Competing restaurants and complicated family secrets make for a juicy story line, but ultimately well-choreographed reality tv is no match for the fierce, unconditional love of family. A fun read with a big heart.

A great feel-good read that manages to be upbeat without being fluffy.

Semi-estranged sisters Amanda and Mae come from a troubled background. Their single mother was a secret hoarder. Mae escaped as soon as she could, has a seemingly idyllic life complete with husband and two kids and a career as an influencer and TV personality. Amanda stayed put in their little town, got married, had two kids and went to work for the family business.

And the family business is chicken -- fried chicken, to be precise. Their family spawned two fried chicken restaurants, started by two sisters. The sisters are long gone but the family feud remains. Amanda and Mae's mother Barbara runs Mimi's, the smaller and more informal restaurant, simple in menu and in philosophy. But Amanda married into the rival family that now runs the other restaurant, the more upscale Frannie's, and has been unwelcome at Mimi's ever since. Amanda is a widow raising two kids.

Amanda invites a reality TV show to come to town to pick the best restaurant and predictably, chaos and ill feeling sets in. Mae returns, family secrets are spilled and the two sisters have to confront years of rivalry and hidden agendas, along with their mother's eccentricities.

It's gratifying to see the family have to do some hard thinking and talking about all the grudges they have held and the challenges they still face. The sisters in particular must re-evaluate just exactly what they want out of life, and what they need to do to get there. A fun and satisfying read.

Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Two chicken restaurants battle out their decades old feud in a reality TV show, Food Wars. Each place has one of the Moore sisters taking the lead during the contest, and the feud only seems to get worse. This one was just ok for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Putnams Penguin Group for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

“The Chicken Sisters” by KJ Dell’Antonia is the story of two sisters who face off to prove which family fried chicken restaurant is the best. These two restaurants have been competing for ages, but now the two face off on tv screens around the country. Mae, the older sister, comes back from New York to help her aging mother compete, hoping the moment in the spotlight will revive her failed tv career. Amanda, the younger sister, married into the competition’s family, but isn’t so sure that the restaurant, or chicken, should be her biggest life goal. The two sisters may not have seen each other in a long time, but this competition is certainly a recipe for disaster…

I think it’s easy enough to say this book is good. It’s got two compelling sisters who duke it out to hold on to old family grudges. They both resent each other and their unhappy childhood makes it easy to place blame. Their two different types are rooted in the same issues, but neither sister is really painted as the saint or as the evil one, so it’s hard to find a side or root for any particular character.

This book is set up with a great cast of characters, but I don’t think enough was done with all the possibilities available. I don’t think that the stakes felt high enough to me and the ending seemed to simply fall together. That, plus the added tv personality, made for almost enough drama, but it fizzled out too soon. I wish we could have lived in the tension and high stakes a while longer to up the climax.

Overall, this book was cute and sweet and pretty light. It was definitely a feel good book, but maybe almost too easy. I enjoyed it, but it didn’t push me or motivate me or overly give me the warm fuzzies. If you’re looking for something light and sweet, this one is for you! I gave this book 3 stars.

Such a fun read! A heart-warming, fast-paced story about sibling rivalry, love and fried chicken. Amanda and Mae are like any sisters, they have their differences; Amanda has stayed in her hometown, married, then lost her husband, while Mae has left to become a TV star in the big city, with her own marital issues.

When Amanda succeeds in getting the competing chicken restaurants in their small hometown accepted onto Food Wars, a reality TV show, Mae comes back home to help her mom’s restaurant Mimi’s to compete, while Amanda takes the side of her mother-in-law’s restaurant: Frannie’s.

I loved how well Dell’Antonia captured the sibling relationship, throughout. Each word of dialog is weighted with personal history and sibling rivalry, but also simultaneous affection.

However, although the sisters clearly love each other, as the reality competition heats up, both make decisions they aren’t proud of. The showdown starts with one one sister telling the show about the criminal faux pas of frozen mozzarella sticks and biscuits at the other restaurant, but rapidly escalates with equally bad, then worse behavior. As a reader I enjoyed that delicious guilty pleasure of reality show voyeurism with several aghast “oh no she didn’t moments.

As the sisters make increasingly bad decisions, as a reader I was still rooting for them to work it out. And I loved that I was always aware that their sisterly love and longing for each other's support was just as strong as their rivalry.

A fabulously enjoyable book filled with sister dynamics, family, fried chicken, and tenderness.

