After falling HARD for Jessica Knoll's debut, LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE, I was beside myself waiting for her next release. When I heard about THE FAVORITE SISTER, it instantly went straight to my To Read list and the moment I saw it was available on NG, I pounced.

Unfortunately, my expectations were far too high. I'm not sure what happened here, the premise sounds like it's practically written just for me, but sadly THE FAVORITE SISTER was a DNF.

Thank you to netgalley for the review of this copy.

I was so excited to get this book but as I started reading it there was just so much going on with so many characters that it throws you off. I just thought this book was a 3 star book. The story did pick up about half way through the book. I do love that this story included drama, gossip, and backstabbing. It was based a reality show called "The Gold Diggers" The book follows two of the show's characters, Brett and Stephanie. There are many other characters in the book, other women in the reality show, however it is mainly Brett and Stephanie's story.

It was an okay read but I think her first book was best. but I do recommend that you give it a try.

I loved Jessica Knoll's previous book, The Luckiest Girl Alive, and was so excited to obtain an ARC of this one. This begins as the story of five super-successful women who agree to appear on a reality series set in New York City called Goal Diggers. Brett, Kelly, Stephanie, Lauren and Jen. The story ends with murder. What happens in between?

I had a really hard time getting into this one. There were so many characters to keep track of and I kept mixing them up, especially the sisters. On top of that, none of them were incredibly likeable so it was hard to find someone to root for. The books was fine, really, I was just hoping for so much more from Jessica Knoll.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. I am not a fan of reality tv and this book did not change my mind. If I had not agreed to read it, I would have quit by chapter two. I am being generous with a 3 star rating

I didn't care for this book, neither the writing nor the characters, and I wasn't able to finish it. Others may feel differently. I think it just wasn't the kind of book I'd usually read.

Note: This is categorized as a Netgalley Review. I received a free ecopy of this book from Netgalley and Simon & Schuster in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

I’m beginning to think that Jessica Knoll just might not be the author for me. Her first book, Luckiest Girl Alive (published in 2015), did really well. A lot of people really enjoyed it and found it innovative in the way it addressed the lasting effects of sexual assault and the difficulties of being an adolescent. And it did do these things well. But the main character was terrible and it took me three tries over 5 years to actually finish it. It wasn’t for me.

I got a copy of Knoll’s second novel, The Favorite Sister, from Netgalley almost a year ago—February 14, 2018. (I’m terribly behind in my Netgalley titles, but one of my 2019 resolutions is to catch up, I promise!) I was hoping I would like this one more than her debut, since the subject matter was so different, but it was not meant to be.

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TW: abuse, suicide, depression and anxiety, physical fights, manipulation, fat-shaming.

Five women take part in a reality-style show called Goal Diggers (I KNOW). The purpose of the show is to promote successful women, like Brett. Brett is 27, gay, and the head of a massive successful spin studio. Her sister, Kelly, is trying to get on the show, but Brett is tired of always being second-fiddle is enjoying her moment in the spotlight. The tension between the sisters grows once Kelly manages to snag a role on the show and begins to buddy up with Jen, who is cute and hippy in front of the cameras and ruthless when they are off.

Stephanie, a wildly successful author of erotic novels, was Brett’s best friend. But after a fight during the off-season, the two are barely talking. Rumors fly about the fight, about Stephanie’s husband with a wandering eye, about why Brett and Stephanie won’t make up. The rumors only get bigger when one of the castmates winds up murdered.

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This sounds great, yes? Feminist reality TV, successful, complicated women, and murder. I was really excited about all of those things.

But there is a big difference between premise and execution. The novel is told from different perspectives, flipping between Brett and Stephanie in the “Before” and Kelly’s interview with Jen in the “After,” with the murder being the splitting event. But what happens here, is that the first, two-thirds of the book are spent establishing backstory—who these women are, why they supposedly hate each other, why they’re on the show, who is lying about what and who knows. It was a lot to keep track of and characters started to blur together.

I think part of this was to disguise the twist that comes with the murder. Within the first chapter, Kelly reveals that Brett is dead, so it’s not really a spoiler for me to tell you, I promise. You spend the whole book waiting to see how she dies, but she doesn’t die until the last 50 pages. The majority of the book is focused on these female relationships and how they unravel and not the murder, which is not what was hyped. That clash in expectations vs. reality made it really hard to get through this book. Plus, once the murder is fleshed out, it’s actually pretty disappointing, in terms of suspense or any sort of twist.

Since this marketed thriller isn’t really about murder, let’s look at how it handles these female friendships that dominate the novel. Um, they suck. None of these women are likeable, which is the point, I think, to a degree. Knoll seems to be interested in the idea of powerful, unlikeable women, which we definitely see in her first book, so I’m not surprised to see it fleshed out more here with all of these relationships. As a feminist, I like this. I want to see more powerful women in fiction, I want to see more unlikeable women in fiction.

BUT. No one in this novel is really likeable, except for maybe Kelly’s daughter, Layla. But she doesn’t play into the plot in any decisive way, so she can’t redeem the fact that I didn’t like a single one of these women. I didn’t root for them. I didn’t care who died or who did it. I wasn’t invested in one of them because they were all terrible! All of their secrets were so disgusting that they destroyed any likeability they might have had.

Perhaps this is true in real life. Perhaps we all harbor secrets that would alienate us from our friends. But this concept doesn’t play out well in a novel. We need to have somebody that we like enough to care what happens. And that’s missing from The Favorite Sister.

