“An exceptional psychological thriller.” — Publishers Weekly, STARRED reviewFans of B.A. Paris and Shari Lapena will love this gripping novel of psychological suspense set in an upscale Southern California community by USA Today bestselling author Kaira Rouda.The perfect home. The perfect family. The perfect lie.Jane Harris lives in a sparkling home in an oceanfront gated community in Orange … 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…
A PopSugar Best Book of Spring!
“Will hit you right in the heart” — Bustle
“Leaves you wanting more.” — Liv Constantine, author of the national bestseller The Last Mrs. Parrish
“A smart, wickedly plotted psychological thriller brimming with dark surprises” — Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author
“Intense, creepy, and classic Rouda. A chilling story, told so well. Don’t miss it!” — J. T. Ellison, New York Times bestselling author
“B.A. Paris and Shari Lapena fans will fall head over heels for this suspenseful psychological thriller set in an upscale Southern California community.” — PopSugar
“The Gone Girl-style domestic suspense novel follows Jane, a narcissistic perfectionist dealing with the death of her daughter.” — Washington Post
“Rouda’s portrayal of Jane is fabulously compelling and darkly hilarious…The resolution is satisfying, but the ride is so diabolically twisted and entertaining that readers will be sorry when it come to a stop.” — Shelf Awareness
“No one creates a narcissist like Rouda…. A wow read that will have you floored.” — Bookstr
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A summer must-read!
Oh my, Jane. What can you say about Jane? She’s pretty over the top and dare I say, insane. She wants what’s best….for her.
This is a psychological thriller with an unreliable narrator – guess who? It sucks you in, spins you around and leaves you wanting more at the end.
And Jane? She’s that person you love to hate until you don’t.
Read this book, but be prepared because you won’t want to put it down. So maybe start it right after you clean you house! Not before.
Thank you so very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for allowing me an ARC at my request. My thoughts of on this novel are my own.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin-Graydon House for an advance copy of The Favorite Daughter to review. The following is my honest opinion:
After reading Best Day Ever, I was worried I may have set my expectations too high for this book because I simply loved Best Day Ever. Well, not to worry, I thought The Favorite Daughter was fantastic as well!
Jane is a well-to-do housewife suffering from depression due to the accidental death of her adopted daughter Mary a year ago. Jane has decided it’s time to reemerge into the world and set things right in her life. Without giving anything away, Jane has come to realize that both her husband David and her biological daughter Betsy are keeping big secrets from her. Jane is going to show them who’s the smartest of all though.
I was a little concerned that I might not like the format of this book because it is told entirely in the first person point of view. Honestly, it was the PERFECT way to narrate this story! I enjoyed the feeling of Jane talking directly to me as the reader and telling me her side of things. Jane is an unreliable narrator, to say the least, but using the first person narrative allows the reader to get a true feel for who Jane really is. She is a fascinating character. She can be annoying, but she is also manipulative and clever. It’s difficult to decide whether to hate her, admire her, or simply feel sorry for her.
I thought the ending of this book really brings the story full circle. I don’t think many people will be surprised by the events that led up to Mary’s death but they should enjoy Jane’s perspective on the how and why of it all.
Thanks to Kaira Rouda for the afterword. I think many people know someone like Jane and it’s interesting learning more about the psychological aspects of her behavior.
Highly recommended!
Wowza what a thrilling non stop ride!!! Jane Harris is living a perfect life. Perfect husband, perfect daughters, and a perfect house in a wealthy gated community in California. A terrible tragedy happens one year ago, Mary the oldest daughter is tragically killed. Jane lives the year in a haze of anti-depressants. When it is just days before Betsy’s high school graduation, Jane knows she needs to reclaim her life. What has Jane’s husband David and only remaining daughter Betsy been up to in the year Jane checked out of life? In just a few days Jane tells a story of a mother’s love and a devoted wife but can she be believed? This story had so many fantastic twists and turns it left me at the edge of my seat wanting more and the ending? Wow!!! I received an advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Harlequin Graydon House. All opinions are my own.
Surprise ending.
