It has taken me a while to get around to writing a review of Favourite Daughter, not because I didn't enjoy it but possibly because it's not a book I'd get overly excited about. It was a perfectly decent read but perhaps with too similar a vibe to other books I've read in the last year or so. I'm thinking in particular of [book:I Hope This Finds You Well|200987323] and [book:Margo's Got Money Troubles|199534613], sort of offbeat humour, dysfunctional relationships, woman in her 20s muddling through emotional turmoil.

In this instance, it's Mickey, who has been left a five million dollar inheritance by her estranged father but only on the condition that she attend a certain number of therapy sessions with a prescribed therapist called Arlo, who happens to be the loving daughter of the same father. Cue emotional drama and chaos.

The novel is tender, funny and warm and very enjoyable, even if it didn't set my world on fire. 3.5/5 stars

*Many thanks to the publisher Penguin Fig Tree for the advance e-copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Favourite Daughter was published in May.

I really enjoyed reading about Mickey and Arlo and uncovering more about how their joint father had affected them both in different Satanist to the same degree even without him being there anymore. A very insightful look at mental health and addiction including how people can struggle to stay sober .

Well-written and pacy novel. It kept my interest despite a fairly implausible plot and unlikeable protagonist.. I would definitely another novel by this writer.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This felt like a plot that could belong in Succession - a rich father tries to exert control over his daughters from beyond the grave, and despite this manipulation being completely inappropriate, both daughters inevitably learn something in the end. But that would be doing down the emotional complexity of this novel, which I did really enjoy. Mickey and Arlo are both realistic characters and you can see the reasoning behind every decision they make, even when they are decidedly dodgy.

Mickey and Arlo share a dad but not a life. Mickeys dad, an alcoholic, pops to the shop and never returns, instead he creates a new life with another daughter, Arlo. Fast forward many years and after a long and painful illness, being cared for by Arlo he passes away. Here begins chaos, he leaves the inheritance destined for Arlo to the daughter he left many years previously, with conditions. Are either of these girls going to recover from the destruction he caused in their lives?

This was a very different book to what I usually read but I found myself really enjoying it. For me it was very thought provoking, being someone who lost contact with her dad many years ago it’s made me think how I will react when I get that message he has gone.
I really enjoyed this story and getting to know both Arlo and Mickey and related to them both in different ways, they were both developed in a way that you couldn’t help caring for them.
I feel the complicated relationships in this story was handled with great care. I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading and what’s something a little different.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for offering this ARC in exchange for my personal thoughts.

I’ve read quite a few books and seen TV series based on the concept of two siblings getting to know each other after their father‘s death. I enjoyed the way this novel’s story was set up one sister estranged from her father learns with his death from his lawyer who announces that she will inherit his entire fortune of £5 million if she attends six counselling sessions with a psychologist of his choice. Of course, the psychologist of his choice turns out to be his other daughter from his second family after he leaves his first marriage under the influence of alcoholism

The author has a clean clear easily read flowing writing style which made the novel a pleasure to read. The novel clip along a day Joan T pace and had my attention right from the start. I read it in one sitting.

The author has the ability to create entirely real three dimensional characters and I loved the way that we learnt more about the characters from the way they experienced their acute life event of losing their father . We gradually get to know more about their relationships of the two sisters with their father and how that this has influenced the way they grew up both sisters have been damaged by this damaged alcoholic father and we get to hear more of their lives gradually throughout the novel. As a sisters develop a relationship and themselves it becomes clear there father’s choice was inspired.
The novel is set in the USA, but the experiences of the novel could easily have occurred in this country
I read a copy of the novel on NetGalley UK in return for an honest review, it had been on my to be read list for quite some time for no obvious reason
The book was published in the UK on the 1st of May 2025 by Penguin general UK
This review will appear on NetGalley UK, Goodreads, StoryGraph, and my book blog bionicSarahSbooks.wordpress.com. It will also appear on Amazon UK and Waterstones

#netgalley
What if your inheritance came with a side of mandated therapy… led by your half-sister… who doesn’t know you exist? That’s the deliciously dysfunctional premise at the heart of Favourite Daughter, a twisty story soaked in grief, vodka, and complicated family ties, underpinned by daddy issues galore.

