Obsession is the overarching theme of this dramatic, gripping story that reads like a tell-all documentary. The Favorites follows the careers of Katarina Shaw and Heath Rocha as they rise from Midwestern kids with a hard life to elite level ice dancing. Kat is obsessed with becoming like her childhood idol & two-time Olympic gold ice dancer Sheila Lin. Heath is obsessed with Kat. And eventually the world becomes obsessed with this iconic ice dancing duo. The Favorites is tells the story of female ambition & how driven women are perceived. It offers a fictional glimpse behind the curtain of elite athletics & Olympic politics. If you are looking for a propulsive, compelling, and complex love story with flawed characters, this is the book for you. The Favorites is an unputdownable glimpse into just how far people will go to achieve their dreams.

I loved this book!! I read this in two days because I just needed to know what happened. Kat and Heath’s relationship was so tumultuous but compelling. This reminded me of a Taylor Jenkins Reid book in the best way.

Happy Pub Day 🥳

Ok so this book is incredible!!!! You know when you're reading & forget that you are ?? This happened several times while I was immersed in this story.
This is a book .. a story ... I didn't know I needed to read. Sooo so good !!!

Going in I was immediately hooked & tbh did not think I would like a book about ice dance AT ALL but I was completely wrong. I absolutely loved it !!!
If I wasn't dealing with a concussion I could have devoured this book way faster , it sucks you in !
This is the second book I've read by this author & I absolutely loved them both . ❤️❤️❤️❤️

#TheFavorites #NetGalley #Arc ⛸️❄️🇺🇸

I could not put this down. I don't think I have EVER been as invested in two fictional people in my life. I'm a big fan of figure skating and the Olympics and so when this book was first pitched to me as Carrie Soto is Back in the world of ice dancing, I could not have BEEN more ready. I'm so glad I requested this arc because I absolutely devoured it. I felt every single pain that Katerina Shaw felt and by the end I was sweating. I love a documentary style book (Daisy Jones anyone?) and it fits ice dancing so well. That world is so small and interesting there isn't a shortage of drama that can unfold. This is the story of Katerina and Heath and their interdependent relationship as it goes through more trauma and tension then I could even handle. I was so invested in them at one point I forgot they were fake people.

Katerina is complicated and you do get her thoughts as well as those of the people around her as we are told, documentary style, about all the things that led up to what happened at the Sochi Olympics. Every chapter ends on a cliffhanger that makes you keep going. I finished the book hours ago and am still reeling.

I really can't say enough good things about this. If you love figure skating, if you like mockumentaries or just juicy drama then definitely pick this up. I need this to become a limited series immediately.

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Have you ever wondered about ice skating partners and dreamed they were actually together? What! A! Ride! - this book is a standout of my year so far. With a compelling story, character development, love, angst, turmoil. This book has a little bit of everything. Highly recommend to anyone liking romance or general fiction. 5/5. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this (well deserved!) buzzy book!

Over/under on how quickly it gets picked up for a movie?

The Favorites by Layne Fargo is one of the buzziest, most talked about books on bookstagram right now. It has Reese Witherspoon written all over it. Inspired by the classic Wuthering Heights, it has been described as Daisy Jones & the Six meets Carrie Soto is Back. It combines an epic love story with a behind the scenes look at competitive figure skating. The FMC, Katarina, is an unapologetic fierce competitor, known as much for her skating as her drama filled life. The story follows her all consuming goal of becoming an Olympic champion with her childhood best friend, and often toxic love, Heath. Don’t miss this entertaining, fast paced, soon to be bestseller! 4/5⭐️ Available today 1/14/25

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

THE FAVORITES by Layne Fargo truly embodies all of my favorite elements in a read. It was an absolutely captivating read that drew me in and kept me on my toes from the very beginning. It was so hard to put this book down

From the writing, to the plot and then to the characters as well as their dynamics everything about this book was phenomenal.

This story follows two competitive ice dance skaters Katarina and Heath Rocha from their childhood as well as throughout their journey to the Olympics. A journey filled with drama, scandal, romance, betrayal, and ruthlessness that came with competitive ice skating.
I loved the uniqueness of this story being told in a documentary-style transcript interview with people who were a part of the ice skating/Olympics world as well as being m through Katarina’s own perspective of the events themselves.

The interview insights and opinions of various individuals allows you to follow every twist and turn in Shaw and Rocha’s careers. Each one had my heart racing, and I felt I was experiencing their physical and emotional overdrive.

Honestly the way that it was written will literally leave you completely undone leaving you obsessed with the world of ice skating and its politics.

The character development was done beautifully. The characters are so complexed and felt so real and human. It was intriguing to see the inside view of Katarina and Heath's toxic, obsessive, codependent relationship.

