Thank you so much for letting me read Favourite Daighter early.
We follow Arlo and Mickey, half sisters though never met, until their alcoholic father past away and a bombshell hit Arlo who was a Daddy's girl.
After caring for her father her entire life, right up till he took his last breath. She later found out that he left her nothing in thr will.
Mickey, a teacher who counts down till 5pm for a drink, gets in trouble at work, finds out that the father who was always drunk around her when growing up, left after she turned 7, happend to leave her 50 grand, however the conditions of getting the money, Mickey had to attend 7 therapy sessions with a therapist he picked out, which happend to be her half sister.

I very much enjoyed how this book was written

Although I really enjoyed this book, I also found it a little unsettling. Mickey is a functioning alcoholic and teacher who gets into trouble for returning a pupil to his home rather than getting the authorities involved. This is on the way to a meeting with a lawyer who tells her that her absentee father had died and left her a substantial amount of money providing she adheres to his condition which is to attend 7 therapy sessions with a particular therapist. Unbeknownst to Mickey, the therapist, Arlo (short for Charlotte) is her half sister.

Arlo seems to have it all together, working with a renowned psychologist and getting on with her life after her divorce.

Things start to unravel for both girls the further you travel in the story. There are some very uncomfortable parts with both girls reliving their times with their father and what it meant to them.

Parts of this book are very amusing and parts are incredibly sad and distressing.

All in all it is a good read which deals with some sensitive subjects

A gripping read, flew through this as I felt invested in the story from the start. Well written and pacing, a perfect holiday read!

I’m not sure what I expected from this novel but I requested an ARC from @NetGalley because I liked the sound of the blurb.
The cover wasn’t especially eye-catching, but there’s nothing I disliked about it either.
However, it belies this great story.
Full of heart, honesty and raw emotion, Morgan Dick’s novel about two sisters who discover each other after the death of their alcoholic father is gripping and bursts with character growth.
Charlotte (Arlo), the dutiful daughter who nursed her millionaire father through the final stages of his illness, is devastated when her entire inheritance is left to the step sister she’s never met. Well, hadn’t met, until her dysfunctional father made therapy a condition of Mickey’s (said step sister) inheritance. Did I mention that Arlo is a therapist?
You can imagine the chaos and moral dilemmas that abound as a result of this irresponsible plan. Mickey has her own troubles, not least of which is an alcohol dependency, along with complete ignorance that her therapist is her step sister.
Definitely check the trigger warnings on this one, but definitely read it!
It’s a story about love, compassion, facing your demons and battling the little buggers on a daily basis. It’s a story about finding your truth and getting up, no matter how many times you get knocked down.
I lost myself in this story. Five stars from me, with thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK for the chance to read an ARC.
Favourite Daughter releases on 1 May.

While this book is well written, it is not for me. It centers around two half-sisters and addresses themes of loss, grief, addiction and abandonment. It opens with a bang where Mickey learns that her recently deceased and estranged father has left her a fortune, on the condition that she attends therapy. Then we meet her half-sister Arlo at his somewhat chaotic funeral. From there the book switches perspectives back and forth.

There was an element of the “White Lotus” among some of the characters, who were loud, amusing, chaotic and highly self-important! For me, neither daughter was particularly nice, so I found it hard to empathize.

Despite the heavy themes, it is an easy soap opera kind of a read.

Firstly thank you for reaching out and giving me an e-arc for this book.
This book was so full of emotions, both the sisters were not good great people, they were both flawed, however i love when characters are written with such multitude. I loved the plot and how it was concluded and the core emotions of the books.
If anyone read and liked blue sister's by coco mellors this one is for them.

