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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
Two professional women married to handsome successful men seems perfect to the outsider. However, these men are controlling and manipulative. When Leah Dawson notices McKenna Hawkins reacting to her husband, Zack, Leah believes that McKenna is just like her. Leah's husband, Liam, is a successful divorce attorney, and created a situation where Leah would be fired, so she could stay home and be a perfect wife. Zack forced McKenna to quit her job as a doctor so she could concentrate on becoming pregnant. These men control every aspect of the lives of their wives, to the point where it is debilitating. Then tragedy strikes, and the women's lives are changed.
This is a chilling expose of domestic abuse and the fear that a spouse feels at the hands of an abuser. It is an important message to let them know they are not alone, and to get help, even when it seems impossible.
This is a chilling expose of domestic abuse and the fear that a spouse feels at the hands of an abuser. It is an important message to let them know they are not alone, and to get help, even when it seems impossible.
I gobbled this book up pretty fast. The subject matter is not the easiest and I had a hard time with the formatting but overall I really enjoyed reading it. There were parts that lagged for me but I definitely felt for these women enough to keep my interest.
Leah and McKenna haven't yet met but they both have a lot in common. They're both trapped in relationships that keep them in hiding and scared. When Leah spots a familiar scene through the windows of Leah's house, she decides to help her out by doing her a huge favor. Will McKenna return the same favor?
Leah and McKenna haven't yet met but they both have a lot in common. They're both trapped in relationships that keep them in hiding and scared. When Leah spots a familiar scene through the windows of Leah's house, she decides to help her out by doing her a huge favor. Will McKenna return the same favor?
I loved this one! I could not stop listening! What do you call an audio page-turner? Trigger warning: domestic abuse.
Domestic Abuse at its Finest!
Nora Murphy will keep you turning pages long past your bedtime with her smashing debut, THE FAVOR! A winner out of the gate. I could not tear myself away from this one. A top 2022 debut, she will be an author to follow for years to come. On my list for sure. I cannot wait to see what comes next.
Two women, strangers, have more in common than they know.
Leah Dawson (former lawyer) and McKenna Hawkins (former pediatrician)— are both intelligent, well-educated, and beautiful and live in the same neighborhood in suburban Maryland.
They both live in beautiful homes, drive the best cars, and are married to well-to-do men that are ABUSIVE AND CONTROLLING! Neither have children. They are lonely and want more than anything to escape their miserable lives. They are trapped.
From their lonely trips to the liquor store, they try their best to grab a little happiness with some snacks and alcohol while trying their best to put back some money. Their husbands control their lives, phones, finances, bodies, clothes, food, and minds. They make sure they are isolated and have no friends and family.
Leah sees something in McKenna. She realizes they are in the same situation. She follows her and watches her house. She will be there for her the way she would love for someone to be there for her.
To rescue. To save.
When Leah steps in to save McKenna from harm then McKenna knows she must RETURN THE FAVOR!
Taut, exceptionally smart, addictive, and highly entertaining! I LOVED THIS ONE.
A superb character study and the author gets into the minds of her characters as they come alive on the pages. Wonderfully portrayed, the husbands reminded me of my evil, controlling ex-husband! I was glued to the pages and rooting for these women. For fans of B.A. Paris and Kimberly Belle.
I enjoyed the author's note and wealth of information and resources regarding domestic abuse and family law. The audiobook was exceptional, narrated by Dylan Moore, Leon Nixon, and Sarah Mollo-Christensen.
A special thank you to #MinotaurInfluencers, #netgalley, and #macmillanaudio for digital and audio ARCs to read, listen to, enjoy, and review.
Blog Review:
www.JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: May 31, 2022
My Rating: 5/5 Stars
Nora Murphy will keep you turning pages long past your bedtime with her smashing debut, THE FAVOR! A winner out of the gate. I could not tear myself away from this one. A top 2022 debut, she will be an author to follow for years to come. On my list for sure. I cannot wait to see what comes next.
Two women, strangers, have more in common than they know.
Leah Dawson (former lawyer) and McKenna Hawkins (former pediatrician)— are both intelligent, well-educated, and beautiful and live in the same neighborhood in suburban Maryland.
They both live in beautiful homes, drive the best cars, and are married to well-to-do men that are ABUSIVE AND CONTROLLING! Neither have children. They are lonely and want more than anything to escape their miserable lives. They are trapped.
