The Favorite Daughter ARC Review

GoodReads Blurb: 

From the author of the page-turning domestic suspense Best Day Ever, comes another gripping novel of psychological suspense set in an upscale Southern California community, for fans of B.A. Paris and Shari Lapena.

The perfect home. The perfect family. The perfect lie.

Jane Harris lives in a sparkling home in an oceanfront gated community in Orange County. It’s a place that seems too beautiful to be touched by sadness. But exactly one year ago, Jane’s oldest daughter, Mary, died in a tragic accident and Jane has been grief-stricken ever since. Lost in a haze of anti-depressants, she’s barely even left the house. Now that’s all about to change.

It’s time for Jane to reclaim her life and her family. Jane’s husband, David, has planned a memorial service for Mary and three days later, their youngest daughter, Betsy, graduates high school. Yet as Jane reemerges into the world, it’s clear her family has changed without her. Her husband has been working long days—and nights—at the office. Her daughter seems distant, even secretive. And her beloved Mary was always such a good girl—dutiful and loving. But does someone know more about Mary, and about her last day, than they’ve revealed?

The bonds between mothers and daughters, and husbands and wives should never be broken. But you never know how far someone will go to keep a family together…

Thank you SO much to Wunderkind PR for sending me this great book! I’m giving my honest review in exchange for this gifted copy.

First off I want to say that it’s almost hard to put into words just how much I enjoyed this book. It did something that thrillers can’t always do for me since I’ve read so many and that was keep me in suspense and not because it was anything scary but because you just needed to know what was in store for Jane and her family at every turn.

I could barely put this book down! It was right up there with Miracle Creek for being one of my fave non fantasy reads/dramatic reads for the year.

Jane Harris is truly one of the most unique narrator voices I have read and though she’s the main character, you’ll do anything but root for her. Her sense of entitlement the way she warps things in her mind are scary because I think most of us do know someone like Jane.

The hold she has on people is incredible and watching her manipulate everything around her just had me on the edge of my seat. Not to mention it addresses an issue that can come with a style of parenting not really talked about which was a nice change of pace, and it really looked at the family dynamics.

I don’t want to give too much away, and it’s no secret that Jane is not a great person but the book does throw some surprises your way.

The rest of the cast are not a matter of being ‘good’ while Jane is bad, no one is without their faults and that’s great because it extends that suspension of disbelief and you live in this world and believe these characters are real. These people are all flawed and they’ve all made mistakes the question is, who has made the biggest mistake? What happened to Mary?

This was creepy in all the right ways and Kaira Rouda was a master at weaving the story, honestly I was in shock with how much I enjoyed this book and how quickly I flew through it.

If you’re looking for something different, a thriller told in a way to send shivers down your spine from the revelation of characters then I strong suggest #TheFavoriteDaughter, you can bet that I will be reading everything that @kairarouda comes out with now!

Seriously, 5/5 Cups of Coffee, I could fangirl over this all day long. I just want to say if it’s the sort of book you’d think you’d enjoy please go read it! This book releases on May 21 in the US!