Mickey, a jaded kindergarten teacher with a taste for Russian Standard and a streak of self-destruction, learns she’s been left $5 million by the father who walked out when she was five. But there’s a catch: she must complete seven therapy sessions to unlock the cash. And the therapist? Arlo, her half-sister, utterly unaware of the connection, who adored the very man Mickey loathed.

It’s messy. It’s murky. It’s morally dubious. And honestly, it works—to an extent.

This isn’t sharp satire or slick thriller; it’s more of a poolside read with a darker emotional pull. Addiction, abandonment, and inherited trauma bubble beneath the surface, wrapped in sharp dialogue and unexpected tenderness. Mickey’s voice is unfiltered and painfully honest. Arlo’s grief is complicated, blurred by professional boundaries and personal blind spots.

Does it land the emotional punch it promises? Almost.
The premise is strong, a dramedy - fresh, clever, full of promise, but the execution doesn’t quite deliver the emotional depth it reaches for. It’s grand, in that very Irish way: solid, engaging, just shy of something special.

Overall, a debut with bite, booze, and a bruised heart. If you like your fiction messy, complicated, and lived-in, this one’s for you. 3.5/5

Many thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read via NetGalley. As always, all opinions are my own. Favourite Daughter is available now.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the two different perspectives of what was essentially the same story and also the contrast a different upbringing can make. It was well written, thought provoking but also fun at times.

Really enjoyed this! Mickey and Arlo share a dad but not lives. They know each other exists but their paths don't cross until their dad dies and Mickey surprisingly gets left money in his will. Things get stranger when her new therapist turns out to be her half sister. The sisters have to navigate their grief, new relationship and working out how to go forward.

Big issues are tackled in a very heart-felt way and the characters had a lovely development that meant you cared and kept reading.

When Mickey learns of the death of her father, who walked out on her and her mother when she was a child, she has no idea that she has been named the beneficiary of his will. It also comes as a shock to his younger daughter Arlo, who has always been told that she will inherit her father’s estate.

The half-sisters don’t know one another, but when circumstances bring them together they must face truths they perhaps weren’t expecting, and work out where they go from here.

This is an interesting novel, with a lot of emotion at its core. The characters are all flawed, but their interactions feel nuanced and real. The plot was well-paced, and I look forward to reading more by this author.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

First of all, a minor complaint. My name is Charlotte and there is no way in hell that Arlo is short for Charlotte. I’m sorry but this is not a viable nickname. This is a completely different name.

Now that’s out of the way, I enjoyed a lot about this.

Both women are unlikable and messy and the author doesn’t try to make either of them redeeming or the hero. As a person with an excellent therapist, I questioned if I do in fact have an excellent therapist or if some of Arlo’s (sorry it makes me cringe) approaches are actually done by licensed professionals?! Even the questions she asked before she even knew about Mickey and the money were unprofessional.

I had to suspend a lot of disbelief as the book went on. Adam’s decision making in the first place, Evie’s blackmailing, Mickey sudden and overwhelming alcohol dependence seemed to come from nowhere. I’m still not completely convinced someone would steal and pawn a cat.

I found Tom a wholly confusing character whose place in the narrative didn’t make a lot of sense to me.

A lot of the characters felt strangely one-dimensional - Evie, Chris, even Deborah at times. I also wanted to know more about Arlo’s divorce which didn’t come into it until right at the end, Mickey’s sculptor friend and especially Arlo’s Mum. I felt all these characters were underwritten.

But I did really like this. I liked how awful both the sisters were. I loved Mickey’s relationship with Ian. The writing was great and I loved the dual narrative.

I’ll definitely be keen to read whatever Morgan Dick does next.

I enjoyed the imperfections and flaws of both characters. Both Arlo and Mickey felt human and 3D. One of my fave parts of this book was how the writer echoed phrases and events between both sisters. First time it happened, I thought it was de ja vu or I’d accidentally reread the same bit! But it was genius and loved seeing the sisters’ lives entwine together.

I normally don’t like open endings, but for this novel it felt so apt. Loved the hope.

Thanks to NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Favourite Daughter is a family drama that’s light hearted but moving and deals with some heavy issues (addiction, grief, and family struggles).
It follows step sisters Mickey and Arlo who have never met. Mickeys father walked out on Mickey and her mother when she was young and Mickey has no contact with her father. The father becomes wealthy and Arlo his daughter from his second marriage wants for nothing.
When her father dies he leaves his fortune to Mickey but only if she attends therapy—with Arlo as her therapist.
Arlo and Mickey are both beautifully drawn characters as both come to terms with the problems in their lives.
A really good read that I highly recommend.

