Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

While I didn’t feel thrilled per say, this book was an interesting tale of intrigue and complicated relationships.

You get a bit of a taste of unreliable narrator and a fantastic cast of characters throughout the family. The dynamic is twisted and wild which led to an awesommmme ending I didn’t see coming.

Solid mystery!

The holiday from hell and a monstrous family...

I know the name Cathryn Grant and have seen her books on Amazon, and I think I may have even purchased one at some stage, but this is the first time I have actually read one of her books. THE FAVORITE CHILD begins as a slow build not entirely uninteresting and a whole lot of psycho going on. My favourite kind...especially in domestic thrillers. But this family is a whole different kettle of fish...and a rather smelly lot, I might add, with things definitely with an odour of fishiness.

Annie is five months pregnant and has returned to the family home on the Californian coast with her husband Michael for the family's annual summer holiday get-together. Almost from the first moment they arrive things are amiss...and they very quickly go downhill from there. Her younger sister Sunday, the favourite child of her parents, has seemingly packed her bags and disappeared overnight. And no one, but Annie, seems to be overly concerned. As they sit around the breakfast table, Annie tries to raise her concerns but no one takes her seriously, citing Sunday's tantrums for not getting her own way and flouncing off in a huff and her pregnancy hormones. But Annie is worried for her sister. Why, she's not entirely sure. But something doesn't feel right.

The further Annie digs, the more she is convinced that Sunday didn't just up and leave. And the more her family accuse her of being hysterical and that it is not good for "Baby Girl". In an act of desperation, Annie calls Sunday's ex-husband Liam and relays her concerns to him. He has always been wary of the family and their cult-like behaviour and sibling bullying which he found damaging to Sunday. Annie is even more convinced that something is wrong when Liam reveals Sunday had called him just a few days about, upset about something, though he didn't know what. Why would she call her ex-husband when she could confide in her family?

Added to her concerns are the disturbing dreams and visions she only seems to have whenever she returns to her family home. They are both vivid and vague in equal measures and so confusing she struggles to understand what they mean. So what is her subconscious trying to tell her?

Told in the first person through Annie's narrative, peppered with the odd past chapters from each of the siblings', THE FAVORITE CHILD is an intriguing and multilayered family drama of domestic suspense with deep-seated secrets at its very core. From the very beginning it is clear that there is something very wrong in the Ledger household. They appear to be the perfect family with a successful entrepreneurial business based on the "family principles" that has been drummed into the children from an early age. The father sees himself as something of an expert on the matter and how to keep a marriage alive, children from going off the rails and a family together. The whole things screamed "cult" to me...particularly when threatened, the family then gather close and rebuff the adversary. It is creepy. And quite honestly, the family are creepy. They are highly dysfunctional with questioning behaviour and an abnormal belief system that appeared on the surface to be admirable, but below the surface was anything but.

One of the most irritating aspects throughout the story was the fact that the family saw Annie's baby as their's and constantly referred to it as "Baby Girl" in a very proprietorial way. But the even more irritating aspect was their constant touching or rubbing Annie's pregnant belly whilst talking about "Baby Girl" as if the child was theirs and Annie was just the incubator bearing the extension of their family. It made me cringe.

The further the story developed and the more Annie uncovered, I was just screaming at her to pack her bags and leave! Her hubby Michael was more than eager to do just that but Annie refused to do so until she found out what really happened to Sunday. Her family were truly a bunch of fruit loops. Completely bonkers. The lot of them. Added to that is the constant gaslighting, Annie didn't know what or who to believe. But there was something so addictive about the storyline that kept you drawn in and I was just itching to find out what happened.

Despite the sometimes confusing narrative, whether or not Annie was reliable or not, I managed to piece together what I thought happened through the bits that were drip-fed to us between the lines. I guessed a couple of the reveals but wasn't sure how the entire mystery played out. The ending was satisfactory and, quite honestly, something of a relief. There was a nice little twist at the end that gave readers a sense of closure as it does for Annie.

THE FAVORITE CHILD is a dark and sometimes disturbing domestic suspense thriller that was as intriguing as it was addictive. I was impressed with my first read by this author that I will continue to look out for others penned by her in the future...and add those to my ever-growing TBR pile.

Overall, a superbly twisted quick read with a decent plot twist and an even more disturbing family.

I would like to thank #CathrynGrant, #Netgalley, #InkubatorBooks and #ZoolooTours for an ARC of #TheFavoriteChild in exchange for an honest review.

This review appears on my blog at https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/.

Seriously one of the best psychological thrillers that I have ever read! Go get this book you will not be disappointed!

I read this book in one sitting, I could not put it down, I was hooked from the first chapter

What a creepy thriller this was! If you like a twisty story with crazy family members and gaslighting, this is the book for you. Where has Sunday gone? Did she run away or was she met with foul play? A story that kept me guessing what exactly was going on here?

For me this book was a solid read. Definitely worth picking up.

Thanks to netgalley and inkubator books for this ARC

I gave this 5 stars because it is one of the best psychological thrillers I have read this year. It was gripping and suspenseful. Cathryn Grant always delivers! Run and get this book!

Special thank you to NetGalley and Inkubator Books for the advanced reading copy of this psychological thriller.

“Jealousy is ugly. Jealousy means wanting things other people have. It means not being happy with all the good things you have. It means always looking at the other person instead of looking at yourself. Other people are none of your business.”

I quite enjoyed this psychological thriller that involved a highly dysfunctional family and daughter that was gaslight like no other. I found the book engaging and was pleased with the happier ending that the author provided. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy psychological thrillers and murder mysteries.

