* * * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * * * “Engrossing…Deliciously savage and wildly entertaining.”—People Magazine (Book of the Week) NO ONE EVER SUSPECTS THE GOOD ONE.Brett and Kelly have always toed the line between supportive sisters and bitter rivals. Growing up, Brett was the problem child, in the shadow of the brilliant and beautiful Kelly. In adulthood, all that has changed. Kelly is a … beautiful Kelly. In adulthood, all that has changed. Kelly is a struggling single mother and Brett has skyrocketed to such meteoric success, which has been chronicled on a reality TV show called Goal Diggers.
When Kelly manipulates herself onto the show and into Brett’s world, Brett is right to be threatened. Kelly, and only Kelly, knows her younger sister’s appalling secret, and it could ruin her.
Still, when the truth comes out in the explosive final weekend of filming, neither of them ever expected that the season would end in murder
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OK. This is going to sound like the beginning of a bad review, but it’s not! …so keep reading. If your reading experience is like mine, you’re going to need to take a lot of notes in the first half. Multiple characters are introduced and many have heavy-handed character and relationship development (sometimes as seen through someone else’s POV). It is damned hard to keep everyone straight in my opinion. In the ARC edition (and hopefully in the final published edition), the first few pages before the book actually begins show a synopsis which leads to a brief description of each of the five reality show costars: Brett, Kelly, Stephanie, Lauren, and Jen. Mark this! You likely will need to remind yourself. Unfortunately, I remember very little about the first half. It’s just a jumble of getting to know the characters (specifically Brett and Stephanie). But like magic, the story became clear and a near effortless reading experience at around the halfway mark. I wish I could tell you exactly when. Maybe it was gradual, but I think I gave an audible, “Oh”, and it was free sailing. I wish from the bottom of my heart that I could advise you to skip certain parts, to skim until page xyz, but I can’t. My kindle highlights include over 100 quotes that still repeat themselves in my brain almost a week later and many of them are found in this first half. They support the themes of this book which make them pretty crucial to the reading experience in my opinion. In a first-glance story about reality TV, relationships, and murder, the dark, ugly, and fully woke themes are the shining star.
The title: The Favorite Sister is multidimensional. It integrates the dynamics of family, group relationships (via a reality TV show), but mainly the “feminist sisterhood” where women everywhere publicly support each other in our united quest for equality/opportunity, inclusivity, and the socially accepted right to (gasp) be ambitious. But what I LOVE about Jessica Knoll’s writing in this novel is her unapologetic view of sisterhood’s dark side in all these arenas, but specifically in society. We publicly display our support for one another but the quiet (and not so quiet) sabotage that goes on behind the scenes is stomach turning. Ms. Knoll explores the factors that influence this hypocrisy, and although it’s nothing most women don’t already know, it sure is nice to have it boldly out there and validated. We support each other but we don’t. How can we? Ambition is designed for a man’s world and the women who manage to get out from under the weight and expectation of social norms face obstacles not only from the cozy men at the top but also from their fellow women competing for those shiny few positions. It is literally cutthroat. In “A Conversation With Jessica Knoll” found at the end of the book, she states, “There is real fear about what an ambitious woman might do, the status quo she might change. I liked the idea of creating women who should be feared.” I liked it too. Very, very much.
Thank you to the following for permitting me access to an advance reader’s copy (ARC) of The Favorite Sister. This generosity did not impact my honesty when rating/reviewing.
Source: NetGalley
Author: Jessica Knoll
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Genres: General Fiction (Adult)
Pub Date: May 15, 2018
Let me start by saying that I don’t watch reality TV. I get quite enough reality in everyday life. Nevertheless, the blurb for this one sounded interesting, so I decided to give it a gander. I did finish, but I set the book aside numerous times, mostly due to the fact that I couldn’t find a single character in the book to actually root for. None of them were the least bit likable. Maybe that was the author’s intention, but for me, I have a hard time getting invested in a story when no one has a redeeming quality.
We have five women who are each successful, but instead of being proud of that, they spend a crazy amount of time tearing each other down. The whole thing read like Mean Girls for grown-ups. We get lots of behind the scenes making of reality TV and how the drama gets encouraged, but the constant conniving among these women quickly grated on my nerves. There is a murder to give us some mystery and things do pick up in the end, but without that connection to any of the characters, it didn’t help much.
I suppose I was expecting something more, some actual sisterhood at some point, and that’s on me, but I still came away from this one disappointed.
The Favorite Sister by Jessica Knoll is about a group of women who are either business owners or successful in the careers they have chosen. They were brought together for a reality show called Goal Diggers. They call themselves the Standing Sisters after the first season and have matching signet rings. The guidelines for acceptance among them is they do not worry about dieting, each is career driven, and they are not mothers.
Brett, Jen, Stephanie, and Lauren return for the fourth season of Goal Diggers along with the first among their group to have a child, Kelly who is Brett’s older sister and her business partner. Kelly’s daughter Layla will be on the show also. The book opens with Kelly’s interview after Brett has died.
These women are not all friends, so do not expect any bonding. Jen, Lauren, and Stephanie have more in common and have known each other longer. After it is known that Kelly is definitely joining them for the current season, the backstabbing and conniving start.
