I thought the story in general of The Favorite Sister had lots of promise! But it was just too much all over the place. Telling us Brett was dead in the beginning did nothing for me. It would have been a better shocker at the end to know that Stephanie had died, and Brett a surprise death. It just wasn't necessary to do all the back and for now and then. It made the book confusing, it was hard to keep track of where we were in the story and also who's story we were following. I didn't know who was talking, since they were all just really vain horrible people, their voices all seemed similar. This made it difficult to relate or identify with any character, let alone like them or keep track of them! I found that even in Luckiest Girl Alive, I had trouble even liking ONE character. I liked Brett at first, but then slowly hated her towards the end. Maybe just throw in ONE likeable character in your books! Just throw us a bone!

I'm going to be completely honest with you: I did not like Knoll's first book. Probably because, and I know I've complained about this before, it was billed as the "next Gone Girl." And it really wasn't. In fact, it wasn't even really suspense novel. 

However, it wasn't a bad book. So, when I got this book on NetGalley, I wasn't hesitant. I wanted to see if Knoll could write a suspense thriller. 

She can. This isn't just a suspense thriller, it's a snarky, feminist commentary on those Bravo reality shows. And I LOVE Bravo reality shows. I don't know how accurate it is, but Knoll does a great job of weaving the story of these women and how they're manipulated by the very production company that is fueling their livelihood. It's fantastic. 

The story is told through three different perspectives, which I usually don't love, but it worked out. The voices were unique so there wasn't any confusion between the characters. In fact, all of the characters were unique and real. Like I could watch this reality show. 

And Knoll delivers on the twists. Yup, multiple twists. There are twists on your twists. And I couldn't guess any of them. 

The only reason I knocked a star off was because the middle dragged a bit. Plus, some of the passages felt a little monologuey and preachy. Not that I didn't agree with the preaching, it was just a bit much. 

Still, you should pick it up.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book. I really wanted to like this book but I couldn't finish it. (There are too many great books out there to read something that I don't really like). I got about 30% through it - it reminded me of the Real Housewives (whom I cannot stand, sorry!) - I don't really want to watch/read about grown women fighting & plotting against each other. I couldn't find myself relating to or liking any of the characters; therefore I was not inclined to root for any of them & found it hard to care what was happening in the story. Maybe if I had kept going it would've gotten better but I couldn't stomach the plot and really didn't care who was backstabbing whom during the reality show.

I really liked Jessica Knoll's debut LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE. It was raw, honest, a little cynical, but in the end a riveting read. I really wanted to like THE FAVORITE SISTER, but the tone and the "message" left me deeply uncomfortable.

The book centers around two sisters, Brett and Kelly, and how their family dynamic changes when Kelly joins a reality TV show "Goal Diggers," of which Brett is an original cast member. The plot is thick with murder mystery and secrets, as each page reveals more twists and betrayals. The writing is snarky, quick, biting, and very contemporary. If it sounds a little over the top, it is.

I liked the pacing, and how the story consistently moved along. I didn't stop reading because I wanted to know what happened. Yet I never connected with either the story or the characters. It read a bit like a reality TV show; there's excitement in the constant drama and revelations, but you can never forget that it's all scripted.

The characters also never felt real. I didn't find it hard to keep them straight, but I did find it hard to care about them. Knoll seemingly mocks the way TV/media/society reduces women (especially successful women) to negative labels--ruthless boss, high-strung manipulative friend, cold power-hungry wife--while often falling into the same trap herself. The characters seemed more like cartoons of cartoons, and none of their relationships felt organic.

I think that Knoll set out to write extremely unlikeable women to prove that women don't have to be likable or "nice." I support the message but I think the execution was 0ff. Women don't have to be likable, but they do have to be real, and Knoll has given us stereotypes instead of people. Unlikable women are capable of more than gossip, scandal, and backstabbing. You just wouldn't know it from reading THE FAVORITE SISTER.

Five successful women are on their own reality show. The show was supposed to help women help each other to succeed. You know, give each other a hand up in a world of men that have the majority of the high positions and higher paying jobs.
As you read further into the story, it turns in to back stabbing betrayal of the worst kind. Where sister will turn against sister. Where best friends betray your trust. Where anyone will do anything to get to the top. Even if you have to step on them to get higher up the ladder.
3 Stars

I requested The Favorite Sister from NetGalley and was over the moon when I received it. Thank you #JessicaKnoll , author, #SimonandSchuster, publisher, and #NetGalley. It breaks my heart to have not loved it nearly as much as I had hoped I would, though I will say there are a lot of positives about it.

1. Personally, I have never read a book that is set in a Real Housewives type reality show, so the premise was unique.

2. Like those RH shows, this book was addictive. Though I found myself wanting to look away from the train wreck of the characters' lives, I could not until I got to the bitter end.

3. Jessica Knoll is clearly an excellent writer who can engage a reader and evoke emotions through her prose.

4. Another way this book was unique is that though the setting and topics were current and timely, there was a bit of a retro feel to it, ala Jackie Collins 1980's and 1990's novels that were so popular.

