As a hardcore reality television fan (with no shame!), I was super excited for The Favorite Sister. I can't put my finger on exactly why I didn't *love* it, but I think it's because it just felt slow moving to me with no real suspense. The book is focused on the female stars of the reality show "Goal Diggers" (like Real Housewives, but single ladies who are running their own businesses and killing it). We know from the start that one of the show's stars, Brett, was murdered, but we don't know how. However, I didn't feel a lot of twists and turns throughout the way... I actually kept forgetting Brett died while I was reading the book and didn't feel that, "omg I need to know what happened!" feeling.

The ending *was* a surprise to me, but it just didn't feel as climatic as I wanted it to be. Part of the problem may also be that none of the characters are particularly likable. I don't usually care if I like characters or not, but I did have trouble connecting or cheering for anyone here.

That said, I love the concept behind the book and I think Jessica Knoll did a really awesome job creating this world. I have a feeling many reality TV producers are kicking themselves for not coming up with "Goal Diggers" (even the name is so good!!) before she did. I loved reading about the production of the show and how, even though it's based on a positive concept, producers are still brewing drama and creating as many catty situations as possible. The women are all incredibly vicious, but excellent at hiding it... Much like I imagine all the women of the Real Housewives franchise are.

If you're a fan of reality TV shows like The Real Housewives, I think you'll get a kick out of this book; but if you're looking for more of a thriller or serious mystery, this might not deliver for you.

I must admit I was curious about Knoll's sophomore effort. Since her debut novel had been inspired by events that happened to her, I wondered if she was going to be a one-trick pony. She is not.

This novel is very different than Luckiest Girl Alive, but keeps the reader interested in the same way a reality TV of the kind portrayed in its pages can: It is like realizing a car crash is about to happen and not being able to look away. The women are--again, as is expected from this kind of show--larger than life and this is what keeps the reader hooked.

*4.5 stars*

Goal Diggers is the first so-called feminist reality television show, featuring five successful women. We learn very early on that Brett, one of these women, has died, and her sister, Kelly, has apparently replaced her on the show. But how did Brett die, and who is covering up the circumstances of her death?

Reality TV is not my cup of tea, but The Favorite Sister is a well-written, intensely readable novel about the women who become reality TV stars, and how it strains the bonds of sisterhood and friendship. The characters are all well-drawn, and I enjoyed reading about their lives. There are also several twists in the plot that are very memorable! Let's just say that my guesses for what happened to Brett were all wrong!

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for an ARC.

While I really liked Knoll's first book, Luckiest Girl Alive, I had a really hard time getting into The Favorite Sister, her latest work. But you know how sometimes you say, it's not you, it's me? I seriously think this book is a case of that.

The book opens in the future, with flashbacks to the start of the latest season of Gold Diggers, a reality show about successful, independent (and childless) women who are making a name for themselves. So the premise is fun. And there are so many characters that are doing things and gossiping and all that, which I think a fan of the Kardashians or Real Housewives would love.

It's seriously a back-stage, insiders look into that type of show. The reason I think it's me and not the book is that I've never really been into those shows. Now, I'm not trying to appear snobby or high and mighty, because while I may not watch those shows, I've had quite a run watching all of Bachelor Nation make fools of themselves on and off the cameras. But that particular breed of reality show is not my cup of tea.

For me, all the characters and details and gossip was all a bit confusing for me and the plot was slower than I'd hoped. I also felt like the whole "mystery" of the book was downplayed in favor of the behind the scenes reality show stuff. That was were I found the emphasis.

So without giving too much away, my recommendation is if you love gossipy, character dense novels with lots of fun and salacious details, pick this one up. Knoll is a former editor at Cosmopolitan, so she does that stuff very very well. In retrospect, this one is a great beach read--out May 15.

Thanks to Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for an advanced e-galley of the book in exchange for my honest review.

I have very mixed feelings about Jessica Knoll's first book, "Luckiest Girl Alive." I absolutely loathed the main character, who remained irredeemable even in view of the traumas we learn about throughout the book. But at the same time, I couldn't put the book down. I felt the same way when I started reading "The Favorite Sister" - I hated every single character, even knowing their inner struggles and experiences. Everyone was deeply self-centered, inauthentic, selfish, and just generally loathsome. And while some of that dissipated as the book went on, those traits never disappeared and I still finished the book generally hating everyone in the book, even if I also felt sorry for some of them too. And, just like Luckiest Girl Alive, I couldn't put this book down either. And the story and plotting is much better than that of Luckiest Girl Alive (and contains no brutal rape scene). If I had to pick between the two books, The Favorite Sister would win out, no question.