Katarina and Heath's ambitious, passion, tension, talent, and detrimental personalities truly had me completely obsessed with this book.

Definitely a must read of 2025!! Thank you so much Netgalley for this e-ARC. I will never forget this book. It is absorbed into my brain chemistry.

My new “Favourite” obsession!

Thanks Random House Publishing Group - Random House for ARC!

Synopsis -

Katarina Shaw has always dreamt of being an Olympic Ice figure skater. Her childhood sweetheart, Heath Rocha is her perfect companion and together they make the most sensational duo in the world of ice skating. With a documentary surfacing about their sporting journey on the 10th anniversary of their final skate, Kat is finally ready to tell the world their story - right from the “nobody” pair from rural Illinois, skating in their backyard on the frozen lake to the world’s most popular skating icons and olympic champions.

Review -

Oh my goodness! First of all, I want to congratulate the author on this scintillating novel shadowing the themes of #DaisyJones, #EvelynHugo and #CarrieSoto. It’s clear that she is inspired by TJR, but has also created a unique style of her own backed by research and passion for this sport - building an aura around her characters and imbibing all the crucial elements that make them what they are.

The audiobook was simply fantastic! With a multicast of narrators, it played out like a movie - especially the documentary/interview sections, which amped up the intrigue, despite their futuristic tendency.

For someone who didn’t know a single thing about ice figure skating, I became completely mesmerised and invested in Kat and Heath’s story, falling down the YouTube rabbit hole to watch the sport in all its glory.

Right from their childhood, there’s an unimaginable chemistry between the two and as they grow into adults, entering this competitive, ruthless world, we see their intensity only increasing manifolds, the drama around them exploding and the scandals gathering magnitude with every tournament.

I admired Kat for her fervour, zeal and the determination she exhibited every single time - to be the best and aim for nothing less than gold. At the same time, Heath melted my heart with his sweet, tender love for Kat - such a gorgeous, adorable man and a great human being at his core.

It’s their connection that makes this novel smoking hot, sizzling with fireworks, burning with heat, oozing desire and crackling with unbearable tension - despite being set on ice mostly.

With numerous controversies, rambunctious rumours, juicy gossip and dramatic events that engulf this vivacious duo, as they dance around the thin line of love and hate - #TheFavorites is an unprecedented love story told in a captivating manner that will make you hate it at times, but yet come to love it to bits in the end.

Get ready to be obsessed, cheer and swoon for this sensational duo!

There was so much to love about this book! I loved Kat and Heath, loved how ambitious Kat was. I love the world of ice dancing, which I knew little about going in to this book. And I loved the Wuthering Heights inspo—would be an excellent pairing with the original!
What I didn’t love was that a lot of the emotional growth happened off page, so I didn’t feel aligned with what Kat was feeling. A total personal preference—I wanted this book to be more emotional than it was.

The favorites is a much hyped book to kick off 2025 so I was excited to receive an arc.

The favorites is a loose retelling of wuthering heights set in the world of competitive ice dancing. Kat and heath are two orphans who show a propensity and a talent toward competitive ice dancing. Instantly drawn together by their dark passion, Kat and Heath are determined to do whatever it takes on their rise to the Olympics and they have many hurdles to overcome, including their frienemies the lins. A documentary about Kat and heath is used to frame the story and the short chapters alternate between the documentary interviews and Kats first person narration of the events.

I give credit here for creativity and the first half of the book is more captivating than the second half, where it goes slightly off the rails with some twists. It is fast paced though and reads like a soap opera so many fans will devour this quickly.

Thanks to the publisher for providing this arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review will be posted on 1/16/25

Kat Shaw has been dreaming of one thing since she was a little girl watching skater Sheila Lin compete at the Olympics. Kat wants to win a gold medal in ice dance; she wants to be the best. As a child, she is paired on the ice with Heath Rocha, a child in foster care, who shows promise. Kat's backstory is a bit depressing as well since her mother died when she was a child and all she has is her dad and her abusive brother. Kat and Heath find friendship (which turns into even more) as they get older and rely on the consistency of their sport to get them through life. When at a competition in Cleveland, they compete against Sheila Lin's twins, Garrett and Bella. Even though they didn't place well, Sheila reached out to them to come train at her facility in California. Of course, Kat jumps on this opportunity to get out of her town and away from her abusive brother, as the situation has gotten much worse since her father's untimely death. So, Kat and Heath live and train in California and it opens their world up even more. Kat, who is ruthless, competitive, and wants to win at all costs, starts to recognize that her partnership with Heath, even though she loves him, isn't going to get her a gold medal. So, as the story progresses, Kat's breakups, time apart from Heath, her training, and her competitions all get messy as Heath will always have her heart. If you love a good sports romance, Layne Fargo delivers a juicy one in The Favorites.