From their lonely trips to the liquor store, they try their best to grab a little happiness with some snacks and alcohol while trying their best to put back some money. Their husbands control their lives, phones, finances, bodies, clothes, food, and minds. They make sure they are isolated and have no friends and family.
Leah sees something in McKenna. She realizes they are in the same situation. She follows her and watches her house. She will be there for her the way she would love for someone to be there for her.
To rescue. To save.
When Leah steps in to save McKenna from harm then McKenna knows she must RETURN THE FAVOR!
Taut, exceptionally smart, addictive, and highly entertaining! I LOVED THIS ONE.
A superb character study and the author gets into the minds of her characters as they come alive on the pages. Wonderfully portrayed, the husbands reminded me of my evil, controlling ex-husband! I was glued to the pages and rooting for these women. For fans of B.A. Paris and Kimberly Belle.
I enjoyed the author's note and wealth of information and resources regarding domestic abuse and family law. The audiobook was exceptional, narrated by Dylan Moore, Leon Nixon, and Sarah Mollo-Christensen.
A special thank you to #MinotaurInfluencers, #netgalley, and #macmillanaudio for digital and audio ARCs to read, listen to, enjoy, and review.
Blog Review:
www.JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: May 31, 2022
My Rating: 5/5 Stars
The Favor is a riveting book that explores how two successful women become victims of abusers. It shows their thoughts, behaviors and experiences. It’s a crime novel, and it brings in the point of view of a sharp detective working the case. It’s impossible for the reader not to empathize with the two women and want them to be free and stay that way. It’s tightly paced and an excellent read. Bonus is that it could quite easily be one of those books that contains a lot of harsh content, but much like the plot and the pacing, it reins in any excess.
Read my full review, including a rating for content, at RatedReads.com: https://ratedreads.com/the-favor-novel-fiction-book-review-thriller-mystery/
*I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Read my full review, including a rating for content, at RatedReads.com: https://ratedreads.com/the-favor-novel-fiction-book-review-thriller-mystery/
*I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Well paced read. Tense, riveting. Some similarities to Patricia Highsmith's Strangers on a Train.
The Favor
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Thriller
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 5/31/22
Author: Nora Murphy
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Pages: 288
Goodreads Rating: 4.03
Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for providing a digital copy of the book for me to read in exchange for my honest opinion.
Synopsis: Leah and McKenna have never met, though they have parallel lives. They don’t—ever—acknowledge to each other that although their lives have all the trappings of success, wealth and happiness, they are, in fact, trapped. Because Leah understands that what’s inside a home can be more dangerous than what’s outside. Driving past McKenna’s house one night, she sees what she knows only too well herself from her own marriage: McKenna’s “perfect” husband is not what he seems. She decides to keep an eye out for McKenna, until one night, she intervenes. Leah and McKenna have never met. But they will.
My Thoughts: The story is narrated by Leah, McKenna, and the Detective, from their own perspectives. This book is EVERYTHING. The characters are well developed, have depth, create tension, and are flawed. The authors writing is amazingly brilliant, complex, invested, creative, and just works so well for this book. This was a fast paced, page turning, thriller that gives off the uneasiness feeling and creates the perfect storm atmosphere. The ending was perfection! I throughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend, it was just released yesterday!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Thriller
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 5/31/22
Author: Nora Murphy
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Pages: 288
Goodreads Rating: 4.03
Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for providing a digital copy of the book for me to read in exchange for my honest opinion.
Synopsis: Leah and McKenna have never met, though they have parallel lives. They don’t—ever—acknowledge to each other that although their lives have all the trappings of success, wealth and happiness, they are, in fact, trapped. Because Leah understands that what’s inside a home can be more dangerous than what’s outside. Driving past McKenna’s house one night, she sees what she knows only too well herself from her own marriage: McKenna’s “perfect” husband is not what he seems. She decides to keep an eye out for McKenna, until one night, she intervenes. Leah and McKenna have never met. But they will.
My Thoughts: The story is narrated by Leah, McKenna, and the Detective, from their own perspectives. This book is EVERYTHING. The characters are well developed, have depth, create tension, and are flawed. The authors writing is amazingly brilliant, complex, invested, creative, and just works so well for this book. This was a fast paced, page turning, thriller that gives off the uneasiness feeling and creates the perfect storm atmosphere. The ending was perfection! I throughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend, it was just released yesterday!
