I liked the mystery of this book, and the ending was unexpected. However, I didn’t really care for any of the characters and felt like pieces of their backgrounds were missing to give me a better understanding of the family dynamics.

Another 'holiday-from-hell' tale but this time accompanied by a monstrous family too.

Annie and her husband Michael have gathered at her parents' home along with her siblings Jake, Collette, and Sunday for their annual summer holiday. Growing up as the children of family wellness guru Dave Ledger, the siblings were expected to strictly adhere to the principles propagated by their father for a successful family unit and yet their family is as dysfunctional, bordering on creepy, as ever. When her sister, Sunday goes missing, no one except Annie, is worried. As she delves further into Sunday's disappearance, piecing together her fractured memory, Annie realizes that her family has secrets that are worth killing for.

Right from the beginning, the Ledger family comes across as quite problematic and so it's not that much of a surprise that there was not a single likeable character in the book, except for Annie. Though it is implied that older brother, Jake was the vile one of the lot, it was his wife Bella who gave me the heebie-jeebies with her words that were more morbid than soothing. Despite a family full of creeps, it did take a bit to figure out who was the actual rotten one among all the bad apples.

Owing to a memory riddled with potholes and thanks to a family that gaslights like nobody's business, much of the book reads like the hysterics of an unreliable narrator. Most of the time, I wanted to shake Annie by her fictional shoulders and yell at her to get the hell out of that home, family be damned. The ending, while totally justified, IMO, was way too tidy.

On a lighter note, thanks to this book, I now have a new pet peeve - toothpicks at the dining table.

Overall, a quick-read thriller with a decent plot twist. Thanks to Inkubator Books and Netgalley for providing a digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

loved it 😍 was very interesting and I loved how unpredictable the story was the characters were very believable and I felt like I could relate to the struggles

I remember it like it was yesterday - the anticipation of my mom cutting into my birthday cake and reaching me the first slice! I’ll never forget the summer she made me a Raggedy Ann cake and iced it with the skill of a professional decorator. Mom’s cakes were always made from scratch and the inside was consistently as delicious as it looked.

The ominous but beautifully simple birthday cake on the cover of this book perfectly represents the Ledger family. On the surface they appear a perfect family; any imperfections are iced over and the familial unit is precariously held together by family principles. However, should one ‘cut into’ this mirage, they would be shocked to discover what’s on the inside! Wait, doesn’t that drippy icing look like….

Did you ever believe that one of your siblings was your parents’ favourite? It probably wasn’t true, but in the mind of a child, it’s often a reality. Sunday Ledger is treated differently than the other Ledger siblings. Very differently. It’s no surprise that there’s deep seated animosity. When Sunday goes missing from the legendary annual 3-week family holiday, the concern arises when nobody seems to care…not even the parents. Why?! Grant explores the slights and favouritism that often arise in dysfunctional families and gives us a peek into a family whose lives are torn apart by secrets. You’ll turn over the last page convinced that the Ledgers have been dragging more psychological baggage than suitcases to each summer holiday!

Cathryn Grant hasn’t successfully published 14 psychological thrillers without knowing what keeps readers glued to the pages and she proves it yet again. I felt compelled to find out what was going on behind closed doors and what really happened to Sunday Ledger.

I was gifted this advance copy by Cathryn Grant, Inkubator Books and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

The Favorite Child
by Cathryn Grant
This was a very slow read. I just could not get into it. Seems the whole family was nuts, including the main and secondary (her husband) I could not see any sort of redeeming value in anyone. Sorry, but for me, it was just not at all a good read.

First, a huge thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this book!


- [ ] This one was ok. The first half was INCREDIBLY slow, the second have did pick up the pace a bit. Most of the twists were VERY predictable, and I genuinely did not like a single character. I rooted for one person, the sweet babe the MC was pregnant with. The good news is, this book will be on KU so if you’re interested, there’s an option so you don’t have to purchase in case you’re not a fan!

The Favorite Child by Cathryn Grant

Published: August 14, 2022
Inkubator Books
Pages:
Genre: Thriller
KKECReads Rating: 4/5
I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.

Cathryn Grant is the bestselling author of fourteen psychological thrillers, including ALWAYS REMEMBER, THE OTHER COUPLE, and THE GUEST. She is also the author of the ALEXANDRA MALLORY series, featuring a sociopath you can’t help but love. Her psychological suspense fiction reveals the motives and desires that lead to suburban crime. She’s obsessed with the “why” behind human behavior. In real crime, too many times, the why is left unanswered. Cathryn’s fiction tells the stories of ordinary people driven to commit murder. Cathryn also writes ghost stories—The Haunted Ship Trilogy and the Madison Keith series of novellas. When she’s not writing, she’s usually reading fiction, walking on the beach, or playing golf, trying desperately to avoid hitting her ball in the sand or the water. She lives on the Central California Coast with her husband and her cat, Cleopatra.

“Maybe we overthink the bad memories because we keep retelling those stories, and they bury all the happy moments.”

Annie is in her childhood home with her family for their annual summer vacation. Three weeks of family time. The difference now is Annie ad her husband Michael are expecting their first child, and everyone is extremely focused on that. Annie starts having vivid nightmares again, something that always seems to happen when she’s at her parent's house, and suddenly she feels like the secrets of the past are going to suffocate her future. With more than just her life to fight for, Annie needs the truth.

Wow. This family was bananas. While I understand why Annie felt compelled to stay and find the truth, I would have taken my husband up on his offer to leave early.

