No notes. Such a good book. I loved the format and the flawed characters and the setting and the ice dancing and just all of it. Such a great way to start my year off!! I loved everything about it.

This is addicting but way more fun if you know Wuthering Heights or listen on audio! I've seen it categorized as romance...umm nope.

I can't understand why i didn't like this one as much as everyone else... I think maybe because I'm not into sports and competition books? Not sure! The audio was great but the story itself was just ok for me.

I really enjoyed reading The Favorites. The format with the interviews from the documentary woven in was very unique and enjoyable. I felt that the book dragged on in the second half and could have definitely been shorter, but it was still an enjoyable read.

Katarina Shaw has spent her whole life dreaming of ice skating in the Olympics. While she may not have a stable home life, or a whole lot of money, she has determination, talent, and her partner Heath Rocha. Heath is a foster child drawn into Katarina's world, and the duo begin to compete. As they rise in the ranks, their story gains national and international attention. They are drawn into the lives of the rich and powerful skating community that has ways of supporting and punishing Katarina and Heath. The passion between the pair on and off the ice makes them legendary as over the years they drift and apart and together, until the Olympic event that ends their partnership.

The book flips between Katarina telling her own story and a fake documentary chronicling her years on and off the ice. Layne Fargo's book made me care so much about ice dancing, in the same way that Challengers made me care about tennis. The central quartet of Katarina and Heath and the rich twins that become their greatest competition, friends, and enemies made for an exciting read full of twists, success, and betrayal. Since the book covers so many years of their lives, it moves fairly quickly and ensures something messy is always happening to someone. I also highly recommend the audio version, cause the full cast for the documentary portions of the book made it a lot of fun to listen to.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for a copy of The Favorites in exchange for an honest review.

Holy moly! The Favorites is only my second time reading a book by Layne Fargo and if she wasn’t an auto buy author for me before, she sure as hell is now. This book blew my mind with how well executed it was, and it is full of juicy drama, females kicking ass, and the wonderful world of competitive skating. I feel like I learned so much and felt so many things even though this book is *only* 434 pages long. The storyline arc was epic, and I found myself lost completely in the characters and the story.

And speaking of epic, the audiobook is really where it’s at with a full cast of narrators. There were many I haven’t heard before along with favorites like Christine Lakin. And let’s not forget the amazing Johnny Weir! How they got him to narrate is above my paygrade, but he was a star (obvi). This was hands down the best audio I have listened to in quite a while, and it gave me major Carrie Soto Is Back vibes. My heart felt like it was in a vice the entire time I was listening to this, and I wanted Katarina and Heath to not only succeed but end up together forever. The conclusion cinched it all together for me and I will not be forgetting about The Favorites anytime soon – if ever!

Read this if you enjoy books with excellent execution of mixed media, jaw-dropping drama, and emotional storylines that center around elite figure skating.

Audiobook Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
My Spice Rating: 🌶

My first 5 star read of 2025! I loved this book and everything about it! It deserves all the praise it is getting.

The Favorites by Fargo is reminiscent of Carrie Soto is Back by Reid. One is about figure skating and the other about tennis - 2 sports that I have no interest in - but both books are good. I liked the main characters in The Favorites, Kat and Heath and the Lin twins. They're intersecting lives were interesting and made for a good read. I also liked the backstory of figure skating and Russian relations and all of that.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher!
As someone who has watched “The Cutting Edge” more times than I can count, this book was absolute heaven. Katarina and Heath are a couple for the ages! Read this book immediately!!

I was so unbelievably thrilled to get the ARC for this, and yet for some reason I didn't end up reading it until this weekend but I absolutely LOVED it. I had a huge ice skating phase back around Sochi and this was so juicy and unputdownable. The cover is absolutely stunning, and the book itself definitely lived up to my expectations. The oral history/interview parts of it made it such a fast read and god knows a fucked up childhood friends to lovers ride or die relationship is like catnip to me so Kat and Heath were so compelling and I loved seeing their journey.

The ending made me super emotional and I SCREAMED at Ellis’s line “I’m not saying they were a throuple, but it seemed like they were a throuple” because even if it wasn't the case, that's exactly where I hoped it was leading. This was just fantastic and I wish I hadn't waited 4 months to read it!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the digital ARC; all opinions are my own.

This was such an addictive read about the competitive world of ice skating. I loved the Kat and Heaths story together and Kat as a character as well. This book really reminded of teen shows set in the 2000’s and some more popular tvs and movies from this era. The Favorites was my first book by the author and it surely won’t be the last.

Wow! This lived up to the hype for me. The Favorites is dramatic, addictive and so intriguing it was hard to put this book down. Katarina Shaw is a force, relentlessly driven towards her goal of being an Olympic skater and undeterred by obstacles, of which there are plenty. Heath Rocha is her childhood friend, her confidant, her skating partner, but their relationship is so much more. Their connection was magnetic - I wasn't sure if I was rooting for or against them. The way this story was told Documentary style was engaging and added a juicy level of intrigue to the scandals of this book. I didn't know a lot about, and honestly wasn't super interested, in skating but this book was so informative in an engaging way, that I may be a fan now! Overall, a really great reading experience highly recommend.
Thank you Random House for the copy through NetGalley!

