Member Reviews

Thank you for the ARC! The Favorite Sister is clever and delves into difficult women's issues. I enjoyed reading it and will look for more books by this author in the future!

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The Favorite Sister was quite different from her debut Luckiest Girl Alive, but I'm glad I stuck with it, as it was thoroughly enjoyable to read.

This is a must read if you're a fan of the Real Housewives reality shows— I loved the twists, and how fast paced it felt, Unputdownable!

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RATING: 1.5 STARS
2018; Simon & Schuster Canada

'When five hyper-successful women agree to appear on a reality series set in New York City called Goal Diggers, the producers never expect the season will end in murder…"

This novel has a pretty cover. I was able to finish this novel, though I did think about DNFing it a few times, but kept saying to myself, "what if the end, changes it all." The novel is well written, but the story, characters and twists didn't work for me.

***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

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Thank you netgalley and the publisher

I could not get into this book at this time. I will surely try at a later date.

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Jessica Knolls writes dark characters so well she sucks you right in. I raced through this and enjoyed it immensely. Two sisters get caught up in a reality show with unintended consequences!

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This was fun!
If you like the Real Housewives series or any Bravo Reality series, you'll enjoy this.
It's light, it's fun, and while it isn't overly surprising there was still more to it than I expected.

As with every person, what we see is not all there is. Even more so on reality tv. Scripted encounters where the cast has to talk about certain things, post production editing to skew perspective - all of that is just a show. But, in the context of the characters in the book and on the books fictional show, there is more than that. There is what is hidden that they allow no one to see, and how the lies we tell can trap up, even kill us.

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This is a difficult review to write. On the one hand I enjoyed this book for it's clever, punchy, sharp writing. I found it thought provoking and delved into difficult women's issues. On the other hand, there were times when I wanted to throw this book across the room and never look at it again. That same clever writing was at times so distracting and over complicated to the point of confusion. The characters were all horrible human beings with no redeeming qualities and the entire plot basically summarized absolutely everything I dislike about reality TV: manipulative, hateful and hurtful.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for providing a digital copy in return for an honest, unbiased review.

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Thank you so much to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advanced copy of The Favorite Sister in exchange for an honest review.

I give this book 3/5 stars.

This psychological thriller will have you questioning the world of “reality tv” and what it really means to be a star in this genre of tv programming. The characters were well developed and I found myself quickly rooting for the protagonist, but at times the book was slow and predictable. I enjoyed the bits of humour the author inserted throughout and I loved the behind-the-scenes look into such a popular tv genre. The idea of "reality tv" being not-so-realistic was shown clearly throughout the novel.
The description of this novel had me with high expectations; however, The Favorite Sister was not one of my favourite books in this genre. Overall, the book was entertaining, but average.

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I have to admit I am not a fan of reality drama shows at all. This novel is centered around the people involved in a reality show but thankfully it also details their lives "off stage" and demonstrates the complex personalities and relationships between them.
The focus is on Brett and Kelly; two sisters who are involved in the show but little do the other participants know that there is a dark secret one sister is harboring. The beauty of this book and the writing is how we slowly learn the stories of the other characters.
As I mentioned, I was not keen on the subject matter but the book kept my interest due to the development of the plot and characters.

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Took me longer to get into than Luckiest Girl Alive (Jessica Knoll’s other book), but I’m glad I stuck with it!

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I’d rather read about reality tv than watch it - especially if it’s written by Jessica Knoll! The blurry line of reality along with the twisted turns you never expected - this book exceeded my expectations and my only regret was I hadn’t read it sooner!

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I did not finish this book. It wasnt what I thought it was. It just wasnt for me. Will not be posting a review.

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I received this book as an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love Jessica Knoll, but I found this book kind of disappointing. The narrative was disjointed at times, choppy, hard to follow, and overly convoluted.

It was an interesting and compelling story, but I wouldn't give this more than 3.5 stars.

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I received an ARC of this from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was actually looking forward to reading this but once I started to get into it, it just didn’t do it for me. The characters were a bit too extreme in that the lengths that these women were going to, to maintain their celebrity status and their actions towards one another. It made the whole thing completely unbelievable at least for me. I didn’t think the book would be that focused on petty, malicious behaviour, I thought there’d be more to it. The plot line was also a bit muddled. Not a huge fan but I still finished it to find out what actually happened in the end.

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Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in return for my honest opinion.

This book has great ratings and is to be one of the best thrillers of this summer, I just could not get into it. I didn't like the way it was written and had a hard time following the story and did not like the characters. The storyline was decent but it wasn't the best summer read for me.

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THE FAVORITE SISTER by New York Times bestseller Jessica Knoll, author of Luckiest Girl Alive, comes a thriller about two sisters who join the cast of a reality TV series. One won’t make it out alive. So…who did it?

When five hyper-successful women agree to appear on a reality series set in New York City called Goal Diggers, the producers never expect the season will end in murder…

This book centers around a reality show called, "The Goal Diggers", whose purpose is to display high-powered women making a mark in a male-dominated world. The book follows two characters on the show- Brett and Stephanie. There are so many characters in this novel, that I had a hard time trying to keep track of who they were…not that I cared. Because of this, I didn’t connect with the characters and wasn’t drawn into the story.

Sorry this book wasn’t for me, but I am sure it will appeal to some other readers.

Many thanks to Simon & Schuster via NetGalley for my copy.

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It took a few starts and stops before I could get into THE FAVORITE SISTER by Jessica Knoll, but I was hooked once I did. It follows the stars of a reality show that is centered on young female entrepreneurs. You know from the outset that the book will end in murder, but the why/how isn’t revealed until the very end. That being said, I wouldn’t classify this as a mystery or thriller or anything of the sort. It felt more like chick-lit minus any love story – lots of gossip, designer name-dropping, etc. It also has strong feminist themes, lots of great quotable material and some interesting, love-to-hate characters. I particularly enjoyed the voice of Stephanie. She’s complicated, borderline diabolical and whip smart. This is definitely a character-driven read, but if you can’t tolerate unlikable characters then steer clear!

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Heart-pounding and utterly unputdownable! I devoured this book in one sitting. The writing was spectacular! I thought it was going to be hard for Jessica Knoll to top The Luckiest Girl but she proved me wrong. She is a master in her craft!

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Great back ground information of how a reality tv series works. Fascinating. Characters were good, their stories were very good. Something was missing from the way the story flowed, I found myself not wanting to pick up the book as often as books I'm really enjoying. Overall, great story. I loved how Layla was weaved in.

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Another great read from Jessica Knoll! I loved Luckiest Girl Alive and now I love The Favorite Sister. The mix of reality TV and mystery caught my interest right at the 1st chapter.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an ARC of The Favorite Sister.

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