“The Favorites” by Layne Fargo is a fantastic look into the world of competitive ice dancing. It is one of the best books I have read this year and for sure a runaway best seller for Ms. Fargo. The story revolves around two young skaters who grow up focused on the ultimate goal of Olympic Gold medals. We live life along with them as they are partnered with the twins of an iconic multi gold medal winner to train, compete and love right into adulthood. The reality of winning in the skating world is cutthroat & ruthless. The toll it takes on relationships within the sport and for the family and friends on the outside is shocking and presented in a very honest way. The obsession to win is hard to read at some points but I became so invested in the characters I could not put the book down. Huge credit to the author for making the characters so alive, and for the documentary style the book was penned as it made the story even more compelling.
I wish I had more than 5 stars to give as it was a 10 out of 10 for me!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

*brb, calling my agent to see if I can get the rights to adapt this for screen*

Layne Fargo spins a narrative that is as propulsive as a skater on ice— and every bit as nail-biting, with its hairpin turns and precarious maneuvers. The Favorites is a delicious dive into the world of competitive ice dancing that is part character study, part romance, part thriller, and *all* drama. Alternating between documentary-style interviews, descriptions of archival footage, and aspiring Olympian Kat Shaw’s first person POV as the events unfold, the structure resembles that of Daisy Jones and the Six. But unlike so many of the derivative attempts to follow in the footsteps of that bestseller, this book manages to thwart imitation with its unique setting and sky-high stakes, living up to its predecessor. While it may not be as literary, it is every bit as compelling, if not more so. Coming to this with a passing interest in figure skating (ie I catch glimpses of it every four years, on the TV at the gym) and zero knowledge of ice dancing, it is a testament to Fargo’s writing that she was able to make me so thoroughly invested, right from the beginning, and keep me in her thrall to the last page. And, making her challenge even greater, Fargo serves up an array of morally questionable characters who could easily have been dismissed as superficial gossips at best, and sociopaths, at worst. These are not the sanitized idols you see smiling graciously from the trinitron, nor are they one-dimensional villains. Instead, they are deeply flawed and deeply human.

The Favorites by Layne Fargo is a dramatic and emotional story about a dance skater pair that grow up in the world of competition. The story is well paced chapters (past (1998ish-2010) to present) that are broken apart with interviews (present) from people who were involved.

We get a lot in this book in terms of character development and plot. There is personal growth for each main character. We see friendships and relationships develop, break, and reform. The main characters are Katarina (skater), her partner Heath, Bella and Garrett Lin (twins of a famous ice skater), Sheila Lin (the famous ice skater and the coach), other skaters, russian rival skaters, and olympic judges. We really see the difficulty that the skaters have maintaining relationships and staying true to themselves in an environment that breeds ruthless competition.

The setting is mainly the Lin Ice Academy until we start to see the skaters start to compete in the olympics. If you ever watched make it or break it it gives off similar vibes but instead of gymanstics it is ice skating.

This is the story of a woman who gives her entire life to the sport and we see her mature from being a competitive skater who is after the gold to a dedicated and graceful athlete.

There is emotion, messiness, a little bit of sabotage, and a whole lot of drama.

THE FAVORITES by Layne Fargo
Thank you to Random House Group and NetGalley for the pleasure of reading this book.
My mom loved watching figure skating and her all time favourite was Canada’s Sweetheart, Barbara Anne Scott (1948 Olympic champion and the only Canadian Ladies’ single winner of the Gold medal). When the figure skating show came to the city we were there and when they were on tv we watched. Her passion for the figure skaters never dwindled and when dancing was added to the figure skating program, she watched the competitions avidly (more loyal than the most loyal hockey fan) and now that she is no longer with us, we still hold her close and continue the tradition.
Reading The Favourites was fascinating. It made me recall the different scandals and injustices that prevailed in the real world of figure skating (Harding vs Kerrigan, Sale and Pelletier losing gold at 2002 Olympics) and the mentality that prevail for an athlete to win is the only option. The ten-year journey of Katarina Shaw and Heath Rocha, their love for each other and her obsession to win an Olympic Gold medal was at times difficult to read. I imagined that the way they danced on the ice might have had more chemistry than Canadian pairs Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (sometimes you had to wonder how the ice did not melt). Imagine the drive, the struggles, the dedication it took the figure skaters, pairs, dance, singles, balanced on the thin edge of a blade, to glide so effortlessly across the ice in their dips, twirls, and jumps.
Fargo did an incredible job in writing characters that came alive on the page. The situations Katarina and Heath, and the others, found themselves in and the raw emotions that they displayed was at time joyous and at others heart wrenching. The format of interviewing the different people involved in Kat and Heath’s journey, 10 years later for a documentary was very affective. Seeing all characters later too, added depth to the story too.
This novel is for all readers not just for figure skating fans as I am sure ALL athletes in all the sports must be super focused to meet the challenges, they and others set for them.
Overall, this novel is a gold medal winner