You never really know what happens behind closed doors… Being a domestic abuse survivor myself, this book gave me all the feels. I related to every single feeling both characters felt throughout the entire book.
It's terrifying to think about the women out there actually living Leah and Mckeenas life.
Physiological mind games big time! Control must be maintained & appearances are everything.
It's terrifying to think about the women out there actually living Leah and Mckeenas life.
Physiological mind games big time! Control must be maintained & appearances are everything.
A story with an interesting concept and quite a good build up but seemed to fizzle out almost completely by the end.
The Favor follows Leah who ends up following McKenna. Leah recognizes a defeat in McKenna, something that tells her that she may be facing the same problem that Leah has been stuck with for some time: an abusive and controlling husband. Despite never speaking or even meeting, Leah decides that if she can’t really help herself, she could help McKenna instead.
Like I said, it is a very interesting concept and really could make an interesting story. The first halfish of the book is intriguing but it never really ramps up or gets more interesting. We know everything as we are going. There are no surprises in the story. The author tries to add tension through the perspective of a detective investigating what’s happening but that actually removes tension because we know what's happening from all sides of the story now. They also add what feels like a completely useless and unnecessary backstory to said cop which had me wondering ‘why do I even remotely care about this?’ every time it was mentioned. It felt like a word count filler.
Leah and McKenna were sympathetic characters and had the plot ramped up, it would have been an enjoyable journey to watch both of them beat their demons. But really it just all seemed to…happen. It was never bad and I finished it easily and was kept at least moderately entertained throughout but it never really stood up or stood out. I always love women coming together to throw out the trash stories so it still ended up a net positive even if it was lacking a bit in excitement.
I always wonder why so many of these novels focus on the victimization of rich white ladies? I feel like it's an archetype that I have read over and over again and I would love to see something new but this book definitely did not bring it.
Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. This book was narrated by Dylan Moore, Leon Nixon, and Sarah Mollo-Christensen who all did a great job narrating.
The Favor follows Leah who ends up following McKenna. Leah recognizes a defeat in McKenna, something that tells her that she may be facing the same problem that Leah has been stuck with for some time: an abusive and controlling husband. Despite never speaking or even meeting, Leah decides that if she can’t really help herself, she could help McKenna instead.
Like I said, it is a very interesting concept and really could make an interesting story. The first halfish of the book is intriguing but it never really ramps up or gets more interesting. We know everything as we are going. There are no surprises in the story. The author tries to add tension through the perspective of a detective investigating what’s happening but that actually removes tension because we know what's happening from all sides of the story now. They also add what feels like a completely useless and unnecessary backstory to said cop which had me wondering ‘why do I even remotely care about this?’ every time it was mentioned. It felt like a word count filler.
Leah and McKenna were sympathetic characters and had the plot ramped up, it would have been an enjoyable journey to watch both of them beat their demons. But really it just all seemed to…happen. It was never bad and I finished it easily and was kept at least moderately entertained throughout but it never really stood up or stood out. I always love women coming together to throw out the trash stories so it still ended up a net positive even if it was lacking a bit in excitement.
I always wonder why so many of these novels focus on the victimization of rich white ladies? I feel like it's an archetype that I have read over and over again and I would love to see something new but this book definitely did not bring it.
Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. This book was narrated by Dylan Moore, Leon Nixon, and Sarah Mollo-Christensen who all did a great job narrating.
Wow! What an exciting thriller! This one kept me on-edge from the very beginning, all the way to the satisfying conclusion. And then to realize that this is the author's debut novel makes it even more amazing. Nice job, Nora Murphy.
The lives that these women had to live and the happenings inside their houses was gut-wrenching to witness. Sadly, it's a way of life for so many women though. So heartbreaking. How these women escape their fate will rock your world. Strangers who become something much, much more.
I absolutely loved The Favor and cannot recommend it enough! This should be a must-read for all thriller lovers. Wait until you find out what the 'favor' is.
The lives that these women had to live and the happenings inside their houses was gut-wrenching to witness. Sadly, it's a way of life for so many women though. So heartbreaking. How these women escape their fate will rock your world. Strangers who become something much, much more.
I absolutely loved The Favor and cannot recommend it enough! This should be a must-read for all thriller lovers. Wait until you find out what the 'favor' is.