THE FAVORITE DAUGHTER :: Kaira Rouda

A version of this review previously appeared in Shelf Awareness and is republished here with permission.

Jane is rising from the ashes following a year of medicated mourning for her brilliant daughter, Mary. Her husband has become distant and absent; her remaining daughter, Betsy, the "average" one, is combative and angry. Jane is determined to regain her image as a perfect O.C. wife.

As Jane narrates her "coming out" plan in the days before Betsy's graduation and a celebration of life in Mary's honor, it becomes apparent the details of Jane's "complicated grief" diagnosis have been meticulously researched, down to her fascination with death statistics ("Cows kill twenty people a year in the U.S., which seems like a low number considering what we do to those poor creatures.").

In The Favorite Daughter, Kaira Rouda (Best Day Ever) provides a front-row seat to the riveting unraveling of an unhinged narcissist who will do anything to regain a picture-perfect image. Through the conversational first-person narrative, Jane slowly reveals her true self and how far she will go to put her life right, including more than a little revenge and destruction.

Rouda's portrayal of Jane is fabulously compelling and darkly hilarious, detailing her self-obsession and conceit. (Jane re-watches news interviews from when Mary went missing, happy with how her makeup looked and proud "all of [her] acting experience shined through.") This amplifies the discomfort of witnessing Jane coming unwound, but it's impossible to look away from the wreckage. The resolution is satisfying, but the ride is so diabolically twisted and entertaining that readers will be sorry when it comes to a stop.

STREET SENSE: I went into this blind, and much of my pleasant surprise is based on the admission that I love a good narcissist story. Perhaps because I've had so many in my own life I find them fascinating. Rouda did a fantastic job with it and this work really had me rapt (and laughing--in a wonderfully uncomfortable way). There were some obvious arcs, but it really didn't matter. It was a fun, compelling read.

A FAVORITE PASSAGE:  Some coping methods are socially acceptable. Some are not. I smile, stroke the handle of the knife hidden so close to me. Sometimes it's the smallest things that can be the most deadly. Mosquitos kill two million people a year. Tragic deaths, if you think about it. Something so small, so easily killed by a human but yet, a menace. The African Cape Buffalo on the other hand will actively stalk and attack the hunter who wounded it. Because of this revenge motive, this drive to hurt those who hurt it, the buffalo kills more people in Africa than any other predator. I've always liked buffalo...I'm a buffalo in disguise. It's like method acting, sort of.

COVER NERD SAYS:  In some ways, this cover feels like just one in the crowd of covers with images of women's bodies which have become so ubiquitous. Because I'm a sucker for water images and the font used on the title has some sneaky water effects, I might have fallen for this one on a shelf. I like the palette as well. There's nothing particularly special about it, but nothing really wrong with it. And I also give it props for at least being somewhat relevant to the story. Thumb up more than thumb down.