Three stars.

OK, according to no less an authority than Jodi Picoult this is “part WUTHERING HEIGHTS, part DAISY JONES AND THE SIX,” only with more skating than either of those, I presume, so I couldn’t imagine what kind of glorious mess this was going to be.

Katarina Shaw has always known she was destined to become an Olympic ice dancer. I don’t know why an ice dancer versus a skater, but you just have to go with it. No one knows her and she’s got no money and no support, not even from her own family, but, hey, her name is “Katarina” so I guess I kind of see it.

Then she meets Heath Rocha, who is in the foster care system, a noted feeder for figure skating…..I’m sorry…ICE DANCING greatness. They have an instant connection - ugh, insta-love. I HATE insta-love. Anyway, they become a pair both on and off ice. Blah, blah, blah. Go to famous ice dancing place (if these exist,) many happenings with brother/sister rivals then a “shocking incident” at the Olympics brings their partnership to an end.

Book over? Of course not, because ice dancing has no end, apparently. Now it’s ten years later and someone cares enough to make an unauthorized documentary about this nonsense, claiming to have the real story. Katarina despairs about the doc, but also doesn’t want anyone else to have control of her life so she decides to tell her own story.

First off, I think that this book might be dedicated to Tonya Harding. Maybe. Possibly. Not sure.

Is it YA? I don’t think it’s meant to be, but it could be. Again, not sure.

At over 400 pages it is so too long I nearly cried.

It’s way more of a romance than I usually read (which is none. None romance.). I didn’t despise it, however. I just was a bit surprised to find that anyone cares about ice dancing in non-Olympic years (and I have to be honest…I don’t think they do, other than a really, really, really tiny group of people. So, so small.)

Should you read it? I was lured in thinking it would be about the cut-throat world of world-class skating, and there is some of that. So if you like that and romance, by all means, give it a go.

My first preorder for 2025 is in and it is... a favorite. Maybe THE favorite?! Time will tell.

Thank you to my publishing partners for my copy of THE FAVORITES! This book comes out in January and you'll want to prioritize because it is excellent. If you've read DAISY JONES, perhaps you connected with the raw realness that TJR created with the band. Now, picture that on a skating rink amongst childhood friends with a complicated history and an obsession to win.

After reading Kat and Heath's story, I went on YouTube to watch their clips, specifically The Last Time (one of my favorite T-Swift songs), but alas, I was sadly reminded that they do not exist. Kat and Heath are fictional, but they felt so real! Layne brought their journeys to life in such a vivid way that I stayed wrapped up in their world.

Also... can we please take a moment to appreciate this gorgeous book cover art?!

If you're in the mood for a messy love story filled with hope, betrayal, will they / won't they tension that you can slice with a skate set against the elite and uber competitive world of figure skating, you've come to the right place. While I enjoyed Kat and Heath's stories, I was also invested in the supporting characters, a particular standout being Ellis, obviously.

I loved this book. I was taken in my Kat and Heath's story from the beginning, and the intense bond they shared as they navigated their dreams, or really, Kat's dream, to get them our of their small hometown. While I enjoyed seeing how they bounced back from each setback, I felt that it happened a few too many times, and made the book unnecessarily longer when the same effect would have been felt without it. Overall, it was Kat's addictive personality that really drove the plot, for better or worse, and had you loving and sometimes hating her at the same time.

I really enjoyed this, especially as a fan of ice skaters/dancers, and their events being my favorite thing to watch at the winter Olympics. I could picture everything! I loved the description of the costumes, performances, music and competitions. My heart was racing while they waited for their scores, too! Fargo really gets you invested in the characters, specifically The Favorites, Kat and Heath.

Okay, enough about that. There was so much drama in this book! Forget about the pretty costumes- these people were cutthroat and obsessed with their skating careers. And each other. And Kat and Heath have such a tumultuous relationship, which makes you even more interested in them. Talk about ups and downs. 😮‍💨

So, it's no surprise that, almost 20 years after the events of the book occurred, a documentary is now being made about them. I liked the aspect of a documentary/oral history within the book. This was a smart way to get perspectives from a variety of key people and witnesses. It provides lots of quotes and insight from others without having to have full chapters from their perspective, which weren't needed. And the descriptions of videos that are being shown in the documentary were very cool too. Fargo succeeds in creating what feels like a real documentary.

But the best part is the alternating chapters told from Kat's perspective, hearing the whole story in her voice and growing to understand her motives and choices. She does not try to be likable or beg anyone to be convinced, she just tells her story the way it was.

This would make a really great TV series!


