticky situation.

There is A LOT going on in this book - Naomi's relationships with her patients, with her husband, with her past. It all got jumbled together as the story progressed. I feel like everything was rushed and thrust upon the reader and I would have liked more background /build up for Naomi and all her relationships. As I didn't really feel like I knew Naomi, I didn't especially like or connect with the character. To tell you the truth I'm not even really sure what happened in the end! This was just an OK read for me, 2.5 stars rounded up to 3 stars.

Thank you St. Martin's Press/Minotaur books and Netgalley for an eARC copy of The Blame Game by Sandie Jones!

Naomi is a psychologist who specializes in domestic abuse, and sometimes becomes overly invested in her clients' lives. Uhhh ya, that's an understatement. When one of her clients, and his file, vanishes, she's worried that she may have taken things too far. Then, her past comes to the present...

I wanted to love this book. I enjoyed the writing and found myself binging the story. Then I got to the ending, and I was so confused. I still am. I am not exactly sure what happened at the end, and I had to search the eBook to remind myself who one of the characters was. The book really is two stories of their own, and I was hoping that they'd come together in the end. Did they? Didn't they? I don't think so, but I may have missed something. I'll read Sandie's work in the future, but this one fell a bit flat for me.

I've always loved Sandie Jones' books. However, this one was out there, odd. The characters were severely under-developed, and the story was all over the place. I was hoping that in the end, there would be something to tie the whole story together; however, it never did. If I were to dig deeper, I would say this book has two different stories. Quite a disappointment.

Thank you to St Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and NetGalley for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Blame Game by Sandie Jones drew me in from the first chapter. Naomi is a psychologist whose specialization is in domestic violence, and becomes over-involved with a client, Jacob, who believes his wife is trying to kill him. The character of Naomi was hard to empathize with, in that she breaks so many professional boundaries. The book had an interesting premise, but seemed to fall apart toward the middle and end. Recommended for those who love mysteries with therapists (there seem to be many), or are fans of Sandie Jones' work. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

No one is what they seem!! I finished this book so fast! Every time I thought I had it figured it out something else would happen and I would have to rethink everything!

I was unfortunately really let down by this book. See the synopsis below:

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.

Naomi was the most frustrating character. She is a liar in unnecessary situations and makes terrible decisions. The story line was very choppy and I was not able to get invested in the characters or the plot because of it. I think the book should have been longer, as it ends in the weirdest most abrupt way with an epilogue that wraps things up but does not explain how we got there at all.

I will still read Sandie Jones' future work, but this did not hit the mark for me.

Naomi is a psychologist who has a bad habit of getting a little too close to her clients. It’s put her in some perilous positions in the past, but she’ll do anything to protect a client who she thinks is in danger. When Naomi’s client Jacob needs to escape a bad domestic situation, she offers to let him stay in a flat that she and her husband Leon own. She knows she should tell Leon that Jacob is staying in the flat, but she keeps quiet because she knows he will disapprove. When Jacob suddenly disappears, things come to a head and Naomi’s secrets put her in danger.

Sandie Jones really knows how to build suspense – I totally felt the dread settle in the pit of my stomach as things go from bad to worse for Naomi. This book is well-written and fast paced and kept me turning the pages long after my bedtime. I’m giving this one 4 stars because I did enjoy the heck out of the story, but I spent the entire book either being irritated or rolling my eyes at Naomi’s naivete. It was unbelievable to me that a psychologist would have absolutely no boundaries and repeatedly act in unprofessional and unethical ways. I would also expect a psychologist to be perceptive, but it turns out there is more than one pathological liar in Naomi’s orbit… but they never slip up and Naomi never suspects a thing? They are that slick and believable, but somehow the entire house of cards caves in within a single conversation in the epilogue? If you love action-packed psychological thrillers and don’t mind suspending your disbelief a little, then “The Blame Game” is for you!

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me an advance copy of this book.

Whoa! What a ride! I could NOT put this book down. It was devoured in less than a day. Edge of my seat the entire time, waiting for what was going to happen next. Highly recommend!

This is a decent read. Nothing majorly unexpected or shocking, IMO.

I have enjoyed the author’s other stories more.

Awesome read and well written book! I found the story line to be quite believable, but at the same time there should have have been some boundaries, where there were not. I am not fully sure if all aspects of this story line could actually take place, but its a book...

The author tired to weave in various plausible motives and suspects, which was interesting.

I thought this book was solid thriller/suspense. i thought it was a little confusing at time as I didn't really know what to make of her dad being released from prison, her sister, and the guy who lied to her while being in her therapy session. it was a lot to take in and at time i had to find myself going back and rereading some of it again to grasp what was she was saying. but the ending sheeesshhh!

“The Blame Game” boasts an interesting premise with a bit of a twist, making for a quick and fairly decent read, but I found the main characters to be a bit off-putting, which detracted from my overall enjoyment. Many aspects of this story rang as unbelievable and unethical, and the mystery was predictable. Still, it’s a well-written story that’s engaging, despite its obvious flaws.

