The Favorites

An outsider graduate student forges her way into an exclusive Law and Literature cohort and plots a takedown of its popular professor in this provocative campus novel about privilege, power, and obsession

“A standout dark academia thriller, with shades of Donna Tartt’s modern classic The Secret History and Emerald Fennell’s revenge fantasy film Promising Young Woman.” —BookPage

Most students would kill to be selected for the prestigious Law and Literature course at Franklin University. But for Jessie Mooney, admittance into this campus inner circle is about more than social cachet and access to distinguished alumni: It’s her chance to get close to charismatic professor Jay Crane. Since the moment she discovered their secret relationship, Jessie’s been convinced Crane is to blame for the events leading to her sister’s death, and she’ll do anything to hold him accountable.

Between off-campus parties and intense classroom debates, Jessie carefully plots her every move with one goal in mind—to earn the coveted position as Crane’s “favorite.” But when she finally gains his trust, attracting the other students’ envy and suspicion, the truth becomes darkly twisted. Is it justice Jessie craves, or revenge? And what does she stand to lose if she gets her way?

Shimmering with tension, The Favorites explores the ways that love, desire, and anger reveal the best, and worst, of us.