The Favorite Daughter

Author: Kaira Rouda
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Type: Hardcover
Pages: 368
Source: Publisher rep
Publisher: Graydon House (Harper Collins)
First Published: May 21, 2019
Opening Lines: "6:30 pm - I glance at my creation and smile: behold the dining room table. It is critical to create the proper atmosphere when entertaining, the illusion of perfection."

Book Description from GoodReads: 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 re-emerges 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

My Rating: 3.5 stars

My Review: The Favorite Daughter is a psychological thriller that pulls readers into the unstable, narcissistic and manipulative mind of a memorable main character who won't be winning any Mom/Wife/Neighbour of the Year awards anytime soon.

With The Favorite Daughter, Rouda continues her use of the unreliable character method with Jane, a character whose manipulations, deceit and grandiose view of herself will make her a memorable protagonist. I enjoyed how Rouda allows Jane to often speak directly to the reader which helps to pull us further into her demented view of herself, her family and her role in her community. 

The premise of this book and the fact that I enjoyed her previous book Best Day Ever are what drew me to this book initially. I found this to be a quick and easy read, if not a little disturbing as I got a bird's eye view of Jane's inner thoughts. But I was kind of hoping for a bit more tension throughout the story and a stronger ending. Things get a little slow and repetitive and being inside Jane's mind the whole time got to be a little much after awhile. Unfortunately, I felt that Jane's narcissistic and unstable personality, which constantly obsessed about how everyone else viewed her flawed family, began to verge into an evil baddie caricature. Adding perspectives from some of the other characters would have rounded out the story for me.

Overall, this is a good, slower paced psychological thriller that has some solid twists and will have readers hanging on to find out what exactly happened the year prior. 

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to the publisher for my complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.