Easily one of the best books I read during 2024. I read another Layne Fargo book earlier this year and loved it so when I saw she had a new book coming out I immediately knew it was going to be good. The writing and plot reminded me alot of Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid but Olympic Ice Dance version. Each character was unique and brought their own flavor to the story. I thought this was very well done and will certainly be a hit for the beginning of 2025!

Wow.
I can't believe I read my favorite book of 2024 in December!!
I grew up figure skating so I had a feeling I would love this book, but I didn't realize it would be this much. I flew through the book in less than 24 hours and I really didn't want it to end. The way it was written reminds me a lot of Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid just told in the world of competitive figure skating. I already ordered a copy of this book because I absolutely need it on my shelf.
I see this book being extremely popular and think it would make an excellent TV show or movie. I will be recommending this book to everyone.
Thank you to Random House, Layne Fargo, and NetGalley for the advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review.
This book publishes January 14, 2025

4.5⭐️ This was so much fun and I flew through it! I will absolutely eat up any drama in a book and I really loved the skating aspect! The documentary style convos that were added in was such a fun touch 🤌🏼 even though these characters were flawed, they were real and I loved seeing their lives and scandal unfold!

3.5 stars ⭐️

I have heard so many great things about this book - so I knew I had to read it! It started off pretty slow and took a while for me to get into, but the end helped bring together this novel about the scandalous lives of figure skaters. I really enjoyed the interviews between chapters - that style really worked for this book.

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for a copy of this book!

“To the world, they were a scandal. To each other, an obsession.” Well they were also an obsession to me because I could not put this book down, and when I did I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

This book was just too good. I don’t know anything about ice dancing or figure skating but I was enveloped in this world. The twists and turns were perfect and kept me guessing the entire book. There really is a special mindset that comes along with being good at your craft and aching for the gold whenever you compete. I thought this was captured incredibly well.

This book was incredibly messy in the best way possible and will be a go to recommendation for fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid. Pure entertainment in the same way reality TV keeps you gripped. I genuinely hope this book gets its flowers because it deserves all the hype. 4.5 stars rounded up 🌟

This started off really well, but in the end it didn't keep my attention. I'll try again at another time.

Many thanks for my gifted copy.

Wow! What an intense, compelling story.

With this book, we enter the world of competitive ice skating. It is brutal, merciless, thrilling and scary. It's hard to find adjectives that are dramatic enough. We follow along with Katharina (Kat) and Heath. They meet as children, they grow up as skating partners and become lovers and then enemies, alternately.

Others have said that the style of writing and the format reminds them of Daisy Jones and the Six. I concur…..the chapters are interspersed with interviews, descriptions of film clips, and reminiscences. The book also reminds me of The Still Point by Tammy Greenwood, which delves into the intensity of the world of ballet.

It shocks me how competitive and ruthless it is inside the skating world.

I can't say that I was particularly fond of any of the characters. Usually, that fact makes me dislike a book. But, not in this case. The story is both plot-driven and character-driven. Kat is a very strong character, right from the outset when she was a young girl. Because the subject deals with competition, every character, naturally, will do what it takes to win. This creates pretty tense relationships.

This book is such a conundrum for me. I thought it was a tad long, but, I didn't want it to end. Makes no sense. I guess I wanted to find out how it ended, but then I knew it would be over. Then, sadly, the ending sort of fizzled out. Considering all the drama that occurred throughout the book, the ending was a bit of a letdown. But, still a satisfying and entertaining read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.

GAH, this was fantastic! Imagine if Taylor Jenkins Reid wrote a gossipy book about ice dancers and their journey to the Olympics, but made everyone a little more unhinged, and you would have The Favorites. I cannot recommend this book enough!

This book wow!!! I can’t remember the last time I was so locked in reading a book like I didn’t want to put this down and you just never knew what was coming I was on the edge of my seat and I didn’t want it to end!

This really took us through obsession between Kat, Heath and figure skating. Like if you look it up in the dictionary this book will appear. They could never make me hate Katarina Shaw!!!

What I loved the most was the style in which this story was told in a documentary style while simultaneously getting the story from Kat’s perspective and that was another element that I loved about this story. The intensity in the relationship between Kat and Heath and how much that changed in the pursuit of becoming Olympic skaters really was ambitious and exhilarating and just how much they’d do to win! I can’t wait until I get my hands on the audiobook and experience this all over again because that’s exactly what it is! SO good!!!

This book follows Katerina Shaw, an ambitious ice dancing prodigy chasing Olympic gold, and Heath Rocha, her foster-kid-turned-dance-partner with equal passion and drive. Their bond is intense—both on and off the ice—until a shocking incident at the Olympics shatters their partnership. A decade later, Kat’s side of the story is finally revealed through a documentary.

Wow—this book had no business being this good! I’ll admit, it hung out on my NetGalley shelf for a while, but after hearing all the recent buzz, I had to read it—and now I completely understand the hype! Think Taylor Jenkins Reid vibes (a la Carrie Soto Is Back and Daisy Jones & The Six), but with its own unique flair. The addition of interview transcripts throughout the book added such a great extra layer to the storytelling.

I’ve never read a romance set in the elite figure skating world, and let me tell you, it was brilliant. It captured the high stakes and intensity of the sport so vividly that at times, it almost felt like I was reading historical fiction. Kat and Heath’s relationship, intertwined with their careers, had me hooked. Spanning years of triumphs, heartbreak, and second chances, this book held me captive—I simply could not put it down.

Inspired by Wuthering Heights, this is a raw, dramatic tale of obsession, ambition, betrayal, and the cost of fame. It’s equal parts devastating yet beautiful. I cannot wait to download this on audio when it drops with a full cast—it’s going to be phenomenal. Mark my words: this is a book everyone will be talking about in 2025!