Ratings
Story Concept 5/5
Quality of Writing 4/5
Pacing 4/5
Plot Development 4/5
Character Development 4/5

Overall Enjoyability 4/5

Katarina grew up wanting to become an Olympic ice dancer, like her idol, Sheila Lin. As a girl, she meets Heath, a boy in foster care. Heath will do anything for Kat and the two become an ice dancing team. Despite a lack of funds, they enter a competition and do well. They catch the interest of Sheila Lin who invites them to her academy. This sets up years of scandal, love, and revenge as Kat will do anything to become the best. The story is told from Kat's point of view and several other characters reflecting back as they are interviewed for a documentary. This is a book that will suck you in and make you want to keep reading to find out what happens to the characters.

Layne Fargo is one of my favorite authors. She never disappoints—her writing style is truly amazing and engaging and so good. Her books feel like movies, this one did. I’m obsessed. FULL RTC!

⏩Alexa, play Let the world burn by Chris Grey (with G-Eazy and Ari Abdul)⏪

Holy shit, what a wild ride, what an emotional roller-coaster!!
The Favorites is going straight to my favorites shelf, I still can't stop thinking about it 😩
The best way to describe this book would be Wuthering Heights meets Daisy Jones & the Six with figure skaters.

The Favorites has it all—messy characters with complicated relationships, tension, drama, romance, jealousy, ugliness, betrayals, scandal, toxicity, heartbreak—I'm obsessed!!
I haven't had romance give me this much anxiety since Some Mistakes Were Made by Kristin Dwyer.

This was definitely character driven, the ice dancing just the backdrop so make sure you know what you are getting yourself into before you start because this is not a rom-com (if the Wuthering Heights comparison wasn't indication enough lol)

Our MCs, Kat and Heath, reminded me so much of Cathy and Heathcliff I was bracing for tragedy the whole time.
They're both fucked up characters with a lot of baggage and so much history—I loved them and I hated them and I wanted to be them and I wanted to be *with* them. No matter what, might be crazy, but I was rooting for them the entire time.
Kat, especially, was so relatable for me—flawed and complex—she's exactly the type of FMC I love and love to read about.

Every character went through so much and everyone's development was fantastic. My gods, the things that happened, the twists, the manipulations and mind games–I was enthralled the whole time, couldn't look away even when I wanted to.

⏩Alexa, play The Last Time by Taylor Swift ft. Gary Lightbody⏪

The last few chapters were so crazy!! Everything that went down and the way it did.. it's not an exaggeration when I say I bawled my eyes out. I'll be sending you my therapy bill, Layne!!

There's just so much that happened in The Favorites that I don't think I can even begin to explain this layered story that spans more than a decade without spoilers so if what you've read so far piques your interest just read the book.

P.S. you know that section in B&N "supporting women's right and women's wrongs"? This should be the crown jewel.

Eternal gratitude to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC

**Spoiler alert**


This was so well written! I loved the theme of the interviews during the story from characters who showed up as key players throughout the book. Kat and Heath..... the angst and slow burn! I went through all of the emotions with both of them. Cheering them on as teens to get a chance to make it out of their crummy situation, followed by a slight annoyance with Kat for lack of loyalty in order to get what she wanted and convince despite Heath not being so sure that staying with the Lin's that first year. Kat's character, especially, went through so much growth. She always seemed to find a way to justify her passion for the sport, to the point of damaging the loyalty Heath bestowed upon her, and was so selfish in the beginning, You watch her character go through heartbreak and self destruction and when Heath and Bella were found in bed together I was so disappointed in Heath and devastated for Kat. This also helped her character with a growth that only happens through pain. I was sad when Heath moved past Kats room to go to Bella's that night, and that was the only thing that I felt was out of character for him. Perhaps the best character that I didn't know I would love was Bella! Great job developing her and giving the end of the story a little twist we didn't see coming by finding a way to weave together all of the strong friendships that developed throughout the story. I enjoyed this book!

4.5 stars. As a lifelong figure skating fan and former skater myself, I was thrilled to read a book about the world of competitive ice dance! A loose retelling of Wuthering Heights, the book follows the ice dance careers of Katarina Shaw and Heath Rocha, full of romance, drama, and fierce competition. You do not need to have read the classic in order to love this one though--I read it in high school and remembered very little and still enjoyed this book. The author clearly understands the world of ice dancing, and it was so refreshing to read a sports romance that was actually accurate to the sport. This book is told partially through the script of a documentary film and Katarina's perspective, and is very cinematic in nature and could easily be adapted to a film or TV series. Though 448 pages long, you'll eagerly keep turning the pages to find out what happens next in to Kat and Heath. If you're a figure skating fan, definitely add this to your TBR!