I really resonated with this, my dad died in 2022 from liver failure and I had only been in contact with his for 3 years beforehand as we were estranged grieving him has been difficult and my sister and he were really close- fab writing, really understood grief and addiction

American half sisters, drunken father who dies leaving his daughters barely capable of surviving in modern America.
Not the kind of book that I would normally read.
It is well written, with interesting characters, a good story line and an educational theme.
The author investigates the characters of the half sisters, who meet due to the deviousness of the father, and rub along and some how everything turns out alright in the end.
Lots of people will love this book.
I liked it.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is a hilarious and tragic read about the legacy a dead alcoholic leaves behind.
Mickey's dad left her when she was little so she's shocked when he leaves her millions of dollars.
Arlo, also Mickey's daughter, expected to get the money, and goes to incredibly underhanded ways to try and get it from Mickey.
This is a tale of two sisters, and a father's messed-up dying wish to push them together.
I see it making an excellent HBO show.

This story about two estranged half sisters dealing with the death of their troubled father was well written and quite compelling. I had issues with the slightly contrived plot line whereby one daughter becomes the therapist for the other when they were strangers to one another but the book was readable and entertaining.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review an advance cooy

Favourite Daughter is an emotional masterpiece! 🎭💔 It follows sisters Mickey and Arlo, brought together after their dad’s death. Mickey inherits his fortune—but only if she attends therapy with Arlo as her therapist. 😳 This book dives deep into addiction, grief, and family struggles, with Mickey’s journey of self-discovery hitting especially hard. 🥃💡 I was hooked from page one—heart racing, tears flowing. 😭❤️ If you love raw, heartfelt family dramas about healing and forgiveness, this is a MUST-read📚✨

All of the characters seemed too closely knit, and kept showing up in each other’s lives so randomly, with paths crossing so conveniently (the sisters, the ex, the neighbour etc..). It helped move the story along, but I didn’t really engage with any of the characters enough to feel for any of them. This could’ve been a powerful story if it had more emotional depth when touching on emotional topics such as grief and addiction and family secrets.

Imagine that the father you were devoted to and took care of right until the end cuts you out of your will. Now imagine that the father who unceremoniously dumped you and your mother and who you had no contact with since left a veritable fortune to you in his will.

Meet Arlo and Mickey, half-sisters who have never met, and who are thrown together because of their father's stipulation that Mickey attend counselling before she can be granted her money, and Arlo ends up being the psychologist.

This sounds like a pretty contrived premise but somehow it works. The respective situations that the half-sisters find themselves in are deeply sympathetic. The father's presence is very real despite him being dead before the beginning of the story. Several sections make you want to shout at the main characters, but even that works well. There is a lot going on here and, without giving spoilers, I felt that the ending really pulled everything together in a very satisfying way.

Thank you to Penguin General UK and Netgalley for the ARC!

This is phenomenal - I read it all in less than a day

Favourite Daughter is a dual-POV novel that follows Mickey and Arlo, half-sisters who have never met, daughters of an alcoholic and verbally abusive father who has just passed away. Mickey and her mum were abandoned by her father when she was seven, but her life is still in many ways tied to his as she desperately doesn't want to be like him, but perhaps they're more similar than she cares to admit. Arlo was raised by her father and took care of him all her life. Even though she feels like she has things figured out and adores her father, perhaps she doesn't realise the impact he has had on her life. After passing away, their father leaves Mickey a lot of money, but the catch is she needs to complete seven therapy sessions before having access to it. Arlo is left out of the will and feels betrayed, but imagine how she'll feel when she finds out her new patient is the half-sister she's never met who was given the money that was initially meant for her.

This book is incredible!! These characters are so messy, raw and real that I couldn't help but feel such a fondness towards them; I kept rooting for them and also being mad at them...It gave me all of the feels. The pace of the novel, with its short chapters, amplifies this impulsive and chaotic vibe, and the dual-POV is an amazing way of getting a deeper understanding of these characters, as we have access to both their inner thoughts and external perspectives on them.

Raw, chaotic, and painfully real - Favourite Daughter is a book that you'll have a hard time putting down! I can't recommend it enough.

Thank you so much to Viking Books UK and NetGalley for the e-ARC!

