Wuthering Heights meets Daisy Jones, but make it ice skating. That's the best way to describe The Favorites!
This book alternates between a documentary style chapters and the FMC's POV chapters, which I really enjoyed. I just loved watching the way the drama unfolded and how Layne Fargo portraited competitive environment of the sport. I did feel like the last 30-20% of the book lost me a bit, it just wasn't grabbing my attention like the beginning did. There is a small issue with the pacing in my opinion.
Overall, I enjoyed this!! It was fun.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC!

I would like to thank Net galley and Random House for the opportunity to read this as an ARC.I really liked this book. My criteria for a 5 star include- thinking about the book when I am not reading it and not wanting to stop reading it. This book met both! Looking at some of the reviews, I realize that this book may not be for everybody. It does get a bit melodramatic or "soap opera ish" at times. However, I love both of those genres, so it was a treat. I am 70, and read Wuthering Heights( which acted as inspiration for this book), while in High school. I also re read it a few months back, while taking a course on the Bronte's in my adult Life Long Learning Class. I loved Wuthering Heights as a teenager, not so much as an adult. This book is not a retelling, or a reimagining. Some of the names hearken back to the original( Kat Shaw and Heath for Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliffe, for example). There is the theme of star crossed love,and people trying to come between them.However, it is very much its own story. On my re reading of WH, I realized the characters are for the most part, unlikeable. That is also true in this story, but it works The story is set in the 2010 s and 2020s. And it is set in the world of Ice Dancing. I always watched The Olympics growing up, and I remember when Ice Dancing finally became an Olympic Sport in the 70's. Prior to that, we saw it during the national and world champion ships on Wide World of Sports :) Kat and Heath are ice dancers, who grew up poor in Illinois. Isabella and Garrett are twins, born of an Olympic Ice dance Champion, who have had every advantage. We track the trajectory of these 4 skaters, along with several others. It is framed as s TV Documentary , with sound bites given by a a number of people, other skaters, judges, etc , who comment on Kat and Heath's skating and lives. It is interspersed with narrative from Kat about her life and memories.It is well written and never dull. I really enjoyed it.

What can I say? The Favorites is a favorite, a top read for me in 2024 even though it won't be out until 2025!

I LOVED this book, Layne Fargo is a favorite author and this solidifies her as a must read, auto-buy author as we bookstagrammers say. I loved this book so much that I put off finishing it just because I was going to be sad to leave the story behind.

Why did I love this book? It's a wonderful ode to Wuthering Heights but also 100% it's own mesmerizing story of talent, ambition, revenge, love, anger, toxic spaces, and messy lives... all wrapped up in a soapy (in a good way) drama about ice dancers. Fargo's plot and character development is excellent, the pacing of the story had me hooked and holding on, staying up for just one more chapter, and the drop in perspectives from other characters/transcripts/blog posts added tension to the story, worked to bring in needed outside views and big picture themes, and also worked to bring in secondary characters into the story in an effective way.

Despite having zero interest in the Olympics or the cutthroat world of competitive ice dancing, this story really grabbed me. Raw, propulsive, and juicy, with toxic characters who’ll stop at nothing in the name of ambition—I just could not keep myself from turning the pages.

I really enjoyed the mixed media format, but felt Kat and Heath’s relationship came off way more interesting in the interviews, whereas it felt a bit flat in Kat’s narration.

I also really enjoyed Kat’s unexpected friendship with Bella, along with the latter’s character growth.

While I was totally captivated by the first 70%, I’ll admit that the last 30% lost me a bit. The twist was underwhelming, and I didn’t really quite get what the book was trying to be. Despite that, I found this to be an overall enjoyable read and was pretty satisfied with how the story wrapped up!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the opportunity to read this ARC!

As a teenager, I was obsessed with competitive figure skating and my favorite movie was The Cutting Edge, so when I read the description of this book, it seemed right up my alley. We start toward the end of the story with the release of a no-holds-barred documentary about the controversial ice dancing couple of Katarina Shaw and Heath Rocha. Then we go back in time to learn their story and follow their rise in the international ice dancing world, with transcripts from the documentary interspersed between the chapters. It's a love story on the one hand, but it's also a story about elite athletes who will do whatever it takes to be the best. There is a lot of drama -- changing partners, coaches pitting teams against each other, sex, secrets, sabotage. It's fast paced and entertaining, not unlike a TV expose. And it's a bit of fanfic, in the sense that in the world of Shaw and Rocha, the Americans are regularly dominating ice dancing. If you're a fan of the sport and want a fun romp, you might enjoy it.

“The Favorites” was such a fun, engaging book! I couldn’t put it down the entire time I was reading it.

It has a little something for everyone- competitive sports, romance, action, and a bit of mystery too. I was so caught up in the story that it flew by even though it was a longish book. I loved the short chapters and the format of having a first person narrative broken up by interviews for a documentary.

The characters and I had a love hate relationship! Kat is so competitive and stubborn that sometimes it could be off putting but overall I was really rooting for her the entire time. She actually reminded me a lot of Carrie Soto! Each character was flawed and I enjoyed that aspect of it. My only criticism is I wish Heath had a little more character development.

4.5 rounded up. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

The Favorites ⛸️

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Genre: Literary Fiction
Pub Date: January 14, 2025

Kat and Heath are not only childhood sweethearts, but also ice dancing partners. Despite their rough backgrounds they are able to work their way up in the competitive (and gossip filled world) of competitive ice dancing. Kat will do anything to win, and Heath would do anything to hold onto Kat. Will the drama of this small world help them rise to the top, or tear them apart?

