Favorite Daughter by Morgan Dick

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Mickey is a kindergarten teacher, who loves her job, but is a damaged soul. She grew up living with her single mother, after being abandoned suddenly by a father who she remembers worshipping before he just left. Her relationship with her mom is strained. She lives paycheque to paycheque.
Arlo is a psychologist who is experiencing the loss of her father after a prolonged illness. She was his primary caregiver once he got sick, and she worshipped him. She grew up with the best of everything as her dad was rich. Her relationship with her mother is not great – her mom most interested in spending the money of her wealthy father.

Where do these stories intersect? Mickey and Arlo are half-sisters – they share a father. A father who dies and leaves most of his fortune to Mickey, the daughter he abandoned, and he cuts Arlo out of his will entirely. The only condition that Mickey must fulfill to cash in on millions is that she must attend counselling with – yes, you’ve got it – Arlo. Unbeknownst to either of them that they are related at the beginning, the story goes from there. Will they find out, how will they react, what will happen?
I really appreciated the concept of this story. The book got off to a great start, focusing on Mickey and her life; she is an unlikeable character, very flawed, but seemingly has a heart of gold as she is a kindergarten teacher. Who seems to be well loved by her students – if she could only keep her personal life straight. You can’t help but feel for her as she was abandoned at a young age – but she keeps on spiraling, even as she has this fortune sitting in front of her.

Arlo as a character seems just too good to be true – are psychologists always at the ready to try to fix/help people? She seems to accept the fact that she is cut out of the will with more curiosity rather than anger. At least that’s the way I read it. I couldn’t sympathize with her much either based on her actions.
All of the characters seemed too closely knit, and kept showing up in each other’s lives so randomly, with paths crossing so conveniently (the sisters, the ex, the neighbour etc..). It helped move the story along, but I didn’t really engage with any of the characters enough to feel for any of them. Especially the lawyer, gross guy, into meditation and therapy but then brokering the deal/will between both sisters. And the romance thrown in there for Mickey as possibility with her student’s uncle. A lot of different paths for the story to take, probably too many, and not enough novel to explore all of them that effectively.
The writing of the dialogue and emotions were good, and the plot line had promise. A solid 3- it is worth a read. Thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the advanced copy for an honest review.




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