Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co. for an advanced reader copy of this book! This book definitely has some complex family drama that centers around a specific drama that unspools the history of the family and their shared relational issues. It definitely took some effort to keep all the characters and their families straight, which I'm not opposed to but you do have to work a bit to keep it straight throughout the novel as the narration shifts frequently, as well as jumping back and forth in timeline. Multiple versions of stories and memories are shared, which both add and emphasize the themes of shared memories, family relations, as well as secrets and their long-standing impact on family relations and the question of "who is really the favorite"? I liked the shift in memories and the story itself was pretty good. I was expecting more of out of the ultimate secret but overall enjoyed this novel.

Folks with sisters will enjoy this one!

Thanks Henry Holt and Company and NetGalley for the invite to read this ARC!

Synopsis -

Vivienne and Patick Fisher have raised their 3 daughters to the best of their abilities. Alex, Nancy and Eva are all doing very well for themselves and that’s everything they could hope for. When the Fishers gather at a glass house in the English countryside for a weeklong vacation and Vivienne’s 70th birthday celebration, an unexpected incident reveals Patrick might have a “favorite” daughter. This is just the kindle to the fire, which will rage and send shockwaves through this family as the week progresses, unearthing decades old secrets, resentments and fall outs triggering new ones in their destructive wake.

Review -

What anyone needs to be prepared for before picking up this book is that, the pacing is slow and patience will be key to truly savor it. This is not for the thrill seeking nor is it for those looking for a quick brain refreshing easy read.

Littlewood’s writing is deeply observational - there is a lot of attention to detail, to everything ranging from the characters, the settings, the general vibes and particulary the emotions. Sibling rivalry is at the very core of the story and the author explores sisters’ relationships - delving deep into the shift and shuffle of their dynamics over the years, playing out w.r.t their careers, family lives, their kids, mindset differences, age gap, financial status and social/societal standing.

Not a lot happens until about mid-way and just when I started to get jittery, tension escalates, dirty secrets are unveiled, chaos ensues in this glass house and you know what they say when you live in one! Don’t throw stones at it!

The ending did make up for the inertia, but overall the book fell just a bit short for me.

Fran Littlewood has populated a family tree that is all too typical: Mom, Dad, three sisters, spouses, and children of the sisters. The extended family is gathering for a vacation together to celebrate Mom's 70th birthday. As a member of an extended family, I know how easy it is to see favoritism in any situation. On the first day of the vacation, circumstances conspired to reveal Dad's favorite child. The timeline then switches to remembrances of the sister's childhood. I recognized so many of my family members in these characters. Littlewood must have a large family too.
As the sisters begin reviewing their childhood, searching for clues to explain the "favorite" status, the interactions within this family are so realistic that I was hooked on their stories. The family stumbles along until they realize it doesn't matter; they are still sisters with many blessings to be thankful for.

A smart, relatable novel about sibling rivalry and messy family dynamics. I was pulled in right from the start, even if it took a bit to keep the sisters straight. Not quite on par with her debut for me, but Fran Littlewood is firmly on my auto-read list.

Families are complicated and often messy, so the premise of this book caught my attention. Three adult sisters gather with their partners and children to celebrate their mother’s birthday when a near tragedy occurs. In that brief moment their dad does something that is interpreted to signal that one of the daughters is his favorite.

Told through multiple POV and across a nonlinear timeline, Littlewood explores the secrets, insecurities, petty jealousies, and grievances that until then lay unvoiced and unexplored. With so many characters contributing to the story it sometimes felt like a cacophony of voices clamoring for my attention.

I have a sister and I am a sister. I know firsthand how complex those relationships can be. Unity and the desire for independence are occasionally at odds. Loyalty competes with envy. Shared memories and experiences look and feel different through each individual prism. I wanted more depth in those areas, but was left feeling slightly unsatisfied. Littlewood has a talent for capturing and highlighting the frustrations we often keep hidden, and she does so again here. I simply wanted more.