I am obsessed with this book, there is a short supply of figure skating books in the world, and this one is fantastic. There are nods to Tonya Harding, as well as the 2002 Salt Lake Olympic scandal, with enough of its own Greek tragedy to really pull at the heart strings.

I loved the format, told between Katarina’s past and the documentary interview style in the future. It reminded me a lot of the Meddling documentary, and I could see the book really come to life that way. I think it would make an incredible movie or tv show.

I was on edge for most of the book, similar to how on edge it is to watch figure skating. A delicate balance, where one misstep or wrong edge can send you spiraling out of a delicate program. It made me happy, it made me cry, I devoured it as fast as I could.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for allowing me this ARC of The Favorites by Layne Fargo.

I loved this novel. It was very 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo -esk and I loved every minute of it.

This is the story of Katarina Shaw and Heath Roush. Two ice dancers (similar to ice skaters) who are trying to make it to the Olympics. They both come from nothing and end up in one of the most well known ice dance schools in the world.

The book is written mostly in Katarina’s atm pov as she is growing up, but there is also the documentary pov. Commentary from family, Rivals, friends, etc. We know that something big happened, but aren’t sure what it is. I love a good scandal.

I would encourage everyone to give this book a chance. The writing was impeccable and the story was incredible.

The twist at the end left me shook. Don’t sleep on this one!

I was so drawn into this story I could barely put it down. I loved the complex relationships, and how I could learn to love the rough edges of all the main characters, even when they were particularly unloveable. I didn’t expect a novel about ice dancing to capture me the way this one did- highly recommend!

This is one of the few books I had no idea what was going to happen. A few important things to know before reading. If you’re wanting to read a sports romance where the sports happens mostly off page, this is not the story for you. I was a competitive freestyle skater from the age of 4 - 15. And I can say from my own experience, this author captured the critical aspect of the sport and the emotions those athletes go through so well. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Kat wasn’t a freestyle skater. Many people aren’t aware that ice dancing exists It’s great to bring ice dancing into a fictional space. Heath and Kat were lovable at times but also down right irritating. I enjoyed all of the side characters (especially Ellis 😂). I especially loved the how the author wrote the documentary, such a unique way to get other characters perspectives. If you’re needing a book unlike anything else, read this. If ice skating isn’t a subject you’re interested in… you’ll likely not enjoy this. The romance is a sub plot.



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Not happy ever after, more like happy for now, cheating trope, and no spice on page.

Traditional format 📕 (digital).

As a huge skating fan and a former figure skater I knew this book was a must read. And it did not disappoint! The book tells the epic story of ice dancers Katerina and Heath and their wild and crazy ride to attempt to become Olympic gold medalists. I could not put this book down until I finished it.

What I loved
⛸️ the skating content was accurate and well researched. My only comment is that I don’t like how the author used fictitious skater names but the real Olympic names. As a skating fan it was weird to read the fake names
⛸️ Katerina the main character - wow what a character! Super well written
⛸️ also loved the other main skating characters. All were well developed
⛸️ the documentary style of writing was a great complement to the narrative
⛸️ I liked how the book was divided into sections
⛸️ plot twists and drama galore!!

Despite the fact this was a long book I devoured it in two days. It was a great sports drama/thriller and romance all rolled into one. A 5/5 read for me!

Thank you to Random House Publishing and Net Galley for an ARC digital copy of this book in exchange for a review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for allowing me an ARC of this book for a honest review.

