I did enjoy this book, however I felt the end was extremely rushed and I felt that the characters could’ve gone deeper with a more profound, or more fullyexplained story ending.
This is a family story full of flashbacks and flesh outs of the characters and their situations with their partners, children and relationship with their parents.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Fran Littlewood’s *The Favourite* is a beautifully written, emotionally charged novel about sisterhood, grief, and the complex web of family dynamics. The story follows Cate and her younger sister, Margie, who have always had a tense relationship—one shaped by childhood wounds, jealousy, and the lingering presence of their mother. When Margie suddenly disappears, Cate is forced to confront the past and unravel the truth about their relationship.

Littlewood does a fantastic job of capturing the raw, messy emotions that come with sibling rivalry and unresolved trauma. Cate is a compelling protagonist—flawed yet deeply relatable—and her journey is one of self-discovery and reckoning. The writing is immersive, with sharp observations and moments of unexpected tenderness that make the story resonate.

While the novel is gripping and evocative, the pacing felt a little slow at times, and some of the character dynamics could have been explored further. That said, *The Favourite* is a poignant and thought-provoking read that will stay with you long after you turn the final page.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Following a slow start this book became very absorbing. The three sisters have a very close relationship but are each hiding a host of worries, problems and lifelong resentments. The fact that the siblings seem to harbour huge resentment towards each other was well communicated, plus that fact that episodes in their pasts continue to resonate as they're continually swept under the carpet in the name of maintaining peace. Also, that memories can be very different depending on the emotional affect of the incident. Despite this their love for each other shines through as all three work their way through their current problems and the turmoil they're thrown into following their father's impulsive action in seemingly choosing a favourite.

As one of three sisters myself I found The Favourite to be very authentic, especially the love/hate dynamic. The characters were all mostly relateable although I found it hard to recognise one from another for a while. I was drawn in by this gorgeous story which would probably do very well as a television series, Very enjoyable.

When the three Fisher sisters-Alex, Nancy and Eva- set up a week-long family reunion in a high-end glass house in the Lake District to celebrate their mother’s 70th birthday, nobody expects the family to implode. Their father’s response to a freak accident suggests that he has a favourite daughter, and this triggers a whole raft of memories, resentments, betrayals and secrets. To paraphrase the late Queen Elizabeth, recollections of the events differ, as do perceptions and interpretations of past events, As the Fishers reach crisis point, they will need to draw on those most primal bonds of sibling love and loyalty to find a way to move forward. This is an emotional, often raw and frequently hilarious novel about growing up, love, marriage and parenthood, about going it alone and making a relationship work, and about how things are not always what they seem. Littlewood is a very clever writer and the characters come alive from the page with all their flaws and strengths. The skillfully portrays how the girls have placed different interpretations on things that happened when they were younger, and others that they never knew about, with one significant incident highlighted by the sisters each “remembering” their mother’s wearing a different dress. The deterioration of the break in the strange house is emphasised by the increasingly horrible smell spreading through the rooms. I was fully absorbed in the lives of the Fisher family and was sad to part from them when I finished this vivid and relateable book. A wonderful read.

I really enjoyed this story, at first it felt like a strange concept and I was unsure where it was going. I kept expecting something terrible to happen. It's a really good story of family dynamics and how each person can have a different experience of the same parents.

3 sisters, always very close growing up. Parents happily married. Alex is having problems settling into life with a new baby, Eva , a successful business woman has a relationship with Scott, disliked by all her family. Nancy is a successful oncology consultant. All the characters are so easy to relate to, a very enjoyable novel showing family relationships, hidden secrets and tragedies .

Fans of ‘The Split’ will love this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed the family dynamics in this novel. Fran Littlewood explores each character’s psyche with depth and understanding.

The setting was well-drawn and the prose was cinematic. I can envisage this being adapted for TV.

The Favourite has a lot of potential and holds some genuine, wonderful insights about family, love, resentment, forgiveness, memory, and growing older. However, the novel felt too crowded, messy, and ambitious in parts, which impacted the resonance of the central storyline.

