This book is so well written. I don’t think it deserves anything less than five stars. When I first started this story I was unsure and not loving it, but the farther I got into the book the more I realized how addictive it was. Katarina and Heath's story is magnetic. It’s a story that has you experiencing so many emotions you have to pause for a moment. Once you pick up The Favorites by Layne Fargo you won't want to put it down.

“Imagine being so down bad you’d master a whole Olympic sport to spend time with someone.” 🤭

this book is part salacious scandalous love story, part daisy jones & the six interview style storytelling and I couldn’t put it down! I would be really curious to try, and also assume that the audiobook version of this would be incredibly fun and make this all the more compelling. truly a fun read and I expect a lot of people to love this!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

Can my favorite book of 2024 be a 2025 release?? The Favorites by Layne Fargo is my favorite book that I lost sleep to read this year, and an absolute joy to binge read over the holiday break. Imagine a Wuthering Heights retelling, but instead of Nelly and Lockwood's narrative interludes, you get snippets of explosive Netflix-true-crime-documentary style interviews. And instead of the Yorkshire moors, this tale is set on ice rinks around the world as we follow ice dancers Heath, Katarina, and their contemporaries as they chase Olympic gold. Everything is high stakes, high drama, high tension, and high suspense, and in my opinion, every cliffhanger chapter ending paid off.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of The Favorites. I'll be exploring Layne Fargo's backlist next!

This left me BREATHLESS. Will def be rereading on audio. I devoured the documentary-narrative structure and the DRAMA omg left me stopping abruptly from second hand anxiety. One of my top reads of the year, and the one I’m ending with!!!!

Do you ever read a book and just know you're going to love it after a few pages?

That's what my reading experience of The Favorites was like. After just a few pages, I told my husband this will be a favorite book of mine, no puns intended. The Favorites follows the relationship of ice dancers, Katarina Shaw and Heath Rocha, who started working together when they were children. Unlike a lot of people who are ice dancers, Katarina and Heath don't come from money. Their love of each other and Katarina's love of the sport is what drives them. With behind-the-scenes drama of what it takes to become an Olympian, it asks if love is enough to get gold?

I didn't want to put this book down. I've always enjoyed watching the skating programs during the Olympics. I remember watching ice skating specials when I was growing up with my mother. It brought back a lot of memories of those early days of growing up. I loved the behind-the-scene elements of what it takes to be an Olympian. From documentaries and stories I've consumed, it felt very real. Although the novel is being advertised as an epic love story, I found the romance to take a backseat in the story to the drive of the characters. The story is told through a first person narrative from Katarina in the present and documentary interview style recordings of those close to their skating journey. I thought the two writing styles really worked together and also worked to validate or conflict the viewpoints of different characters.

Since I started reading this book I've been recommending it to friends. I don't see myself stopping anytime soon. It was everything I didn't know I needed in a novel right now.

Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for a copy in exchange for review consideration.

Infinity stars for this book. I am obsessed and speechless after finishing this. If you are seeing this book everywhere and everyone telling you to read it, read it!! I just love getting so lost into a book and this world of figure skating of Katarina Shaw and Heath Rocha. Even if you are not a figure skating fan I think you will find this story so captivating. It tells the emotional, toxic, dysfunctional love story of Katarina and Heath. It starts with their childhood and then their story to training for the Olympics.

I read and listen to the audiobook and it was such a phenomenal immersive experience. The audiobook has a full cast! It was like a movie for your ears and I think this book would be perfect for book to screen adaption— like a modern Cutting Edge! Audio narrators include: Christine Lakin, Louisa Zhu, Amy Landon, Elena Rey, Valerie Rose Lohman, Suzanne Toren, Graham Halstead, Julia Emelin, Layne Fargo, Eric Yang, and Johnny Weir. It was gold, pure gold and I loved every minute of it!

“To the world, they were a scandal. To each other, an obsession.”

