If you ever meet someone with the last name Holbeck, please just run away. As quickly as possible. It’s just not work the risk as Harriet can attest that the whole family is neurotic, cruel and insane. Harry meets Edward, falls in love and finally gets to meet the family, she is curious as they are wealthy and seemingly above reproach. Edward had a falling out with his overbearing father but I’d now ready to make peace and get back into the fold. This becomes one of the most terrifying books I have ever read, written in a style filled with dread and misdirected fear, it is really good and really nightmarish. Money power and greed taken to such extremes that I might just avoid any Edwards too.

The thriller genre is my go-to, so it’s sometimes difficult to find a thriller where the plot is unique and different. Well, The Family Game completely caught me by surprise.

The story centers around Harriet, aka Harry, and her boyfriend, Edward. Edward is supposed to come into a bit of money from his family fortune, and when they both go to visit his family, the head of the family, Robert, gives Harry a cassette tape which reveals a shocking story, setting a real life game of cat-and-mouse into place.

The Holbeck family was a very interesting group of people with a very dark sense of humor. I love a morally grey character and the Holbeck family is full of them.

I was definitely taken my surprise from the twist, and for that, bravo! I usually feel like I’m able to pick up on what the twist will be, and this was definitely not the case. This story kept me interested and intrigued throughout and I will definitely be looking forward to reading more by Catherine Steadman.

✧ - 4 stars

❝Matilda grins, her red lips parting to show a perfect set of white teeth. ‘Yeah,’ she says with a throaty chuckle. ‘Run for your life.’❞

Catherine Steadman blew me away with this novel to the point I think we should check on her because girl are we okay? More importantly: I am in love with Harry Reed.

Harry (short for Harriet) is extremely clever, competent, and incredibly hard to dislike. The author does such a wonderful job of doing atypical character development which took me by the throat and drew me in until I was too invested to leave. Harry is received just as we see her, a survivor who has no qualms about the fact that [she literally offed someone (hide spoiler)]and a good writer to boot.

What was pleasant about her characterization was the fact that Harry’s development never really had to do with her wanting to be a good person or being desperately guilty which could then function as her also being an unreliable narrator. Instead, Harry is steady and firm in her past and present, with her characterization being more about her ability to adapt and her need for control which is brilliantly fed into being the underlying reason behind a lot of her actions and thoughts.

In fact, Harry’s need for control is ultimately what I think allowed her to make it to the end of the novel. There’s a clear understanding that her image will only be changed by her, that she determines what she wants and how to get it. Harry does not aim to be likable or relatable, she’s focused on figuring out what the hell is wrong with this family before she quite literally has to adhere to the “till death do us part” of her vows.

❝But my anger is not replaced by triumph. If anything, it hardens into something denser.❞

The book in itself does fall into the common traps of writing a thriller such as the first twenty percent of the book being too much background, and even then the book doesn’t pick up till about forty percent of the way through. I don't think the novel would’ve worked if it was rushed, but it really would’ve been better if we had a sense of increasing unease up until things start falling into place.

Also, please write children normally. Billy is supposed to be three and the man clearly isn’t going to be professing the future but rather than doing weird baby speak he most likely would just have a limited vocabulary, not a lisp.

❝[…]But no one’s gonna be chasing you”. That’s what you think, I reply in my mind❞

This bitch is so smart, I love her. Like I don’t think I can emphasize enough how chillingly competent and focused Harry was to the point where I was like please leave Edward for me. Also, um, [she should’ve swept Robert the fuck up. The man was truly enamored with her, Eleanor is lucky Harry was trying to put down her eldest son instead of stealing her husband. (hide spoiler)].

All in all, this was such a good read. Being on the way to upstate NY with a family event on the horizon was probably not the best atmosphere to read this in but maybe the best books imitate real life.

❝I guess she must have read me wrong too.❞

I loved the last book this author did and this one didn’t disappoint. Definitely had all the elements I was looking for in a book. I’d definitely recommend this to anyone

A page turning thriller. Who doesn't love a super rich family hiding secrets.
A woman finds herself engaged to the man of her dreams; handsome, sweet and super rich but can she survive his family and the secrets they hold while hiding her own past. She finds herself an unwilling participant in a series of games of sick twists and turns but she must play to protect her secret and her unborn baby's life.
I enjoyed the plot twists within the book and suggest this book to psychological thriller lovers.

What a wild ride. This was full of twists and turns I didn't see coming and I loved every minute.

This author is new to me, and I was excited to have picked this one up. It drew me in from the first page and made it really hard for me to put this book down.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to receive an arc in exchange for my honest review- all thoughts and opinions are my own!



This. Was. So. Neat.
I can’t give away much without ruining it- but go in anticipating a wild ride. Loved it.

#TheFamilyGame #NetGalley

If I could I would give this book 10 stars! This was a fantastic story that had been me hanging on every word. As I was reading this, I could definitely see this as a movie. Lots of twists and turns and trying to figure out what the family game was. The author Catherine Steadman dis not disappoint. I look forward to reading more by her.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

I always enjoy Steadman’s psychological thrillers but this one took awhile to get through. There were times when nothing was really going one, but the ending doesn’t disappoint.

3.5 ⭐️
As said about the main character's latest book, might just be the author’s best book yet!
Engaging, well-plotted/written family thriller.
Final scene a bit over the top but thoroughly entertaining till then.

With great thanks to NetGalley & Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this e-ARC!

This is a story about a pen wielding final girl.

I had so much fun reading this! I thought I had predicted the end early on, and it was really fun to realize I had not. I enjoyed the unsettling & stressful moments, and appreciated the character depth. Overall a solid horror/thriller!