This is the first book by this author I have read and I really enjoyed it.it is very suspenseful as the main character tells the story tells what happens after the death of her first daughter. She tells about the relationship between herself and her husband and other daughter and what is going on in her life .I won’t give away the truth behind the relationships and the death of her daughter. I highly recommend this book and hope to read more by this author.
Really did not like this book at all.
In THE FAVORITE DAUGHTER Kaira Rouda spins a wicked tale of familial lies and deceit. She’s a master at creating villains you’ll love to hate, and who mess with your head. Impossible to put down until the deliciously satisfying ending!
I read Best Day Ever and thought it was pretty much one of the best psychological thrillers ever, so I have to say I didn’t love this book, because I couldn’t help comparing the two. I will read more of hers, but this one, all in the one character’s voice, pretty much, and when I could pretty much figure stuff out…it was okay. I did like it, I enjoyed it, and looked forward to my moments getting to read it. But it wasn’t nearly as wonderful, as edgy, as interesting, as Best Day Ever. And I actually would still like to know some more things, so that was a little disappointing. I guess I want it all lined out. Not bad, enjoyable, crazy, but eh…I’ll read something ELSE now, even something of hers. Maybe it was the style, so fully being in just the one character’s head. Ha, don’t go there alone, eh?
Yes, this book is suspenseful and well written but I found it predictable right from the start and I even guessed how the story would end. It has been my experience that if you already know what’s coming the book isn’t going to be very entertaining and that’s my honest opinion. I read a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley and all opinions expressed in my voluntary review are completely my own.
This was a well written book with some twist I didn’t see coming, which helped keep me engaged. Overall, though, I spent a lot of time thinking that a story like this should be shorter in order to avoid the repetitiveness of the middle of the book.
It’s not often that a psychological thriller makes you laugh out loud, but Kaira Rouda latest page-turner had me cackling until deep in the night. The Favorite Daughter stars Jane, a woman grieving the death of her oldest daughter, whose attempts to reclaim her place as perfect matriarch are as riveting as they are darkly hilarious. Fans of Rouda’s Best Day Ever will adore this one, and Jane’s whip-smart wit will win Rouda some new fans, as well. Smart, surprising, and 100% satisfying.
Wow! Never have I ever HATED a main character like I did Jane! I almost stopped reading 100 pages in, but something told me I needed to suck it up and continue to read. Jane is a narcissist and a unreliable narrator. I didn’t see the ending coming.
Another wild Kaira Rouda ride I couldn’t pass up. A highly entertaining read with a character you hate to love. Jane is an unreliable Orange County housewife, grieving over the loss of her daughter Mary who fell from a cliff while hiking. Trying hard to put her life back together again, she begins receiving anonymous letters from a witness claiming that Betsy may know something more than she’s letting on. Jane can’t help noticing a bond building between her daughter and her husband, and quickly steps in to redress the balance. After all, shouldn’t she be included? If her family’s life isn’t entirely stage-managed by her it will fall apart and never recover. Such are the intrigues of a narcissistic mind.
Mary’s memorial service looms — as does the high school graduation for Betsy — and Jane wants everything to be perfect. Her behaviour begins to diminish and just as I’m thinking she’ll touch rock bottom, up she bobs with something thoroughly distasteful. I couldn’t stop reading because I had to know how far she would go and I had to know if she’d get away with it.
After months of sucking down anti-depressants, the rest of her family and friends have taken steps to rebuild their lives and they’re making plans of their own. But these plans aren’t Jane’s plans and this is where truth and illusion collide. The more she watches Betsy and David, the more conspiratorial she becomes. The entertainment here is in Jane’s rationalising. Her outward victory when things go her way and her inward denial when they don’t. It doesn’t matter how often she tries to engineer relationships, you never quite know if her family are entirely oblivious to these manoeuvrings or if they’re smart enough to outstep them. Because you’d have to be sharp to take Jane head on.
Slim and trim, she has convinced herself that her beauty is world-shattering. After all, the way she sees herself is how others see her. But in the same breath, she is governed by insecurities which add the extra layer we’ve all come to expect in Rouda novels. Jane can’t help but dive headlong into a battle of wits with her surviving daughter and husband and I was dying to see her plan revealed at the graduation. Betsy and David are hardly puppets, and this is where the fun begins. No matter how hard Jane tries to drive a wedge between them, the odds are never entirely in her favour. If at any time you think her polished veneer will crack, think again. Perception is the name of the game, and provided Jane can corral her family back to the fold, everything should go to plan.