When I got approved for an ARC of this book I was so excited. The blurb and cover art had me all in. This book is Like "Icebreaker" and "I,Tonya" mixed together but BETTER! The tag line "An epic love story set in the sparkling, savage sphere of elite figure skating about a woman determined to carve her own path on and off the ice''.....HOW COULD YOU NOT WANT TO READ THAT!?!?!?!

Heath and Kat are childhood friends and skating partners that have had feelings for each other for as long as we know. Kat strives to get to the Olympics as she an Heath try to navigate life, love, family and obsession: both of each other and other's obsession of them. The book flashes between Kat and Heath moving through the ice dance circuit to almost 10 year later as a documentary is being made about the pair.

Each time a chapter left me on a cliffhanger and flashed forward to an interview, I was jonesing to keep reading. It had me HOOKED. I could not put it down. The chapters are short and that kept me going. I waited to read this one so I could give it my full attention and I'm glad I did because this book deserves it. When it's releases in 2025 I am 100% buying a copy to put on my shelf and read again.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book. I was dying to read this, and I'm so glad I got the opportunity to.

With The Favorites being a retelling of Wuthering Heights, I have to start by saying I've never read that classic book. If you're more of a modern day romance reader like myself, I would describe The Favorites as a pretty solid mix between Carrie Soto is Back and Magnolia Parks. It was heavy on the sports (ice dancing) but also sooooo heavy on the drama and toxicity in the relationship between Kat and Heath. This book will take you through an entire rollercoaster of emotions - from being so excited with them, to being happy for them, to being absolutely heartbroken because of them - you will feel it all. I gave this book 4 stars because there were parts of the book that felt pretty slow to me and were hard to get through, but it was absolutely worth pushing through because this was a beautiful story with so many great lessons packed inside.

If you're like me, your favorite Olympic sport is figure skating/ice dancing. And if you're like me, you rewatch Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir's Moulin Rouge gold-winning performance at least once a week. So, if you're like me, you probably are foaming at the mouth for a book set in the world of competitive figure skating. Add in the fact that it's a loose interpretation of Wuthering Heights??? We've struck Gold (pun intended).

Heath and Katarina are childhood best friends turned skating partners and lovers off the rink. Their tumultuous relationship sometimes works in their favor, and sometimes proves to be their downfall. The Favorites chronicles their rise through the ranks, all the way to the Olympics. But it's also a story of love, desperation, intrigue, and family and posits the question: how far would you go to win?

Layne Fargo's storytelling reminded me of Taylor Jenkins Reid; we're jet-setting across the world to different figure skating events, with a present-day timeline in the vain of a documentary recounting Kat and Heath's story, told by various characters involved in their story. As those "documentary transcripts" came between almost every chapter, it helped break the novel up and was fun to hear perspectives of certain events from different characters.

It's juicy, dynamic, and immersive. I do think prior knowledge of Wuthering Heights is necessary to understand the depth and motivations of the story fully; I think you'd be okay reading it without but it might make some of the subtle references to the story odd. Prior knowledge of WH also helps the reader rationalize some of the characters' choices.

My only complaint is that I wish the Kat chapters were told in 3rd person POV rather than 1st. But that's just a personal reading preference!

I really liked this book!!! the whole narration format was so well done, i loved the documentary style chapters with the other characters’ opinions to make the book more interesting and it felt more complete that way, it gave a us a reader time to form our own opinions and predictions for the plot and i liked that a lot bc it kept me engaged throughout. The characters were well developed and thought out, i liked how as a reader we could see clearly their faults and their motivations, i’ve read a couple of figure skating books and i really enjoyed that this was more of a drama fiction book rather than just romance, i vaguely remember reading wuthering heights in hs but i didn’t enjoy that modern retelling aspect of the book and i really enjoyed the ending

