A very glamorous novel about the jet set and how far you would go to fit in.
A lot of characters- it was a struggle to remember who was who at some points!

When Ada finds herself on a history trip to Italy she sees it as a way to get a second chance at the wealthy life that should have always been hers. Desperate to belong she hovers over the fringes until a favour puts her right in the middle and she permanently binds herself to this group of socialites.

The cast of character is quite large some more prominent than others but they mostly felt glossed over. I enjoyed flawed and dark characters but none of them apart from maybe Oliver provoked any strong emotions while reading.

The book and pace mainly picks up at the midpoint and a lot of the first half felt more like set up than story. Laura Vaughan certainly knows how to create a vivid setting and an oppressive atmosphere. I wanted to love it, but something just didn’t connect for me.

What is the price you would pay to fit in? To have someone indebted to you? For someone to owe you a favour? A tale about the glossy and glamorous, and the dysfunctional and interesting, and the facades we all create...Read it

My thanks to Atlantic Books Corvus for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Favour’ by Laura Vaughan in exchange for an honest review.

‘Fortune Favours the Fraud...’

Ada Howell was thirteen when her father, a successful author, died. As a result Ada not only lost a father and her family home but the life that she felt destined to lead. When some years later she is disappointed about not being accepted into Oxford, her godmother offers to send her on an extravagant eight-week art history trip to Italy in which eleven young ‘dilettantes’ will be escorted by three experienced tutors.

Meeting the others, Ada finally feels that she is among the kind of people that she aspires to be: sophisticated, cultured, and privileged. As a result, Ada does everything in her power to prove that she is one of them. When a member of the group dies in suspicious circumstances, Ada has the opportunity to provide a favour. She feels that this will permanently bind her to the key members of the group, securing their friendship. Yet does it? How these bonds develop over the years takes up the second half of the novel.

Ada is not a pleasant person. She serves as the novel’s narrator and is quite open about her motivations. Her desperation to be accepted by this entitled clique was often painful to witness and her behaviour came across as parasitic.

The socially ambitious outsider, who becomes embroiled in secrets and lies, is an established trope, particularly in novels featuring those on the threshold of adulthood. As the novel’s anti-heroine, Ada had a few echoes for me of Tom Ripley, especially when in Italy.

The cast of characters of ‘The Favour’ was quite large and so I made some notes when the members of the tour group were first introduced. While not all went on to be central to the overall plot, I found it a useful exercise.

I felt that Laura Vaughan’s writing was very good. Her descriptions of the novel’s Italian locations were evocative and made it easy for me to feel like an invisible 12th Dilettanti.

‘The Favour’ is the kind of novel that ticks all the boxes for me: an engaging plot, well developed characters, and vivid settings. I also felt that the mystery aspect was well handled, not dominating other aspects of the narrative yet always present in the background waiting until the time was right.

This is Laura Vaughan’s debut novel for adult readers and I look forward to news of her future projects. I also feel that ‘The Favour’ would be a good choice for reading groups, as it’s not only an engaging read but an ambiguous protagonist often generates lively group discussion.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

I really enjoyed this book and loved how atmospheric it felt when they were in venice. I didint really like the characters, but then I don't think you're supposed to. It was packed full of lies and deceit and I especially loved the ending.

Thank you to @netgalley for allowing me the opportunity to read an advance copy of this novel in return for an honest review.

I was looking forward to being transported to Venice and immersing myself in the a bit of culture, but some of the references to places of interest felt like they were being thrown at me during the first visit to Venice. This improved during the second visit towards the end but I was still left a little confused at references and places that weren't fully explained originally. I guessed half of the twist at the end but the other half was a surprise and I enjoyed that. I didn't really like any of the characters but I don't think that took anything away from the book overall. I didn't love this book but I also didn't dislike it.

