I really wanted to enjoy this Dark Academia thriller and I did love Jessie's fractured, flawed voice. The classroom discussions were also superb. However, something just fell flat for me overall. It lacked that spark that makes me fall head over heels in love with a book.

This is a powerful second novel from talented author Rosemary Hennigan. I loved the setting, the characters and Jessica's determination to get answers and ultimately justice for her sister. It is extremely difficult to get into Professor Crane's Law and Literature class but Jessica has secured a place and what follows is a critical examination of law and justice which do not always equate to the same thing.

This was my first book by Hennigan but I will most definitely look out for her next one!

Compelling..
Jessica Mooney. Much like any other student in the law and literature class that Professor Crane conducts. Right? Wrong. Jessica is holding tightly onto a devastating secret and she is on a mission. Dark and disturbing suspense with a deftly drawn cast of characters and a slow burn plot bubbling with tension and underpinned by themes of social commentary, revenge and justice. Compelling.

Amazing book!
I was thoroughly engaged throughout this book and I didn't want to put it down! The author captured my attention from the get go! Five stars from me :)

"The favourite" written by Rosemary Hennigan was a fantastic and thought provoking read.
It deals with grief and it's repercussions.
Can Revenge be the same as justice?
How far can you go to avenge someone and until which point can you call it justice?
Is the law just?
Those are questions that are used throughout the entire length of the book.
Because the story has a university setting and the main character is there to study law, these themes do not feel out of place.

The main character is a very interesting and also likeable woman. The motivation behind everything in her life for the last years has been the thought of revenge and avenging her sister's pain.

It was a short and compelling read that I didn't want to put down.
One of the few books that I wish would have been a little bit longer.

The Favourite tells the story of Jessica, a bright Irish postgraduate student, who arrives in Franklin University, Pennsylvania, to take revenge from the man she believes is responsible for her sister's death. She gets into his law and literature class and sets things in motion in order to become Professor Crane's 'favourite.'
The themes of law and justice, what justice in itself actually means, the abuse of power, the fine lines between intellectual and physical attraction all intertwine beautifully with Jessie's love and grief for her sister. The desire to set things right for her sister ends up consuming her and dictating the complete unravelling that follows.
I really enjoyed reading this book. The characters are very realistic and the conversations that take place during the lectures are very interesting. I couldn't help but feel so sorry for Jessica and how lonely she was in her journey to honore her sisters memory and the insurmountable grief that she just can't get past. Unsettling and engrossing, it's dark academia at its best.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my preview copy, all opinions are my own.

This was a slow burn read that delved into rape culture and is the story of one young woman’s struggle and attempt at revenge for her sister. The story raises lots of topics that make you think about right/wrong and how the law protects people, aswell as who the law favours.

Jessie Mooney travels from Dublin to attend law school in Franklin, it is while on her course there we learn of her true agenda and the story centres around Jessie and the lengths she is prepared to go to.

I just finished this book and have a lot of conflicting opinions about it. Whilst I felt the story was interesting, I thought that it dragged hugely in parts. The themes were complex and relatable - predatory behaviour in academia is something that we hear of all too regularly.
However, it ultimately just fell a little bit too flat for me. The first half had me gripped but then the second half I had to force myself through.
Reading some of the lectures in the book genuinely made me feel like I was back in college, which isn't usually what I want from a book! I rolled my eyes several times because it felt like it was trying to be so deep and reminiscent of the Secret History or Dead Poet's Society but it missed the mark. I just felt like I was being lectured at. I also would've like to see more development with some of the characters. There are a few supporting characters who are mentioned a lot but we don't learn much about them aside from the fact that they're privileged or an over-achiever.
I thought that this book had real potential, it just ultimately didn't do much for me.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I was super excited to read this arc, as I'm slowly becoming a fan of dark academia, but it didn't quite do it for me. Despite a promising premise, the plot felt drawn out and didn't hol my attention. It's centered on obsession and revenge in an academic setting, but the lengthy & very detailed law discussions made it become a tedious read . I'm rounding it up to 3 stars as it was well-written. Many thanks to NetGalley, Orion Publishing Group, and the author for the advance copy.