The interview style of some of this narrative was excellent. It kept the story moving forward and it was just enough to keep you guessing as to what was to come. The storyline did at times become repetitive as did the technical skating jargon but there is an intensity to this story which propels you to keep reading. I do think it could have been edited by about a 100 pages?! Overall, I quite enjoyed this one and think it will a popular novel especially if you enjoy watching the ice skating pairs every Winter Olympics.

I was immersed into the skating world immediately. The personal and professional relationship of Kat and Heath was captivating. I liked the interwoven interviews with others in the skating world. I did not love the Sochi stuff but did like how the book ended.
4.5 stars

Who knew that a story set in the world of competitive figure skating would grab me, but this story about Katarina Shaw, a determined figure skater, and Heath Rocha, a lonely foster kid turned skating partner, did! Their intense, passionate bond takes them to the top of the ice dancing world, but a shocking incident at the Olympics ends their partnership. Ten years later, a documentary stirs up the past, prompting Kat to finally tell her side of the story. Inspired by Wuthering Heights, it’s a tale of obsession, ambition, and the true cost of success. This book is full of drama! I will look to add other books by this author!

Wow. I loved this one- it seemed like a book TJR would write. The drama within the ice skating world was soooo good. I loved the back and forth between the characters. Will be super popular next year for sure

Thank you Random House for my gifted copy!

I have read Layne Fargo before and really enjoyed her work. What I truly did not expect, though, was The Favorites. When I read the premise, I was not sure it would be my cup of tea. I’ve never been interested in competitive ice skating. But I saw rave reviews and so it kept calling to me.

There are a handful of books that I have loved so much that I had visceral reactions to them. Daisy Jones and the Six. The Beartown Trilogy. Carrie Soto Is Back. And now, The Favorites. A fellow bookstagrammer warned me that I would feel fiery rage while reading this and I truly did not anticipate how right she was. It is not an exaggeration when I say I wanted to throw this book across the room *so many times.*

There were decisions these characters made that you would not catch me making, but love makes us do crazy things. And The Favorites is ultimately about love. It was beautiful. Fargo has always been a solid writer, but The Favorites is next level. It is hard to describe how perfect the writing was. It was transportive. I truly felt my heart strings being pulled left and right. It has been quite a while since I have read anything this powerful, and I loved every second of it. You are not going to want to miss this one.

Layne is an extremely talented author and this was fun to see her go into a new genre. However, I thought this was extremely slow/boring for about 60% of the book. It is well written but I just wanted a little more …of something. I am not the target audience for sports dramas; I believe this will be very well liked and a lot of people will love it!

This was AWESOME. Couldn’t put it down. The length May seem intimidating but the story is so well told it just flies by. I can see this being a huge hit. Highly recommended.

The Favorite by Layne Fargo is a captivating novel that delves into ambition, loss, self-discovery, e.t.c . At the start, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The writing was strong, but the format, a mix of chapters interspersed with interviews from various characters—was different from what I’m used to. However, as I kept reading, I found myself fully immersed in the story and eventually grew to appreciate the unique structure.

This book exceeded my expectations and reminded me so much of Carrie Soto Is Back. The characters were intense, driven, and layered in ways that made them feel incredibly real. Kat and Heath, the two main characters, were far from perfect. One moment, I wanted to scream at their choices, and the next, I completely understood why they made them. Their rawness and imperfections made them relatable and deeply compelling. I loved both characters in their own way, though I can see why they might not resonate with many people

Layne Fargo did an incredible job crafting this story. Her writing is both engaging and immersive, making me feel like I was living the characters' experiences alongside them. The plot twists were unexpected and kept me hooked, always wanting more.

The ending was bittersweet (no spoilers!), leaving me with so many emotions as I reflected on the journey of each character. Even days after finishing, I find myself thinking about this book. It’s truly one of the best I’ve ever read. I highly recommend it

Thank you Netgalley and Random house for this Arc. This Arc was provided in exchange for my honest review

Katarina Shaw fell in love with ice dancing at four years old when she saw Sheila Lin in the Olympics. Eventually she meets Heath Rocha, a foster kid who learns to skate because of his love for Kat. At 16 they run away from home to escape the toxic environment and chase their Olympic dreams. No one could have predicted what unfolds in the coming years.

An epic sports romance with so much drama, romance, heartbreak, betrayal, and everything in between. The Favorites was one of the best books I read this year. Just WOW!!! Truly incredible. I could not put this book down. So so engaging. I am going to read this book over and over again.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.

I really wanted to love this book, but unfortunately it's not for me. I liked how the story was told, and getting other people's pov through a documentary. The tone hinting at huge drama made me look forward to what was happening next.
However, my patience for Katarina kept dwindling as I read more and more, so much that I had to take a break for a few days before picking it back up again.. and ended up dnf'ing because this was too much teenage drama for me. I felt that Katarina was utterly selfish in her ambitions, where Heath felt more like a convenience than anything else. All through their partnership, it felt so much like she was using him. While we are told that she and Heath were always together, we got only little glimpses of that. The emphasis was more on Katarina's ambitions, to the point of, I felt, her being cavalier to Heath's feelings and visible discomfort. Also, I felt like Heath doing what he did at the start of part III of the story was completely justified.
Although I don't mind miscommunication in a story, in this case, I really wish the characters would have talked to one another - granted, they're very young, so it tracks. Maybe I'm too old for all of this.
While I enjoyed the way this story is told, the story in itself was just not for me. Don't let my review stop you from picking up this book, because evidently many people are loving it, so I am in the very few!
Immensely grateful for the advanced review opportunity. Thank you to the publisher. All opinions are my own.