The way Ada is a misfit in the group of wealthy dilettantes is so creatively written that you almost feel sorry for her and wish her godmother had found a different way to help her expand her horizons, but there is an edge to Ada that leaves you discomforted from the outset and as the group progress through fist Italy and then life it becomes apparent that she is manipulative and sly, although perhaps not as much as some of the other loathsome characters!
Italy springs to life during her grand tour and the deceptions and lies thereafter make me want to shout at the characters for being so foolish!

A novel with a slower start but kept me interested later. Full of characters you’ll love to hate. Interesting premise for a novel.

Whilst I read all of this book, The Favour by Laura Vaughan, I did not particularly like or enjoy reading the story. I did not like any of the main characters, I don’t think you were supposed to, I thought too many of them were entitled lightweights wandering through life. When one of the Italian party died, no one was particularly affected and when the girl’s parents wanted to pay for the Italian party to go to a memorial visit, nearly all of them turned up for a free holiday.
I found the storyline very irritating and did not enjoy the book and wondered what the purpose of writing it was. I presume other younger readers may find the book interesting.

When I started The Favour, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was captivated by Laura Vaughan's writing. She takes us effortlessly from an old house in Wales to Italy, then to London and back again several times. Her descriptions are wonderful and I really felt as though I was taking in the scenes with the characters.

There is quite a large cast of characters and I must admit that it did take me some time to fully get to grips with who was who. That said, each character was really well developed. I wouldn't say that any of them are particularly likeable and even the protagonist, Ada, does some questionable things, but that doesn't matter in the case of this novel - part of the fun is watching them squirm.

The plot of The Favour is really well constructed and I enjoyed trying to pick apart the web of lies that grew as I got deeper into the story. It is probably best described as a slow burner, but this definitely gives the reader plenty of time to get a feel for the toxic atmosphere and complicated relationships within the novel. The revelations are definitely exciting and I was keen to see how everything that had built up over a period of years would unravel.

Thanks to Net Galley for an ARC
I did enjoy this book. Took a while to get going but I found that I really did want to know how things panned out.
I actually liked Ada, I could see where she's coming from and did have some sympathy for her plight.
The idea of someone paying for me to go off and enjoy Italy is very appealing!
Overall a good book that I wanted to finish and much enjoyed

Fans of The Secret History (which I absolutely am) will probably love this. Ada is an awkward outsider, mourning the loss of a life of privilege she has only tasted through her family history, and failing time after time to penetrate the social sphere to which she believes she belongs. The sense of nostalgia and longing that permeates the book is spelled out early on when Ada lucks into a modern day grand tour organised by a company literally called ‘Dilettantes’.

One thing I really enjoyed is how thoroughly dislikable Ada is. Usually protagonists of this kind have a veneer of likability, which the reader sees through earlier than the other characters or the character themselves. Ada, however, is openly unpleasant: cold, grasping and manipulative. Although she tries to hide it from the other characters, she doesn’t hide it from the reader, and the other characters clearly see through it early on. There are obvious connections with The Talented Mr. Ripley, but this also reminded me a lot of Sebastian Faulks’ Engleby.

The novel is nicely atmospheric, particularly during the portions set in Italy, and the story unwinds evenly and at a good pace, which is slightly lost during the denouement in Venice, but overall I enjoyed this and think it will really work for fans of the genre.

3.5/5 stars.

My thanks to Atlantic Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

Wow this was fantastic. An absolute pleasure to read and vastly entertaining. All the characters were complex and ones you loved to hate especially the narrator. You felt at times almost embarrassed by her obsession with being so rich and wealthy that she almost loses her identity. She does eventually realise but only until it’s too late. This is one that hooked me from the start and never let me go. Brilliant and sharp and very very moving.

3.5 stars


Quite the slow burn I thought. I never really knew where it was going as we wandered around Italy and got to know our cast of characters.
Then when something major happens,and the favour in question happens,i was left pondering everyone's motivation.
Set across ten years ,and with final pages that pull a few punches,its a read that keeps you entertained the whole way through.

I was somewhat disappointed with The Favour. I found the first half of the book to be somewhat slow going and felt not much happened at all. The second half was much more entertaining. The novel is full of secrets and lies and the need to fit in. I have rated this book three stars as although I didn’t love it, I was compelled to finish it. Thank you to NetGalley, Atlantic Books and the author for the chance to review.