This book just didn't do it for me. It was such a slow and dragging book. I couldn't get into the characters as it was confusing as to who was who..probably due to the boredom from reading it, I wasn't paying full attention. The ending did pick up but not enough to really enjoy this book. I am bummed as I was hoping for a fun yet suspenseful mystery. Oh well. Good luck, I hope it does well.

The perfect read for all us Real Housewives fans. What a unique set of imperfect women taking us through their drama filled lives one issue at a time. I loved how the book was told from all their perspectives. A fun read

I was thrilled to have the opportunity to review this book before it was released because I loved Jessica Knoll's previous novel - The Luckiest Girl Alive. While I found The Favorite Sister difficult to get into originally, the ending far made up for the slow start.

While the initial storyline did not draw me in immediately, once the background had been laid for all of the characters, I was immersed in the world of The Diggers. The story was told from multiple perspectives and in multiple timelines, but each chapter was clearly noted to prevent confusion. By the time the murderous events began to unfold, I was thoroughly invested in the book and stayed up far too late to finish it in that sitting. Jessica Knoll really knows how to pack a punch in her twists because I never see the true story coming!

I loved this book at times, and other times it was a little hard to follow... I think there was a bit too much jumping around from current to past.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I was a big fan of Luckiest Girl Alive, so I was really excited for this title. Sadly, it left a lot to be desired. First off, the characters are nearly impossible to tell apart. Two of them- Lauren and Jen- are practically indistinguishable from each other. And the entire cast of characters is so unlikeable. I mean, no redeeming qualities whatsoever. I did give it two stars because I do enjoy Knoll's writing style, and I liked some of the snarky, reality TV scenes.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/edit/36967019-the-favorite-sister

Quite a few characters that I thought were not necessary, which left the ending not as surprising as I expected. Loved he whole idea of the book, the look at the characters thru each other’s eyes, not necessarily how they were perceived at the beginning.

Like a lot of people, I had a hard time starting The Favorite Sister. There are a lot of characters thrown at you and you’re kind up dumped in the middle of a situation in two different time periods, so you really have to have your wits about you. I kept mixing the women of Goal Diggers up–which one was the holistic hippy chick again? Who was sleeping with whose husband? I think if this had had a stronger beginning, I would have enjoyed it more.

I also wasn’t completely sold on Goal Diggers, the reality TV show all of these ladies (I don’t even know if that’s the right descriptor for these women!) are on. I sadly can’t imagine a platform that aims to lift women up being a popular reality show… though I guess there was enough drama on the show to kind of skirt that point, maybe? I don’t know. It just felt weird to me.

Even so, Knoll’s writing is fantastic. She’s witty but without trying. She’s great at character building and bringing these bitchy women to life, so much so that it can be exhausting. With all of the backstabbing and underhandedness, you almost feel like you’re binge-watching a marathon of Real Housewives or some such.

I really liked Knoll’s first book, Luckiest Girl Alive and was hoping for more of the same dark, twisty writing. I wasn’t disappointed, but at the same time, The Favorite Sister was a different monster. I look forward to seeing what Knoll comes out with next.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Favorite Sister was full of backstabbing and cattiness that you usually see on TV. I really enjoyed it and couldn’t put it down. However, even I was not prepared for all of the plot twists that were waiting.

While I'm not typically a fan of reality TV or Housewives (except for The Bachelor and Bachelorette which just make me glad I'm not in my 20's anymore), I really enjoyed this novel. Yes, it was hard to get into as the alternating points of view had me trying to figure out who was who for the first few chapters. And it isn't a quick read by any means, but I had loved her first novel so much that I knew I had to give it a chance. And I'm so glad I did! It's not your typical thriller. It's more like Mean Girls on steroids meets sometimes-conniving twenty-something young entrepreneurs whose ache for fame supersedes their desires to "make a difference" in the world. So lots of backstabbing (in the name of good TV) and petty jealousies arise when these five women are pitted against each other on reality show, Goal Diggers. What brilliance remains is the way women often treat each other in the attempt to be "real" and compassionate, believing that "their" charity or cause is somehow more deserving than the next one. Yes, we need to celebrate women, yes, we need to stand together with a united front; Knoll exposes the barriers that often come between well-meaning women in contemporary society. The result is a roller-coaster ride with relationships jeopardized at every turn and some very relevant commentary about what lengths people will go to in order to assure fame.

Wow! The number of twists in this book had my head spinning! Jessica Knoll brings us a wonderful but terrifying portrayal of the dark side of sisterhood, leaving the reader wondering if the drama we see on Reality TV is actually less twisted than the truth. I found this novel absolutely captivating! Jessica’s use of alternating narrators kept me on my toes—I didn’t know who to trust or believe. Once I thought I had the dynamics and characters figured out, the narrator would change and everything I thought I knew was turned over.

