The Favorite Sister

Jessica Knoll

May 2018 · Simon and Schuster · Narrated by Ashlie Atkinson, Jenni Barber, and Aja Naomi King

About this audiobook

From the author of Luckiest Girl Alive—now a Netflix film—comes the “engrossing” (People) New York Times bestseller starring two sisters who join the cast of a reality TV series…and only one will make it out alive.

Brett and Kelly have always toed the line between supportive sisters and bitter rivals. Growing up, Brett was the problem child, living in the shadow of the brilliant and beautiful Kelly. In adulthood, all that has changed. Kelly is a struggling single mother and Brett has skyrocketed to meteoric success that has been chronicled on a reality TV show called Goal Diggers.

When Kelly manipulates her way onto the show and into Brett’s world, Brett is wildly threatened. Kelly, and only Kelly, knows her younger sister’s appalling secret, one that could ruin her.

Still, when the truth comes out in the explosive final weekend of filming, neither of them ever expected that the season would end in murder.

Ratings and reviews

Let me start by saying that I don't watch reality TV. I get quite enough reality in everyday life. Nevertheless, the blurb for this one sounded interesting, so I decided to give it a gander. I did finish, but I set the book aside numerous times, mostly due to the fact that I couldn't find a single character in the book to actually root for. None of them were the least bit likable. Maybe that was the author's intention, but for me, I have a hard time getting invested in a story when no one has a redeeming quality. We have five women who are each successful, but instead of being proud of that, they spend a crazy amount of time tearing each other down. The whole thing read like Mean Girls for grown-ups. We get lots of behind the scenes making of reality TV and how the drama gets encouraged, but the constant conniving among these women quickly grated on my nerves. There is a murder to give us some mystery and things do pick up in the end, but without that connection to any of the characters, it didn't help much. I suppose I was expecting something more, some actual sisterhood at some point, and that's on me, but I still came away from this one disappointed.

Jessica Knoll's The Favorite Sister reads like a TMZ story. The plot centers on five career-oriented woman who have become celebrities from starring in a reality TV show. As you read though the story, you discover that the women's realities are lies and their truths are marred by secrets. Though the story is slow to develop, it gains momentum after a few chapters, pulling you into this world of deception and revealing that the lies have led to murder. The characters are difficult to like, in fact sometimes they are loathed, but you still want to uncover their secrets. Just when you think you have figured out what has led to the murder another twist is added and another layer of lies is torn away. The ending leaves is a bit of a shock but it fitting with the theme of the story, that reality TV is not real and people aren't what they seem. I really enjoyed reading this book. If you're looking for a story where truth and lies are intermingled and reality is scripted, then pick up this book and enjoy. Thanks to Netgalley for providing this advanced copy, the opinions are my own.

I was torn between giving this 4 stars or 5 stars. I went with 4 because even though I loved the plot and the ending (oh that OMG ending!), It took me a very long time to actually get into it. I almost gave up twice but once I got half way through it I started to get hooked. Would definitely recommend. Way better than "Luckiest Girl Alive"

About the author

Jessica Knoll is the New York Times bestselling author of The Favorite Sister and Luckiest Girl Alive—now a major motion picture from Netflix starring Mila Kunis. She has been a senior editor at Cosmopolitan and the articles editor at Self. She grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and graduated from the Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their bulldog, Franklin.