Fans of family dramas will appreciate the gritty feel of this book. I alternated between digital and audio versions of this book. Fiona Button is a talented narrator, but I occasionally had difficulty tracking which character’s POV was being presented and found that easier to manage with the digital copy.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Henry Holt and Company for the advance copies. All opinions are my own.

I was really intrigued by the premise of this book, because anyone with siblings wonders if their parents have a favorite child. This was always a BIG topic of conversation in my family because I have a much older brother and sister so I'm the BABY of the family and since they had me so much later, it was suspected that I was the favorite. Personally, I think my parents just looked at me as a fresh start for parenting. They didn't want to make as many mistakes with this one! And if I was a little spoiled or I was given a little more freedom, it wasn't because they loved me any more than my brother and sister. It was just because they must have been exhausted by the time I came around! :-)

So, when Vivienne and Peter Fisher take a lovely vacation with their three middle aged daughters and their families to celebrate Vivienne's 70th birthday in their glass house (wonderful metaphor!) and Peter rushes to save one of the daughters from a falling tree (who happens to be the daughter furthest from the danger), the girls naturally assume that Peter has a favorite! And that's where the fun begins! This stirs up a lot of sibling rivalry between Alex (the oldest), Nancy (the middle) and Eva (the baby) and the memories and untold secrets ensue. What I really enjoyed is that the memories were told from the perspective of the three daughters and the reader learns the truth about their childhood at the same time as the three women.

What's funny about this book is that I really didn't have a "favorite": character. The author managed to make me fall in love with all three women and both of their parents. The story dragged a bit at times (more during the present day than in the past), but I didn't really care that much because I was fully invested in this wonderful, funny, slightly dysfunctional family.

I think this would be an excellent book for a book club discussion!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. The anticipated publication date is June 24, 2025.

This had a very intriguing plot! I did struggle with so many characters that weren't differentiated early enough on for me. I would have done better with an excel spreadsheet to follow and maybe the published copy has a family tree in the front to help? And while I enjoyed the story, it felt too meandering at times. Yes, despite the solid plot, this was a more character driven book and that kept me feeling a little off kilter most of the time. This is probably very much a mood dependent book and the mood wasn't quite right for me at the time I read it.

Just finished *The Accidental Favorite* by Fran Littlewood—a warm, occasionally messy family dramedy that really lands.
Fran Littlewood’s sophomore novel centers on three accomplished sisters reuniting in a glass‑walled country house for their mother’s 70th birthday. A freak accident triggers a shocking revelation: Dad has a favorite daughter. Cue sibling rivalries, old grudges, and secrets that unravel over the week .

What makes this one shine is its mix of sharp humor and emotional insight. The sisters—Alex, Nancy, and Eva—are vividly drawn, each with relatable flaws and private anxieties: from parenting guilt to career disappointments to secret marriages.
It’s poignant and funny, balancing cringe‑worthy sibling spats with genuine moments of sisterly loyalty. Think spilled wine, social‑media snooping, and sharp tension in a literal glass house—it’s messy, but heart‑warmingly so.

In short? A cozy, emotionally honest read perfect for fans of family sagas with bite—full of laughter, tears, and those relatable family dynamics that linger long after the last page.

When the Fischer family gathers for Vivienne's 70th birthday, three generations together in a glass house creates a pressure cooker for drama. During a family photo, Patrick, the father? gathers his daughters for a photo. When a tree starts to fall that the girls can't see, he runs to the one furthest from danger to save her. The other two sisters are left reeling with confirmation that their father indeed has a favorite, and it isn't them.

This book in print is a real treat. Alex, Nancy, and Eva are in their forties and are there with their own children and spouses. There are several names to learn, but I felt it was easy to keep track of the characters. The family drama includes all of the compelling elements that resonate with readers of the subgenre: marriage, sisterhood, identity, parent-child relationships, and the sting of favoritism. To complicate the situation, each family member is keeping secrets. I found the characters to be real and their feelings relatable. The feelings of belonging, being needed and that you matter and are important are universal and don't end because you reach adulthood. Littlewood brilliantly teaches us not to throw stones at glass houses. If you love family sagas, this one is not to be missed.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Henry Holt & Company, and Fran Littlewood for an advance reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.