‘The Favorites’ is easily one of my favorite books of the year. Once I picked it up, I did not want to put it down! The book is written as an unauthorized documentary covering the careers of ice dancers Katarina Shaw and Heath Rocha, where Kat wants to win and Heath only wants Kat. I can’t speak to the accuracy (full disclosure: I’ve never been an ice dancer), but the plot was engaging and gives readers a behind the scenes look at the cutthroat competition of becoming an elite athlete. I like characters that are flawed and the (albeit sometimes toxic) relationship between Kat and Heath felt real. The pacing kept me on the edge of my seat and I thought the foreshadowing throughout the book was subtle and well done. Overall, I think the book is fantastic and I would highly recommend it!

5/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was like watching a documentary and should be made into a tv show! I love how the story was written. The characters were messy and there was a ton of drama. I was very much into this book and did not want to stop reading. This will be a top book for 2025 for sure!

what a book about shaw and rocha. They have been a skating together for a long time. They get training with the lin's . They are a messy friends and lovers during this time. shaw and rocha love each and are each other's home. But they are have many skating issues through the years. Loved bella and garret and how they were in the both of their lives and how it all ended and and having their different loves.

4.5 stars. What a wild ride! Katarina Shaw is a poor midwestern girl determined to win Olympic gold. She partners up with her childhood friend, Heath Rocha, and their magnetic connection makes them a promising ice dancing team. The book is told retrospectively ten years after their final skate and looks back at the twists and turns of their life. Katarina is the primary narrator, but her sections are interspersed with clever and quippy interview-style snippets from an unauthorized documentary about Shaw & Rocha's career.

This book is drama, drama, DRAMA to soap-opera levels. The author has a surprisingly good understanding of the sport of ice dancing but of course takes some big creative liberties as one would expect in fiction. Those with insider knowledge of figure skating will find themselves nodding in appreciation at times at its accuracy just as often as they roll their eyes at its embellishments. The pacing was excellent and the twists and turns keep the reader engaged. I'm deducting half a star because with so much time spent on dramatic plots and toxic relationships, by the end I'd been told how the characters had evolved rather than having it be demonstrated. It needed a bit more time devoted to the character development in order for me to have felt that where they end up was true to their characters.

If you're looking for a wild ride of drama, cut-throat ambition cloaked behind pretty smiles and designer dresses, and passionate-yet-toxic love, this book delivers.

Thank you to Random House for providing me with an advanced copy of this novel via NetGalley.

WOW. WOW WOWOW. I couldn’t believe how HOOKED I was with this story immediately. The small documentary in between chapters, they were worded perfectly. I felt like I was really watching a documentary about two athletes that actually existed. All of the characters drew me in, and I wanted to know all of their stories I was enthralled with the ice dance portion of the writing because I happen to love ice dance, and I wished that I could actually see the performances that were described the drama, the plot the people it was so addicting and I cannot wait to see more from this author

Thank you Random House for this advance copy. The bottom line here is - I’m too old for this book. 😂 The drama and romance were lost on me. It felt like a mash up of too many things instead of standing on its own - the documentary style of Daisy Jones, the fierce competitor of Carrie Soto, a toxic romantic relationship for CoHo fans, sprinkle in some Wuthering Heights and make it feel YA. Clearly I’m too curmudgeonly to enjoy this, but I think it has all the elements to be a BookTok sensation! I will say the cover art and the synopsis are both excellent. They definitely drew me in and convinced me to give this book a try.

If I had to give this book a one-word review, it would be enthralling. From the moment I picked this book up, I was gripped. Kat and Heath were such compelling characters that even when they were being messy, you can’t help but root for them. The story is well paced, even with the inclusion of the interview bits. Every bit grabs you, which is hard to do. All of the characters were so compelling. A truly special book that is sure to be everywhere.

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for this eARC!

