The Chicken Sisters

Reese's Book Club (A Novel)

By: KJ Dell'Antonia

Narrated by: Xe Sands, Cassandra Campbell

Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

Instant New York Times Best Seller

A Reese's Book Club Pick

"A charming, hilarious, feel-good story about the kind of bonds and rivalries only sisters can share. Also, a great present for your sister for the holidays!!" (Reese Witherspoon)

Three generations. Two chicken shacks. One recipe for disaster.

In tiny Merinac, Kansas, Chicken Mimi's and Chicken Frannie's have spent a century vying to serve up the best fried chicken in the state - and the legendary feud between their respective owners, the Moores and the Pogociellos, has lasted just as long. No one feels the impact more than 35-year-old widow Amanda Moore, who grew up working for her mom at Mimi's before scandalously marrying Frank Pogociello and changing sides to work at Frannie's. Tired of being caught in the middle, Amanda sends an SOS to Food Wars, the reality TV restaurant competition that promises $100,000 to the winner. But in doing so, she launches both families out of the frying pan and directly into the fire....

The last thing Brooklyn-based organizational guru Mae Moore, Amanda's sister, wants is to go home to Kansas. But when her career implodes, helping the fading Mimi's look good on Food Wars becomes Mae's best chance to reclaim the limelight - even if doing so pits her against Amanda and Frannie's. Yet when family secrets become public knowledge, the sisters must choose: Will they fight with each other, or for their heritage?

©2020 KJ Dell'Antonia (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

A January 2021 Country Living Front Porch Book Club Pick

“Dell’Antonia writes convincingly and sympathetically about complicated family relationships, giving Mae and Amanda each relatable flaws. The Food Wars scenes are a fun peek behind the curtain of the reality TV world, and the small-town warmth of Merinac is comfortingly quirky. A charming and satisfying story about family bonds that will make meat eaters everywhere crave fried chicken.” (Kirkus Reviews)

"The Chicken Sisters is a pitch-perfect book with which to begin the New Year, when the spirit of starting anew and putting aside baggage (no matter how many centuries old it may be!), is exactly what we need. Well, that and a plate of fried chicken, of course." (Country Living)

“A charming first novel about family, regrets, and second chances. Dell’Antonia deftly deals with issues of mental illness, marriage troubles, and dreams deferred, all the while telling a funny satire of reality TV. An utter delight from start to finish." (Booklist, starred review)

Draws you in

Took a bit to hook me, but once it did, I was all in.

Family feud and Reality TV

Entertaining if overly long story about competing chicken restaurants originally run by sisters in a tiny Kansas town. When the Food Network comes to set up a competition,
the expected hell breaks loose.

Someone said this seems like a first draft, and I agree, but it is fun, and narration is particularly good. Cassandra Campbell does many voices, and Xe Sand’s distinctive voice makes Mae tolerable and later, sympathetic.

Hoarding is handled in a sympathetic way.

Fun and easy

This is a perfect easy read for a summer day or getting through a pandemic. Light and fun! Recommend for those who like watching reality TV.

Easy read. Pretty simple

The narrator was really good but the storyline was pretty basic. It was easy but not very riveting or exciting. Just light family drama.

Different type for me

I picked this on a recommendation from a friend. I will say I enjoyed the read, and it kept me with the book, but not one of my favorites this summer.

Good but too long.!

Good story, but a little too long. They could have gotten to the crux of it sooner and wrapped it up.

Fun, light read

Great narrator! I felt like I knew what was going to happen at the end, and I did.

A delicious, addictive read

The Chicken Sisters grabbed me from the first drafts of Amanda’s pitch to appear on reality TV’s Food Wars, which gave us enough information to drop us right into the middle of a generation-spanning restaurant rivalry. As Amanda and Mae take turns narrating, the action and their own rivalry begins to heat up. The drama associated with the show exposes unhealed conflicts and carefully-hidden family secrets. I loved every moment along the way, especially the satisfying and well-earned happy ending.

The audio performance was wonderful, with two voices helping to give each sister and every other character their own distinctive and recognizable identity.

A fun listen

Since this was about two sisters, to listen from their point of view really brought out the characters. The story was fun as expected but enjoyed the deep meaning of truly finding yourself and overcoming grudges that no one knows why exist anymore.

Not realistic

I found this story to not be very realistic and very boring. I finished it since it was selected for a book club. Otherwise I would have returned it to Audible.