The Favored Child: A Novel

"Favoured Child" and the rest of the trilogy is the first time in my life, I have not finished a book and also the first time I have returned a book ( actually the entire trilogy). I just could not get past the first few chapters in any of them and found myself "skimming" just to get it over with.

The characters and plot are such a farce it is extremely difficult to get "lost in". Both, appear as though they are intended only to titillate or shock.


Mostly Boring and Predictable   January 28, 2005
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

I wasn't sure I should read this book after being disturbed by the incestual theme in Wideacre. This book was much more boring than Wideacre. The incest theme was also carried on. I got tired of page after page of descriptions of Wideacre and it's crops, smells, colors, etc. The heroine, Julia, is as much in love with the land as Beatrice was in Wideacre but she is an entirely different character. I got tired of waiting for her to stand up for herself against her crazy brother who had inherited the control/masochistic gene. Nothing much happens in this book until near the end. I would not recommend this book.


As good as the first !   June 25, 2004
After reading Wideacre I expected this book's heroine to be evil and manipulative. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Phillipa Gregory had created a good, yet incredibly deep character. Julia Lacey is definately not a one dimensional herione and is no carbon copy of Beatrice. I can't wait til I read the third book, Meridon!


Addictively Infuriating!!!   May 13, 2004
KRT220 (San Francisco, CA)
I have become a fast fan of Philippa Gregory, starting first with The Other Boleyn Girl before beginning the Wideacre trilogy. I cannot put them down. In this second work I find myself sad for Julia Lacey but infuriated with her at the same time. I want to jump into the book and strangle her for her stupidity and weakness but then check myself on the time which her character lives. You cannot help but pity little Julia and hope that she will summon the strength of her mama/aunt Beatrice, the Wideacre witch, and break from the intolerably cruel rule of her cousin/brother/husband Richard and give him his just desserts. I cannot wait to learn how it all ends. This trilogy makes great summer reading. A MUST READ!!!


If it had been poorly written, I would have rated it 0   February 26, 2004
M.J. Ross (bloomfield, nj United States)
I can only say after reading these books that I am glad that I read "The Queen's Fool" and "The Other Bolyn Girl" first. If I hadn't, nothing could have inspired me to pick up another of this author's books. This book was marginally more enjoyable than its predecessor, "Wideacre."

Although they are beautifully written, the characters are thoroughly unlikable and unbelievable. The story lines are trite and predictable. In this trilogy, the author has seemed to forget the tales' integrity and instead gone for shock value. Most of the characters in these books just need to be slapped or put out of their misery.

If you like drama-queen stories intended to shock, I would suggest reading any book by V.C. Andrews rather than this trilogy. At least most of the characters in the V.C. Andrews books cannot do anything to improve their situations merely by standing up and being human.

I have always said that no book read is a waste of time. I am sad to say I was wrong. These books have wasted valuable time that I could have spent on something more worthwhile.

I would recommend to ANY reader two other books by this author, and those would be the aforementioned "The Queen's Fool" and "The Other Boleyn Girl." Both are great reads and worth 5 stars--more if it were possible to rate them that highly.