Talented student Jessie has won a place on a prestigious Masters Law Degree in Philadelphia. She has also got one of the few places on the Law and Literature course, taught by charismatic Professor Crane. However, Jessie has a secret, her sister had an affair with Crane whilst in Dublin and the end of it destroyed her. Now Jessie is out for revenge but in order to do so she has to be focused on the endgame.
I loved the first half of this book. The idea is great, just enough 'me too' without patronising and bringing up the idea of consent as well as power imbalance. However I felt that the story started to lose impetus and became more forced as I read on. It's good but just lacks something to stop it being great.

I felt this book was really well written and I could resonate with a lot of the themes and the story within it. The author has a wonderful way of writing and I would look forward to reading more from them.
I found this book difficult to put down as I just wanted to know what was happening next and where the story was going - the characters were well written and it was easy to get involved with them.

I loved this nuanced thriller with a touch of dark academia - I really enjoyed the athletic world setting, I thought that lended a little something extra to distinguish this from other stories exploring similar abuse.

I want to express my profound admiration for the author's meticulous handling of such a sensitive and controversial topic as rape. Despite the inherent complexity and delicacy of the subject, the author has managed to convey a remarkable level of empathy, compassion, and understanding through their writing. The author's eloquent prose evokes various emotions, from shock and outrage to sadness and empathy.

The characters in the story are vividly portrayed, and their development is skillfully executed, providing readers with a deep insight into their motivations and struggles. Although the storyline is sometimes somewhat predictable, the author's masterful storytelling keeps the readers engaged and invested in the characters' journeys.

However, the one minor flaw is that the plot pace is somewhat erratic. While some parts of the story are gripping and fast-paced, others tend to drag, which can be a little disconcerting for readers who prefer a more consistent level of tension and drama.

Despite this minor flaw, the author's storytelling prowess and sensitivity to the subject matter make this book a must-read for anyone interested in exploring the issue of rape within the academic sector through fiction.

This is a quite difficult read but only due to the nature of the issues involved and how much they resonate with every woman. A lot of us either have ourselves or know someone who has experienced the types and levels of misogyny that comes through in this book and that affects us all.
That being said this was a fantastic read and one I would say everyone should read, it is about so much more than the differences and difficulties between men and women and the struggles not for equality as such but to be heard and believed. This is a deeply personal story for the narrator and that shows through in her plans and her actions from those plans.
The book was so well written and the characters came alive, it was so easy to feel for them and to hope that they all got the ending they deserved the most.

The Favourite by Rosemary Hennigan centres on student Jessica Mooney as she spends time studying a postgraduate degree at an east coast American college. Her reasons for pursuing the course are to exact revenge on the college tutor who ruined her sister’s life when he spent time teaching at their college in Dublin.

On the whole I found this to be compulsive reading. I enjoyed the setting and plot and found myself speeding through the book. I can’t quite put my finger on what stopped it hitting the 5* mark, but would definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys a campus thriller novel that includes social issues.

I feel quite lazy in admitting the literary and legal arguments in this book seemed quite tedious. It’s a long time since I was studying literature and I’m not looking for academic lectures however plot necessary they may seem. That’s not all the boo’ has to offer though as it’s an in depth study of a me too situation so not all a disappointment just not a totally enjoyable read for me.

I love dark academia and this one was soooo good. It was dark and creepy in parts and left me feeling unsettles while I read it, and I love it for that.

Hot-shot law professor Jay Crane is notorious for playing favourites. Each semester he singles out the best and brightest of his students and invites them into a world of intimate dinners, professional opportunities and connections. Every class has its 'gunners' - ambitious students hoping to parlay a relationship with Crane into a lucrative career - but Jessie Mooney has her own reasons for wanting to break into the professor's inner circle: her sister is dead, and she believes that Crane is responsible.

Lawyer-turned-author Rosemary Hennigan draws on her own experience at law school in Dublin and Philadelphia for this dark academia-thriller-revenge plot -social commentary, and it makes for a powerful - if uneven - story.

