Book Review: The Favorite Daughter by Kaira Rouda

**Disclaimer: I received a free electronic ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
Genre: Fiction (Adult), Thriller, Mystery
Release Date: May 21, 2019 
Description:

"The perfect home. The perfect family. The perfect lie.

Jane Harris lives in a sparkling home in an oceanfront gated community in Orange County. It’s a place that seems too beautiful to be touched by sadness. But exactly one year ago, Jane’s oldest daughter, Mary, died in a tragic accident and Jane has been grief-stricken ever since. Lost in a haze of anti-depressants, she’s barely even left the house. Now that’s all about to change.

It’s time for Jane to reclaim her life and her family. Jane’s husband, David, has planned a memorial service for Mary and three days later, their youngest daughter, Betsy, graduates high school. Yet as Jane reemerges into the world, it’s clear her family has changed without her. Her husband has been working long days—and nights—at the office. Her daughter seems distant, even secretive. And her beloved Mary was always such a good girl—dutiful and loving. But does someone know more about Mary, and about her last day, than they’ve revealed?

The bonds between mothers and daughters, and husbands and wives should never be broken. But you never know how far someone will go to keep a family together…"

A lot of people may like Jane as a character, an obsessive, unstable, narcissistic woman, as it is a perspective that is not used very often. However, this was a perspective that wasn't for me as a lot of Jane's thoughts and actions kind of annoyed me and had even made the plot predictable. 

The plot itself was interesting at first, but once secrets began to unfold and the story progressed, I began to lose interest. There was also a lot of toxic family drama involved, which makes sense as it is what causes Jane to become unstable, but I kind of found the amount of focus unnecessary. Even though Mary was the dead daughter that the story revolved around, I find that we don't know a whole lot about her, just the surface layer of personality and her biological origins. I think it would have been more interesting if the POV shifted between Jane and Mary, giving the story more depth and more sympathy for Mary, whom I did not care about when reading the story. In fact, I did not care for any of the characters in the book, so there's that. 

Overall, I did not really enjoy this story, as the thriller/mystery aspect was weak and Jane's POV was not really my cup of tea. However, a lot of people seem to enjoy this book based on the reviews that have been released so far so don't let my review steer you away from this just because it wasn't for me.  

Overall rating:  2/5