Harry is engaged to Edward, who comes from a ridiculously wealthy family. When she finally meets them, his dad slips her a cassette tape that has a surprising confession on it. Harry finds herself drawn into the family’s crazy games, fighting to survive.

I thought this book was a bit uneventful for being a thriller. The main game part is only in the last like 12% of the book. I also was surprised Harry didn’t listen to the whole cassette at once. It felt like a weird way to draw out the book.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first Catherine Steadman book but it will not be my last! This book describes a cat and mouse game with added family drama, bloodshed, and enough suspense to make it a wild ride to the finish! I was totally engrossed until the finish. Now I need to go back and read the other Catherine Steadman novels as I wait for her next one to come out!

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an ARC.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you so so much Netgalley for this opportunity

I could not put this book down once I started!! A rich family with secrets which reminded me a bit of The Hawthorne Legacy, but with fewer puzzles, no love triangles, and not a young adult book. Right from the get-go I was hooked and after reading the synopsis, I couldn't help but be suspicious of everyone except for the main character - Harry. I'm not sure why, but it makes me a bit giddy to read a book when the main character is a novelist.

So in this book you'll meet Edward and Harry who are soon to be married, and after a year of knowing each other, they decide to get married because why not?? After cutting ties with his family, Edward finally decides to introduce his family to Harry. The family appears to be very welcoming and one night her to be father-in-law secretly gives her a tape that can make or break the relationship with Edward and the family.

I have to say the family games in this were something out of this world(I love the author's imagination and I don't know how she came up with these games) They would have induced so much anxiety inside of me if I were to play any of their family games, there's just no way... I wonder if every rich family plays games like this just because they have the money to do so??? I found the pace of the book to be fast and I wanted to know what secrets Harry was hiding along with the family.

I really enjoyed this thriller book and so far it's one of my favorites this year with how fast paced it was and somewhat realistic storyline. If you're looking for a quick psychological thriller this would be perfect for you!! I plan on purchasing the physical copy of this book once it comes out and keeping this author on my radar for future books.

Wow, wow, wow. This psychological thriller leaves you with a lot to process afterwards.

Harriet (Harry) is an author who is engaged to Edward. Edward is the first born of an extremely wealthy, old money family. Quickly into their engagement, Harry meets his family, and she realizes that there is so much that she doesn’t know about them… and playing their games could be deadly.

The Family Game started off a little slower for me (after the initial shock of the first page) but then I was turning the pages SO quickly. I had to know how everything came together, and it is not what I expected AT ALL. But then again… I didn’t know what to expect! It was such a mind game.

Read if you like:
- single POV
- mind games
- old money
- family drama
- murder/secrets

Have you seen Ready or Not!? This book totally reminded me of that movie. Harriet is engaged to the wealthy Edward and is not prepared for the "games" her soon to be in laws have made for her. This was a fun and quick read I recommend as a remedy for if you think your in laws are crazy!

Harriet “Harry” Reed is a thriller novelist who becomes engaged to her rich boyfriend of one year, Edward, which means it is finally time to meet his powerful, wealthy family. Harry quickly realizes that Edward’s family likes to play high-stakes, manipulative “games” and she must hold her own or risk a horrible secret being exposed from her past.

While I’ve enjoyed some of Steadman’s past books, The Family Game, did not do it for me. Early in the novel, Harry discovers she’s pregnant, which is used as the tired trope of being vulnerable and scatterbrained. Harry, upon meeting her future father-in-law, is immediately sexually attracted to him, and this attraction is weaved throughout the book but does nothing to enhance the story or advance the outlandish plot. The ending is bizarre, but then again, this thriller is a game and not meant to be believable. Fans of Steadman should give this quick-moving suspenseful book a read to make their own decisions.

Harriet, or Harry, is doing her best to finish her second novel while planning her life with Edward. Every day since they were engage, she feels like she is learning something new about Edwards family. Since moving from England to New York, she hasn't had the opportunity to meet her new in-laws. But with the holidays quickly approaching, the invites keep coming. With the first nerve-wracking experience, Harriet is giving a micro-cassette tape by Robert, Edward's father. She can't even the confessions made on the tape and the one secret she has been hiding since the death of her parents. How on Earth did Robert know?! She has to play along to keep her secret hidden. Harriet keeps the peace and follows along, engaging in all the weird family game nights, even though she isn't convinced she knows all the rules.
Catherine Steadman writes one of the best suspense thriller of the year! I thoroughly enjoyed The Family Game! I thought I had it all figured out but I was wrong! I will be recommending The Family Game to my fellow reading friends and will be looking for future works by Steadman. Special thanks to NetGalley, Catherine Steadman, and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Books for the advance digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion. 5 stars for me!
#TheFamilyGame #NetGalley

This book was a page turner and gave me major 'succession' tv show vibes. The suspense was taut in the first half. Wasn't sure if the final twist felt fully earned but the story was interesting overall.

This book... This book actually terrified me. There were so many levels of terror and suspense and stress building, I genuinely couldn't put this one down until I got to the end because there was SO much.

This was my first Catherine Steadman novel, but not going to be my last. I've officially added her others to my tbr, because if this intensity was anything to go by, she's definitely a thriller/suspense author to watch.

(Thank you so much to netgalley for the ARC, I can't wait to hand sell this one!)

Catherine Steadman's "The Family Game" was absolutely un-put-down-able for me, I enjoyed her other books a lot but this one is a new favorite. If you have a dark sense of humor, love a story about a vicious rich 1% type family, and intense cutthroat relationships between all family members - you will love The Family Game. The whole book will keep you on the edge of your seat, wondering what is coming next, who is next to die, and who is doing the killing...and why. The twists continue on throughout the whole book, with the finale leaving you shook. I highly recommend this one!! Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this early in exchange for my honest review.

