Well, those games were morbid, scary, mind-blowingly crazy, and most of all unrealistic...I did really enjoy the ride though. I have wanted to read this for a while, and it's been stuck in my tbr. My burning question is how could they have been able to play those games year after year with no (more than already occurred) casualties as a family...Honestly, I have loads of other plot hole-type questions, but if you can get past the very unrealisticness of it all, you will enjoy this one. Every character has a past full of secrets.


Thank you so much to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books and @netgalley for this advanced reader's copy for an honest review.

Absolutely phenomenal. This book kept me on my toes thinking Harriet was getting into the wrong family. I did believe it was Robert who had confessed that he was the killer. Plot twist blew my mind. To see she had to question and find out who she was actually marrying. I love the intent of the family. It comes to light that Robert was trying to give Harriet a family and knew she was strong enough to change things.

The Family Game by Catherine Stedman is one wild ride! Harriet, aka Harry, has just released her debut novel and it's become a huge hit. Her boyfriend Edward takes her to meet his uber rich family and then things get crazy. Edwards father slips Harry a cassette tape (remember those?!) which reveals a very shocking story and puts the cat and mouse game into motion. Dark, yet fun! I really enjoyed this one!

This wasn’t my favorite thriller, but I did enjoy most it! The beginning was slightly slow and the thrill went super fast.

Talk about a crazy odd family. Harriet believes she had met the man of her dreams. She has everything she wants and is newly engaged. The problem is she hasn’t met Edward family and they are insanely powerful. She’s finally introduced to them at Thanksgiving and slowly many family secrets become revealed. The past should stay in the past, but Edwards father hands Harriet a cassette tape, which basically gives her clues to their secrets including her fiancé Edwards’s. What will she find out?

I really enjoyed this one. Reminded me of a mix of Knives Out and Ready or Not, two of my favorite movies. Pacing was excellent and kept me turning the pages. I didn't see the twist coming and I think the story wrapped up nicely and wasn't too drawn out. Characters were interesting and the short chapters made it easier to read "just one more". I look forward to reading more from Steadman in the future.

Powerful families, secrets, and lies? Oh my!! I was a little skeptical going into this book given that I really disliked Something in the Water. However, I was pleasantly surprised and could not put this book down!! All those creepy games had me hooked to see what would happen. If you’re looking for a holiday thriller, look no further. I definitely recommend this one.

The Family Game by Catherine Steadman

My rating: 4/5
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Read if you enjoy
🤫 family secrets
💰 old money
😱 thrillers
♟ games

A woman with a dark secret, Harry, is set to marry Edward. Edward’s family also has many secrets and family traditions that will scare most people away. When Harriet finally meets Edward’s family, she is given a cassette tape, with a confession to a serious crime. What will she do with this?

The story unfolds from there, where Harriet is trying to uncover the truth about this family’s secrets that their money can hide away. Why was she trusted with this secret?

I really enjoyed this one but it is very slow paced. I had my theories and I did figure it out in the end, but it was worth the read for me and kept me intrigued until the end. I really enjoyed the grandiose lifestyle and descriptions of the very wealthy family and their homes. This one kinda reminded me of the movie Ready or Not. Have you seen it?

Thank you netgalley for this ARC. You can read this one now!
#thefamilygame #catherinesteadman #netgalley #bookreviews

What a fun and wild read, I thoroughly enjoyed this from beginning to end!

Harry has her heart set on Edward, a handsome man who comes from a LOT of money. The kind of old money that allows this family to get away with things that others may not. As she plans to marry into the family, she begins to get to know them better. Including family gatherings and their mysterious and somehow frightening versions of family traditions. Who are these people, really, and how deadly are their games?

Although I did not read this by pub day, it was set in the winter as Thanksgiving turns to Christmas, so it was the perfect read for this time of year! This one is a bit of a slow burn - I would recommend for those who can appreciate the slowness when you can feel the buzz of something greater developing. Despite the sometimes slower building of suspense, there were a few parts that were so intense and gripping that I could not put the book down. And that ending - I did NOT see it coming! It was fun, crazy ride at the end that made even the slower parts totally worth it.

Overall a very well done thriller and I would certainly read any more that Catherine Steadman writes in the future!

Thank you Random House - Ballantine and NetGalley for gifted copy in exchange for an honest review!

I love all of Catherine’s books, and this one might be my favorite. Loved the rich and powerful family and Christmas setting.

Harry, a British novelist, and Edward, son of a prominent family, have a sweep you off your feet type of love story. After their engagement, it’s time for Harry to meet Edward‘s family. The catch? They’re overbearing - but is it to keep Harry away from the family because they don’t like her or to keep her safe? When Edward’s dad slips her a tape to listen to outlining the murders of several women close to the family, Harry wonders just what type of family she’s marrying into.

A must read thriller this fall! A book you won’t be able to put down where nothing is as it seems. You’ll quickly become attached to the characters, and you’ll find yourself racing through pages to see how it ends.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for a fair review.

I fell in love with Catherine Steadman when she played Gestalt in The Rook. Her voice is fabulous, so I listened to her previous novels - like Something in the Water and The Disappearing Act which she reads beautifully. I mean….she’s a captivating actress as well as writer. Why else would I have read The Family Game which features every trope known to teenage horror film aficionados? You know- privileged white folks doing stupid things? They ought to have common sense and NOT GO IN THE HAUNTED KRAMPUS
HOUSE …… but no. I could name the tropes but I won’t. No spoiler alerts here!

