the family game, by catherine steadman

i received a copy of the family game from simon & schuster au in exchange for an honest review.

star rating

★★★★

the family game review

the family game is a mystery/thriller wherein a woman is set to marry into a well off family. it’s not a particularly unique concept, i’ve read about it several times. however, what sets this book apart from the others is the twists and reveals towards the end.

i read along with this book with assistance from the audiobook (thanks to libro.fm). compared to other audiobooks i’ve read, this one is easily up there as a favourite. there are a few scenes where harry (the fmc) is listening to a tape recording, and the audiobook distorts the voice to make it sound like you’re actually listening to what the character was listening to. i love it when audiobooks add little things to make it more dimensional.

the book itself features a fast paced plot. the first half of the book had a lot of set up, so was slower. but what the start lacked in, the ending definitely made up for. it was very exciting and had me on my toes several times. there was a scene that i couldn’t put down, and had my heart going wildly. steadman definitely knows how to get your heart racing!

my favourite thing about the family game was that i didn’t guess the final plot twist. i had suspicions for other characters, but they were all incorrect guesses.

my biggest struggle with this book was that the characters weren’t very likeable. they were interesting enough to keep my interest, but i didn’t like them. i had an issue where harry met her soon to be father in law, and repeatedly made internal comments about how attractive he was and the things she wanted to do to him. (like, excuse me ma’am. you have a boyfriend? and it’s his dad?????).

and anyone who’s read previous reviews of mine knows this: i hate the pregnancy trope with a passion. it’s revealed very early in the book, so isn’t much of a spoiler. i just think it was silly of the author to mention it so early in the book. like, we all know nothing bad ever happens to the pregnant woman. and this being a mystery/thriller, you expect something bad to happen to them. too bad we know nothing will (because they’re pregnant).

as a whole, i had a pretty fun time reading the family game. there were some issues i had but not enough to really hinder my reading experience.

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