Amusing! The Chicken Sisters by KJ Dell'Antonia was an amusing and heartwarming novel. If you need a book to get you out of a funk, this one may do the trick.

A television show was contacted to come in and decide who had the best chicken in town. There were two chicken restaurants started by sisters in the 1800's and still run by feuding family members. It was funny and light about halfway through the book and things began to get serious. Most of the characters had to make some hard decisions about how their lives were going to proceed.

The characters were uniquely individual. They were widely varied making it most interesting. If you love reality television, cooking and eating fried chicken and family dynamics, you'll probably enjoy this book. It releases December 1, 2020 and you have plenty of time to pre-order so it will be on your library asap!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley for a fair and honest review.

A small town in Kansas. Two fried-chicken restaurants founded by sisters over a century ago. Two present-day sisters. A great set-up for a century-old sibling rivalry story.

Amanda Pogociello grew up working at Chicken Mimi's. But then she married the son of their rival family at Chicken Frannie's and is no longer allowed to step into Mimi’s. She is tired of the daily struggle of running Frannie’s and escapes into her sketchbook. Then one day she contacts Food Wars, a reality TV show that sets up restaurant competitions with $100,000 going to the winner.

Meanwhile, Brooklyn-based sister Mae Moore is a social media influencer with her organizational skills. Mae loves to declutter and organize her client’s spaces. But one day her career implodes. Once again seeking the limelight, she sees the Food Wars competition as the avenue to get her back into the public eye.

Family drama and misunderstandings. Family secrets now made public by a conniving producer. The perfect recipe for an enjoyable read. I found I could really relate to the sisters Mae and Amanda. It made me laugh (Mae, you go girl!). The sisters were vastly different and, unsurprisingly, had different goals in life. Or did they…

The author is a brilliant storyteller and has created truly relatable characters who portray real emotions and reactions.

I received this book from the publisher/author with no expectation of a positive review.

THE CHICKEN SISTERS by KJ Dell’Antonia is just the kind of book I love - one about sisterhood, family, secrets, and intergenerational trauma.

In a small town in Kansas - two chicken shacks founded by sisters a long time ago have been feuding for years. Chicken Mimi’s is a small chicken shack that does the same thing and does it well, while Chicken Frannie’s is a bit more upscale. When Amanda Moore, one of two Chicken Mimi’s heirs, switches sides and scandalously marries the son of Chicken Frannie’s - well, it’s a big deal.

An avid fan of a restaurant competition show, Food Wars, Amanda decides to submit both chicken shacks for a much-need influx of cash to Chicken Frannie’s, convinced they’ll win. But Amanda didn’t bargain for her prodigal sister (and Kondo-like organizational genius) Mae to return from Brooklyn guns-a-blazing to help their mother keep Chicken Mimi’s in the competition.

You’d think this would just be a charming tale of two sisters duking it out - but it’s more than that. Dell’Antonia really fleshes out both Amanda and Mae. They’re real women, lovable and unlikeable in turns, with motives, ambitions, and lessons to learn. There’s a side of romance as warm and rich as the biscuits these shacks serve - but it’s never the main focal point of the story.

Relationships - between Amanda and her mother-in-law, between Amanda, Mae and their prickly mother, and of course, between Amanda and Mae - are the real bread and butter of this story. You’ll find yourself rooting for reconciliation while laughing about their rivalry.

Not only will this book make you crave a bucket of fried chicken - it’ll make you want to reach over and give someone a big hug. It’s the perfect comfort book for these times - a more literary Chicken Soup for the Soul.

Loved the title, hated the book.
I tried to like this book but couldn't. I picked it up, read ten or so pages five or six (seven?) times but I have to admit I absolutely hated it and did not get close to getting even a third of the way through. It will appeal to some people but the overwrought family drama, spats, feuds and selfish behavior were not something I wish to spend my leisure time reading about.

The Chicken Sister by K. J. Dell'Antonia is a unique feel good book about sisters who have had a long feud in Merinac, Kansas, dating back generations, about who makes the best fried chicken in the state. When Chicken Mimi's and Chicken Frannie's get selected to participate in the television show Food Wars, everything goes crazy. I won't ruin your fun, but if you enjoy unique and silly family drama, this book is for you. I will be trying more books by this author, and I recommend this book for a fun escape read. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This was such a cute read. I read the synopsis expecting a fun rivalry between sisters and the fight for the best fried chicken. Figured this little read would provide a few laughs, tv show drama and maybe some friend chicken pointers. I was pleasantly pleased! Though there weren’t many fried chicken pointers, to my husband’s dismay, this novel was full of snarky banter, family drama and good old-fashioned heart.