The book really does not have a consistent plot, other than their conflicts and pettiness to each other. They each have their own narrative and thoughts about each other. I suppose it is the same as watching a reality show on TV or cable. The book seemed slow, but maybe it was that way to me because each woman was so self-absorbed. Jen is so hateful to her mother, Yvette Greenberg it makes me hurt. Yvette was in the first season but walked off when the advisory board did not agree to give her more money for season two.
Lauren, Jen, and Stephanie start talking about Brett and Kelly as they plan the trips, open house, and parties for the show in the coming season. And then the narratives for each woman gets a bit boring.
I won’t post spoilers, but if you can get through the first half of the book then you will probably continue on through to the ending. Best Wishes!
Knife-sharp and enthralling, Jessica Knoll’s The Favorite Sister is as bold and smart and audacious a novel about women and ambition as you could hope for. A more-than-worthy follow-up to Luckiest Girl Alive, it proves Knoll is a literary force to be reckoned with.
Found this at the library and decided to give it a go. Knoll’s debut ‘Luckiest Girl Alive’ got a lot of attention and I’m wondering if the characters were remotely likeable in that novel. I couldn’t sympathize with any of the women in this book which made it a tough slog. If I wasn’t holed up in a hotel room for days with nothing else to read I probably wouldn’t have finished it.
Mind you, I’m not a fan of bitchy, women oriented reality TV like the Housewives franchise, so I probably set myself up for failure by choosing a book that focuses on a fake reality show involving entrepreneurial women. If Knoll’s intention was to call those shows out for their awful spin on ‘sisterhood’ and the ugly desire for people to do anything to be famous, then there is a redemptive quality to the story.
Overall:
I had trouble distinguishing between Lauren and Jen on the page (they read like the same character). Stephanie was the only one whose messed up head I felt I truly got into.
There are many secrets and double crossings hinted at in the story but by the time I got to the ‘third’ ending, it felt very anti-climactic.
Knoll does deploy some great language throughout, although getting through the dense prose proved challenging at times. It’s odd to say I wish there were less words in a book, but sometimes you just want to let it flow.
There are a lot of references the mid 20’s-30’s women make to things not necessarily on their millennial radar which felt like the voice of the author more than the characters.
Knoll is a decent writer and it boils down to not every story is for everyone. This particular one wasn’t for me.
Ok, I’m going to be honest here… I went into this book expecting to hate it. I wasn’t a fan of Knoll’s first novel and from what I’d heard this book was more of that only with x10 on the unlikable character scale. Still, I started it anyway because I wanted to like it and somewhere between the first and the fifth chapter, I did. It reads like the backstage story of a reality tv show because that’s what it is. The characters are horrible people in general. They’re all liars and frauds willing to do anything to claw themselves to the top of their little peak of fame. I should have hated all the girl on girl wars and backstabbing but… I was entertained. Something about the juxtaposition of these women who think they’re feminists, fighting the good fight, and the reality that they’re nothing of the sort was enthralling. I couldn’t put the book down by the time I hit the halfway point. There are a lot of twists and turns, some you’ll see coming and some you probably won’t. The biggest one took me completely by surprise which is really saying something. I’d recommend the book to my friends if only so I’ll have someone to talk about those twists with.
Didn’t make sense. The characters were easily distinguishable. They all seemed snarky and replaceable. Not worth it.
Thank you so much to Goodreads for the book it was so amazing , I had a very bad sinus infection while reading this book so it took longer than I wanted to read this book oh my gosh , so much happened in this book it is on the edge of your seat good I was starting to like bret as a character , but I did not expect how bret perennial fan favorite died nor that so many of the cast would have motives to kill her . Goal Diggers, is a popular reality television show featuring successful young female entrepreneurs this new season includes grandstanding and backstabbing alliances and betrayals and catfights both on and off air the favorite sister follows five singular women , all with secrets to hide , all with one thing in common – unbridled ambition in a world that forces women to make shrewd calculations for professional and-all personal gains this the formula that’s yielded ratings gold , and made the stars of goal diggers household names with a story that shocks and upends expectations and the Reality of a culture that pits woman against woman sister against sister a great whodunit with a lot of twist and turns on every page it was like a rollercoaster of emotions you don’t know what to expect , I would recommend this book to my friends and family LAURA8759 .
The Favorite Sister is a contemporary tale about ambition, greed, pop culture, the “five minutes of fame” so many Americans seek and the lengths to which they will go to achieve it. Spoiler alert: NONE of the main characters is particularly likable or sympathetic which is part of the point. Knoll takes readers into the world of a reality television series patterned after Bravo’s Real Housewives franchise, spotlighting casting maneuvers and machinations, ratings gimmicks, and infighting among the cast members. The story is a droll commentary on relationships between women, feminism, romance, friendship, assumptions, and, of course, “reality” programming. At the outset, Knoll reveals that one of the main characters has died and the book appears, at first blush, to be a murder mystery. Ultimately, however, it is much more. It would be an excellent choice for book clubs because there are many themes and plot points worthy of discussion.