5. The Favorite Sister was 100% carried by characters who were strong, powerful, ambitious women, a rare thing in a novel.

6. Though the reader is presented with a murder victim early on, the mystery and resolution were fascinating and surprising.

Now that I have listed what were clearly good qualities to this novel, I would be remiss if I didn't say that almost all the positive feelings I had for The Favorite Sister were overshadowed by the sadness at all the missed opportunities the author had to actually create some characters who might actually be role-models to a young reader. There was only one character in the book that was not overwhelmingly ugly on the inside, and that character happened to be a preteen. Every. Single, Other. Female. Character. was awful. In this novel the author posits that the women who were ambitious enough to turn themselves into self-made business scions even before landing a reality show were as hideous on the inside as their on camera behavior portrayed.

At the end of the ecopy I read, there was a Q&A with the author. Some of the questions asked of her are about "feminist sisterhood" and "female ambition", Her responses indicated she sees the good and the bad about feminists relates the bad to how women have been pitted against each other in various ways for generations. She said she in this novel she wanted to write about ambitious women who should be feared. Ms. Knoll was very successful in showing the bad side of the "feminist sisterhood", but she failed miserable at balancing that against any good. These characters SHOULD be feared, but not for their ambitions, rather for their depraved sensibilities. In my opinion, this novel hurt the very audience it was written to boon. It panders to the idea that women CAN'T support each other, won't support each other, and are jealous of each other's successes to the point of ruin. It also purports that women can't be successful without lying egregiously about who they are, which is something this reviewer wholeheartedly rejects.

When the Real Housewives and Big Little Lies collide—Jessica Knoll's The Favorite Sister is a perfect concoction of both reality television and female dynamics.

When I heard Jessica Knoll was coming out with a second novel that exploited the reality television genre in the same vein of the Real Housewives, I was immediately sold. How can I get a copy? What do I need to do? Who's going to be Bethenny Frankel in her book?! I'd do almost anything to get my hands on a copy, no joke. The story involves five wealthy women in New York City who are all featured in the hit reality television show called Goal Diggers. Goal Diggers is a show that strives to show millennial women successfully undertaking careers, while pushing gender norms aside. This cast is uninterested in having children and being stay-at-home mothers; they'd rather break the Forbes 100 list. In this dynamic group, we have Brett Courtney—a twenty-seven year old lesbian woman who is unafraid of what people may say about her body image and runs a yoga studio called SPOKE. She is tattooed and voluptuous, and she makes no apologies for it. Stephanie Simmons can be deemed the token black woman character on the cast, but she is so much more than that. She is a successful author, businesswoman, and wife; who has just released her empowering memoir that is breaking sales records. Lauren Bunn has launched her innovative dating app that is growing in popularity each day, but her drunken antics have caught tabloid attention that overshadows all the success that she has gained. Jen Greenberg, daughter of philanthropist and socialite Yvette Greenberg, has become the voice for dieting and health food options, claiming that her food line not only encourages a healthy body and mind, but also is a catalyst for success. Lastly, we meet Kelly Courtney, Brett's sister and cofounder of SPOKE. Kelly is the newest cast member for the upcoming season and really doesn't fit the mold of the initial concept of the series. She has a twelve year old daughter and is a single mother with modest flair. Goal Diggers is set to begin filming, but nobody would have guessed that it would end in murder.

I don't want to get any further into the plot than just introducing you to the cast and providing the main theme of the story. The story develops much further than that little blurb, but I felt that you really need a cheat sheet for the main five characters because we are quickly introduced to all five of them (and at least 3-4 secondary characters) immediately. Take the blurb about the cast and carry it with you while you read, I wish I had one! The beginning of The Favorite Sister was rough, I have to tell you. We are thrown way too much about the cast early on, with long chapters that don't provide us a break to digest what we just read. We don't really go anywhere in the first part of this novel because there's too much catch up for us to get to. The novel is broken into several parts, and each part is more enjoyable than its predecessor. Once I got to the halfway mark, I was hooked! As you get to the core of the story, we learn about the exploitation of reality television, we see the dynamics between family and friends, we see how society has forced feminism and women empowerment into a women-eat-women world, and we see fame and notoriety being used as a drug and the lengths people will go for that drug. One thing that I found so profound in The Favorite Sister was the theme of casual racism in every day life. We see a portrayal of how society uses casual racism in dating, business, and overall privilege. I did not expect this novel to even touch any of those topics, and for that I'm grateful. I believe that these thematic elements of the story will resonate with more readers than Ms. Knoll probably imagined. I loved that this story touched on all these different themes without feeling overloaded on plot. The plot is clearly defined as you go on and the story really doesn't deter from that.

The Favorite Sister is NOT a thriller or a suspense novel in ANY CAPACITY and if anyone tells you otherwise, they're lying. The Favorite Sister really is a drama that may also feel like a tragedy at times. Ugh I can keep talking more about the story, but I think I drove the point home. It's time to pick up this book on May 15, 2018. Will I be buying a hard cover for my collection? Absolutely.

Thank you Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Real queens fix each other's crowns.

