Absolutely brilliant, loved it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an advance copy, I will definitely be recommending.

Ah, "Favourite Daughter". I thought it would be an easy, funny story about two siblings finding each other (in more ways than one) in unusual circumstances. Sadly, it was not. The story was messy, disconnected and uninspiring.

I expected something completely different from this book, certainly not a narrative of a 30-something loser alcoholic making random awful life choices throughout the story. None of the characters were likeable or interesting enough, the story was very slow-moving and seemed to be going nowhere. I found actions of the two main characters (two sisters) completely random and bizarre, even worse was the lawyer in the story - I cannot believe how unreal his behaviour was! All in all, a very depressing book with, in my opinion, quite poor attempt at humour. I didn’t enjoy it at all.

No twists. Just depressive story about family trauma, alcoholism, abusive relationships and abuse of client confidence in various professions.

I am grateful for the opportunity to review the book.

3.5 🌟
• It's messy but is lacking in heart. I never felt connected to the story or felt for our characters beyond a basic human level. For all the emotions on display here it still somehow felt detached. I had the same level of personal interest as when reading a thriller, I was there for the ride but afterwards I'm not going to think about this very much.

• It did show the damage that is still present even years down the line when someone is raised by an emotionally abusive parent, I just hoped it would have delved a lot deeper into that. I wanted a lot more internal reflection and emotional depth. I'm chalking up my disinterest to the style in which it was written, it made use of that dry british prose (even though it was set in the USA) that I've always found to be devoid of emotion. I'm disappointed because it had potential to be more than what it was. The synopsis over promised because that's what I expected going in and instead I got this. Considering how the plot went maybe this would have worked better as a thriller?

Cw: alcoholism, parental abandonment, suicide, emotional abuse.

I really don’t like the cover; the colours, graphics and whole appearance I find offputting. Which, of course, confirms the ‘don’t judge a book’ adage. The rather infantile and YA look of the cover belies the content of this original and unusual story. Morgan Dick’s debut is a masterpiece of observation and comment about so much. It’s not packed with action, but there’s plenty of emotional drama as themes of depression, alcoholism and familial dysfunction are explored. A nasty father dies and leaves unexpected wealth to one of his daughters. It’s life changing. The other, doting caring daughter is left out. From these pieces of lives destroyed and reconstructed comes a tale of unexpected depth and warmth. Very refreshing, totally engaging and a surprise. I really enjoyed it.

A mag mixed up book that covers such hard topics as families breaking down alcoholism and life just being really really tough. Two sisters that don’t know each other are united when their dad dies and yet only one knows about their relationship.. the author and picks the wounds bruises and damage that alcoholism does to relationships especially family ones in a sensitive way. The book also focuses on the little things in life that are just so hard to do when alcohol is a crutch or when money is tight or when life is just a huge huge struggle.. the issues of mental well-being are dealt with delicately and ultimately the message here is Hope despite things being so hard.

This book was fascinating- the dad definitely had some issues, to be manipulating his estranged daughter to spend time with his disinherited daughter from beyond the grave was quite something but I disliked him from the beginning after disinheriting his doting daughter without warning- so sad for her to question everything she had done for him while grieving. I thought this book wrote beautifully about addiction, depression and the complicated relationships that come with these issues. I was utterly absorbed and really liked the sisters, would definitely recommend.

Don’t be fooled by the cover! Two women struggle with their mental health; one with an alcohol addiction, the other obsessed with her career as a psycho therapist. Unbeknownst they are related to each other, having the same father and it is not until his death they are brought together. This is a tough take on mental health issues, with its impact on relationships and the frequent spiralling out of control. Mickey and Arlo, lead separate lives until they are thrown together by the conditions of their dead father’s Will.

I found this novel intriguing in the way there were no clues as to the finale. Written with empathy and a knowledge of suffering, the characters of Mickey and Arlo come to life upon the pages. An enjoyable, but disturbing read.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers Penguin for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Mickey is left a sum of money by her dead father - the only term to accept the money is she must receive therapy.
The book is dually pov’ed with the therapist (Arlo’s) point of view. Neither characters know they are more connected than they think.

The book touches on emotional topics yet I felt the writing lacked the depth I usually look for in books. The characters felt flat at times and seemed selfish and one sided at times.

This could’ve been a powerful story if it had more emotional depth when touching on emotional topics such as grief and addiction and family secrets.

This was a vey good debut. The characters were believable and interesting. The story flowed very well. I will look forward to more from this author!

thanks to Netgalley and the publisher!

I really enjoyed the themes in this book and the different approaches to the portrayal of grief, which I thought the author handled well. I also thought the author approached subjects such as addiction very well.