I have followed Jessica Knoll’s work since her days at Cosmopolitan Magazine, when she wrote her Josie stories. From there, I followed her blog as she kept Josie alive. Though I liked the Josie stories, it was really when she began writing about Elizabeth that I saw what is so special about Jessica as a writer. She writes damaged characters so well; I hate them, I love them, they break my heart, and then somehow they redeem themselves. Sometimes I want to cover my eyes as they are on paths to destruction. Other times I cheer as they show their human side. More than anything, she writes characters who are so dynamic, which makes them feel real.

She excels at writing the woman who seems so enviable on the outside, only to find out how damaged they are from events in their life. When I read The Favorite Sister, I had no clue who to side with. But that is the point, right? It’s ok to love all of the characters, or to hate all of them. It’s ok to side with one, and then two chapters later side with the other. At times I loved all of the characters, and at other times I hated them all. But ultimately, there wasn’t a moment reading this book where I didn’t feel something. That is so important.

The story is about two sisters. But the story is also about four sisters. There are two biological sisters—Brett and Kelly. And then there are the sisters formed through a shared experience—Brett, Lauren, Jen, and Stephanie. Brett, Lauren, Jen, and Stephanie are the only remaining cast members from the original cast of a reality show called Goal Diggers—a show about women in their late 20s/early 30s who own their own businesses and are doing incredible things.

As the novel opens, we are at the end of filming of Season 4, and someone has died during filming. One of the original 4 sisters. Then we move back in time to before Season 4 is filmed, and Brett’s sister and business partner Kelly is joining the cast. But Kelly can’t possibly be prepared for the toxic world these seasoned reality show veterans exist in. They know how to work the system, they know how to interpret how production is manipulating them, and they know when to go with it and when to work against it. Most importantly, they know how to hide the truth—from production, from the public, and most importantly, from themselves. But at what point does the person they are for the show, become who they actually are?

One thing I loved about this story was the concept of sisterhood. As all women know, there are sisters you have from your family connections, but there are also the sisters you find in life. And really, these sisterhood connections aren’t so different. Sisters protect one another from outside forces, but despite the love between sisters, there are few dynamics more impacted by competition than sisterhood. We see this play out in the novel, both between biological sisters Brett and Kelly, and between the four original sisters of the show.

I also enjoyed the setting being in this reality television world. It’s so easy to see the contestants as dysfunctional, but when you really dig deeper, it makes you wonder how much of that is caused by these people making money off of their backs, while manipulating them into torpedoing their own lives. Who is to blame, then? The people who want to do it in the first place? The production company for treating people as pawns? Or the public, for making this a lucrative industry? In the novel, we see four women who have already sold their soul to reality television. But then we also have Kelly, who is at the beginning of her contract. Kelly’s progression through the book is fascinating to watch. Will she be able to resist the seductive pull of fame and power? Or will she become another casualty?

Stephanie was a truly magnificent character as well. Stephanie is a woman of color and a famous writer. But she grew up adopted in a white, wealthy neighborhood. Hearing Stephanie’s experience—how her skin color was almost more impactful on her life because of the privilege she grew up with and the absence of other people of color—was really a thought-provoking aspect of this book.

I think from reading some other early reviews, it is easy to see this book as shallow, because on the surface it is about murder and reality tv. But as you read it, and as you really put thought into the characters and what they are telling you—the lies, the truths, the vulnerabilities—this book really is the perfect mix of salacious and deep. It hooked me because of the drama, but it got into my head because of the love and the tragedy and the characters.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, to Jessica Knoll, and to Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. So well written. I found this book unputdownable!!

Very interesting premise with unique characters. Excellent beach read for fans of the Bachelor and Unreal. I found this book to be an improvement over Jessica Knoll's debut, with more mature writing and nuanced characters.

It took me a little bit to get into the book, there are a lot of characters and descriptions and I had a hard time figuring the who's and what's at first, that being said once i got into the book a little further I did enjoy it and wanted to see what was going to happen next, there were some twists that I never saw coming.

I was beyond excited to get an advanced kindle copy of this book but I had to struggle through this book and was so disappointed. I think because I loved this author’s first book so much, I had all the faith and trust that this one would be just as good, if not better and I was so let down. There are multiple main characters in this story which can be done well, but this was just confusing and the voices jumped around and as the reader it was never clear who was narrating and who was having discussions with whom. I wouldn’t suggest reading this one unless you are in for a challenge and like to puzzle out what is going on with the characters dialogue. This book is not out to the general public yet, but I do hope more changes and editing are severely taken under consideration before it does.

I had a really hard time with this one and that makes me sad. I just couldn't connect