I freakin’ LOVED this one. This was literary fiction sprinkled with a touch of suspense. With the use of mixed media, the story is told from present day via interviews with people in the ice dancing world for a documentary. As well as in the past from Kat’s perspective. I really enjoy the little suspense that was brought in to keep me wondering what the hell happened that sparked this huge documentary to be made.

Fargo did an amazing job with the characters. I felt like I was somehow part of this world with them, and just loved how gritty everyone was. She also did a fantastic job of weaving this story full of twists and turns along the way. I never once was bored, or thought ‘why was this included?’

I’d highly recommend adding this unique story to your TBR when it is released in January. Who knew the world of competitive ice dancing would be so intense and fun to read about.

Wuthering Heights and ice dancing? That sounded right up my alley and, in this case, it was. This was such a fun, dramatic soap opera of a book. I didn't always like the characters, but I loved reading about them. It's been awhile since I read Wuthering Heights, but I feel like this book did it justice and made the story its own. It was the kind of highly entertaining book that I was sad to see end.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

Deliciously scandalous.

At first I didn’t love the writing style and the storytelling in this one, but once I got used to it I was hooked. I really enjoyed the look at the ice dancing world - give me more ice skating sports romances please.

The Favorites by Layne Fargo portrays the salacious details of an inside look at competitive ice dancing, not to be confused with ice skating. The chapter format alternates between Katarina’s POV and a documentary format with snippets from judges, competitors, and reporters. While it initially captured my attention, about 45% through I found it somewhat catty among characters and it felt too much like a soap opera.

I had higher hopes for this book. While I loved the drama among competitors and the romance between Heath & Katarina, who grew up together, grew into fame together and whose relationship went through challenges, I was somewhat bored and looking forward to the end. It felt like there were a million competitions which I’m sure there are in a skater’s career, however I couldn’t keep track of which were which and how high the stakes were for each. I also thought the book could have been 100 pages shorter and still portrayed the intended drama and storylines.

Thank you to NetGalley, Layne Fargo and Random House for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Mark my words this is going to be a very popular title come January.

Entertaining, juicy, cutthroat fun. Enter the world of Figure Skating the same way we entered the world of Daisy Jones, told in a documentary style mixed with detailed chapters this book sucks you in and doesn’t quit.

My only issue is it’s about 100 pages too long and needed to be tightened up but nonetheless good solid entertainment.

Wuthering Heights meets Daisy Jones and the Six set in the ice dance world- I could not put this book down! I was obsessed. I loved the format of part narrative style/part transcript from a documentary about the events of the book. I've already started recommending this book, and I know it will be great for bookclubs!

This is an interesting novel that at times frustrated me. After doing a little behind the scenes research, realized this book is a modern retelling of Great Expectations. I’ve never read the inspiration story but the description seems utterly depressing. With that in mind, I can see some parallels so brace yourself for some complicated storylines. The comparison to Daisy Jones and the Six is in the expository nature of the storytelling. Captured like a documentary, the story gives behind the scene antidotes from people who are supporting characters in Katarina and Heath’s story. Loved the deep dive into the world of competitive ice dancing. So much I didn’t know about that is described in so much depth. At the heart of the story is a love story. A couple’s love that twists and turns. So much angst and many obstacles and I’m not sure if the ending was as satisfying as I thought it would be. Mixed feelings about this one but it will definitely have me thinking about it for awhile. 4 solid stars!

While not my favorite by this author, I did enjoy this! My one criticism: I wish there was more character depth/relationship detail and less ice dancing detail. Over all a solid 4 stars for me:)

I’ve never read a book by this author but I’ll definitely be checking out her other work. I’m a big fan of the way she set up and carried out the story. Definitely worth reading if you’re a fan of this genre!

The best book I've read all year and now I can't talk about it with others until next year?? Cruel world. This was so intoxicating, more-ish, and completely unputdownable. I literally had a dream about this book last night it was that engrossing. I've also just realised it's loosely drawn from Wuthering Heights which is my least favourite classic novel, possibly my least favourite book ever, so to turn that story into something that gripped me so heartily is so so so wonderful to see. I'm so happy I got this ARC and I can't wait to see what Layne Fargo writes next!

This was WILD and I could not put it down!! This has all the vibes of gossip girl and kept me second guessing everything. It was a blast

I’ll be honest, I originally requested a copy of The Favorites under the assumption that it was a thriller 😅🫣. I saw the author’s name and jumped to (incorrect) conclusions 😂. Luckily, I realized my error before diving in, but was still happy to read it anyway.

I’m so glad that I picked this one up because IT COMPLETELY BLEW ME AWAY 🥹🤍. It’s been a long time since I’ve been so captivated by a book. I couldn’t put it down! When I wasn’t reading it, I was thinking about it.

It was set-up as a fictional memoir about a famous figure skating duo and it had a bit of a Daisy Jones and the Six vibe to it. I’m not even a fan of figure skating, but I loved this!

I am such a sucker for a strong female main character and an underdog story, and this story had both!! The main character, Katarina Shaw was a total powerhouse. She was passionate, ambitious, and a real firecracker. She made no apologies for who she was and loved everything about her!

Trust me, you’re going to want to read this one!!!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the opportunity to read this e-ARC!

Excellent piece of fiction! Epic romance, epic sports. Was playing out like a movie in the best way. The drama of it all reminded me of Gossip Girl and I mean that in the best way possible. Everything is high stakes and you can trust no one. I would recommend this to most anyone.

4.5 stars because this was wild and I ate it up. The Wuthering Heights inspiration is absolutely perfect in this cutthroat ice dance setting and this was just so fun to read!