Katarina Shaw and Heath Rocha claw their way to the top of the ice dancing world time and time again in this book, only to be ripped away from each other and their dreams in one way or another. Their love story was achingly beautiful and their ice dancing saga was scandalous and addictive. I was as obsessed with this book as Heath and Katarina were with each other. This is a fairly long book, but I loved every minute of it. I loved Katarina and Heath in their own ways and was rooting for them (as ice dancing partners and lovers) so hard. There was a great cast of side characters in this book as well. The way the documentary commentary was interspersed throughout the book was well-done and only added to the story. This book deserves a gold medal!

**ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this novel. I loved Layne Fargo's first book and so I was excited to read this one. It is very different but I absolutely loved it. The characters were well developed, the story was interesting and engaging..thank you!

5⭐️
You ever read a book and instantly know it gonna be a favorite? This was that book for me! It made me feel all the emotions and sucked me into the book having me anxiously turning each page. This book is scandalous, thrilling, and ADDICTING to read. This was so much more than a sports romance. This highlights how far people can/will go to win, power dynamics, manipulations, sacrificing everything for a goal, and more all in the lens of the competitive ice skating world.

From the moment we meet Katarina Shaw and Heath Rocha, we instantly feel for them due to both of their individual dire home situations. They escape into each other and skating as a reprieve from their situations and a way to make a life for themselves. They are childhood sweethearts who run away from home to begin their journey to become Olympic ice skaters. Their relationship over the years is manipulative, toxic, dysfunctional, passionate, and FILLED with so much damn love. They truly are each other's’ home from the very beginning.

Kat and Heath get a chance to train with the Lin twins, children of legendary Olympic skater Sheila Lin, and everything changes from that moment. I absolutely adored Grant and Bella as the main side characters for what they brought to the story and how they challenged Kat and Heath. From their first meeting, these four become intertwined into roller coaster relationships and moments that truly had my heart breaking at times. After an incident happens, their four lives are changed forever.

Flash forward 10 years later, a documentary is being made about that fateful incident and the aftermath of consequences in caused. I love how the story uses the documentary interviews to show the reader Kat and Heath’s story of escaping their hometime, their true relationships with the Lin twins, and their journey to the Olympics. In these interviews, we get more perspectives from other characters essential to the story including past coaches, rivals, and Ellis Dean, gossip blogger/friend. Through the documentary, we learn what truly happened 10 years prior during the incident, if Kat and Heath had a successful comeback, and where their love story ends years later.

I freaking adored this book and it is one of my favorite (no pun intended) reads of the year!! These characters reminded me of the characters in Magnolia Parks at times were you want to slap some sense into them but you can’t help but love them endlessly because they are being unapologetically themselves. Katarina makes you hate her at times for her blind focus on winning the gold medal despite other people’s feelings but you respect her drive and passion. Heath, MY SWEET BOY. Heath is loyal to a fault at times because he let others treat him like crap and never defended himself. Bella was reckless in her actions to achieving her goals but was also the first person to be honest with Kat and call her out on her shit. Finally, Garret was the peacemaker between the four and truly the most supportive friend in the whole book. I connected to every single character in one way or another and went on the widest range of emotions with them.

The Favorites is one of the books that you can perfectly picture in your mind as a movie. It is drama filled, packed with tension, thrilling, and passionate. It had me gasping at thrilling parts and sobbing at the truly heartbreaking parts. The ending (or dare I saw the true beginning) of this book was absolutely perfect. I could not have thought of a better end for all of the characters. This is the first Layne Fargo book I’ve read but she has made a HUGE fan out of me! I will now be reading her backlist and everything she releases in the future!

Thank you endlessly to Netgalley, Random House Publishing, and Layne Fargo for the chance to read this INCREDIBLE book! I can't wait to get my hands on a copy next year!!

I used to LOVE watching the winter olympics, and especially the figure skating portions, but this would be a book first for me. The story centers around Katrina Shaw and Heath Roca. The night her mother died, Katrina watched dance skating icon, Sheila Lin and was hooked. She becomes consumed and will stop at nothing to reach the very top. Heath, is a foster kid who bounced from home to home until meeting Katrina. They instantly click and become skating partners. When Kat's dad passes away suddenly, it's up to her older brother Lee to raise her. However Lee would rather drink and HATES Heath.

Two kids, with nothing to their name, are invited to a summer practice session by the one and only Sheila Lin. They leave behind everything, saving every penny they can just to make it to LA.

What happens next is a whirlwind.

Katrina will stop at nothing to win, making it to the Olympics, her only goal and she doesn't care who she has to step on to get there.

This is a slow burn obsession of a romance that will suck you in and spit you out. The writing style and story line kept pulling me back in for more. You'll hate Katrina, and you will love her. In fact, you'll probably have a love/hate thing for most of the characters, but you'll keep reading because you'll have to know if she ever gets the gold.

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.