The first two thirds of the book are pacy and compelling. I found the extended scenes which take place in Crane's Law and Literature class fascinating; as well as contextualising the developing relationship between Crane and Jessie, the discussion of texts such as Paradise Lost, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Antigone provide the author with the opportunity to pose some of the key questions which underpin the narrative. What does it take for a woman to be believed? What do you do if you know a man is guilty of a crime but can't prove it? Who is responsible for delivering justice? Is there a difference between what is legal and what is right?

These chapters also highlight what is arguably the novel's most important theme: how the law has consistently failed women. This is explored in myriad ways throughout the narrative, touching on rape culture, victim blaming and the complicated issue of consent in the context of a power imbalance. The timeline deliberately parallels the campaign, election and inauguration of Donald Trump - as well as the first stirrings of the MeToo movement - making it clear that this fictional (yet undeniably, uncomfortably plausible) story is merely a microcosm for the much larger societal problem of men abusing their power and getting away with it, of which Trump is emblematic.

Jessie is an interesting protagonist, and her classmates felt like realistic portrayals of the types of students I knew in my own university days, though they exist very much on the periphery of the plot for the most part. Jessie herself is enjoyably morally ambiguous, her scheming meshing nicely with the questions and themes explored in Crane's class. For the most part she seems very single-minded, completely consumed by her plot to 'outmanoeuvre a man in power, change the meaningless nature of [her] sister's suffering and death and give it a purpose,' yet I felt a deep sympathy for her - not only for her grief and anger, but also for the 'calcifying effect on the present' her obsession necessitates, forcing her to live on the fringes of her own life and preventing her from making any real connections.

Midway through the book, Hennigan seems to reach a crossroads where she has to commit to a particular direction for the story she wants to tell - double down on the revenge-at-all-costs idea, focus on the thriller elements and keep the reader guessing with twists and misdirections, or go all in on the social commentary. Depending on which parts of the synopsis piqued the reader's interest, they may be satisfied or disappointed by the author's decision. The pace definitely slows towards the end of the story, around the point at which it would conventionally ratchet up in a thriller, and the conclusion will definitely not be to everyone's liking.

Overall though, there was lots I enjoyed about The Favourite, and I would definitely seek out Hennigan's other work.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orion for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book.

This novel fell really flat for me. It was full of cliche characters, dialogue and plot development and felt very repetitive. It’s an attempt at a #metoo story with a main character who lies about sexual assault and hinges on another alleged assault that the author never makes entirely clear if it happened or not. It’ just left a sour taste in my mouth and doesn’t live up to the comp titles it’s compared to.

If you like dark and mysterious reads with an academic backdrop – you’re going to love The Favourites by Irish author Rosemary Hennigan. Part revenge story, part morally musing tale on law, ethics and feminism, this blend of themes meant The Favourites was a very enticing read that left you thinking.

The Favourites is narrated by Jessica ‘Jessie’ Mooney. She is from Dublin, Ireland but goes to study at a prestigious university in Philadelphia, USA. On the surface it is to secure herself a sparkling law career but in reality, she has a far more sinister ulterior motive.

The death of her sister, Audrey has affected her badly (as well it might), especially as she believes that a man is – however inadvertently – to blame. That man is Jay Crane a professor at the American university. Jessie wins herself a highly coveted place on his Law and Literature class and makes it her mission to become his favourite. It’s widely known that his favourite students enter his inner sanctum and get all the privileges.

It’s not the career boost she’s after though. She wants to get close to him to make him pay for the death of her sister.

Jessie is very much dedicated to her plan, harbouring an obsession with carrying it out, whatever the cost. It does sometimes make some of her actions seem a little off – as in, they don’t make sense to you, but in the context of a woman possessed, they do.

The Favourites spends a lot of time pondering the morals and ethics of law, as well as the inground biases within the legal system. I found this so interesting to read as when you consider how unfair the whole legal system is, it gives far more justification for people – like Jessie – who decide the only course of action is to take the law into their own hands.

The pace is slow and burning with an intensity that makes this such a delicious read. It’s an atmospheric story of revenge that poses good questions about law and ethics and transports you to the evocative setting of an esteemed American university campus with ease.