In my true style, I picked this book based on its beautiful cover so I went into it blind. While I enjoyed the story itself there were just parts of that I just had a hard time with. To be totally honest, there were times when I had thoughts of DNF’ing but I am glad that I didn’t.

Nora & Jacob struggle with infertility and are saving up for their last attempt for in vitro. While working at the vintage resale shop, Nora meets Evelyn, an eccentric socialite. They quickly become friends and Evelyn offers to be the surrogate for Nora.

As much as I enjoyed the social media aspect with Evelyn and how she graciously offered to be the surrogate, I just couldn’t get past what a truly entitled, awful person she really is. The way she just threw money at Nora commenting that it was for the baby fund and knowing how important it was to her. The way she put the baby at risk was truly selfish, especially when the baby is not hers!

While I did not like Nora as a character when she was around Evelyn, I truly felt terrible for all that she endured. The author did an amazing job conveying all of those emotions. I could feel the emotional roller coaster that Nora was on - the not knowing, the lack of communication/miscommunications. I could especially feel Jacob’s frustrations!

Even though this wasn't fully my cup of tea, I look forward to reading more books by Adele Griffin!

Ⓦⓗⓐⓣ Ⓘ Ⓛⓞⓥⓔⓓ:
✨️Beautiful cover
✨️I’ll Have Seconds, the Vintage Resale Shop
✨Even with the struggles, Nora was able to get her happy ending

Ⓦⓗⓐⓣ Ⓘ Ⓓⓘⓓⓝ’ⓣ
✨️How Nora seems to change how she acts around Evelyn
✨️How Evelyn “bribes” Nora to do stuff for her
✨️The pacing was a little off throughout the book

CW: Infertility, Surrogacy, Pregnancy Complications

Thank you to @netgalley, @sourcebook for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book and felt so many emotions for Nora in her quest to have a baby. I never fully trusted Evelyn and couldn’t decide if she was genuine or a game player.

This book took me way longer to get into then most books and I almost didn’t finish it it. It was like being on a rollercoaster. The first 150 pages were an extremely slow buildup to a fast drop into the real story which in my opinion ended fast and quick and left me with A LOT of questions.

All the feels after reading this one! I couldn’t help but fall in love with the main character Nora and empathize with her and her situation. I enjoyed her and Evelyn’s relationship dynamic as well, right up until the end when it took a turn. Some parts were a little cheesy and a little unrealistic but overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the storyline!

The best part about Adele Griffin's writing is how infectious it is. It's so easy to get lost in her books. I stayed up till midnight reading half of it, then woke up at 3 AM and kept going until I finished it. It was just stuck in my mind and I needed to finish it!

My favorite part about the book was Nora. I loved her marriage with Jacob.
Despite the stress of their situation, I loved the intimacy of their physical space, their shared history, and their commitment to have each other's back, no matter what.
I also really connected with Nora's fear of standing up to people and the implicit, tacit deals we make with bosses, family members, and friends, especially when there's money involved.

Nora stayed with me for a few days after finishing this book. She broke my heart, I rooted so hard for her to come through this journey, evolved.




POTENTIAL SPOLER ALERT:

Without giving too much of the plot away, Griffin also really nailed the details of IVF and the surrogacy journey-- from the intimate strangeness of the hospitals, the nurses, the invasiveness, the reactions from family. Even the details of the hotel Nora stayed at. Griffin honed in on the specificity of the experience, and I felt like I was there in the room. God, and the way Nora shows up for Gloria. So good! So moving! Okay, okay-- I'll stop. Just read it!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

When Nora meets socialite Evelyn Elliot, she is struggling financially and losing hope that her and her husband will have a family of their own. As she gets to know Evelyn, Evelyn makes it her cause to carry a baby for Nora.

This story kept me on my toes because I knew there was going to be some drama. I enjoy books about surrogacy. This one wasn’t a thriller like recent surrogacy reads I’ve dived into, but it was just as entertaining. I loved the subplot of the designer vintage outfits and the backstory. I thought it was all real and googled it to find out it wasn’t, but it felt so real! I sped through this book and enjoyed it thoroughly.

“Just because you know there’s a chance the thing you’ve been wishing for most in the world but come true, doesn’t mean it can’t completely bowl you over when it does.”

The Favor comes out in paperback 4/2/24.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of The Favor by Adele Griffin in exchange for my honest review and opinion. WOW, I loved this book. Don't let the pink cover fool you as you will be drawn in to this tense thriller from the first page. I wasn't expecting this and boy did I love it! Great book!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of The Favor by Adele Griffin.

The Favor is a lovely book, but it gave me great anxiety! I read ahead to the end to find out how it ended because I was so sure it was all going to fall apart.

Nora is a 30-something who has been struggling with infertility for years. One day, socialite Evelyn walks into her consignment store and drops a few thousand without a thought. The two of them bond over a poet and Evelyn decides that she's going to be friends with Nora. Nora quickly gets whipped up in Evelyn's life and the personal and business start to merge until she's overwhelmed by Evelyn's desire to act as a surrogate.