“Eventually they reached a place where the path turned boggy, a mire of roots and muck, and they clung to each other to get through.”

Arlo and Mickey are half-sisters who have never met, sharing a father who caused them both damage in different ways. Their father did damage to Mickey with his absence, having abandoned her and her mother when Mickey was a young child, and to Arlo with his presence, relying on Arlo to quite literally clean up all of his messes all while she placed him on a pedestal. He casts one final blow upon his death by removing Arlo from his will and giving the $2.5m instead to Mickey, on the manipulative proviso that she completes seven sessions of therapy first. Mickey is no stranger to constant self-help attempts so sees this as a minor hurdle but there’s just one small hiccup - the therapist in question is Arlo, with neither sister recognising the other when Mickey first steps through the doors of the office.

Favourite Daughter explores a lot of really important themes; addiction, mental health, multigenerational dysfunction and trauma, and also found family. While Arlo and Mickey, and indeed their respective mothers, were all deeply unlikeable and flawed characters, they were easy to feel sympathy towards at parts. Favourite Daughter was really compelling at parts, witty and a really interesting premise however sometimes it felt quite jolty. However it is a debut and a pretty solid debut at that and one I devoured in a couple of sittings. Thanks to Penguin/Viking and Netgalley for the advanced readers copy of this one.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
Unfortunately this fell slightly short for me. I enjoyed the first few chapters, but then I felt like it spiralled further and further from what it was supposed to be.
Neither of the FMCs were likeable (like, at all…) which I found totally frustrating.
Chris was my saving grace. He gave me hope throughout - saving this from 2 stars. Apologies - not one for me.

Quite a different concept of a book this one was to what I’d normally read. I found bits that I really enjoyed (Mickey and Arlo eventually realising who the other was) but at the same time the book did seem to drag on in directions it really didn’t need to and for too long too.

I enjoyed the dual perspective of the same events while Mickey and Arlo didn’t realise they were sisters following the death of their father, but found the “will they or won’t they find out” went on a bit long at the expensive of seeing more of their eventual relationship, or their relationships with others.

A sliding doors sort of story as two very different parallel lives are portrayed of adult sisters. With no connection other than the very different impact their father had on them as children and growing up, a combined future starts to grow. Often dark yet also humorous, there is an underlying sense of hope for the future.

Wow! I loved every part of this book! What amazing writing, I was hooked from the first sentence and each time I picked up the book, I did not want to be interrupted! I needed to keep reading and ride alongside the characters to experience what happened next. The book was filled with unexpected twist and outcomes that shocked me profoundly.

I would gladly read more from this Author. It is abundant with magnificent writing and this book truly packs a punch!! It sets the scenes with ultimate perfection, honestly the writing is exquisite.

I usually find alcoholic storylines so uncomfortably hard to read, yet the author managed to interpret the journey so eloquently, with excellent execution that I enjoyed every moment of it.

The characters are wonderfully developed and the whole book felt so realistic. I felt empathy for all of them and their own personal journeys were shared with a balance, complimentary to the storyline.

This is an emotive read and I highly recommend it. If you’re looking for a heart felt book with beautifully, descriptive writing, with true grit, that fully absorbs you, then this is the one. I even loved the acknowledgements!

Thank you so much to Rachel Quin, NetGalley and all involved in my having an ARC copy of this beautiful book for an honest review.

. Mickey is left a sizeable inheritance by her estranged father on the condition she attends a number of therapy sessions at a designated clinic. Arlo is Mickey's therapist and also her half sister. Both are unaware they are related, however, they start to connect with each other during their sessions and it's this developing dynamic that really drives the story. What unfolds is a gritty family drama which is darkly funny and deeply felt. Told from alternating POVs, it explores how the two girls were shaped by their relationship with their father. It also explores addiction and grief. The journey takes some unexpected turns, features some fabulous side characters and is hugely entertaining despite tackling heavy issues. For me, the humour, flawed but likeable characters and family drama struck a winning combo and the fact it was full of feeling only elevated it further. I absolutely loved every minute of it.