“What a way to start the book,” was the first thought that crossed my mind after reading the first several pages. It definitely started off with some sort of a bang that is hard to follow through when you’ve already set the bar.

Favorite is a great, fast read for those that love a good mystery/thriller story. It’s also a book that gives me trouble when typing the name, as I’m consistently trying to avoid spelling it Favourite. Anyway. The book is listed under the genres of mystery, thriller, and suspense... (Read more via website) ( )

TITLE: "Favorite"
AUTHOR: Karen McQuestion
PUBLISHER: Amazon Encore
RATING: 5
AGES: 14+

REVIEW: This is an amazing story and one easily readable within a day. Angel Favorite's mother disappears when she is in the third grade, never to be seen again. The police soon give up the search and Laura Favorite is assumed dead. Suddenly Angel is attacked at 16 years of age only five years after her mother's disappearance and no one understands why. As accusations begin to fly and strange things start to happen, it leaves you wondering if this was simply a coincidence or could it have something to do with her mother's disappearance.

I was hooked from page one and could not put this book down. This is a dynamic YA mystery that will leave you breathless, the characters are very well developed, the plot heavily thought out and the writing is superb. Author Karen McQuestion is definitely one to watch and I intend to read more of her future and past work! ( )

This is not a very long book with short chapters and that means you easily find yourself racing through to its conclusion; a couple of hours on an afternoon would soon see it finished! It is a YA read and I think the voice of Angie comes across well but I felt the second half of the book was too predictable for anyone who is used to crime/mystery books.
There are parts of the book that do have an almost filmic quality and it is very easy to visualise the building tension if you have seen any teenage horror films. A good holiday read for a teen who likes horror/mystery and passed a pleasant afternoon but not challenging enough to have me racing to buy McQuestion's next books. ( )

Probably a 3 1/2 but in a market overpopulated (in my opinion) withvampires, werewolves and shapeshifters this book was a welcome change. A mother disappearing, a family trying to cope and mysteries involving an old mansion and a family from the rich part of town. Enjoyable. ( )

Angela Favorite is just like any other 16-year-old high school girl. Except her mother disappeared without a trace on her 11th birthday. After delivering cupcakes to her school while dropping her off on the way to work. Ever since then, Angie doesn't like birthdays very much. Each one is a painful reminder of her mother's strange disappearance, one that hasn't been solved to the point where her mom seems to have been written off as most likely ... let's not go there!

Angie simply can't believe her mother is dead. She prays to her every night and swears she feels a connection to her.

But this is all backstory. What happens is she's going back to the dry cleaners because the cashier gave her too much change, when a guy named Scott Bittner grabs her. He sort of roughs her up. She tries to get away. He insists she must come with him. She's scared. He ends up hurting her. Fortunately, someone reports the altercation to the police. Angie ends up in the hospital, traumatized.

Okay, Angie and her brother, Jason, live with their grandmother, who is engaged and getting ready to take a cruise with her fiance. Their dad is hardly ever home as he's an itinerant rock musician who swears his "big break" will come any day now, so he's not in the best position to raise a family by himself. Got that?

Oh, and then there's Scott Bittner's mother. Boy, what an ... interesting lady she is. And, my, what a house she lives in ... like a castle ...

Here's the thing. Mrs. Bittner really wants Angie and Jason to stay with her, while their grandma is away on her cruise. And she seems like a really nice lady who clearly has a whole lot of dough, so Jason has his own reasons to get along and go along with the whole thing. But Angie is a bit creeped out by the idea of staying at the castle, um, house.

And, of course, there's a boy. It wouldn't be quite as good a story without a boy, would it? And Angie really likes this boy. And he's Mrs. Bittner's grandson, Mike, which is kind of odd.

Plus there's a cat. Thank God!

Now, that's all I can say.

Karen McQuestion does an excellent job of combining elements of a coming of age tale with those of a gothic suspense story.

Read the rest of the review at http://thebookgrrl.blogspot.com/2011/05/coming-of-age-and-suspense-meet-in.html ( )