For an almost 450 page book, this flew by! Packed with plot, The Favorites moves at a fast pace appropriate for the sport at the center of it all. Going into it knowing nothing about ice dance - I thought it was the same as pairs skating! - presented no problems, as the technical aspects of the sport mattered less (to me) than the passion and artistry. The plot had some well-executed twists (pun intended) and I enjoyed the cast of supporting characters. Garrett, Ellis Dean, and Kirk - what a bunch of good, loyal guys!

The influence of Taylor Jenkins Reid radiated off the page. By the time I reached the acknowledgments, they confirmed that TJR had impacted not just the oral history format, but Layne Fargo's research and approach to the story. This felt like a fun discovery for a longtime TJR fan.

I'm already looking forward to reading Fargo's next book!

This was soooo good!! So fast faced and engaging. Now my yt is showing me skating videos because I was just so locked in. Needs to be made into a TV show ASAP! Bumped down to a 4 because part of this just bothered me so much but I definitely want to read more from Layne Fargo now.


(Thanks to NetGalley for the e-arc)

4 stars! Kat and Heath, childhood sweethearts, found comfort in each other through life’s hardships. Their connection deepened as they chased their shared passion for ice skating, aiming for greatness.

If you’re into sports stories packed with strong female characters, complex relationships, and drama, this one’s worth your time. It also dives into the fascinating (and sometimes cutthroat) world of competitive figure skating, shedding light on the behind-the-scenes politics, and I learned a lot.

I listened to the audiobook, and the narrators were fantastic, it felt like a movie. I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it!

I literally had no idea this was a Wuthering Heights retelling until the epilogue. Then it all clicked. I am actually not a WH fan because it was so sinisterly toxic. But this book seemed so much more accessible to me. The toxic relationship combined with the spotlight and fame seemed so plausible. I had an easier time reading it and understanding it. I thought the ice dancing was such a smart tool to use, such a competitive and sensual sport. Of course that would help build the drama of their relationship and scandal. It is confusing-I hated every single character at times (some more than others-Kat, I'm looking at you), but I really enjoyed reading it.

Oh we love some messy characters and drama heavy story! These characters couldn't catch a break and my god it felt like I was watching the documentary while reading (I need this to be adapted asap into an actual tv series). I loved the writing style and felt sucked in from the very beginning. The audiobook is phenomenal and decided to listen to it once it had released and highly recommend that format to people. I think the general consensus of this book is "Did I finish the book, or did the book finish me?" and it's spot on.

Thank you Random House and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my review!

Are you a figure skating girlie when watching the winter olympics? Do you live for drama and scandal? Are messy characters your favorite??

Then do I have a book for you! I recently finished The Favorites by Layne Fargo (thank you @librofm for the ALC and NetGalley and Random House for the eARC), and this was a great winter read that's heavy but not too heavy. It also had some great character growth! Although the romance storyline often had me rolling my eyes, I did enjoy most parts of this book 🤗

Now available wherever books are sold, if this title sounds intriguing to you, then I suggest you check it out!

I've read a few of Layne Fargo's books now, so I was excited to receive this early copy of The Favorites. I love the way Fargo writes strong, unapologetic women who don't need to make themselves gentler or "more palatable" to interact with the world.

There was a lot to like about The Favorites. I quickly found myself immersed in the world, sucked into the drama and action of figure skating and of Kat and Heath's lives. The format kept me turning pages, with quick chapters intermixed with interviews that offered clues of what was to come. I zoomed through the first third of the book, excited to discover the next wrinkle in their adventures.

I think where this book struggles is the length. After a while, it feels repetitive. ANOTHER scandal, ANOTHER sporting event, ANOTHER change in relationship status. They began to run together, so after a few hundred pages it was hard to stay invested (or be surprised by) yet another event. It feels less realistic as it goes, and it's harder to stay engaged in the action. On the flip side, the ending feels a little too clean and tidy to be satisfying.

There's a lot to like about The Favorites and about Fargo's writing, but this one won't be a top read for me.

I have not been this invested in fictional figure skaters since Yuuri on Ice. This book was so good yet so stressful I was waiting for something to go wrong the entire book.


I mean I know its Wuthering Heights meets pairs Ice Dancing but I haven't read Wuthering Heights since high school and besides the iconic Virtue and Mohr ice dance to Moulin Rouge songs I have paid zero attention to ice dancing. So really I went into this book pretty blind but it was such a good read.

The book is told in first person by Kat but each chapter ends with interviews for a documentary on Kat and Heath (the doc is called the Favorites) which reminded me a little of Daisy Jones and the Six.

We follow the pair from teenagers to adults but their journey is not without drama or heartache. I feel like saying anything more about the plot will spoil it but there were some definite twist moments I never saw coming.

I did feel like it lost a little momentum at the end but overall this was a fun, dishy read and I highly recommend.