This was a fast-paced, circular thrill ride from start to finish. The characters were all so well developed. I loved that there was a heavy cult-like shadow cast, despite the adamant claims that this wasn’t a cult.

I couldn’t put this book down, even when I was frustrated with the logic Annie was operating. I would have bailed, saving myself and unborn child. But boy, was this a doozy!

I enjoyed the complexities of the storyline and the way past perspectives were carefully dropped in at the right times. This was a well-executed house of cards until it wasn’t.

A secret-packed thriller that will leave you guessing at every turn…

The Favorite Child by Cathryn Grant is a speedy, plot-focused family thriller that I’d recommend to anyone wanting to pick up a quick yet satisfying read.

I ended up finishing this book in a day. Needless to say, it kept me turning the page!

Even though I was gripped by the novel’s plot, I would’ve liked to have seen a bit more character development from each of the core family members. Some of the siblings felt a bit lackluster, and I found most of their conversations with the main character to be repetitive.

If you’re into reading for the love of character growth, I would advise taking a pass on this one.

Thank you to NetGalley for gifting me an eArc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Good read from start to finish, once I started I found it hard to stop. I felt I really could understand the characters and imagine I was there.

The Favorite Child Review 📘

Author: Cathryn Grant

Rating: 3 ⭐️


This novel was focused on Annie, who is vacationing with her family when her sister, Sunday, goes missing. The only one who seems to be concerned is pregnant Annie, who is accused of being hysterical. This book was a slow burn, with some unexpected twists and surprises. However, I wasn’t a fan of how Annie’s family was portrayed. They didn’t seem like a nice group of people, and it’s difficult to enjoy unlikable characters. Overall, I gave this book 3 stars. Thank you to NetGally for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Annie feels like she's in a good place. Happily married and expecting her first child but then her sister goes missing. Despite her family's reassurance, Annie feels that something is wrong. As she searches for the truth she discovers that some of her family are not what they seem and are hiding a horrifying secret.

It took me a while to get into the writer's voice. It seemed quite childish initially and, in truth, I don't care for the way the book is written. The protagonist's sister is called Sunday which doesn't really fit with the rest of the family names to me. There seem a lot of excess stories which have little or no relevance to the plot. I'm sure that lots of readers will enjoy it but it didn't work for me.

Great plot to get yourself lost in. This book has everything. A real fast paced psychological thriller. Will get your heart racing on more than one occasion. Very well written. Highly recommend this book

Another amazing book by this author. She has a flair for a storyline that gets you in and not be able to put the book down!

For me this was a very generic slow burn with very hard to like characters. Very nearly did not finish but read on the rec of a friend who loved it so it might just be me :)

This book was ok but didn’t really hit the mark for me. It centers on Annie, who is spending a few weeks with her parents and grown siblings (and their spouses) on an annual summer vacation. One of her sisters goes missing and no one else is taking it seriously- Annie is pregnant and they all keep accusing her of being hysterical, but she knows something is wrong.

The thing that made me struggle the most with this book is the fact that while Annie’s whole family acted like horrible people, I didn’t have any background about whether this was in character or not. We knew the older siblings had been mean since childhood but I couldn’t get a sense of what the parents were usually like. Were these annual holidays always horrible or were people acting differently this year? If they were always horrible, why did she keep coming? No character, including Annie, was all that likable; she went about doing the right things in the wrong way. Her husband didn’t seem all that supportive, but again I didn’t know if this was out of character or not.

On a good note, the mystery was a slow burn that contained some good twists and I kind of liked the end because it felt unexpected.

One random thing I thought was kind of weird is that the sister that goes missing is named Sunday, but the other 3 siblings have more traditional names. I spent probably too much time wondering what the story was behind naming Sunday in a different style than everyone else. This could just be me though :)

Overall, ok book but didn’t really do it for me- there was just too much background info missing for me to truly understand the characterization. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Annie and Sunday are sisters on holiday with their dysfunctional family. Their relationship is very dysfunctional too, having been almost pitted against each other from childhood. But when Sunday disappears, Annie is the only person that seems to react at all.

This was hard to read on the basis that it was an extremely slow burn, with writing that was quite difficult to follow at times. Not all the threads are tied up at the end.

I think this could be a great book for anyone that can concentrate completely on it. Probably not a beach read.

A slow buring read that was well written with a compelling story and well developed characters - some of which were detestable. This was a very characters driven book which I liked

A slow build up to this family based drama,and what a family they are,I have to admit to not liking any of them….but that isen’t always a bad thing,as long as a book brings some feeling/emotion it is doing it’s job even if for the reader they are all unlikeable folk and you wouldn’t want to know them in real life….
There is lots of mystery and secrets in this story,why is no one worried or bothered except Annie when her Sister Sunday goes missing?,why is she told ‘not to worry and all will be well?’ Annie is determined to get to the bottom of it but as she does she realises there is,of course, a dark reason for what is happening…..but has she left it too late?
As say a slow burner for me but well written and held my interest throughout

7/10
4 Stars

I wanted to love this one but I did not. The main character was so annoying! I’m sure this will be a favorite for some but it wasn’t the book for me.

Very character led and a bit of a slow burn for me. This is the 1st book ove read where I just hated all the characters and was incredibly frustrated that she did just leave but I guess thats a sign of a book that's written well enough to get the reader to care and become frustrated by the actions of these people. It's not my usual genre of thriller as its more just people being twisted and there's not much action or things happening but i still really enjoyed it. Its well wrotten and easy to get into. It's one that you start and then before you know It you're half way though and have forgotten to put dinner on. Plus there were a few twists I just didn't see coming at all