Jane always felt that she had the perfect life, happily married to David with two daughters, Mary and Betsy. Until the one day when her whole world changes. Mary goes missing, and the last time anyone saw her was Betsy when they were up on a cliff talking. Betsy has no idea what happened, but her sister was suddenly gone and presumed dead.

A year later, Jane is almost back to her normal self. With the anniversary of Mary's disappearance coming up, David has arranged a memorial service, and two days after that, Betsy is graduating from high school. Jane is busy, but she is stunned to find out that David has bought a new home. She thinks it's for them, but Jane then discovers that David has been having an affair. Meanwhile, Betsy appears to be out of school dating an older man. Now that Jane is trying to bounce back after the loss of Mary, her family is falling apart. As Jane tries to piece things back together, she starts to wonder if everyone has been telling the truth since Mary's death...

THE FAVORITE DAUGHTER by Kaira Rouda is a very powerful book. As much as most families stick up for each other that is not always the case. Rouda lets you into the mind of a very disturbed person, and I at first I felt sorry for her and then started to wonder if she was really nuts. This is what a good author does.

Rouda did have me going at least for a while. Every time I really thought I had it figured out, Rouda throws in some kind of weird twist. Rouda also shows how, no matter what, people just can't deal with the way their lives have turned out. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a great who really done it.