This was such an interesting concept and the execution was so good! I loved that the characters in this book were complex and we got to see things from both Mickey and Arlo's points of view. Character driven books can be hit or miss for me because I love a juicy plot, but this one kept me engaged and I was itching to see what happened next. I think this book will be an absolute hit for lit fic lovers and can't wait to see what everyone thinks when its released into the world.

thanks netgalley for the arc!

when i started this book, i thought the plot became super predictable near the start and nearly put it down - and i’m glad i didn’t!

the main characters were chaotic and messy and not very likeable but made for an engaging and unique read.

would recommend!

Firstly I loved the idea behind this book, it was something different that I hadn’t read before. 2 women, with different troubles and challenges and no knowledge of each other outside their actual existence, shared a father who’s now dead. And he’s cut Arlo, who he seemingly doted on (and her, him) out of the will in favour of Mickey who he’s not seen for 2 decades subject to her doing 7 therapy sessions… prepaid with Arlo.

This book was interesting and I equally loved both sisters, even though they were flawed. It was, for me, a little long in the middle, but I’m not sure how it could have been reduced. I loved the ending (their sharing the huge sum was what I was rooting for- I knew I could rely on Mickey!)

Can’t wait to discuss this with people when it’s on shelves!

4/5 ⭐️

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for the ARC of this title.

THE read for girls with daddy issues (me).

A heartbreaking yet tender exploration of grief, codependency, addiction and trauma.
Heavy but so full of hope.
Both sisters are extremely frustrating to follow at times but that’s one of the things that makes them feel like real people. They’re flawed but you still can’t help but root for them.
The snappy and confident voice of Morgan Dick made for, at times very dark, a very easy read.
Definitely needs content warning and possibly numbers and websites of various helplines.

When was the last time you read a book entirely because of the title?

I saw this title from the ARC request and just knew that I would be reading this one way before I even looked at the synopsis to see if it was right up my alley.

Family dynamics can be messy, complicated, and downright heart-wrenching, and this story nails all of that in the most compelling way. Mickey and Arlo’s relationship is built on a foundation of pain, resentment, and unhealed wounds, making for a rollercoaster of emotions throughout the book.

The author brings to the forefront the long-lasting impact of parental abandonment. Mickey, in particular, embodies the pain of being deserted by a parent. It’s gut-wrenching to see how the weight of that physical and emotional neglect shaped her sense of self, as well as her relationships. Similarly, the way the story addresses addiction and its grip on the person suffering from it and the devastating toll it takes on the people who love them was incredibly well handled. It was so raw and real, and I truly appreciated the way these serious issues were explored. The author also examines the complexities go grief, examining how the loss of a loved one ripples through every part of those left behind.

The prose is simple, yet still carries deep significance. The way the story unfolds, particularly through the inheritance and therapy sessions, is strikingly clever (albeit wildly unethical), revealing how complex relationships can force individuals to confront their deepest wounds. The pairing of Mickey and Arlo, two women bound by the same man but separated by years of pain, is brilliant.

From the very start, I was invested in Mickey’s journey. Her struggles and rancour towards her father made me root for her, even before the full depth of her history was revealed. I loved how the author carefully unfurled her character, allowing us to witness her growth as the plot unfolded. I also came to really like Arlo, whose character initially felt distant but gradually revealed so many layers. As a psychologist, she brought a sense of quiet understanding to the mess they were navigating, and I ended up feeling a lot of empathy for her as well.

These characters should have been unlikable, yet their multifaceted personalities, their flaws, and their struggles made it impossible not to feel a deep sense of empathy for them. They feel so achingly real, grappling with problems that are universal and raw in their vulnerability. If their story isn’t relatable, then I’m not sure what is. My heart broke for the sisters and their moms, and I shed a few thug tears while reading.

Ultimately, this is a book about brokenness, grief, healing, and the complicated nature of family relationships. The author captured the emotional depth beautifully, and I’m more than satisfied with how it all came together.

I’d like to read more from Morgan Dick.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publishers, for my digital ARC. It’ll be out on 1st May 2025. 💚💙💜

Oh what a lovely comi-tragic tale of two sisters. ❤️ Arlo and Mickey, linked by their fathers but could not have two more different lives. I adored this sad, very funny book & and adoreddddd the side characters!