Book Review: The Favorite Daughter By Kaira Rouda

The Favorite Daughter By Kaira Rouda

Genre: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Suspense
Pages: 368 pages
Published: May 21st 2019
Publisher: Graydon House
My Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Stars

Synopsis: 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…

My Thoughts: So I randomly discovered Kaira Rouda in 2017 thanks to Book Con. I ended up getting her book Best Day Ever when I went up to one of the booths and told the person books I liked. They recommended me that one. After that I knew I had to read more from Kaira. So when I finally heard she had another thriller coming out I was really excited. I went into this one not knowing much. I just knew I had to request it on Netgalley. I however missed that time frame. Then I picked it up at a book signing where I met Kaira. She was just so lovely and very friendly. I knew I had to pick up the book right away. However I am really sad to sad that this book did not do it for me.

I am really sad to say that I did not like the narrator of this book at all. I got 8% into this book and honestly wanted to put it down and never return to it. I decided to continue on with my journey anyway. The majority of the time listening to this book I would roll my eyes and just feel bad for the other characters that had to deal with our main narrator. She was not easy to deal with and just very unlikable. I mean a lot of the things she does and says are just horrifying. I know this was something that really added to the experience of a lot of readers. I saw most of my friends on goodreads were rooting for her and just loved being inside her head. It ended up being the complete opposite for me. I think part of the reason why is because growing up I had a very controlling Mom. I know she wasn’t nearly as bad as this main narrator but some things were similar. So I feel going through that and then having to read these other characters deal with that was not an enjoyable experience for me.

I do have to say there were a couple of times I did end up feeling bad for this main character. I mean the main plot of the story is she lost one of her daughters and it’s a year later and she is finally trying to move on from it. However there are some other things in this book she had to deal with that end up being messed up in her favor. So I did end up enjoying the way she handled one of those bad situations. I obviously can’t say what because then that will end up spoiling a part of the book for you which I don’t want to do.

Overall I felt like this book really wasn’t for me. The main narrator is just very unlikable. She was very hard to read about. However if you like unlikable narrators then you’ll probably end up enjoying this book. It is a wild ride just wasn’t for me. I also do feel it is predictable but I know people who read this book said they liked it because of how crazy of a ride it is. I still will read more from Kaira in the future. She is a great writer just not every story is for me.

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Have you guys ended up reading this book? If so what were your thoughts on it. If not, is this book on your TBR? Are you planning to read it? Let me know in the comments.

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