My thoughts: These books are addictive and although Jane mirrors Paul in Best Day Ever, the storylines are distinctive enough to separate them. Towards the end, possibly the last four chapters were a little tedious for me. Too much reflection and not enough action. But we readers are Jane’s confidants, so I couldn’t have expecting anything less.
What will Rouda come up with next? A narcissistic child? Grandmother. Aunt. Whatever it is, I’m really looking forward to it!
https://clairestibbe.wordpress.com/
Dark, twisty, and completely unpredictable – this a thriller you don’t want to miss!
I suppose it is hard to beat “Best Day Ever” and she did try. It seems a little repetitive with another narcissistic character. Can’t remember much about the book, only that it was …meh…
Perfect Summer Read if you are looking for the perfect Psychological Thriller! Kaira Rouda introduces us to the worlds most narcissistic Mom since. well; “Mommy was Dearest”! The best part was that I was in love with her character. She was thoroughly interesting. The entire family you love to hate,
This book is twisted to the max. It takes place over a few short, quick days and you will be Wow’d!
Kaira Rouda serves up the best kind of crazy in this fast-paced, thrilling story of the perfect Orange County family and the ugly secrets they struggle to hide. I adore the dark humor Kaira threads throughout her writing. The characters are both wholly unlikable and compulsively addicting all at the same time. I loved every second of this book. Great summer read!
If you like your narrators unreliable and crazy as hell, this, dear reader, is the book for you.
It’s easy to dismiss Jane Harris as being nuttier than a Snickers bar, but there is more to her than that, as Kaira Rouda shows you exceptionally well. Your first clue might be Jane’s chronic overuse of exclamation points. The successive clues might be that she doesn’t trust–or like–anyone in her life, including her husband David and daughter Betsy.
You should feel sorry for Jane. After all, her older daughter Mary died a year ago in a tragic (if not initially suspicious, to the police anyway) death. When we first meet her, Jane is emerging from a haze of grief, one that separated her from David and Betsy. She knows she has some work to do to reconnect with them, but within a matter of pages, Kaira Rouda makes you wonder if David and Betsy’s distance isn’t for the best.
Jane narrates the story, and she is so delightfully unhinged that you will love her even as you despise her. You also figure out a fairly important detail relatively quickly, but waiting for the rest of the cast to suss it out makes for quite the wild ride.
It is a testament to Kaira Rouda’s skill that there are times in this book when I actually felt bad for Jane and wanted her to have a win. Of course, at the same time, I wondered with horror what that win would do to homegirl. Would it make her even crazier?
Jane is so deliciously drawn, though, that the other characters seem flat in comparison. They have their roles to play, and in that regard, they fit their slots. But I found myself wanting to be surprised by them, particularly David. It isn’t that I yearned to like these people more than I liked Jane but rather I wanted to be at least as interested in them as I was her.
When you read this one, please hit up the comments and let me know what you think.
Okay… wow! How do I even describe this book? This is one of those that you just love to hate well, virtually everyone in it to be painfully honest! There’s the cheating husband, the daughter who’s engaging in an inappropriate affair (okay, I didn’t dislike her, I felt bad for her) and then Jane, the mom. Ohh, Jane…I’m not quite sure where to even begin with her.. scheming, delusional, narcissistic, maybe a bit psychotic? She’s the most deliciously awful character and the narrator of the story. So, with someone like that telling the tale, can you even believe what you’re reading? I’m only admitting this because of the anonymity here: I even began to root for some of her schemes. Mostly, the ones to do with her cheating husband. Now that I’ve admitted that I realize: nope, I’m not ashamed of it! This was a juicy, wonderfully terrible novel that you seriously just need to read! Be careful who you root for because it probably says a good bit about you! And if you don’t see any issues with Jane and her schemes you probably need a good psychiatrist! I’m so glad I won this novel in a giveaway!