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Many thanks to NetGalley, Henry Holt & Company and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the sophomore novel by Fran Littlewood, author of Amazing Grace Adams. The audiobook was perfectly narrated by Fiona Button, especially when considering there were a lot of characters in this book! All opinions expressed in this review are my own – 4.5 stars!

Vivienne and Patrick Fisher have done an excellent job raising their three daughters, Alex, Nancy, and Eva. They’re well-adjusted women with impressive careers, caring partners, exciting hobbies, and sweet children. The three generations gather at a beautiful glass rental home for a weeklong celebration of Vivienne’s 70th birthday. But when Patrick’s reaction to a freak accident on the first day of the trip inadvertently reveals that he has a favorite daughter, no one is prepared for the shockwaves it sends through the family.

This book really made me wish I had sisters (although I do have lots of sisters-in-law!) because these three women had such a complicated but unbreakable bond to each other. I like books with a domestic/family theme, because it’s a good reminder that all families are messy in their own ways. That was certainly the case here with everyone having secrets and issues. I also liked the theme of family birth order and how that affects personalities. This is definitely a character-driven story and I loved this look into the Fisher family.

⭐⭐⭐.5

Pre-Read Notes:

I tend to be interested in stories about dysfunctional families, so the title of this book grabbed me. The opening pages make it clear that this is my kind of story-- adult sibling rivalry and fighting aging parents? Yep, that's my bag.

I also loved Amazing Grace Adams, so I was really happy to read more from Littlewood and Henry Holt & Co.. Looking forward to this one!

"She walks past an abandoned towel, a damp scrunch of swimsuit left on a sun bed, a single white sock. She won’t touch them. Why should she? Why should she continue to pick up the pieces of everyone else’s messy, messed-up lives? Let them do it themselves." p1290

Final Review

(thoughts & recs) THE ACCIDENTAL FAVORITE is definitely an entertaining book and I liked the first half quite a lot. It's a story about dysfunctional adult siblings, with characters I felt were authentic and developed naturally in response to the plot. It's a huge cast, though, and I didn't really figure out who was who until more than halfway through. And then, sadly, I thought the form started dragging on the story here and everything grew more and more convoluted as moves toward the climax.

So for me this book is a half & half, where I liked one half but not the other. I think fans of A FAMILY MATTER by Claire Lynch will probably enjoy this one.

My 2 Favorite Things:

✔️ This book is composed of multiple flavors of controlled chaos, served in a single sloppy scoop. The form is also Interesting, with most of the book delivered in one long chapter. I love the first feature, but the very long chapter makes me feel fatigued. If the design gains more significance later, I'll make an edit. *edit I didn't find the experimental form here to be either meaningful or related to anything else about the book. I wish the author had just done typical chapter breaks. This was a lot to read in a single chapter, within which perspective and time shift wildly.

✔️ I really love stories about adult siblings, especially if they're trying to work out some sort of dysfunctional. I love stories about people who work things out, and respect stories where characters choose their own meeds. This is a good one, really. I don't often like multiple perspectives, but I like getting reactions from all three siblings.

Notes:

1. content warnings: family dysfunction, disordered thinking, death of a child/sibling, cheating and suspected cheating

Thank you to the author Fran Littlewood, publishers Henry Holt and Company, and NetGalley for an accessible digital arc of THE ACCIDENTAL FAVORITE. All views are mine.

Fran Littlewood’s The Accidental Favorite, is a being called a heartfelt dramedy which centers on the Fisher family as they convene in a stunning glass house in the English countryside to celebrate matriarch Vivienne’s 70th birthday.