This book seemed to have everything I would want to read. A family of secrets and lies, for example. Annie has always known that her parents favor Sunday, her sister. She is the only of her siblings to remain un-bitter about it. Suddenly, mom and dad are treating Sunday unkindly and Annie is the only one to seem to notice. Then Sunday disappears and no one else seems to care. I would have thought I would be unable to put this down. But the book itself was kind of repetitive and slow, so I kept setting it down. The whole thing ramps up at the end, so there is a satisfying conclusion.

I am a fan of Cathryn Grant's writing style. "The Favorite Child" was a great read and I would recommend.

Annie and her husband are on their annual three week stay with her parents and siblings. When one of her siblings, Sunday, goes missing, Annie is the only one who seems concerned.

I loved the last ten percent of this book and wish that the rest of the book had been as fast paced. But up until the last few chapters, the book was slow and repetitive. We are told over and over that the "family principles" are what make for a happy family, that putting family above the individual self is the glue that binds them. Annie's family is anything but happy and there is a current of secrecy throughout her vacation with her family that she is not privy to. The family is overly solicitous of Annie because of her pregnancy, and she becomes a replacement for their obsession with Sunday. I would like to have seen more character development for Michael, Annie's husband. He did not seem to be as supportive of Annie as I expected him to be. I just wanted them to get the heck out of that treacherous household!

Thanks to NetGalley, Inkubator Books and Booksprout for an advance reader's copy.

The Favorite Child is a gripping psychological thriller about a dysfunctional family.

Annie, one of the family members is happily married, expecting her first child, enjoying a lovely vacation when she gets news her sister, Sunday has gone missing.

Annie is of course devastated, worried and concerned but for some reason the other family members shrugs it off stating she's done things like this before, she'll be back.

One thing Annie knows is there is something wrong and her sister is in danger.

The more Annie digs for answers the more she realizes her family is not what they seem and could she and her unborn child be the next ones in danger!

This book was really a good read! I was not prepared for the twists and turns. It definitely gets 5 stars from me!

Thank you #NetGalley, #TheFavoriteChild and the publisher #InkubatorBooks for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

“The Favorite Child” gripped me from the start and maintained a feeling of suspense through the end. While the Ledgers seem like an idyllic family, it is quickly revealed that they are a family full of flaws as Annie begins to unravel the mystery of her sister, Sunday’s disappearance. Cathryn Grant does a wonderful job describing the characters’ personalities which have been shaped by the family’s bizarre “principles.” I could not put this book down as I could not wait to find out what happened to Sunday and why Annie’s family did not seem to care about Sunday’s disappearance.

Sunday is missing, and no one other than her sister Annie cares. I also struggled to care about Sunday or any of the characters. There was a lot of potential. The family idealogy could have been fleshed out more. Was this a religious fundamentalist family? Some other ideology? I felt that the family dynamic was the basis for most of the plot but was not fully explained. The book felt repetitive and uneventful. Thanks for the advance review copy.

The Favorite Child is quite a rollercoaster of a story. Plenty of twists and turns as Annie discovers dangerous family secrets. I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkubator Books for my ARC.

Annie is embarking on her yearly vacation with her family. However, Annie’s family is different than most, as her father is a well-known speaker on the importance of family and family values. The dysfunctional nature of the family is hidden to the public eye, but there are many fractured relationships between the siblings. Annie’s sister, Sunday, goes missing, and while the rest of the family appears disinterested, Annie knows that something terrible has happened. Why does the rest of her family not seem to care? What secrets are being covered up. Initially, this book was a slow read, but began to get more interesting. I was surprised by the ending, which is always what you want in a good psychological thriller. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance review copy in exchange for my honest review.

Chaotic and suspenseful. What a wild ride. I love stories about going home after many years and discovering new, dark things. This time it all started hen Anne's sister goes missing. A great new novel from Grant.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC of this book The Favorite Child. I enjoyed this book and the mystery involved. I honestly did not care for the characters though. No one was truly someone I liked and or could feel sorry for. The ending was also a bit sad given the build up throughout the novel. But overall worth the read.

A twisty thriller about a dysfunctional family and secrets kept hidden. Annie is pregnant and discovers that her sister is missing and she’s the only one that seems concerned. The family believes that Sunday is always doing things like this and just writes it off. Annie feels differently and searches for the truth. She finds that there are deeply hidden secrets and it might just put her in danger. The story was slow to start, but it picks up and worth staying until the end. I throughly enjoyed the twists.

Disclaimer: Thank you to Inkubator Books for this ARC, I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Annie was lucky to be blessed with material fortune but she was not so lucky when it came to her family.
I really enjoyed all the characters, they were hard to like which made the book even more interesting and fun because I suspected everyone to be Annie’s sister’s murderer. The build up was slow but fun and very interesting and the going back and forth between the past and the present, plus Annie’s memories that were unreliable made this whole book so thrilling and kept me hooked. And wait until you find out who did it and why, so juicy and so scandalous.

I loved to hate most of the characters in this wild suspense novel, The Favorite Child. Annie, the youngest daughter of four, is pregnant and visiting the family home in northern California. The visit is part of the family's annual three-week vacation. When Sunday, Annie's sister, goes missing, chaos and craziness ensue. I enjoyed this mystery and had to read it in one sitting.

Much appreciation to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this e-ARC which will be published on August 14.

I really liked this book. It (mostly) kept me in suspense until the end. I initially thought that I was annoyed by the “Then” segments by the other siblings but I see they were necessary to the whole picture. My one major complaint was being reminded that Annie was pregnant every other sentence. Like enough already! We get it. But overall, it was an enjoyable read.