A bit slow moving at first but then took off and kept my interest throughout. Will keep you changing your mind as who is the scoundrel. Excellent disturbing story.

I was hooked from the beginning. Great opener. No idea what was really afoot until the end. It was disturbing, but I get that was the idea.

This one is mind blowing… in its simple complexity.. yes it is a true contradiction. Simply a brilliant psychological thriller that speaks to hopes and dreams all while battling the demons inside. Harry meets Edward and they fall in love. She will now have the family she lost as a child. Edward’s family can be a lot to handle however, and she must decide what is truly important to her. Thanks to NetGalley for this brilliant read. Put it on your to read list….. and move it to the top!

They say art imitates life, and Harriet, the main character of The Family Game by Catherine Steadman, is about to see that for herself. Harriet has found herself marrying into the wealthy and powerful Holbeck family.

The family is shrouded in mystery and intrigue, and Harriet is pulled into several "games" played by the family.

Though it started out slow, the action really picked up in the last quarter of the book. As I was reading, it felt a bit like a reread of Good Rich People, but I liked this story a lot more. It's a fun read if you're able to suspend belief for a few hours and let yourself get pulled into the story. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital advances reader's copy.

This was a fun, entertaining thriller! I found the beginning half a bit slow but there was a lot of ground to lay for the mystery that I understand the pacing. Harriet meets the incredibly rich family of her new boyfriend only to discover that they have a wealth of secrets to protect. There are twists that were a bit surprising and others that I saw coming. Overall this was a fact read and it definitely held my attention throughout.

Thanks to Catherine Steadman, Random House Publishing Group- Ballentine Books, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I loved Catherine Steadman's previous book The Disappearing Act and couldn't wait to dive into her latest offering!
This one started as more of a slow burn, but the suspense and intrigue keeps the reader turning the pages.
The cassette tape is a huge part of the story, as we wait to hear some secrets around the Holbeck family, and this thread proves huge in the second half of the book.
The characters are written well, I had so many emotions around the Holbeck family because of how well the characters are depicted. I hated them as people but loved them in a novel!
The ending was quite the crescendo and it made my head spin!

This was a really well written thriller. I had a feeling there would be a twist to what I thought was going to happen but I didn't see the final outcome coming. The last 15-20% I didn't want to put it down. I wanted to know how this would turn out. I just wish the Prologue made more sense with the ending but it could make sense thinking about it another way. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book

Catherine Steadman’s latest, The Family Game, is a thrilling game of cat and mouse. Harry meets the handsome, wealthy Edward and gets drawn into his family. The book starts out strong with the mystery of Edward’s family and the creepy undertones of Harry’s interactions with them. But the book lags in the middle and I didn’t become invested in any of the characters besides Harry. The pace picked up at the end but the ending was predictable and I didn’t really care what happened to any of the characters. I expected more family drama and juicy scenes but the book had none of that. Overall it was a good read that could have been so much more.

I loved this book. Everything came full circle and there was a son lost but a daughter gained. The surprise twist wasn't too surprising but I enjoyed it nonetheless. This was my first book by Catherine Steadman but it won't be my last.

I really wanted to love this one. The premise is fascinating: a soon to be member of a very wealthy family is brought into their sick, twisted holiday game. I enjoyed the twists and turns in this one and the story had a lot of potential. The game in question does not come until the tail end of the story, but even that is not a deal breaker. I am just fine with building a good back story.

What I struggled with most was the lack of depth in so many of the characters, even really important ones. In fact, the ones that had some of the most importance to the story I had the least attachment to because of their lack of "page time" and their lack of any real dimension.

Even with Harriet, I found myself having trouble rooting for her when she time and again overlooked so many obvious pieces of information and made stupid choices. I found myself towards the end rolling my eyes at how some things were bumbled because I had come to suspect it.

There was an interesting commentary I feel was trying to be made about whether it is okay to do the wrong thing for the right reason, but it was quickly and shallowly explored, and ultimately, fell flat for me. I would have liked to have seen this arc explored earlier on and with more nuance. Yes, to keep a secret hidden heightens a desire to keep reading to find answers, but it also makes me care less about the morality of it when I do get there.

The plot in and of itself had real potential, but I failed to connect with the characters enough to care where the plot went. In the end, I finished reading to find out if I was right about the twist (I was), but got no real satisfaction. All of that sad, if Catherine Steadman writes another book, I'll probably read it too. I like her plots well enough to overlook that I don't love her characters.

The premise to this suspense novel sounded excellent, but unfortunately I couldn't connect to the writing at all.