The gathering takes a dramatic turn when patriarch Patrick squeals past his eldest daughters, Alex and Nancy, to rescue the youngest, Eva, during a freak accident—a moment that exposes his favoritism.

What seems like a simple misstep triggers decades of simmering sibling tension. Alex, the eldest, battles with unfulfilled promise and a difficult marriage; Nancy, the middle sister, is wrestling with trouble at work; and Eva, the youngest, hides a hasty secret marriage .
Littlewood alternates perspectives among the three sisters and their mother, weaving a narrative that spans from 1976 to the present. Each voice is distinct, allowing the family’s complex dynamics—bitterness, humor, regret—to surface authentically.

I finished this book in one day and felt it perfectly captured family dynamics and the fact that, on the surface everything looks perfect, but it can take just one small thing to fracture relationships. I enjoyed the multi-generational and emotionally complex, with alternating viewpoints. I am always drawn to books with strong insights into family roles, sibling rivalry, and forgiveness

The Accidental Favorite is a beautifully messy portrayal of family. With humor, heart, and a poignant reminder that favoritism—intentional or not—can rock the strongest of bonds.

As the youngest of three sisters, the title and synopsis alone got my attention with this book.

Family drama can be a bit hit or miss for me, but this one was good! There were a lot of characters to get used to, and that did take me longer than I’d have liked, but after about halfway through I was having an easier time with it. I also found that there being only unlikable characters made for an interesting read.

There’s a lot of POV switching throughout the book, which kept me entertained. The family drama was hiiiiiigh here, and I actually found myself laughing out loud at points at some of the situations. The author’s writing style was a little out of the ordinary, which worked for me most of the time.

Overall this one was pretty good, and would be good for someone in the mood for a big family story.

I was excited to have the opportunity to read Fran Littlewood's second novel, after I devoured and loved Amazing Grace Adams. While I enjoyed many aspects of The Accidental Favorite, I was left feeling a bit underwhelmed by the book, and not satisfied with the novel's wrap-up at all.

I loved the premise of the story, which involves three adult sisters, their spouses, children, and their parents spending the week together on holiday for the matriarch's 70th birthday. When a tragedy nearly befalls the sisters, their father inadvertently reveals that he has a favorite daughter. From there the drama ensues, with long-buried resentments and secrets threatening the loving peace of the family. And boy does this family have secrets! There was a lot going on, both present-day and in years past, which provided a lot of juicy drama. The family drama is really off the charts with this story. I also liked the story structure where secrets were revealed little by little, with hints and clues as to what might be going on, and why they might feel as they do. The resentments, particularly, were realistic in multi-sibling families, where one seems to have favor, and all have a role they play in family dynamics. Seeing this play out in their adulthood, and so dramatically, was very entertaining.

However, The Accidental Favorite was one of the more difficult books I've experienced in a while, for several reasons. First, there was a LOT going on, both in the present day, and in the past. I found it very difficult to keep track of which of the sisters (or their mother) was telling their POV, and whether it was present day or past. There are a lot of characters, including some that are not at the house with the family, and it was tough to keep them all straight. Second, every character had secrets, resentments, or drama, and the siblings had some of both. The anger in several of them was almost palpable, and my personal response was often, "Oh, come on, get over it!" Other characters had (IMO) more of a right to be upset, and their ambivalence was annoying. Also, I just thought some of the drama was unnecessary to the story, and many of the issues were left hanging unresolved.

Fans of family dramas will find this book worth a read. Thank you to Netgalley and Henry Holt for the digital ARC of The Accidental Favorite by Fran Littlewood. The opinions in this review are my own.

A family gathers in a glasshouse in the English countryside for a week-long vacation to celebrate the mother's 70th birthday. There are flashbacks to various parts of their lives, and ultimately, there is a secret. I did not care for the plotlines or people, so this book didn't work for me.

I love big family dramas so I was excited to sink my teeth into this one. However, I found it to be a bit convoluted and meandering. I was never able to really connect with the characters in the way I had hoped and it left me feeling removed.

Thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Co and Macmillan Audio for the digital copy of this book and audiobook; I am leaving this review voluntarily.

If you like stories that feature family drama, rivalries between sisters, and deep dark secrets, you’d like The Accidental Favorite. Let’s face it-many parents say they don’t have a favorite child, but in my experience, that’s not true. It’s a personality thing. Sometimes you really click with one parent or child. Sometimes it’s very obvious, but other times, it’s more subtle. When the three sisters hear their father say which daughter is his favorite, there’s an emotional tightrope for the rest of the story.

The tense mood for the rest of the book gives The Accidental Favorite a thriller-like feel. It’s reflective and emotional as unresolved sibling rivalries open up old wounds, and the contemporary setting was a refreshing break from the historical fiction I’ve read lately.

Fiona Button narrated this book and I thought she did a fine job. She really portrayed the strong emotions of the characters well. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to explore family dynamics and a bit of a mystery, too.

During a family gathering a freak accident occurs and reveals the Fisher family’s father’s favorite child. This action impacts each member of the family for the rest of the trip and brings out secrets from the past.

Anyone who enjoys books about sibling relationships will enjoy this one. I thought it did a great job of showing sister interactions, in adult and childhood. It has a lot of commentary on birth order, which I think holds a lot of meaning and shows how we grow up with the same parents but they are different for each sibling. There are family secrets to be revealed but it’s still a slower novel focusing more on relationships.

“They’re pretty much the perfect family. Give or take.”

The Accidental Favorite comes out 6/24.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review. I was intrigued by the premise of this book and interested in reading about the relationships between the three sisters. However, the execution was off for me. The flashback sections were choppy and disrupted the flow of the story. I also wish there were fewer side characters. For example, Eva's husband and his son, that little side plot did nothing to advance the main story and could definitely have been left out. The pacing was also off for me. This book was all character until maybe 80% in, and then things actually started happening. Overall, I wish this had been edited one more time before publication to make it a tighter story as I do think Littlewood is a good writer.

What do you do when your parent has a favorite child...

...especially if it's not you?

It should be a wonderful week for the Fisher family, celebrating Vivienne Fisher's 70th birthday together in a lovely house in the English countryside. Vivienne and her husband Patrick have, after all, raised three amazing daughters who seem to have it all together. Alex, Nancy and Eva each have successful and rewarding careers, great relationships with their partners and adorable children, all of whom are gathered together for the weeklong celebration, Things go sideways early on, however, when Patrick (prompted by a flukey accident) reveals that he has a favorite child. Awkward! With that revelation, all sorts of things tamped down over the years come spilling out...simmering sibling rivalries, secrets from the past and doubts about choices made and paths taken. It turns out that even seemingly perfect families have more than their share of fault lines and other flaws..
The Accidental Favorite is a novel about family, the complicated and frustrating dynamics that affect each member and the enigma that is sisterhood. Anyone who is part of an imperfect family (I sure am...I like to say that wherever Norman Rockwell had Thanksgiving dinner it sure wasn't at my house growing up) will likely be able to identify at least in part with the different members of the Fisher family as the narrative pops back and forth between the present and the past from different characters' perspectives. Author Fran Littlewood weaves humor (sometimes dark) into the drama, and the reader will alternate between moments of tenderness and cringe. sometimes laughing with but not at the family. As in life, the relationships fluctuate between closeness and barely connected; that the house in which they are staying is made of glass immediately brought to my mind the maxim about what those living in glass houses shouldn't do, namely throw stones at one another (a maxim not heeded here) There was some whining, which is as annoying on the page as it is in real life, and even with the humorous touches It felt downbeat at times, but overall I enjoyed the flawed but (at least in my opinion) mostly sympathetic characters. It is a story which will appeal to readers who enjoy character-centric fiction about families in general and/or sisters in particular, fans of authors like Marian Keyes, Elizabeth Berg and Wally Lamb. My thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for allowing me access to this wry novel in exchange for my honest review