If you are strongly interested in complicated female relationships, I would borrow this from your library—I don’t think it’s worth buying. If you want a good thriller, I would look elsewhere.

The Favorite Sister is a great tongue in cheek read about a rather complex reality TV group of women. I enjoyed the take, with a focus on independent women building their own empires as well as the diverse cast of characters. I was disappointed that a death was revealed early on. I think it would have been more shocking had the author decided to reveal this detail at the end. This piece fell a bit flat for me, but overall I enjoyed the twists and turns of the plot.

essica Knoll surprised me with this twist on reality TV and those who occupy its falsified environment. "The Favorite Sister" is a blend of thriller and satire with a great ending.

Five career-climbing women star in "Goal Diggers," a reality TV series that supposedly promotes female entrepreneurship and how far they'll go to succeed. If they don't keep up their success or if they get old (30-plus), they're out.

Brett, the crowd favorite, is a tattooed lesbian who has a popular exercise bike business. She used to be best friends with Stephanie, a high-strung romance writer. Lauren is the series' recovering alcoholic who refuses to acknowledge her drinking is a problem. Jen has a vegan food line, yet she sneaks bacon and carbs on the side. And then there's Kelly, Brett's sister, who is dying to secure her future on the show.

Each one is desperate to keep up the appearance of youth, beauty and success. And each one has secrets that threaten that fragile balance in the precarious world of fame and fortune.

How far are they willing to go for celebrity status? A long way, according to Knoll's narrative. I don't want to give away the plot, but I will say these ladies put "cut-throat" in a gift-wrapped box with a big bow.

I really liked Jessica Knoll's first book, so I was excited for this one. Unfortunately, I didn't like it quite as much. I couldn't connect with any of the main characters, and their lives were just so over-the-top they seemed ridiculous. The murder was silly, too.

I really admire Jessica Knoll’s writing, and the things she has to say about being a woman in our current culture. I just don’t particularly *like* reading her books. I think that’s deliberate — she doesn’t let the reader get comfortable with any particular character, each of whom are deeply flawed and complicated. I couldn’t put this down and the ending was satisfying and not at all gimmicky (rare in this post-Gone Girl era), but I was also relieved when it was over.

As a fan of this author's other work, I was very excited to read this. It did not disappoint. There are plot twists and suspense and once the reader gets to that point - you are hooked.

I loved Jessica Knoll’s first book and was eagerly awaiting this one. The Favorite Sister takes on a reality tv snow concept which I thought was unique. I found the pacing to be slower, and this was overall quite different from Luckiest Girl Alive. This book was good, but readers should go into it knowing that this will not be a page-turning thriller.

I tried reading this book on multiple occasions (4-5) and was unable to proceed. I typically enjoy anything remotely suspenseful, so perhaps this book just was not for me. I could not enjoy the characters and found both them and the plot lines a little convoluted. I did enjoy the darker Luckiest Girl Alive and was disappointed I had to abandon this title. I would still give Ms. Knoll a chance on a future book title.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest and fair review.

I'll admit the start was a bit rough. For me it's hard to read a book when I don't like any of the characters so it took me long to get into my reading groove.
Once I let go of my need to like anyone and jumped into the who did it, how did it happen? I was in. This book although you may also not have anyone to root for was suspenseful and straight up intense. I highly recommend it for anyone wanting something different. It's a book that is well worth your time. And at the end of it has you asking what would you have done?

A fictional show with more backstabbing than all reality tv combined plus now a real crime! Jessica Knoll writes stories and characters that make us feel like we are hearing all of the juicy gossip first hand.

I loved the premise of this book - a group of up and coming GOAL diggers that have nothing else in common on a "reality" tv show. It took me several chapters to actually GET into this one, but once I did - I loved it!!! And, I totally did NOT see ending coming - AT ALL. The interesting part of this book, was that the characters that you absolutely LOVE to HATE was constantly changing! Lots of smoke and mirrors and satisfyingly sad ending.

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.

In The Favorite Sister, Jessica Knoll follows her hit debut, Luckiest Girl Alive, with a look at not just one but a group of ambitious women.

The novel opens with the producer of a TV reality show about wealthy entrepreneurs called Goal Diggers interviewing one of the cast members, Kelly Courtney, about her sister, Brett, another Digger who mysteriously died. The story then jumps back in time and takes readers through preproduction and production of the fourth season, showing how ruthless the women have become behind the scenes to attain more screen time and avoid being axed. With increasing pressure to maintain ratings, the tension between cast and crew explodes and results in murder.

The synopsis might sound campy, but this is no superficial send-up of insta-celeb culture. Knoll's take is a deadly serious exploration of the dichotomy between women publicly espousing inclusion riders and sisterhood while privately sabotaging one another, knowing there's still not enough room at the top for all of them. It's biting social commentary in darkly humorous language: "She doesn't even really seem to like her dogs.... [S]he adopts them for Instagram likes." A woman wonders: if her husband were an air freshener, "what would we call him?... Radiant Herpes." Another Digger cuts to the bone by observing: "If you don't hate yourself just a little bit, you are intolerable." This book is more than tolerable; it's sharp and clear-eyed and will be a favorite for Knoll's fans.

I enjoyed the writing style and definitely think I'll pick up other books by Jessica Knoll but I think the premise of this story isn't my thing.

I have stopped and started this book so many times, but it never grabbed my attention and held it. Draws out the characterization too much for me to stay intrigued. Was not for me.