Wow, that reading experience was a lot to wrap my head around. The Favourite is a chaotic and complex family drama that has its shining moments but ultimately left me unsatisfied.

Littlewood's latest endeavour experiments with a stream-of-consciousness style of narration that feels disorganised and turbulent. The run-on sentences and jarring flashbacks are unruly and confusing, distancing the reader from the narrative.

Moreover, there are so many characters to keep track of. This isn't an issue in itself (for instance, I recently read My Other Heart and found that Strenner's large cast added a lot of value to the story). However, Littlewood fails to keep the extensive family tree understandable, and there so many side plots that the overall narrative becomes lost.

Essentially, the story is about three sisters... and their parents, their partners, and their children. The Favourite explores ideas of jealousy, insecurity, feelings of inadequacy, and competition after Eva, the youngest daughter, is revealed to be Patrick's (the father's) supposed favourite. Despite my critiques, I enjoyed the psychological exploration of how this event impacts the entire family.

Nancy, the middle child, is the most admirable character in my opinion. She's a doctor and is embarking upon a new romance after a failed marriage. Alex and Eva, the eldest and youngest, are a bit too unlikeable. In fact, many of the characters in this novel are at times unpleasant.

The novel's strongest features are passages when Littlewood hits onto some wonderful observations about life. For instance, when Nancy struggles to recall a memory, Littlewood describes the situation with keen insight and grace about the vulnerability of aging. Furthermore, I did enjoy the novel's conclusion and enjoyed the unexpected plot twist.

Overall, The Favourite has a lot of potential and holds some genuine, wonderful insights about family, love, resentment, forgiveness, memory, and growing older. However, the novel felt too crowded, messy, and ambitious in parts, which impacted the resonance of the central storyline.

*I received an e-ARC for free in exchange for an honest review*

Family drama deluxe. As the oldest of three sisters, I can absolutely relate to the close and complicated relationships sisters can have. Alex, Nancy and Eva are all facing their own crisis and it takes a family holiday (from hell) to help them work out what is important to each of them.

Reminded me a little of Marian Keyes' novels in that, Vivienne, the matriarch of the family, is a larger than life character with the personality to match.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

Although it took a little while for me to work out who was who, I rapidly became quite engrossed in the characters in this story. They were all very relatable and the sibling dynamics and tension were soooooo accurate! The bitching amongst the sisters but also the fact that deep down they absolutely had each other’s backs- all so authentic!

I can't quite put my finger on this one! The Favourite is a fun look at sisterhood and family relationships.
I found it quite scatty and a bit all over the place and struggled to keep track of who was who to begin with. That said there was something endearing, honest and truthful about the relationships that unfolded.
3.5 stars.

I read Amazing Grace Adams and loved it, so was excited to see Fran Littlewood had a new book coming out. This is as equally brilliant. I loved this too, every page. It has the same humour, the same craziness, and amongst all the fun of the story, it has the same deep emotion at the very heart of it, just the same as the last book. In one part towards the end of the book, it even makes reference to Grace Adams, though a different name and was very subtle so could easily have been missed unless that last book has really stuck in your mind.

It’s the three sisters mum’s 70th birthday and Eva, the youngest of the three has hired a luxury house, a contemporary glass house, it even featured on Grand Designs. Eva is, lets say, comfortably well off after selling her business and can afford to treat her mum for her special birthday, it’s a chance too, for the whole family to celebrate together.

Alex, the eldest has a new baby as well as her other two young children and they decided to use the family get together as a chance to have a naming ceremony for the baby, out in the woods, like you do. It’s at this ceremony where disaster strikes and suspicion falls on Patrick as to whether he actually has a favourite daughter, which kicks off a re examination of the relationships between everyone in the whole family.

As the book moves on we hear the viewpoints of the three sisters, they look back over their childhood, to their recent pasts and to the present, questioning their own decisions, their relationships with each other and their parents and for Alex and Eva their relationships with their partners. Secrets are revealed, and emotions run high, as it approaches a fabulous, crazy, chaotic last few chapters. Above all it examines the bonds that hold siblings together, no matter what befalls them, they are ultimately there for each other.