Harriet is a beautiful, successful, British novelist, but she’s an orphan [haunted] by her past. Edward is an uber rich American heir and a successful entrepreneur in his own right. She falls in love with him and falls into danger with his (too?) welcoming family. 💩 gets crazy - but I kept reading (often saying “no girl NO —- don’t do that…” or “don’t go there again!!”)

Steadman herself says, “Well, I wanted to write a twisty, turn-y, popcorn thriller with all those festive vibes but with an added pinch of page-turning terror and I hope I’ve delivered that with . . . The Family Game.”

@catsteadman delivers!

I really enjoyed about the first half of this book and I thought it would be great but then it started getting more repetitive and then the ending was so confusing and felt extremely rushed

This book is something else. The intensity of the family is beyond this world.


I have read only one other book with a family so overbearing that gave me homicidal feelings. I swear, this is something else. For a second I thought that this had paranormal elements and got excited and freaked out at the same time. At the end of this particular scene I'm talking about, I was a little disappointed but still freaked out. That made me love the book. I know, it doesn't make sense... for some people. I love books that freak me out and keep me thinking about them for a long time. I finished this book a week ago and it is still fresh in my mind.

I really enjoyed “Something in the Water” so I was excited to receive an advance copy of “The Family Game.” Unfortunately, this book never captured my attention. I really dislike when entire plots are dependent on the protagonist making a decision that, in reality, almost no human would ever make. Not listening to the secretive tape in its entirety makes absolutely no sense but it was a critical move for this thriller to “work.” Frankly, it just didn’t work for me but I can see how other readers who enjoy a “cat and mouse” type story would enjoy it. I was also super creeped out by the sexual attraction between Harriet and her fiancé’s dad, which didn’t really add anything to the story except weird the reader out. A slow slog of a read for me but I’m not writing Steadman off yet - maybe her next thriller will be more my speed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine books for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Holy moly. Rich people are WILD.
Harry and her fiancé Edward are living in pre-marital bliss. Harry is writing her second novel, after the smashing success of her debut novel and Edward is making waves in the tech-start up industry. All is well in their little bubble until Edwards powerful family, the rich historical Holbecks come knocking back on their door.
Harry, an orphan, has never understood Edward's distance from his family so she accepts their invitation under the belief they are trying to reconnect with their distant eldest son.
The closer she gets to the family the weirder things get, and the less certain she is her own past will remain a secret.

AMAZING. A thrilling on your toes story. Will recommend to all searching for a thriller, weirdly perfect for the holiday season.

I want to start off by saying, I consistently love the pacing in Steadmans books. They're set up in such a way that I seem to enjoy the most. You get a prologue, then the plot leads up to the prologue--usually with some sort of reveal about the 60% mark to keep us invested.

I absolutely ADORED the Christmas vibes. I had no idea this book was set around Christmas--perfect timing to read! Overall I found the book to be fast paced and so much fun. I'd recommend do pretty much anyone who enjoys an over the top thriller.

Holy heck this was a fun read. Love the voice, love the main character, love the twist (although tbh I saw it coming about 3/4 of the way in). Very enjoyable page tuner.

✨Ｂｏｏｋ Ｒｅｖｉｅｗ✨

The Family Game 📚 by Catherine Steadman

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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This was a very good thriller by Catherine Steadman. It proved to be suspensful until the very end with a twist. Harriet is a novelist with a few dark secrets of her own. She meets her fiance's wealthy family, the Holbeck's a few weeks before Thanksgiving. The patriarch, Robert Holbeck, hands her a tape with a recording of a shocking confession and a proposition that plays out over the holiday family gatherings. How far would you go to protect the ones you love from your own kept secrets? And who can you really trust? While I did love the bulk of this book the ending seemed a little unrealistic but you will have to read it to make your own opinion! Thank you to @netgalley for the arc!
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I wanted to like this book so much but I couldn’t get into it.

Thank you NetGalley for eARC in exchange for an honest review

As we're first introduced to Harriet, I immediately liked her. I thought she was interesting, flawed, but a good narrator. She didn't seem to be hiding who she was, even though she definitely was hiding something.

When you meet her fiancé, Edward, you immediately like him too. He is kind, caring, and attentive; he's protective of Harriet and trying to protect her from his family. I really liked him, and thought he made Harriet very happy.

As you meet more of the Holbeck family, you get a glimpse as to why Edward wanted to get away from them. You have the feeling that they're hiding something but you're not sure what. When you meet Robert Holbeck and the story truly kicks off with the listening of the tape, you realize what is at stake here.

The tapes are concerning, gruesome and unsettling; it pulled me right into the story and I had to stop along the way to reassure myself that this is a work of fiction. The family felt so real, it's almost what I feel like Succession is like, or any other wealthy, famous family.

As much as I can sing this book's praises, I have to say that the relationship between Robert and Harriet was weird and made me queasy. It was too close for comfort for my liking and I was really off put by her descriptions of him.

That aside, this book took a left turn into a world I was not expecting to travel to. It got really weird, really fast and then we were on the fast track to crazy town. The reveals along the way were kind of what I expected when we first listened to the tape but the ending was unlike anything my mind could've dreamed up.

I cried, I laughed, I cringed - I felt so many intense emotions along the way but the ending was truly perfect. It made the story come together and left me with a warm feeling, and a need to revisit The Holbecks at some point. I would love to read another book with them at the center.

Family was a strong theme throughout the book, as was honesty, reputation and success and I think it made the ending that much more meaningful.

The Family Game will have you on the edge of your seat for all 300 pages. It was an incredible book that I cannot recommend to thriller lovers enough!