This book is a very engaging faux-documentary look at the inerworking of (fictional) ice dancing and a particular couple, Kat and Heath (and assorted other ice dancers and figure skating people). I had a hard time putting this one down, and I think this will go down very nicely for anyone who likes Taylor Jenkins-Reid, especially Daisy Jones.

Katarina Shaw and Heath Rocha were not just ice-dancing legends; they were a captivating phenomenon, their journey as thrilling as their performances. A decade after their partnership ended in heartbreak, Kat bravely shares her story to reveal the truth behind the headlines—one that is likely to be more profound and emotional than anyone could have anticipated.

I found it hard to set this book down! I was so deeply invested in Katarina and Heath’s relationship, as well as each character’s connection to the sport they love. This novel touched my heart, and I will definitely be recommending it to everyone I know. I truly enjoyed every moment of it!

Thank you so much to NetGalley for sending me an ARC of The Favorites in exchange for review!
5 ⭐️s

(From the back of the book): To the world, they were a scandal. To each other, an obsession. An epic love story set in the sparkling, savage sphere of elite figure skating, starring a woman determined to carve her own path on and off the ice.

The Favorites follows Katarina Shaw and Heath Rocha, two small-town nobodies who fight and scrap their way into the elite world of ice dance with nothing but their own determination. As they chase dreams of Olympic gold with rebellious choreography and notorious passion, their all-consuming bond creates chemistry on the ice, but it just might burn them down before they get there.

I loved this story so much! It’s an ambitious narrative, spanning several decades, and the author pulled it off seamlessly. I was enthralled equally by the world of elite figure skating as well as the dynamics of the cast. Every character was flawed in a compelling way, especially Katarina Shaw, our leading lady. I adore female MCs who are allowed to be messy and hungry and fierce, and Katarina is that to a tee. The plot as well was captivating; there were so many twists I was constantly surprised and desperate to turn the page.

My only critique is that the theme was perhaps a little heavy handed in the end, but this did not detract from my reading experience and did fit the character arc that was orchestrated.

10/10 would recommend!

The Favorites is I N C R E D I B L E.
This book had me in a chokehold. As someone who is a huge figure skating fan, I devoured this novel over the weekend. I felt as if I had been transported into the story and knew the characters. I felt a rollercoaster of emotions, and I absolutely LOVED the excerpts from people being interviewed.

This is going to be a Reader Favorite in 2025.

Wow wow wow, this was one of the most engaging books I’ve read all year and I’m so glad I was able to finish the year on a high note! I thought this book was amazing and so well thought off. I enjoyed that character building of Kat. How she came full circle and ended up being happy with Heath and no gold even though she deserved it. My only qualm, is that I did not enjoy Bella and Heath having a baby together, that needed to not be a thing. Otherwise, I loved this book, absolutely heartbroken when it ended and I already want to read it again.

If you love Daisy Jones & the Six and figure skating, you're going to love this book. I was expecting this to be a bit more thriller-y due to my favourite Layne Fargo book, They Never Learn, so I was a bit letdown by this but if you go into this knowing it's more literary fiction, you'll love it. With short chapters, documentary style snippets interspersed throughout, and lots of dramatic twists, this book is a fun and quick read.

4.5 round up to 5 ⭐️

I had no idea what to expect going into this, but I could not put it down. It was such an intriguing and captivating take on a documentary style story. I got TJR, Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, type vibes with a little bit of Magnolia Parks drama and toxicity thrown in.

It was such a raw and real life story. Olympic athletes, ice skating, drama, gossip, on again off again, friendships, competition, multiple times I was on the edge of my seat. I’m very interested to listen to the audio because I’ve heard that it’s very good as well.

I love the complexity of the story, while also just enjoying how different it was from typical reads. You got story line and then also documentary conversation thrown into the story, seeing both what was happening and what everyone thought was happening on the outside looking in.

Honestly, what a way to end the year. I’m thoroughly pleased to have read this!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the early read!