Another observant, honest, funny, sensitively written book by this author, and I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

I raced through The Favourite—its relatable characters and heartfelt storytelling made it an absolute pleasure to read.

The novel revolves around Alex, Nancy, and Eva Fisher, three grown sisters whose bond is tested when their father, Patrick, inadvertently reveals he has a favourite daughter. Over the course of a single holiday week, the Fisher family is forced to confront decades of hidden truths, buried resentments, and the complexities of their relationships.

What makes The Favourite so compelling is how relatable the characters feel. The tension between sibling rivalries and deep-rooted love is explored with nuance, and the shifting perspectives allowed me to empathise with each member of the family.

I couldn’t put The Favourite down. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions, and I found myself rooting for them, even when they made decisions that were totally flawed. What really got me, though, was how deeply relatable this family felt. Their love is messy, imperfect, and as real as it gets. Littlewood’s writing is sharp, witty, and filled with so much heart, making every twist and turn feel all the more impactful. The characters are wonderfully nuanced, each one carrying their own burdens and complicated histories, but the way they come together (or sometimes fall apart) felt like a reflection of real life. It’s about love in all its rawness; sometimes messy, sometimes joyful, but always genuine.

a father admits who his favorite child is out of his 3 daughters.

the writing style could do with some editing as it often felt like one stream of consciousness, despite the story being multiple pov’s.

the characters never felt fully fleshed and struggled to feel emotionally connected to their stories.

however, the book does a great job of showcasing sibling rivalry, insecurities all women go through and family relationships.

id recommend this book for fans of coco mellor’s blue sisters.

Fran Littlewood delivers a sharp, witty, and touching family drama in The Favourite. Set during a week-long celebration of Vivienne Fisher’s 70th birthday, the book unravels the complex dynamics between three grown sisters—Alex, Nancy, and Eva—when their father Patrick inadvertently reveals he has a favourite daughter.

This revelation sends shockwaves through the seemingly close-knit family, unearthing decades of sibling rivalry, buried secrets, and old wounds. Told with tenderness and humour, the book masterfully examines memory, sisterhood, and the joys and strains of family life.

Layered and relatable, it’s a perfect choice for fans of family sagas and book club discussions.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

Family dynamics form the central narrative of this cleverly constructed novel. A family comes together for a celebratory week away - and everything falls apart. Three sisters, one discovered to be the favourite, their parents marriage - not as perfect as assumed - is all explained through flashbacks and different points of view. I loved the authors first book Amazing Grace Adams and this has the same tense claustrophobic feel - everything taking place within a week's timeline. The sibling relationships and the different recollections of childhood events are nuanced and easy to relate to.
My only issue was not being clear on which child belonged to which sister and whose partner was whose for a while at the start - kept having to go back and remind myself! Thats the only reason i give it a 4.5 rather than 5.

I absolutely loved this, Fran Littlewood has nailed the intricacies and animosities between siblings and how one mis-judged comment from a parent or adult can have long-lasting impacts and ripples well into adulthood. As soon as I finished, I started again to spot the connections and clues that I'd missed the first time round.

Three sisters, Alex, Nancy and Eve have come away with their own families and their parents. They are gathering to celebrate Alex's new baby and to toast their mother's 70th birthday. The sisters are close to one another but still snipe behind each others' backs from time to time. Alex is feeling exhausted with her third child in her 40s, Nancy has always felt like the left-out middle child, and Eve is hiding a big secret about her personal life that is over-shadowing everything.

There's an incident early on in the book where all three sisters expect to be treated equally but when it is clear that their father has picked one daughter over the other two, it sends shockwaves through the whole family.

The story is told from multiple perspectives and timelines, with chapters from the girls' childhoods interspersed with the present day, and chapters from each sister as well as their mother. There are long buried grievances and upsets that have never been spoken about, misunderstandings and hurt, where each sister thinks the others are more loved or better treated. This then plays out in how they treat each other and their extended families. I enjoyed seeing how my loyalties to each character changed as the book progressed; at the outset I had strong feelings about the family members that changed and evolved as I read more.

I loved Fran's first book and this is just as wonderful and insightful, highly recommended.