Amanda and Mae were perfectly fleshed out sisters. We have the one sister that was able to get away from the small town and showcases a too perfect lifestyle on social media. The other sister whose lost her husband and is stuck in that childhood town wondering if there is something more out there for her. They were true to life characters that almost anyone can connect with and empathize with their inner demons.

The tensions, secrets and bonding are all the elements of a family drama I enjoy. Toss in the element of the tv show, Food Wars, coming to this little town to pit the two family chicken joints against each other and you have a recipe for some page turning drama. There are some slow portions of the story that dragged a little bit for me but the author’s writing style makes it more enjoyable than not. This would make a great beach read for the coming summer months for those who enjoy a lively fiction read. Especially if you’re a fan of Fannie Flagg like I am.

Thank you to G.P. Putnam’s Sons (Penguin Random House) for the egalley win! It was a pleasure reading and reviewing this novel for an honest and unbiased opinion.

A fun and quirky book combining reality tv, competition, sisters and family drama. Great light summer read.

I didn't like the premise and the sibling rivalry was over the top. I thought it would be great fun - it wasn't.

This story is truly like no other. It is an examination of the relationship between sisters that is truly unique. Reality television, secret afflictions and family rivalry all come together to make this lively read a real show-stopper.

What a great premise. The glimpse into the dynamics of making a reality tv show was fascinating. Quirky flawed-but-loveable characters with relationships that kept evolving in surprising ways. The author had me cheering for all of them even when they weren't cheering for each other. (A lot of characters, a bit hard to keep track of in the beginning, but by the end I knew who was who.)
Very satisfying read.

Where do I begin with this book? I guess I should start by saying that I absolutely loved it! I'll admit, I left it for a tiny bit because I wasn't feeling it at first, but then I really got into it and became quickly addicted to it. KJ Dell'Anntonia really drove home how important family is. In "The Chicken Sisters" we are transported to Kansas where sister Amanda asked a famous TV show Food Wars to come and settle once and for all which chicken restaurant is best, her mother's or her mother-in-law's. The drama in this book is on a whole new level of crazy! I'll admit, I hated Mae at first. Then I hated Amanda. Then I was absolutely in love with both of them! Then I started to understand why I disliked either one in the first place. In truth, I saw too much of my own sister in Mae and I saw too much of myself in Amanda. In the end I was reminded that under all the unique characteristics that we have as individuals, we make a pretty great duo. We balance each other out, just like Mae and Amanda do. I didn't expect a book about fried chicken to make me reflect on the relationship between my sister and me. This book is also an emotional roller coaster, due to some tough subjects, such as hoarding, but I can appreciate the insight into the issues that families are faced with when they are in that kind of household, I've also never thought about different reasons as to why someone might become a vegetarian. After reading why Amanda no longer eats chicken, my heart broke. She didn't really choose to be a vegetarian, she was mentally scarred by eating chicken. This book was well worth the read, and I will recommend it to anyone who will listen to me rant about it.

I simply adored this book. It's a delightful combination of the following: reality competition tv, family drama, and people who love cooking! It's written with heart and snark, and I really connected to the storyline with Mae and Barbara.

This book had me at hello!!! The Chicken Sisters is laugh-out-loud, heartstring-pulling, unputdownable novel that you won’t ever want to see end! I found this book a lot more relatable than I ever dreamed possible! If you have any kind of interactions with your immediate and/or extended family than I guarantee you will find yourself nodding along at parts just like I did! This is the first time I’ve read KJ Dell’Antonia, but I am so excited to read more from her! The Chicken Sisters is a solid 5 star novel that would make a fantastic book club selection!

I mean.. who ISN'T going to read a book entitled "The Chicken Sisters" ? I was immediately interested. And the cover.. come on! Whoever said "Don't judge a book by its cover" was completely wrong.. because not only did I judge this book by its cover.. but it ended up being a great book!

I love books about family and secrets within a family. Books about dysfunction within families have always attracted me. They just make for great reads. This book went by fast. It was certainly a pageturner!

The writing pulled me in. It had an excellent rhythm and flow.

I loved, loved, loved this book!

I’ve been anxious to read this since KJ started teasing it on social media. It did not disappoint! Well crafted family drama that gets the nuances of family, sisterhood and small town life, even when exploited for a reality show. Highly enjoyable and it won’t bum you out!

ARC from publisher via NetGalley, but the opinions are my own.