I adored the setting of The Favorites. There was a time when I was very interested in the drama of figure skating (I'm looking at you Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan!) and The Favorites really captured all of that and more. Fargo does an excellent job developing the love story between Kat and Heath, but also the competitive world of elite figure skating. I really enjoyed following Kat's climb to the Olympics and all the drama that ensued. I also really appreciated how Fargo included excerpts from the documentary on Kat and Heath. This was done very well and only added to the suspense and mystery of what exactly happened to them.

I will say at times it was a bit melodramatic for me, much in the way that Colleen Hoover's novels are. Lots of melodrama, lots of toxic behavior, and soap opera antics; however, this didn't deter me from enjoying the novel overall. After the fact, I learned that The Favorites follows some of Wuthering Heights themes and now that makes sense even more in retrospect.

Even though I had some issues with the tumultuous and sometimes toxic romances featured in The Favorites, I had such a great time reading it. It's one of my favorite sports romances I've read (maybe ever!) and it shouldn't be missed this winter if you are looking for something fresh and fun. Have you read The Favorites? Is it on your TBR list? Let me know in the comments below.

3.75 ⭐️

wowwww i know everyone keeps comparing it to daisy jones (which, yes!) but i am also getting major magnolia parks in a way???? do with that what you will???? this is one of those books that makes you feel EVERY emotion and, without getting spoilery, it feels very reminiscent of carrie soto. so apparently what i’m saying is that if you like taylor jenkins reid, thai book will be right up your alley! 😭

I looooved the drama and I would give my left kidney to see this as a limited series on streaming!! I do wish there was less info-dumping in the documentary parts. We often skipped 3 [very important!] years at a time in just a page or two and I felt it made the relationships [romantic, training partnerships, friendships] very surface level because we never saw the relationships grow, we were just told about them [and then watched them burn lol]. I was so entertained though and am excited to see everyone's reaction to this!
I filmed a reading vlog featuring this book [among others] that will be uploaded in a few days. I will update when uploaded.

When I first heard about this book several months ago, my first thought was The Cutting Edge because I LOVE that movie. Ice skating + romance + drama! But this book is so much more as the reader follows Kat and Heath's journey from being childhood sweethearts to champion ice dancers to their final skate. Their story unfolds through interviews with those who knew them and from Kat herself. 

I'll be honest, I'm not very familiar with Wuthering Heights since I never read the actual book. I only know the general plot of the classic story, but if you're a fan of it or of ice skating, then grab this book! The book is utterly addicting and a very quick read. I could feel Kat's ambition and drive, Heath's need to give her everything, and their passion and desperation for each other (to an unhealthy level at times). I could feel the intensity of their relationship coming off the pages. However, this book wasn't solely about their relationship, but also touched on the bias and discrimination based on the perception of a person's upbringing, gender roles, and elitism.

The book was well written with vivid descriptions of the competitiveness in the figure skating world and what a small community it actually is. I could envision everything from the sequins on the outfits to the silence of the rink. It made me flash back to my childhood days when I was so enamored watching Michelle Kwan take the ice. This book had me totally picturing the electricity in Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir's performances (though they aren't a couple). If you're ready to be obsessed, check out this book.

Kat and Heath have been skating together since they were children--Kat because she wanted to be like her idol Sheila Lin and Heath because he loved Kat from the first moment he saw her. They follow Kat's dream all the way out to Sheila's training facility in Los Angeles, starting them on a whirlwind of emotions, betrayals, highs, and lows.

This book is very different from Fargo's other books--this one is more of a romance, though you can't truly take the thriller author out of the romance author because there are plenty of twists in this to keep you invested in Kat and Heath. Kat is dealing with an alcoholic older brother that was tasked with being her guardian far too young when their father dies, and Kat is determined to not let their financial troubles and her brother's hatred of Heath from being the best ice dancers in the world. I think Fargo might have upped the backstabbing aspect of the ice dancing world, but this book was amazing, a perfect romance for someone like me, who occasionally likes them but is so far stuck in the thriller genre it's hard to come up for air. This gave me just enough suspense to keep me guessing while at the same time rooting for Kat, for Heath, and even a little bit for the Lin twins. Frannie, however, can go take a leap off a cliff lol. There was just something about her that I DID NOT like.

I can't wait to see what Fargo brings us next--whether it be another romance or maybe even a sequel for Scarlet?

The Favorites is a book that captivated me from start to finish. The intensity of the relationship between Kat and Heath, paired with the fierce ambition that drives them both, makes for a story that was impossible to put down. Fargo masterfully weaves a narrative full of raw emotion, complicated characters, and shocking twists that kept me on the edge of my seat.