The Family Game follows Harriet (Harry) Reed who is newly engaged to Edward Holbeck, the heir of an extremely powerful and wealthy family. Edward has spent the last few years separating himself from his family and creating a life, and business of his own. However, with the news of their engagement the Holdback's start to claw their way into Harry and Edward's life. Harry gets drawn into the family - they seem so perfect, welcoming, beautiful, and intriguing. Especially when Edward's father, Robert, gives Harry a tape to listen to with strict instructions to not tell anymore even Edward about the tape and especially what is one it.
However, when she finally presses play she is shocked and confused by its contents. It's a confession. To murder.

The Holbeck family loves their games, is this just another game to try and scare her away from the family? Is Robert confessing to a murder, or murders? Could the family just be testing her loyalty to them? Can Harriet trust anyone in her life?

This is probably the best thriller I’ve read in 2022!

It’s captivating, smart, intense…and kept me glued to my screen. I never wanted to put it down.

What a twisted family! I couldn’t stop reading, needing to know how it would all end.

Original. I will never think of family game night the same way.

So suspenseful. I was really engaged with all the characters. Great buildup and I couldn’t put it down.

I spent the first part of the novel trying to find all the clues and figure out what was going on. What was the end game and where did this idea of the family game come from? Everyone has something to hide and everyone has something to gain, which made it difficult to trust any of them. As the novel progressed, I got more and more invested in understanding it all. And trying to figure out why what happened happened.
This was a good read and very fun, especially with everything finishing up. All the small clues that you didn’t realize meant anything, meant everything, and most everything was resolved nicely.

I LOVED Mr. nobody and something in the water so when I saw this I was truly excited and I must say it did not disappoint! This family has a very dark sense of humor, vicious and horrifying game schemes and ideas you have to be incredibly ruthless to keep up with the Holbecks that is the conclusion I’ve come up with after finishing this one! The twists and turn games were incredible it definitely kept me on the edge of my seat and wanting more and more!

Harriet Reed wants nothing more than to belong to a family. After Harriet accepts an invitation to her fiancé Edward's ridiculously wealthy family Thanksgiving celebration, he agrees with some trepidation, Harriet receives a recording and she begins to realize something dark lurks in the family's past. Fans of psychological suspense will enjoy this twisty tale.

I don’t expect thrillers to be based fully in reality, but there was little to no logic behind anything that happened in this story, and it was super frustrating. I absolutely loved Something in the Water, so even though I really disliked Mr. Nobody, and was ho-hum on The Disappearing Act, I still think of Steadman as an auto-read author. I'm really hoping the next book is a winner. Lots of people really enjoyed this, so I'm definitely in the minority here.

The Family Game gives all the Ready or Not vibes - great movie by the way. We follow Harriet and her new fiancé Edward and his bizarre, insanely wealthy family. They like to play games, not normal games but tricky, villainous games. The beginning and middle of the book were absolutely amazing but the ending to me felt rushed and unrealistic. Overall would recommend

When I finished this book, I turned over in bed and said to my boyfriend, "This book was just WILD." And I stand by that assertion. This book just culminated in a twisty, out of this world ending that is actually the peak of what a thriller should be.

I've been in a big thriller mood and remembered I had this on my Net Galley shelf and it really fit the bill. @catsteadman wrote a book that combines "Succession" (one of my favorite shows) with...even more murder and mystery. I can't help it; I love when rich people do bad things.

Harriet Reed (called Harry by her friends) is engaged to Edward Holbeck, a handsome man with a super rich family. Harry is a best selling novelist and Edward is a businessman. He is estranged from his family because, as you're led to believe, they are self entitled, eccentric and controlling. Eventually Harry agrees to meet the family and the games begin from there.

Harry has a secret from her past but it just about pales in comparison to Holbecks. Edward brings her to the family home for the first time at Thanksgiving. During that visit Edward's father meets with her privately, eventually giving her a tape of a "novel in progess" for her to evaluate. Is it a thriller or is it a murder confession disguised as fiction? Harry researches the information and realizes she is involved in a potentially deadly situation.

The prologue starts with Harry coming to on the floor on the estate of the Holbeck mansion. Wiping the blood from her face she makes a plan to survive this dangerous treasure hunt, a family game played every year at Christmas. The stakes are high and the scenes are brilliantly written.

Near the end of the book this scene picks up so you know exactly how crazy a family game this was. I could not put this down after the twists were revealed - dinner was late on two evenings while I read on! This is the fourth book I have read by Catherine Steadman and I loved it.
Publication date is November 8, 2022 by Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine. Genre: General Fiction Adult, Mystery and Thrillers, Women's Fiction.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reader's copy of this book. I was not compensated for the review, all opinions are mine.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of The Family Game by Catherine Steadman. This was my first book by Steadman,. I love a good suspenseful thriller, and The Family Game fits that bill perfectly. I won't talk about the plot here as plenty other reviewers already have. I will just say that I was sucked in to the story and Harry's situation immediately. It was hard to put the book down because I absolutely needed to know what was going to happen next. My only complaint is that I had a hard time connecting with any character other than Harry. She was reasonably well fleshed out, but those around her were not. Steadman gives us just a taste of the extended Holbeck family, and I wanted more. That would have made this book a 5 star read. Otherwise, I will be recommending it to thriller fans for the plot alone.