This was unlike anything I'd read before, and I really enjoyed and appreciated the idea behind the narrative, with two bold characters with very different backgrounds, and the upset that is caused through their fathers death, unbeknown to eachother. Whilst I did enjoy the idea behind the story, I did find myself struggling to connect to both of the main characters, and found myself also having to suspend belief occasionally with plot elements I did find to be a bit unrealistic, hence me deducting some stars from my overall rating. Despite this, I did enjoy this debut and would definitely read what the author decides to write next.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for my ARC of this book.

Gently funny, but sad too.

There are bright and funny moments, surrounded by mild misery and a general struggle to just live. Not a tremendous amount actually happens, certainly what I wanted didn’t transpire, with the most unsatisfying ending. Several characters have had, or are getting, or need to get - therapy, it’s a major theme. If the book was an advert to promote therapy, it fails spectacularly.

This book follows the story of two sisters who reunite after their father's death, after he leaves his wealth to only one of them, in the hope that the other one will seek help with her addiction. The theme of the story is grief, sibling struggles and addiction and it covers it well. Highly recommend

This was a slightly tragic story of two sisters, grieving the passing of their alcoholic father, whilst working through their own issues.

This quote sums up the book perfectly: "Two sisters, messed up in equal but different ways, hoping they might mend each other's wounds and therefore rectify his wrongdoings."

It was a solid 3 star read, but honestly it just lacked emotion, considering the serious topics involved. It was also extremely unethical, and I just feel like there was no real resolution to conclude the story.

Favourite Daughter follows sisters Mickey and Arlo, brought together after their father’s death. He leaves his fortune to Mickey, but only if she attends therapy—with Arlo as her therapist.

The book explores addiction, grief, and family struggles. it’s a heartfelt look at forgiveness and healing and is perfect for those of us who enjoy emotional family drama reads.

Favourite daughter follows estranged sisters Mickey and Arlo after their father dies. Mickey hasn’t seen her father since childhood but Arlo was raised by her father and looked after him whilst he died. Their father leaves millions to Mickey and nothing to Arlo but for Mickey to access the money Mickey needs to attended therapy sessions. It turns out Arlo is a therapist and the sessions are with Mickey’s estranged sister. Mickey has a lot of obvious issues but Arlo’s are deeply buried and they need to overcome a lot together.

This was okay. It wasn’t really to my taste and I found some of the characterisation to be a little weak/unrealistic. I preferred Mickey over Arlo but I don’t think either characters are particularly likeable. The writing was good but I just didn’t really connect to the story. That said I think people will enjoy this particularly readers of The Wedding People by Alison Espach but it seems to have the same tone and I found this to be quite melancholy and reflective.

A lesson in how a parent can mess up a child’s life by guiding them in directions to meet that parent’s own ends. A story that deals with compassion and understanding of the impossible situation in which two half siblings find themselves due to manipulation by a supposedly caring father.

After the death of multi millionaire Adam Kowalski, his lawyer delivers some very unexpected news. Arlo, Adam’s daughter from his second marriage, who has cared for his every need during his long illness, and loved her Daddy so much, is no longer a beneficiary of the Will, whilst Mickey, the estranged daughter from Adam’s first marriage to Deborah, is left half his fortune. Of course, there is a condition tied to the bequest. As Adam had walked out on Mickey and Deborah, leaving his debts for them to deal with, this is his way of making amends, though both Mickey and Arlo need some convincing!

Both young women are flawed and have their demons. This story follows their journey towards becoming better, with mental health issues and addiction themes throughout.

A quick read that does flow, though some of the plot is forced and some character actions unnecessary, (e.g the blackmail brings nothing to the story), and at times the writing does flounder, though the addiction theme is handled well,

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin General UK.

Thank you for my earc of this book. I loved the premise of this, and the execution of the story didn’t disappoint. I love how messy the characters and their situations are, how imperfect they are. You still can’t help but root for them!
I loved the storytelling and thought the ending was satisfying too!

Favourite Daughter is a slow burn to begin with, but if you can suspend your disbelief, it's hard to put down by the end. This book's main strength is its unflinching look at addiction, which is handled flawlessly; the supporting characters and some of the ways that the two main characters behave are less fully fleshed out, and I feel like we could have done with less of the solicitor Tom and more of the slightly freaky female characters (Punam, Daria, Arlo's mother). A story about love, what we inherit - in every possible way - and how the only lives we can save are our own, though we can reach out to others along the way.

I often find that when an author bases a novel on an issue (in this case, alcoholism), the plot and characters feel manipulated to fit in with the theme and so feel less than real. The two main characters, Mickey and Arlo, are not very likable.. The plot is unrealistic in parts and the minor characters act strangely out of character (Tom and Dave). The blackmail thread is unnecessary and stretches credulity. However, the quality of the writing is good enough to propel the reader to the end to find out what happens. it is slightly amusing in parts - more humour would be welcome. As an ex-teacher in the UK I was bemused by the procedures followed to dismiss Mickey, which are very different.