Katarina Shaw’s determination to reach the top, despite her lack of resources or family support, is incredibly inspiring. The dynamic between her and Heath, starting with their childhood bond and evolving into a complex, roller-coaster relationship, is intense and magnetic. The chemistry between them, both on and off the ice, was electric and had me rooting for them.

The addition of the unauthorized documentary, reopening old wounds and offering new perspective, added an entirely new layer to the narrative that I enjoyed. I love how Fargo unraveled the story through multiple viewpoints, revealing the truth behind the scandal and the dark secrets that have haunted both Kat and Heath. It was hard to know who to trust and I couldn’t eat to discover the truth behind the headlines and the rumors.

Highly recommend this book!

First of all, my thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for my advance copy of The Favorites. When I heard that an ice skating drama for adults was coming out, I HAD to read it. I love figure skating and ice dancing. I remember becoming invested in the Tonya/Nancy drama of 1994 as a tween. I had a favorite YA ice skating romance in the 90s. I love the movie the Cutting Edge. I was the target audience for this book.

I had heard going in that it was a bit melodramatic and the writing was just ok. The latter is true. The former is a vast understatement. This is VERY melodramatic. This makes Kristin Hannah books look like super artsy dramatic Oscar-winning films. This makes soap operas look like Emmy winners for best drama. The characters are SO CHILDISH through most of the book, even when they’re pushing 30. I wanted to slap them; and throw my book against a wall.

But damn, did I have fun reading this. I’m not sure what just happened. I’d normally hate this kind of reading experience. So…4 stars. It can’t be 5 with all of that melodrama, the writing, and the maddening characters. But it can be 4, for a fun time.

oh my god!! easily one of my new favorite all time books. the addictiveness, the back & forth, the drama, the tension, the twists!! safe to say you had to pry my kindle out of my hands to get me to put this book down. i listened to the audio and followed along in my ebook and on top of the story/plot being exquisite the narration performance was unforgettable. the entire cast did such an amazing job. i could literally gush about how much i loved this book and all the emotions it put me through for hours but instead i’ll list some of my top favorite things you can look forward to when you inevitably decide to pick it up

here’s what i love:
⛸️ the writing was so exquisitely beautiful and you can tell how much research and time was spent on developing the plot
🎙️ the interview style gave major daisy jones & the six vibes especially with the full audio cast, i ate it up!!
⛸️ the short chapters gave me life!! literally almost every chapter was 2-5 mins and it made the pace of the story so fast!!
🎙️ the whole timeline of the story from small town wannabes to big city olympic trainers made my heart soar
⛸️ the ice dancing aspect and all the characters determination for olympic gold was perfection. i felt like i was there training alongside them
🎙️ kat & heath are my babies. i loved that we got to see so much of both characters change and develop throughout the book
⛸️ kat is an ATHLETE!! never forget that! her determination and perseverance even through the insane things that happen was so admirable
🎙️ garrett was such an amazing side character and was at one point the only character i didn’t want to aggressively shake to get it together
⛸️ bella oh my i definitely had a love/ hate relationship with her. i think her growth was so beautiful but she definitely put me through it at times
🎙️seeing all the different competitions and how quickly things could change was so fun to watch
⛸️ when the media aspect came into play,
i loved seeing how popular heath & kat became but hated seeing it over shine their talents on the ice
🎙️ i DREAM about kat’s necklace she wore, it was described so perfectly
⛸️ the maturation of characters and the way we got to see them all go through things before they came out on the other side was such a beautiful depiction of flawed humans and i loved every second of it
🎙️ chapter 72 crushed my soul a bit but in the end after i got over my hurt feelings i saw the positiveness it brought to the book
⛸️ me listening to the last time by taylor swift on repeat
🎙️ definitely so many twists and turns that kept you on the edge of your seat but it made the book so addictive!!
⛸️ the end had me bawling!! i loved how everything wrapped up and kat & heath will be in my head for a long long time (i’m already ready to reread)
🎙️ invisible string vibes all the way

i could literally say SO much more but i think everyone should read this book. it definitely reads like more of a litfic with a background romance subplot but i promise you it is one of the BEST books you’ll ever get to experience. i kinda wish i could wipe it from my brain and experience it for the first time again

When I originally saw the author's name, I figured this would be a thriller. Imagine my surprise when it was an epic contemporary fiction about ice dancing. Imagine my further surprise when I realized I LOVED it. This book is like an Olympic romantic dramatic playing on the silver screen. It'll keep you hooked to the very last page.

Great read! This hooked me from the very beginning. I especially loved the alternating chapters and transcripts to really add another layer of suspense and intrigue. This is my first novel by Layne Fargo, but it won’t be my last!