(Thanks to Net Galley for an Advance Reader’s Copy of the book.)
Calling all fans of reality TV!! The Favorite Sister by Jessica Knoll is going to be for you if your guilty pleasure is binge watching reality TV because that’s exactly what this book read like. Honestly, I wasn’t a huge fan of this author’s first novel, Luckiest Girl Alive, but after reading this book Knoll has a believer in me! This book also had a little bit of a Fitness Junkie vibe, but dealing with reality TV AND fitness, and not just fitness.
The Favorite Sister is about a cast of women on a New York City reality show called Goal Diggers. The dynamic between these women (even including the 2 that are sisters) is a messy and explosive one. This book is packed with alliances, backstabbing, and SO MUCH drama. Exactly what you would (and should) expect from a book about a reality show. The book jumps around from people quite a bit and there are quite the list of characters, but I found it fairly easy to follow along and keep who was who straight.
No way to get around it though, this book is a drama. It’s definitely not a thriller or suspense, and I wouldn’t really say it’s too mysterious, even though there is a mystery aspect. You are basically reading this book for the delicious drama of a reality television show.
Final Thought: Besides the fact that I am more than a little obsessed with the beautiful cover of this book, I really enjoyed it in its entirety. If you love reality TV and drama I am almost certain you will love this book too! I cannot wait to see what Knoll comes up with next!
The Favorite Sister in 3-ish words: Sassy, Dramalicious & Symbolic
The Favorite Sister by Jessica Knoll has so many characters, so many storylines that you need a scorecard Ar first. Then, page by page, they all line up and you’re trapped in these mean girls’ lives. It’s a wild ride!
Brett and Kelly Courtney are sisters who have always challenged one another. Now that Kelly is being included in the show that Brett has starred in for four seasons, tensions are sure to rise. Along with Stephanie, Jen, and Lauren, these women have some dark secrets that no one would ever expect. When Brett mysteriously dies, only a few people know the truth. I guarantee this story will take you on a wild ride.
I fell in love with this story. I wanted to love each of the characters, but there is a shocking amount of secrets between each of these women. This story breaks into the lives of what realty television is really like. It’s extremely well-written, and kept my attention until the very end. I highly recommend this book!
Very disappointed compared to her first book!
I absolutely loved, loved, loved this book. The pace was excellent. The character development of multiple strong women was nuanced and realistic. I was riveted by the multiple storylines that wove a tapestry. Like all tapestries the front is exquisite and what the weaver wants you to see while the back is all knotted and twisty. There are such sharp turns that I got whiplash…and still couldn’t put this book down. The topics of ambition, insecurity, relationships, secrets, familial damage and what can happen when favorites are played either in a family or amongst female friendships.
I loved the author’s writing so much that I just bought her first book and plan on starting it tonight. Luckiest Girl Alive jumped to front of the line that is the pile of books as high as my bed.
I highly recommend this book.
A cast of quirky characters and suspense galore, made this a very entertaining read. The quickly-moving plot was modern and relevant to the current popularity and drama of Reality TV.
#TheFavoriteSister #JessicaKnoll #NetGalley
*I received a complimentary ARC of this book from NetGalley & Simon & Schuster in order to read and provide a voluntary, unbiased and honest review, should I choose to do so.
This was very nearly a DID NOT FINISH (DNF) for me. I plugged away at it several times, since I was given a free copy by NetGalley and the publisher, and I felt obligated to read it to give an honest review.
This is a novel about a reality TV series about women who are managing their lives – and how the stars compete with each other. If you like The Real Housewives or Keeping Up with the Kardashians, you may like this book, as it is all about petty behavior, about clothes and pricey handbags and …more
Notes Brett is the star of a reality TV show. She pretends to be lesbian but actually had an affair with her best friend’s husband. (Stephanie / Vince). Jen is heartbroken over Vince and kills Brett. Everyone thinks Vince killed Brett over her having an affair with Steph. Kelly, Brett’s sister, knows the truth, but won’t reveal it, so she can take over Brett’s life of stardom and wealth, and take all Brett’s fortune.
Wow!! I’m still thinking about this one!! So good and so much better than Knoll’s first book to me! The ending!! It didn’t exactly wrap up what was happening, which is why I couldn’t give five stars. All in all, I loved the characters and disliked the ones I wasn’t supposed to. What I thought was going to happen didn’t. Knoll did a great job with this one!! This is one I’d love to see made into a real reality show like the book or movie! I really enjoyed this follow up!
I hated this book. All the characters are narcissistic, nasty women with serious mental issues!
Confusing and boring.
This book had a crazy beginning and I lost interest in a lot of the fighting and all the characters. I got through it tho and ended up liking the words used by the author and found some parts funny. The end I thought was the best part. I don’t normally read books like this and decided to give it a try. It took me a little while in to catch on with what was going on, I really thought I would stop a few times.
I’m glad I stuck with it. I really liked the ending. There are a lot of good reviews on other social media sites so I don’t want to discourage you. Please don’t go by my review, it just wasn’t the book for me.
Thank you Simon and Schuster and Net Gallery for the opportunity.
Cherie’
The cover is beautiful