Naomi is a psychologist specializing in victims of domestic violence. When one of her patients go missing, the race is on until the police find enough circumstantial evidence to pinpoint the disappearance, and suspected murder on Naomi. Navigating relationships in small town England, cultural differences of an Ex-pat from America, and the complexity of therapist-patient relationships.

I wanted to like this book, the suspense and plot were standard thriller and allotted for a fast-paced read. However, I am very bothered when authors write about psychologists without doing sufficient research on them. There were a lot of things that ere problematic in this book that a quick google search of the British Ethics Code highlight. Examples including confidentiality, and multiple relationships (there's one point where the main character says something along the lines of "lets not talk as patient/therapist, we'll talk as friends." Big no-no!). This was really difficult for me to look past, and I felt did not add to the plot. I think this could have been written without depicting the psychologist as unethical.

Naomi is an ex-pat psychologist living with her husband in England. Naomi specializes in helping victims of domestic abuse, after experiencing a traumatic event herself during her own childhood. But perhaps Naomi's own experiences cause her to go a little too far in helping her clients. Jacob develops a borderline inappropriate relationship with Jacob, who is trying to escape his abusive wife. But when Jacob goes missing, all signs point to Naomi being involved.
Sandie Jones has been hit or miss for me. I really loved The First Mistake, but have found her other books to be mediocre. The Blame Game specifically didn't work for me due to the many loose ends that never went anywhere. Also, I feel that psychologists with poor boundaries has become a bit of a literary trope in thrillers as of late.
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this title in exchange for my honest feedback.

Not gonna lie, this one was pretty wild, and I still can't honestly say I completely understand what happened. That said, this was a ride I didn't want to get off until the very end. Naomi herself is slightly underdeveloped - I would have liked to get some additional background on her previous issues with her profession etc, so I felt like I didn't completely understand her. Leon I almost loathed at times! But really, really never ever saw any of the ending coming!

“But unfortunately, it doesn’t matter whether you’re young or old, male or female; the greatest fear, apart from the abuse itself, is that nobody will believe you.”

So, what happens when you are a domestic abuse psychologist, and you have officially crossed the line into territory where no one will now believe you? Is it the perfect setup, or has your past come back to haunt you? Or simply put, have you lost your mind?

Naomi wants to save everyone, but at what cost? In The Blame Game, Sandie Jones demonstrates why professional relationships have boundaries and the personal consequences of not abiding by them. When Naomi begins treating Anna, who lost a child a year ago, and Jacob, who is abused by his wife, she will do anything to help them: including putting her own marriage in jeopardy. But when Jacob goes missing, blame turns to Naomi as she was one of the last people to see him alive.

I can’t say too much without giving away the plot – but I stared off in space for a good hour after I finished reading this novel trying to figure out the ending. I’m still pondering what I read, which I would think was Jones’ intention in crafting the book and ending it how she did, but I definitely wanted more. I like when all boxes are checked, and bows are tied perfectly with no possible story line still open – and that was NOT this book! I am left with questions!

I found this book confusing and am still mentally contemplating some story lines (dialogue) that I feel was contradicted from the first half of the novel to the ending.

In addition, Naomi as a lead character did annoy me: she is supposed to be an intelligent, educated woman who gives others advice, but then continued to lie or coverup her actions – which weren’t even damning in the first place! I understand that her past maybe molded her thought process, but it didn’t all add up for me.

Saying this, it was an interesting read that had me rushing to the finish line. This was a psychological thriller that built up the suspense, with complex undertones. Though it wasn’t my favorite, it was worth the read and I would recommend this author in the future. 3.2 stars.

“But what if you could change the end of the story? What if you had the chance to change somebody’s life, at no cost to you own? You would, wouldn’t you?”

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC, all opinions are my own!

HUGE fan of Sandie Jones, I listened to both of her others and I think I’d like to see if an audiobook comes up to review that way. I felt I did have to go back and revisit some of the things that happened because I couldn’t keep them straight? Def recommend.

3.5*
Boundaries people, boundaries!

Naomi is a psychologist specializing in domestic violence. She has a huge heart, (maybe too much so) and wants to help everyone! Even if it means ignoring the rules now and again. Enter her latest client, Jacob who fears for his vey life, fully believing his wife is out to kill him.

Even though it probably crosses professional lines, tender-hearted Naomi offers him a safe place to hide out. But when he goes missing, all eyes turn to her. “No good deed goes unpunished”!

Can she find Jacob before it’s too late? Is something hidden in her past about to catch up with her?

When I started this read I was all in! Loved it! But the last 30% just went a bit wonky.💁‍♀️

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press

Thank you so much for this ARC!

Yikes - in a good way! I love a psychologist/therapist main character, however, Naomi was the most unprofessional therapist I've ever encountered. She almost asked for all the trouble she got herself into.

I was honestly not prepared for the twist and thought it was going to end way differently than it did.

Really wish the ending was a bit tidied up and that we had more insight into her family situation that was looming throughout.

I don’t think I have ever disliked a character so much than I did this main character. I found myself overly frustrated with her throughout the entire book and wanting to slap her repeatedly.

I thought the pace was a little slow in parts in was dragged out unnecessarily at times. Overall, it was entertaining enough.

⭐️⭐️⭐️