Reviews

A Game for All the Family by Sophie Hannah

tvnguyen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

My brain could not wrap my head around what exactly happened in this book, but at the same time, I somewhat enjoyed the ride. Justine's family dynamic with Ellen and Alex is great and their supporting each other throughout the plot was nice to see. I got really confused because I did not know who to trust and I think the author did a really great job at that. To be honest, I wish there were more to Anne Donvaband's side of the story. The buildup was amazing, but the payoff wasn't great in my opinion. It was a lot of information since Hannah included two different written stories in one book, which is an interesting concept, but it was a lot to take in. I personally wanted Anne's backstory to be more dark.

jodar's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

3.5

An unsettling mystery novel in which the narrator seeks to uncover the motivation for someone who is harassing her family – and the narrator herself specifically – in a very weird way. The reader encounters truth and falsehood, toxic fantasies, and happy and unhealthy relationships within and across generations.

The psychological uncertainty and creepiness kept me immersed in the story; however, the narrator’s solution to her dilemma was morally repellant, even though it wasn’t wholly unexpected. At the very end of the story, some falsehoods are maintained and kept secret from the outside world.

Perhaps this is an appropriate sort of mystery novel for a post-truth era in which some believe that there are bad lies and good lies but that it is naive to endeavour to live in truth.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Murder

Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

sharong's review against another edition

2.0

I normally love Sophie Hannah's books but this was a huge disappointment, so dull . The writing was not up to her usual standard , the dialogue was stilted meaning that all the characters were entirely unbelievable

charlotteyoungs's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

hjulia5's review against another edition

4.0

The suspense and twists and turns throughout were great, and the characters were nicely developed. My complaint would be that the reveal at the end, which was essentially that the mother was nuts and roped her husband into doing weird things to maintain her delusion, was a bit stiff. We didn't get to see that character of the mother develop at all or learn a lot about her.

jetkroketleestboeken's review against another edition

3.0

Different in a good way

dnyv's review against another edition

3.0

At the beginning this book haunted me! I was so expectant on the story written by the daughter but I can say that, that was the I my good thing of it . The story inside the story was really good and you are pulled to read ever more just to get to the pages where the side story was being delivered. So, this book would better have a 2.5 ⭐ because it was half good half boring.

markdudley's review

3.0

I can't agree with the worst of the reviews - I certainly didn't think it was one of Sophie Hannah's best, but I read it to the end without too much effort. I would agree that the 'story within a story' was wearing. I couldn't quite bring myself to like any of the characters either. Strange review for a strange book.

kba76's review against another edition

4.0

Truly back on form.
At so many moments this had me doubting my own sanity, but it gripped me from the start.
Loved the interweaving of Ellen's story with the main plot, though I wasn't sure where it was going.

emma_ireland's review against another edition

5.0

This book has so many shite reviews that I almost didn't bother but I'm glad I did. Is the plot a bit farfetched in places? Yes, but I couldn't care less when the journey is as thoroughly enjoyable as this was. Well-written and witty with characters who don't care that they're arseholes. Superb stuff.