This book had all the makings of a book I would love. Wuthering Heights is one of my very favorite novels of all time. Thanks to movies like Ice Princess & the Disney Channel movie Go Figure coming out around the same time, I had a fascination with figure skating as a young girl. Without pun most certainly intended this book has become a new Favorite. I honestly couldn’t imagine waiting till January 2025 to read this show stopping story. I’m so grateful to receive an ARC of this so early.
Mark my words, this book is going to be huge. It is a crime against humanity if they don’t make a mini series out of this because it has all the makings of an edge of your seat tv drama. If you love Taylor Jenkins Reid, I think you’re going to be as obsessed with this as I am. You can tell that Layne Fargo put so much thought, passion, and research into this story. I enjoyed They Never Learn by her. But this is next level. Full of high stakes, betrayal, sabotage and unlikeable characters, this was hard to put down. So much so that I finished it in 24 hours. It has as many twist and turns as a figure skating performance. I was gasping and muttering to myself in disbelief. Even though this is a modern retelling of Wuthering Heights and I knew what was coming, I still found myself constantly surprised by the story. It is messy. It is dramatic. It is emotional. And I ate it up. I have no complaints only that I have to wait till next year to buy a physical copy.
A million stars!!

This book is just far too long. I think the story would have had a better impact if it were maybe 200-300 pages shorter. I dont know why so much detail was needed.

3.75/5 stars

OKAY. Much better than the last book I reviewed. This is also my first novel from Layne Fargo, and I've heard much great things from her previously published works, and this was definitely an entertaining one!

Ice Skating. Drama. Multimedia/interview aspects. Yes, yes, yes. Can I also just say, I think I'm MOST excited about the audiobook for this one? Because I would love to see if they end up doing a full cast narration, which would bump it up even higher in rating for me!

This was just GOLD. “The Favorites” is the perfect mix of Taylor-Jenkins-Reid’s captivating documentary style, the vibe of “The Cutting Edge” (1992), and the heartbreak of ice skating legend Ekaterina Gordeeva’s “My Sergei.”

I was totally hooked in the story from the beginning— not only is the story so compelling, but the writing style is uniquely entertaining. Was it perfect? No. Some of the plot points were a little messy and predictable. But what this book lacks in formal plot structure it more than makes up in with its unique mix of scandal and the ability to tug-on-your-heartstrings. Absolutely addicting!

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc.

this was filled with drama, and romance wasn’t really at the forefront like I expected it to be!
the last 10% felt interesting, I don’t know if I loved the ending but regardless I had a lot of fun with this and how fast paced it was.
I don’t generally care for the whole audio transcript in books that daisy jones popularized (it seems) but I liked that it was only in generally short segments at the end of chapters and not a huge thing,
overall I enjoyed this!

4-4.5/5 rounded up. I read this in one day! It was EXHILARATING! I could NOT put it down. Trust Layne Fargo to deliver a twisted high stakes addicting epic love story with all the psychological twisted elements.
The characterizations here were great and so was the writing. I really was pleasantly surprised by the switch between interview format and prose and how well it worked.
I loved that we got loads of figure skating scenes because im a sucker for those.
I think there were some reveals that were a little rushed that I can’t detail because spoilers and some unanswered questions that Katarina should’ve pushed HARDER on from the start rather than waiting for it to explode later. Did it make for good drama and timing though? Yes.
There was one choice that was done later that made me scream and almost dock a star. But Layne somehow handled it very well and realistically. I don’t know if I still agree with the choice because it felt out of character but I won’t say I’m opposed to it either. It’ll probably polarize many readers.

Also there were some mystery elements to this in the later half of the book that felt a little rushed as well and not handled in a balanced way - it felt like the book was teetering on an identity crisis of mystery or women’s fiction. It certainly added a lot of dramatic flair but I don’t know if it’ll land with every body. Once again, I’m not opposed to those elements. I loved the dramatics of it for sure.
Anyways this is an addicting twisted book and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

Layne Fargo's They Never Learn was my favorite book of 2023, so I was excited to receive an ARC from this author! While Goodreads has this characterized as a romance, to me it was more of a soap opera set in the world of ice dancing. Yes, there were relationships involved and lots of ups and downs. I did enjoy being plopped into this world, and liked the between-chapter "transcripts" of the documentary regarding our protagonist skaters. Overall, I think it was a few too many ups and downs --could have been a bit shorter, and I wished I liked the main character more. But will continue to read more from this author and impressed she can switch genres so well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing me with an advance reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

Expected date of publication: January 14, 2025.