The Favorites

A graduate student competes her way into a selective 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 accepted into the prestigious Law and Literature cohort at Franklin University. But for Jessie Mooney, enrollment in the course is about more than campus status, rigorous thought, and professional connections. It’s her chance to get close to charismatic professor Jay Crane so she can expose who he really is.

From the moment she discovered their secret relationship, Jessie's been convinced Crane is to blame for the events leading to her sister’s death. Still haunted by their last email exchange—You know what you did—she'll cross any line to hold him accountable. But when Jessie finally earns Crane’s trust and the coveted position as one of his “favorites,” 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.