I liked it, but I didn't love. it. What saved it for me was the twist at the end ! It was a quick easy read and I know it's only a story but I felt it showed these women and their "friendship" in the worst light. None of them were very good people. The only one who was decent was Layla. Was not a fan of how the book ended once the killer was revealed. I wish I could say that I loved it, I enjoyed reading it but was not sold on it. Sorry !

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC of this book in exchange for a honest review.

I loved/hated this book at times and as weird as that sounds that made me like the book even more. The plot line surrounds a group of women filming a version of the “Housewives” reality show but with an entrepreneurial twist. What I loved about this book was what I secretly love about watching “Housewives”, and that is that every single person is truly an awful person but you kind of like them for being true to their awful-selfs. So even though you won’t like the characters you will not be able to put the book down.

I really loved that the book was written very well but also weaved in some millennial slang (I’m looking at you bae). It made the book relatable and fun to read. Yes, I just said it was fun to read a book about murder but once you read the book you’ll understand what I mean.

There where times in the book where it wasn’t apparent that a scene has transitioned in the book. I’m going to attribute that to the fact that this is an ARC so formatting isn’t always publish-ready. Hopefully it’s corrected because it was a little off putting to read.

Overall, a solid 4 star novel but that’s not surprising considering Knolls debut novel. I would put this one on the top of your TBR pile.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. I was super excited to get it, because I loved Luckiest Girl Alive.

If you enjoy reality television, then this book is for you. Told in alternating points-of-view and past/present time, we meet a cast of successful women and see what things are like when the cameras are on and off. You learn very early on that one of the women has died... and spend the rest of the book finding out the who, why, and how...

If you don't like seeing examples of women being catty towards one another, you probably won't like this book. I will say, it ended up being a guilty pleasure for me, even though I didn't really like any of the characters... I couldn't resist reading to figure out what happened!

This book has been abandoned.
First off, it's extremely rare that I don't finish a book.
I'm not really a fan of reality shows, and that is exactly what you're getting, a behind the scenes, bitchfest reality show. The characters are petty, egotistic, and extremely stereotypical with each trying to remain in the spotlight. This just wasn't a book for me.

Great read. About a Real Housewives type show, goes behind the scenes to show what people will do for fame and to stay relevant. It really makes you think about WHY we like these shows and what they do to the people in them. Great ending much like her other book. I will constantly be looking forward to this author's latest release.

Really liked this one, but not as much as Luckiest Girl Alive (I just really liked the lead in that one!).
I am a sucker for RHOBH, its my jam! And boy did this feed that drama love!

I will not rehash plot points, but the drama and mystery are in this plot in massive amounts. I liked one character more than the others, and I really loved the pacing.
I was a bit confused at first because of the way the interview chapters were set up, but my confusion resolved after I got further into the book.

Love that she set this behind the scenes of a reality show. Love.
I am so happy I read this! Definitely worth the time and highly recommended to anyone who like thrillers, mysteries and drama. Fun!

Don't want to give away any spoilers, but this book drew me in right from the start! Finished it in two days. I would highly recommend this book as well as the author!

As much as it disappoints me to say this (because I loved Jessica Knoll's first novel), THE FAVORITE SISTER is a DNF for me. I just couldn't stomach reading the inner thoughts of these characters for another minute longer. They are all jealous, petty, arrogant, entitled little bitches with over-inflated egos and delusions of grandeur. Add in the political agenda I could feel simmering just below the surface... and I had to take a hard pass on finishing it. I'm sure that readers who enjoy reading about politically charged issues will love this book. It just isn't for me.

*I would still like to give a big thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

Like some other readers pointed, I had problems keeping the names straight at the beginning. I kept getting confused between Jesse and Jen, Lauren and Layla, and all the other characters. A few chapters into the book, I even thought about giving it up – and that would have been a huge mistake!

The Favorite Sister starts off really slow as each woman make an entry. In the beginning, I thought Stephanie was just petty and jealous, Jen boring, and Brett annoying. I could not have been more wrong!! The book keeps you on your toes as each chapter brings new revelations that totally throws you for a twist. I loved this book! Thanks to Netgalley for giving me an ARC.

This is the book you want to read this summer if you are a fan of reality shows. The characters are all pretty unlikeable and the book starts out a little slow, but it is definitely full of ruthless women, and back stabbing and plenty of twists if the Real Housewives are on your dvr.

This book was okay and had the potential to be good.
It is about a reality show where the women were successful before they got on the show and follows them as their successes grow. We are several seasons in when the book starts.
I felt the character development was focused on making each one a stereotype and just having them fit in that. It was even mentioned as they were cast for their roles...okay we get that for a show but for the book show a bit more depth.
I finished it to find out how a certain character meets their end (it is mentioned they met their end at the start of the book). I was like eh that was ho hum when done.

This book was a page turner with plenty of twists and turns. Each character has her secrets, and it's hard to know who to believe, which is fun for the reader.

This is not an easy book to read, though it is engaging. I had a hard time with the unpleasant characters, but the writing was good and the plot moved quickly. Not quite on par with the author's previous book, but still a worthwhile read!