The Accidental Favorite is a book about 3 adult sisters, Nancy, Alex and Eva who travel to a beautiful house in the English countryside with their families. They are all gathering to celebrated their mother's 70th birthday. After a strange incident in the woods, it becomes clear that the father has a favorite daughter and things go downhill from there. Everyone is hiding secrets and feelings of insecurity, jealousy and sibling rivalry bring everything to the surface.
I really enjoyed this book. I love a family drama, especially one with sisters.

Thank you netgalley and MacMillan Audio for the ARC of this book.

Even though this book has a premise that really appealed to me, I personally didn't enjoy the execution. Or the characters.
Nancy was the character the most spoke to me. Or least annoyed me. But, in general, I didn't care for anyone. The plot sounded interesting at first but then it become dull with a lot of adults behaving in a bratty way.
Plus, the audiobook narrator, in my opinion, didn't help much. Her voice and accent are beautiful, but the way she narrates makes it all dull and a little hard to follow all the characters. The narrator speaks in a monotone voice all the time, in all chapters, with all the characters. Honestly, it wasn't enjoyable to listen to.
I personally do not recommend the audiobook, which is a bummer. :(
Thank you, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio, for the ALC.

I read Fran Littlewood’s debut novel “Amazing Grace Adams” in 2023 and I did find that I needed to be “in a mood” to enjoy/endure the lead character. I wasn’t sure how much I liked Grace, but I definitely felt more and more sympathy for her as all the facts of her life were revealed. Her past life was tragic; but she was trying to find a spark in the present. It was a bittersweet tale, beautifully written and emotionally layered.

In “The Accidental Favorite,” the writing again is richly imagined, but we are immediately juggling so many more characters. It’s nearly Vivienne’s 70th birthday and with her husband Patrick, they will be staying in a glass house with their three daughters (Alex, Nancy, Eva) plus various mates and grandchildren. Aside from knowing to not throw stones in glass houses, there’s the unspoken pledge to never show favoritism among your children. However, Patrick spectacularly (if accidentally) breaks that rule and recollections, memories, rivalries, jealousies, and secrets become the stones to be thrown in the glass house.

Unfortunately, keeping track of the characters became stressful and emotionally draining. I wished someone like Vivienne was the central character as Grace had been. I knew it was going to be a long, long week as the family needed to retract and then expand to settle their conflicts. However, I also had access to the audiobook and the terrific Fiona Button livened up the sisters’ stories. 3.5 stars for Littlewood’s sophomore effort; 4 stars for Fiona Button’s narration.

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO Only Alex and her dad’s dark brown eyes with flecks of gold are mentioned.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO But Mother Nature is having a say in this book and it starts with a great big tree.

Thank you to Henry Holt and Company, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for advanced copies!

I have been very excited to read this since I loved Grace Adams. I am honored to have received an ALC through NetGalley. The audiobook narrator had a good performance, nice British accent that fits the characters. However I think it may have worked better with multiple narrators. It was very difficult to follow this on audio— there are so many characters and the narrative makes time jumps and jumps to each other that it is difficult to keep straight. I did preorder this as a hard copy so I am going to try reading the physical copy instead to see if I can follow it better.

Book to be published June 24, 2025

The Accidental Favorite seems like it should be an easy win: three sisters, tangled family drama, and emotional baggage galore. But I found myself restarting it more than once, convinced I’d missed something crucial in the setup. The story undoubtedly possesses its captivating moments. Once I immersed myself in the rhythm, I truly began to appreciate the intricate and layered dynamic between the sisters. I don't have a sister, but I believe this book does an excellent job of beautifully portraying the complicated relationship.
Thanks to NetGalley for the audio copy, but I’d recommend sticking with the print version for this one, I think the reason I struggled was because the audio version is worse than the physical edition (for me personally!)