The Favorite Girl Review: I Accidentally Conducted a Forensic Investigation ⭐⭐⭐✨
The Favorite Girl by Monica Arya Book Review (With FULL Spoilers & Ending Explained)
🚨 WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS FULL SPOILERS INCLUDING THE ENDING. 🚨
Sometimes I finish a thriller and think:
"Wow. That was incredibly well executed."
Sometimes I finish a thriller and think:
"Wait… was she wearing pants or a wedding dress?"
Unfortunately for everyone involved, The Favorite Girl falls into category two.
Here's the thing though:
I had fun.
A lot of fun.
This book is ridiculous.
This book is messy.
This book contains enough continuity errors to make me accidentally become a private investigator.
And yet…
I flew through it.
So welcome to my review of the most entertaining editing disaster I’ve read in a long time 😂
⚠️ Trigger Warnings
This book contains:
• Graphic violence
• Death
• Suicide / suicidal ideation
• Self-harm
• Human trafficking
• Sexual assault / rape
• Physical abuse
• Emotional abuse
• Psychological abuse
• Imprisonment / captivity
• Misogyny / gender discrimination
• Substance use
• Sexual content
📚 What Is The Favorite Girl About?
Demi Rao is homeless, staying in a motel in North Carolina and desperate for work when she discovers an opening for a live-in housekeeper position at the mysterious Ivory Estate.
The job immediately feels strange.
The family wants:
• Specific clothing
• Specific hairstyles
• Specific makeup
• Specific body modifications
• Total control
Demi meets Bradley, Conrad, Ian Ivory, and Daphne Ivory.
She signs an absurdly restrictive contract because Conrad is attractive and because thriller protagonists occasionally make decisions that would have me immediately turning my car around.
Soon afterward, Demi discovers the previous housekeeper dead.
Then things get worse.
Much worse.
She discovers imprisoned women.
Sensory deprivation cages.
Drugging.
Blackmail.
Forced appearance changes.
And eventually learns that the Ivory family runs an operation where wealthy men purchase psychologically conditioned wives.
Which is horrifying.
But somehow not the most unbelievable thing in the book.
🏚️ Full Plot Summary (Spoilers Including Ending)
Demi quickly realizes she cannot leave.
The Ivory family frames her for murder and forces her to stay.
She is:
• Forced to dye her hair blonde
• Forced to wear wigs
• Forced to get an IUD
• Forced to wear white constantly
• Forced into becoming Conrad’s future wife
She discovers the women being held captive are not addicts receiving treatment as claimed.
Instead, they are victims being conditioned into submission and sold.
Demi also learns about her own traumatic past.
Years earlier, Demi and her sister Layla were sold into trafficking by their parents.
Layla helped Demi escape but became mortally injured during the process.
Layla begged Demi to kill her.
Demi did.
And trust me:
This book will remind you repeatedly that Demi killed her sister.
Bradley appears to become Demi’s ally.
He helps her.
Protects her.
Eventually they sleep together.
Meanwhile Conrad becomes increasingly terrifying.
The family prepares Demi for marriage.
Demi learns that previous captive Daisy is being sold off through marriage.
We learn the operation extends beyond the estate itself.
Things continue escalating until finally:
The wedding happens.
Conrad marries Demi.
Then immediately reveals:
Ian and Daphne are dead.
Their throats have been slit.
He forces Demi to drink their blood.
Because apparently the story still had several levels of insanity remaining.
Luckily Bradley successfully drugged Conrad’s whiskey.
Conrad dies.
Demi frees the prisoners.
Escapes.
Gets rescued.
THE END.
Except no.
Because Bradley reveals:
• He is Ian’s son
• He wants to continue the business
• He wants Demi to help
• He plans to continue the conditioning
So Demi uses the suicide pill Bradley previously gave her.
Kills Bradley.
Gets rescued again.
And then asks for:
An all-white meal.
A trip to the Bahamas.
Suggesting maybe the conditioning never fully left.
Honestly?
That ending was creepy.
