Reviews

A Game for All the Family by Sophie Hannah

teresaalice's review

2.0

WTF did I just read? I picked this book up on a whim, after seeing a byline from Liane Moriarty on thie cover. For half the book, I thought there would be some big, clever reveal. For the second half of the book, my mind began to make up wild endings. At the end, I just thought WTF was that? I need to go read some reviews to understand this.

scoutfinch75's review

5.0

Justine Merrison, her husband Alex and fourteen year old daughter Ellen leave London and move for a quieter life to Devon. Life for Justine and her family is about to get very weird indeed.

The book alternates between the story Ellen writes for a school assignment and Justine's life. Ellen's best friend disappears... or does he? Justine receives threatening phone calls and things get more and more mysterious.


Let me start by saying how much I enjoyed reading A Game For All The Family; although enjoyed doesn't seem like the right word, delighted in, relished, loved and adored would be more appropriate words.

Justine and her "I do Nothing with a Capital N" motto drew me in. Ellen's dark and enigmatic story kept me guessing until the very end.

My mind raced as the story twisted and turned. I got it wrong, time and time again, although I did manage to solve one of the mysteries before the end. This is a brilliant, chilling psychological thriller and it had me gripped to the very end.

I received this book to review prior to it's publication and would like to say a HUGE thank you to Hodder Books for this privilege.

rpark83's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

cathi77's review

1.5

The strangest book I've ever read.  I don't know if it was supposed to be a suspense or comedy but it failed at both.   It was just not plausible but I was interested to find out what happened to see if any of it made sense

beckimoody29's review

4.0

This novel is difficult to rate. It was certainly suspenseful, as I blew through it in a couple of days. But I am still not sure I know what was going on (typical in unreliable narrator stories) and I didn't really like any of the characters enough to care. I was far more interested in the "story within a story" than I was in the main plot line. I thought the daughter was the most intriguing character, so I felt that more could have been done to flesh out the supporting motivations. A lot of the action seemed implausible (could someone really dig a hole outside of your front door in the middle of the night and you didn't know about it? especially with a dog?) and then the final resolution (if that was the truth) was a little far-fetched. BUT, the writing was good and I might check out another book by her.

smaranell's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

hkburke2's review against another edition

4.0

Compelling on audio. Makes sense to me that there would be such split reviews on this book because the themes around truth and lies are so layered that the plot feels necessarily polarizing.

I don't know much about the author but it seems like it would be a mistake to assume she is arguing that the main character is a hero or moral character, or that any of the decisions characters make in this book are in line with her true beliefs... Because that was kind of the point if the book? How easy it is to make up stories, not know the truth, judge, etc.

I do have the "not really sure what I just read" and "I want more than the crazy-woman plot line" feelings, but I once again feel like Hannah wrote something somehow familiar and unique, which is always fun. 

ebodi8pg's review against another edition

challenging funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

pandothiel's review

1.0

Let's just preface by saying this... the main character's name is Justine. Well, let's change that for Karen.

Karen, just like any other Karen, is loud, obnoxious, entitled, and self-righteous. An anonymous caller threatens her? She insults them because she's that clever and that unafraid! She will not go to the police because she doesn't need help, but when she is convinced to go, she goes ahead and insults everyone around her, let them know they're not doing their job properly, and refuses to do whatever she can to help. Nah, you're gonna have to struggle to get anything of value out of her.
I work in customer support and have faced her kind countless times: even when she's wrong she's right and will not listen to the explanation that makes perfect sense.
The background story meant to sympathise with her results in absolutely the contrary;

Spoiler

all hell broke loose when she defended a guy who both misgendered a transwoman, and accused a victim of domestic abuse to be lying. Although I do not believe in cancel culture and never will I go on Twitter for its shear toxicity, her reaction is deplorable. She's the perfect kind of I'm not transphobic, but...

Karen will do everything to get in harm's way, and doesn't care how much she is going to hurt the others around her. She is stupidity incarnate, and dangerous at that.

Spoiler

Later on when she researches mythomania and the process of victimisation, she criticises and does not understand how someone acts this way, without seeing this completely represents her???

As for the conclusion, once again Karen does everything to put herself in danger because, ya know, she knows better.

Spoiler

She goes on to kill the antagonist, cold-blooded and cold-hearted picks up brain matter and the clothes, go to central London and put everything in an alleyway, goes back home, keeps the body somewhere hidden and then buries it in her garden... but she's not the villain??? She makes for a far more threatening and dangerous character than the antagonist. But no, look how strong Karen is! She's the best!

The intrigue was both convoluted and without sense. Come on, who would believe that? I kept hoping for a twist, something that would blow my mind, that the suspect was not the true antagonist and the obvious was a plot to hide the truth... but no. Everything that appears is exactly what it is. And a lot of things are left unexplained

Spoiler

Figgs? Changing the name of houses and boats? The unexplained feeling at Germander house? Honestly, I expected so much better than those simplistic explanations...

All in all, don't bother. This book is not worth the time.

loribelle3's review

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25