Harriet Reed is the main character in this book and, thankfully, I found her to be a likeable and genuine character. The story opens (imo) somewhat slowly, but it sets the stage of her being a newly successful author with a handsome, ridiculously wealthy boyfriend. She also finds out she’s pregnant.

Harry meets Edward’s family and the father, Robert (RD) gives her a recorded tape that presents as a confession. She begins to do some research while still attempting to maintain a semblance of normalcy with the family.

I found the last 1/3 of the book to be riveting. I didn’t want to put it down because I wanted to know what happened. No spoilers, but I liked the plot twist and didn’t see it coming. My only negative is that there wasn’t a lot of explanation as to why (again, won’t elaborate for risk of spoiling).

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Ballantine for letting me read this one early. You'll find this one on the shelves October 18.

I love Catherine Steadman. She's out here consistently writing excellent stories. I loved SOMETHING IN THE WATER and THE DISSAPEARING ACT. When I saw her new book I knew I had to get my hands on it as soon as I could. THE FAMILY GAME wasn't the most exciting thriller I've read but it definitely kept me entertained. I loved the atmosphere and the way these characters came to life. I'll just be here anxiously waiting for her next book.

Absolutely loved this book! My only critique is the holes in the story regarding the trail Harry left (the letters she mailed) whatever happened to those?

Other then that the twist wasn’t predictable and I enjoyed the wild ride!

this was so entertaining!!
i've seen reviews saying it's a little ridiculous and silly and like... i kind of agree. but i just had such a good time reading it. gimme all the rich people drama

Absolutely loved this book!
Fantastic suspense, thriller, murder mystery story. Appreciate that there were multiple twists in the plot a couple I was able to guess and even more exciting that there were some I didn't. Went through a rollercoaster with all the characters one chapter I like one or some and then in another doubting everything and everyone! Highly recommend this book.

This was a good book. It kept my attention and there was mystery. However, I found that it was a little slow at times, and not very suspenseful. I did enjoy the use of the confession tape provided to Harriet giving insight into the family secret, and the fact that the tape was a mystery as well. I was just hoping for more gut wrenching, suspenseful, thriller moments. There were a few at the end of the book, but I wish there was more throughout the book. I never did guess what the reason was for Robert giving Harriet those tapes, the twist that came at the end, or how the book was going to end. That I really did enjoy. Overall, a very decent read.

The Family Game is one of the more enjoyable reads of the year so far! The description itself was eye grabbing but I had fun reading this book. It went slower than I expected but it only enhanced the dreadful feeling while reading. This is the perfect book to read in October.

* I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this book. All thoughts are my own.

I enjoyed reading this book and didn’t put it down except to go to sleep. The build up was a little slower than I would have liked and the ending is a little predictable but it was a good story that keeps you on your toes!

I would recommend!

⭐️: 3/5

British bestselling author Harriet (who goes by Harry) is on the brink of having it all, her first book was a great success, her second is widely anticipated, and she just got engaged to the heir to a powerful and rich family, Edward Holbeck, who she moved to NYC to be with. When she meets his family, she’s desperate to be included and accepted, but she soon finds that the Holbeck family plays strange and terrifying games, and she no longer knows who she can trust.

I found this book to be disappointing in a relatively common way that I find many mediocre thrillers to be disappointing. The bones are there and it’s a wildly creative story concept, but the execution and portrayal of the main character just left it lacking. I’m kind of done with the common theme of the thriller FMC having a past that’s “too terrible to even think about and nobody will love me if they find out WHAT I DID 😱” with allusions to something ~awful~ until the 50% mark when we find out what it is. Add in the whole internal monologue addressing the reader assuring them that she’s “normally not like this at all” whether it’s being neurotic or jealous or whatever, and it’s just overdone and tired. Overall, Harry made some questionable decisions, starting with not listening to the whole tape immediately due to her ~deadline~. It’s a cassette. It’s going to take less than like, an hour to listen to. If you have time to shower then you have time to listen to it. It felt needlessly dramatic and just stereotypical bad FMC decision making. It was also super sketchy and weird of her to keep bringing up how Edward’s family NEEDS her to bring him back into their orbit, and thus she has power over them, but to also not tell Edward that his family asked her to help them reconnect. It’s just like girl, you tell your fiancé things like that. Keeping it to yourself and just making allusions to it is so so sus. I kept reading to find out the ending, and while it was relatively cliché, it was also done a lot better than the rest of the book leading up to it.

Thank you to @netgalley and @penguinrandomhouse for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!