I’m so excited to read more. Thank you so much @netgalley & @randomhouse & Ballantine for the eArc!

This book took me by surprise! I thought I knew where it was going, but boy was I wrong! This story was so exciting and fun. I really love Harriet as a character. I cared about her so much. Even though she has a dark past you love her anyway and feel for her. Steadman did a great job of writing her. In my opinion it takes a lot to make your audience care about a character and what happens to them and I just adore Harry. I didn’t expect to feel the way I ended up feeling about Robert! This story has such a cool twist that I’ll be thinking about for a long time to come. A perfect thriller!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced readers copy of The Family Game by Catherine Steadman! This was a fast paced thriller and one I think many will enjoy. This page turner definitely kept me reading but WOW me like I hoped it would. This is still a good book. Thank you again NetGalley for the ARC!

I was glued to this immediately and tore through it in just a few hours. The writing style made this impossible to put down and watching the events unfold was as thrilling as I'd hoped it would be. Right from the beginning I liked the main character, it was easy to understand her motivations and relate to her anxieties. The promise of a messed-up, dark family was definitely fulfilled as well. It was fast-paced, but had just the right amount of depth to make me care. I'm obsessed with the concept and I'm so happy that it was executed well. Full detailed review to come closer to the publication date, but all the thriller readers need to mark this one in their calendars.

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley.

This is a pure thriller. I was hoping it would be more than that. It is about a young woman (Harriet, who goes by Harry) of modest means trying to find acceptance from a wealthy family. She is engaged to the oldest living son of the family's current patriarch.

So that's the family part. The family has a tradition of playing elaborate, scary, perhaps dangerous games at holiday events. Much of the second half of the book is the buildup to and the experience of two separate games played at two holiday events.

There are many family members and support staff that come into play during the book. But only two are relevant: the patriarch and Harry's fiance. The characters are not well-developed, probably intentionally, to keep the reader guessing as to whether there is a good side to any of them.

After completing this, I find myself at a loss to come up with what my takeaway from this book should be. Maybe it's to thank my lucky stars that I have not had to cope with people like those portrayed in this book.

Such a fun book—orphan novelist gets swept up by a wealthy man and his games obsessed, insular family. Chaos ensues. Really a fun twist on the thriller genre with a little book within a book going on.

My only quibble—it was mentioned a couple of times that Harry didn’t grab her parents’ cell phone(s) after the accident. Would they have had one? Would it have made a difference? How old is Harry? How good and common were cellphones when she was a child traveling in rural areas of the UK? I don’t know but I see tv shows and books where they are using landlines in 2022. How young was she supposed to be with a best seller under her belt?

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this thrilling book. I almost didn’t request it because I was not a huge fan of the cover, but I did like the description. Harry, Harriet, Reed, ends up engaged to a man named Edward Holbeck. They are NY royalty, very wealthy, and connected. The first family game comes at Thanksgiving, Relatively tame for a new member of the family. The second game, Krampusnact, is a bit scarier and really not fun for an 11 week pregnant Harry. But she plays along. Her father in law to be has given her a micro cassette on which he has told her about the deaths of 5 people, including his oldest son Bobby. No one has told her about this yet so she starts digging. Eventually she realizes that Robert, her future FIL, knows all about her and needs her to play one more game at Christmas. This one could turn ugly. If you loved, Something In The Water, you will love this. Be prepared to read it in one go. NOTE TO EDITOR: Please get a new cover, one with a brownstone, or palatial house in the woods. No neon. That doesn’t fit with the story

I thought The Family Game was going to be similar to other domestic thrillers in which the majority of the family distrusts and terrorizes a newcomer. There were some similarities to this trope but I was pleasantly surprised at how the author managed to keep the suspense and tension high. It was a book that I would recommend for thriller addicts!

This was my first Catherine Steadman book and it definitely will not be my last! A mixture of Ready or Not and Succession, this book starts with a bang and slowly draws you along until the last page. As someone who read ton of thrillers, the Family Game stood out for the ingenuity of the plot, the intelligent main character of Harriet, and the twists that come when you least expect them.

My only qualm with the book is that we did not see more of Edward's siblings and their individual interactions with Harry, particularly Stuart and Oliver. I am not sure if this was intentional in light of the "game" played by the family, however, I think a few smaller interactions with Holbeck crew would have elevated the story and the tension that Steadman steadily builds. Overall, the creativity of this book and it being easily bingeable, made this a must-read recommendation for me.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The premise to this book was really fascinating, so I was super excited to receive an ARC from Netgalley. Ultimately, I thought it was an enjoyable read, but it was not without its issues.

The first 1/3 of the book was mind-numbingly slow and I almost thought I would have to give up. The plot definitely picked up after that, however, and I was really drawn into the rest of the story.

There were a few choices the main character, Harry, made that seemed obviously dumb and she makes one huge mistake that I definitely would not be as easy to make as the author would lead you to believe.

The wealthy family that Harry is marrying into knows about a secret from Harry's childhood, but I never understood how in the world they would have gotten that information. It didn't make sense (or I possibly overlooked it bc I was skimming too much).

One thing that really irks me is when English authors use English/British terminology that Americans don't use. In this case, it was the use of the "having tea." That is not an American concept at all. Even though Harry is British, her soon-to-be American inlaws are the ones who use the term and it immediately jarred me.

Lastly, I was pleasantly surprised about the ending because I didn't see it coming. This book is a solid three stars for me- not my favorite book, but not one that I would actively try to get people to avoid.