What would you do if, at 18, you were given a glamorous trip to Italy by your wealthy grandmother, finally giving you the life you dream of and the ability to become the person you want to be? That's what happens Ada Howell. But when there's a murder can she really trust her new friends and how far will she go to keep them?

I was really absorbed in the story and loved the twist, even though Ada's character is hard to like. There's definitely an aura of Patricia Highsmith's 'The Talented Mr Ripley' in the book. An accomplished novel.

I liked “The Favour” for several reasons: A social climber from impoverished nobility embarking on a modern Grand Tour of Italy with a bunch of rich kids for the sole purpose of forging connections to set her up for life. A modern take on “Remains of the Day”. Revisiting places I’ve loved and visited in the past and that I Iong to visit again. A great portrayal of the shifting sands of friendships, hierarchy and loyalties spiced with scandals, secrets and death.

The Favour is a novel about lies and secrets, and someone trying to grasp back the life they thought they should have. Ada Howell lost her father and his Welsh country house when she was thirteen, and her mother moved them to a less fancy existence in Brockley. After a failed Oxford interview cuts off one route of getting back into the rarified world she longs for, Ada has a stroke of luck: her bohemian godmother gifts her money for a modernised grand tour, an art history trip round Italy with others who can afford the price. On the trip, Ada tries to bind herself to her fellow students, desperate to become part of their lives, and a death gives her the perfect opportunity, but perhaps she wasn't quite keeping the secrets she thought she was.

This is your classic 'trying to be part of the rich people' type novel, in which someone tries to reinvent themselves to become part of a group, but their hold isn't steady. What I found distinctive about it was how vividly Ada is characterised—I found her annoying very quickly, so obsessed with seeming a bit posher than she was, and that worked well—and her voice is created. There were a few moments when I found the narrative voice odious in Ada's thoughts on class, which was needed to show how desperately she wanted to 'return' to the societal position she felt she had before her author adoptive father died. That element—the fact it wasn't her thinking she wanted to improve her 'position' in terms of class and wealth, but that she needed to return to it—made The Favour different to other books about people trying to fall in with the wealthy elite.

The narrative, however, was pretty typical, down to the kinds of secrets revealed (without spoilers, a twist near the end is very typical of the 'rarified elite do something bad' genre, especially as a way of making the foolish protagonist realise things were more intense than they realised) and the pacing, which follows them on the Italian trip and then speeds through later years using various gatherings to move things forward. The atmosphere, especially whilst the characters were in Italy, was well done, and again some of this was Ada's narrative voice, which captured the way she was trying to present the trip and her frustrations when things didn't quite work as she wanted. Strangely, I found this narrative voice and the fact Ada was often unlikable made me enjoy the book more, despite finding the narrative predictable.

Not a book for people who enjoy likeable characters, The Favour is a decently immersive book that, as it is being marketed, does have a Talented Mr Ripley vibe, and fits well with other novels about someone trying desperately to break into a rich, rarified world. Ada's fraud and justifications draw you in, and those who don't usually read any books with the 'group of elite friends involved in something dark' vibe might find the story less predictable.

A fascinating mystery novels set in the beautiful land of Italy, and depicting the story of jealousy and rivalry in seemingly perfect surroundings. Highly recommended!

I really enjoyed The Favour. I was gripped very quickly and my interest was held throughout as the full story unfolded.

Moving through a period of about 10 years, we see the characters change and mature under the shadow of the incidents that happened when they were teenagers.

I know it’s a cliche to say that I couldn’t put it down, but the fact that I read it until past midnight 2 nights running is testament to how much I was enjoying it. I didn’t see the final twist coming, which is unusual for me. I could feel my heart start to best faster as in the last few pages it became evident I’d got it all wrong! Wonderful!

This is exactly the sort of book you hope you’ll chose before a long train journey. You’d start reading it in London and the next time you looked up you’d be in Aberdeen!