I never really bought Evelyn and Nora's friendship. Evelyn used Nora for her style and because she was almost desperate for money to pay off her and her husband's debt. Evelyn had all the power in the relationship and when she told Nora she wouldn't sign a contract, all the sirens started going off in my head.

Spoilers: it all ends up rather happily ever after. There are some bumps and I would have really liked a few chapters with Evelyn's POV, especially after she has the baby.

Overall, a fine book. Maybe I read too many thrillers because I was sure that Evelyn was going to take the baby and run with all her resources with her. I'm glad it didn't end that way.

This book had the potential to go spiraling off a cliff! Thankfully, it did not.

Sometimes friendships are true, but when there is a divide in the social class of the friends, it can cause issues. But only if you let it.

I enjoyed the friendship between these women and how it opened up a whole new world for Nora. Evelyn felt like she was being a true friend, but the money and opportunities did cause some friction. When you aren't used to a world based on money, it might make someone feel uncomfortable.

This was a great story, and we give it 4 paws up.

Thank you Sourcebooks Landmark for accepting my request to read and review The Favor on NetGalley.

Friendship, marriage, surrogacy, infertility, financially secure, and financially struggling were all concerns in the story. Griffin writes the interweaving characters and their respective problems seamlessly.

I liked that in the darkest times Griffin kept the characters dialogue respectful. She wrote well pain, fear, and anger as well as happy and excitement. She did so with class.

I would like to see more books like this. Smart, well-written characters and current issues.

I would recommend this to mature teens moving to young adult, and mature reasonable adults.

I so enjoyed this book. Trigger warnings: deals with not being able to have children and surrogate. The book has all of the feels. Thank you #NetGalley, #SourcebooksLandmark, #AdeleGriffin and #TheFavorANovel for the book for my honest review.

As someone who struggles with infertility this book hits close to home. However, it ended up being moreso a book of female friendship and where the line is drawn at doing a favor for a friend.

Have you ever read a book that left you in a puddle of tears but yet feeling like a friend is hugging you? This is the only way I can describe after reading this book.

It’s closing time for Nora Hammond and she’s ready to put her feet up and spend the evening with her husband. Nora works at a high end vintage women’s clothing shop. To her surprise a desperate woman customer tries to enter the shop. The woman introduces herself as Evelyn Elliot and she knows exactly what she wanted and Nora was successful at locating the vintage finds she was searching for. Nora had not made a sale at this price in some time. That encounter with Evelyn was about to change Nora’s life forever.
Nora is happily married to her husband Jacob. From the start of their marriage, they planned to have children. Their attempts, have been unsuccessful. Their attempts at IVF had been unsuccessful. They are still childless and a lot of debt.
As Nora’s and Evelyn’s friendship blossoms, Evelyn decides to give Nora and Jacob the ultimate gift. Evelyn offers to be the surrogate for their child. Nora is not sure what to think she begins to wonder does Evelyn have an ulterior motive for her decision? Could Nora’s and Evelyn’s friendship survive during the course of the pregnancy? We follow these two on their journey. The Favor explores the themes of infertility, surrogates, marriage, family, wealth inequality, and parenthood and friendships.

This book was intense and can show the many nuances of friendships. Nora was having a good time with Evelyn, but once she decided to carry the baby for Nora things started to change and warp. Some of the book is finding out what's in Nora's head and what is reality. This is an easy read, but is thought provoking and keeps your interest.

*I received a free copy of this novel from NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for my honest review.*

Nora works at a vintage second hand store in NYC. Nora and her hubby want a baby but are infertile and have run up huge debts trying to have a baby. Nora has a chance encounter in the store with socialite Evelyn who she bonds with over some famous names and, after sharing their darkest secrets, Evelyn offers to carry Nora's baby. She even low key hires Nora to work for her as a stylist which pays off a lot of the debts.

I think that some of the book is supposed to make the reader connect with Nora as a wannabe socialite and social climber who has the connections with the clothing, but I really just found her as needy and desperate. I had a hard time feeling sorry for Nora or Evelyn and didn't connect with either of them. I felt bad for Nora's hubby for being in the situation.

I enjoyed the writing, but I think my lack of a maternal desire affected my pleasure with the story.

This book touched on some important cultural topics that are certainly relevant in todays society - surrogacy and the impact of social media.I loved the authors style of writing and enjoyed the beautiful prose.

Unfortunately this book didn’t work for me and was a DNF but I am sure other readers will feel differently! Thank you for the ARC!

Some favors are too rich for the reward and will have lasting impacts. When Nora let Evelyn into her shop right before closing time, she wouldn't imagine that Evelyn would become such a central component of her life.

Orbiting around Evelyn, Nora puts herself second and bows to Evelyn's whims. When she realizes that something is seriously wrong with their relationship is it too late to giveback her 'generous' gifts? Adele Griffin kept me guessing throughout the novel as I tried to figure out what would happen and how sinister, the outcome.

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. That was my first Adele Griffin novel but it won't be my last.