🔎 The Continuity Problems Were Wild
Okay.
We need to talk.
Because I have never highlighted this many passages in my life.
Mrs. Ivory’s Magical Expanding Hair
When Demi first meets Mrs. Ivory:
Short blonde bob.
At dinner:
Long blonde curls.
Demi:
"I didn’t realize it was pinned up earlier."
That must have been one extraordinary bob.
The Walls Changed Mid-Conversation
Demi enters room:
Gold walls
Demi sits down:
Dark navy walls
I have questions.
Conrad’s Traveling Eye Color
Conrad has:
• Whiskey eyes
• Light brown eyes
• Green eyes
• Green contacts
At some point I gave up.
The Shower Situation
Demi takes a shower.
The next day:
"I haven’t showered in months."
Girl.
Yesterday.
Dress Or Pants?
Back-to-back sentences:
"I stood there in my white lace dress full of hope."
Immediately followed by:
"I brushed my hands against my pants."
Choose one 😭
📋 The Rules Made No Sense
The book spends SO MUCH TIME explaining rules.
Unfortunately the rules rarely matter.
The Contract That Did Absolutely Nothing
Demi signs pages and pages of rules.
Then she:
• Sneaks around
• Breaks rules constantly
• Calls police
• Lies repeatedly
• Wanders everywhere
Nothing about the contract itself seems important.
So why was it terrifying?
Decorative paperwork?
The Camera Confusion
Demi:
"There can't be cameras because we had sex here."
Minutes later:
"I remembered Bradley said there weren't cameras."
You already knew this information 😭
Shoes?
Bedrooms supposedly have:
NO SHOES ALLOWED
Characters repeatedly:
Put shoes on in bedrooms.
Walk around bedrooms.
Store shoes in bedrooms.
Apparently this rule existed for vibes only.
Repetition Olympics
Things this book absolutely loves:
• Rolling lips together
• Pinching lips sideways
• Nails digging into flesh
• Splattering spit
• The word slammed
• Reminding readers Demi killed Layla
At one point I started tracking repetitions more than plot points.
🧠 The Entire Business Model Needed More Meetings
This is where things really started falling apart.
The Ivory family built an entire criminal enterprise around:
Virgin brides
Purity
Wedding nights
Proof
Control
Yet the actual logistics made me increasingly confused.
The women are forced to get IUDs.
But then:
• The household supposedly isn't allowed to have sex with them
• Brides are expected to bleed during wedding night sex
• Brides are expected to become pregnant immediately after IUD removal
• Virginity is supposedly central to their financial value
The entire thing created questions.
Not because fiction must be perfectly realistic.
But because:
The book spends enormous time explaining its own rules.
And then repeatedly ignores them.
At some point I stopped asking:
"Are these people evil?"
And started asking:
"Who exactly is managing operations here?"
😂 Why I Still Couldn't Stop Reading
This is the frustrating part.
Because despite everything I just said:
I was entertained.
The pacing is fast.
The reveals keep coming.
The chapters fly.
The twists are dramatic.
The story constantly escalates.
Even while noticing problems, I wanted to keep reading.
This book feels like eating questionable gas station food.
You know there may be consequences.
You proceed anyway.
⭐ Final Thoughts
The Favorite Girl is one of the strangest reading experiences I’ve had in a while.
It is:
✔️ Fast-paced
✔️ Twisty
✔️ Very bingeable
✔️ Wildly inconsistent
✔️ Extremely entertaining
Did this desperately need stronger editing?
Yes.
Did I have fun?
Also yes.
Just maybe don't think too hard about the walls.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐✨ (3.5 stars)
📚 Books To Read If You Enjoyed The Favorite Girl
The Housemaid — Freida McFadden
The Last Housewife — Ashley Winstead
The Quiet Tenant — Clémence Michallon
Pretty Girls — Karin Slaughter
The Chain — Adrian McKinty
The Perfect Child — Lucinda Berry
The Mindf*ck Series — S.T. Abby
Happy reading 📚✨
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