The Favorites

In a Nutshell: A gripping romance-drama set in the competitive sport of ice dancing. Think ‘Wuthering Heights’ meets ‘Daisy Jones and the Six’. Excellent grey characters, gripping plot, fabulous insights into the sport, steady pace, great themes. This is partially inspired by the Brontë novel. I’m not a fan of the classic but I loved this modernised version. Much recommended, though not to those who want likeable characters. Go for the audio version, if possible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Plot Preview:

Katarina Shaw has known since her childhood that she wants to go to the Olympics. Though she doesn’t have the family or financial background required for competitive sports, her spirit remains determined. When she meets Heath

show more

Rocha, a kid stuck in the foster care system, their instant connection ensures that they become a formidable pair on ice. Their chemistry and their rebellious dancing take the figure skating world by storm. However, even the sturdiest ice has to crack someday…
On the tenth anniversary of their final skating performance, an investigative documentary claims to offer the “true story” of what happened between ‘the favourites’. This reignites public curiosity about the pair.
We hear the story in two alternating parts – the documentary that contains interviews and reactions from various members of the figure skating world who know the duo, and Katarina’s first-person POV detailing her version of the events.

Though the blurb of this book had been quite tempting, I had been unsure of my ability to enjoy it as I am not at all familiar with the technicalities of ice dancing. Then I saw some strong positive reviews for the book from my GR friends, and I remembered how much I had loved Fredrik Backman’s Beartown trilogy without knowing even a teeny bit about ice hockey. Dear reader, I succumbed. And I am so happy I did!

When grabbing this book, I absolutely didn’t know that this was inspired by Wuthering Heights, and thank god for that! I am not a fan of the original classic. (Yes, I can hear your boos, but what can I say! Not every book is for everyone!) Had I known beforehand that this was a modernized loose version of the same, I wouldn’t have picked this up at all! But IMHO, this book contains a much better depiction of dark love without getting all creepy and stalker-y like the classic does.

You don’t need to have read the classic to get this novel better. The story stands alone excellently on its own merit. But if you do know the original, you will be able to better appreciate the Easter Eggs the author slips into the book. I loved connecting the dots between Brontë’s characters and Fargo’s characters. Heathcliff becomes Heath Rocha (And ‘rocha’ and ‘cliff’ both mean ‘rock’ – a word that applies to both characters in various ways.) Catherine Earnshaw is Katarina Shaw. EdGAR LINton turns into GARrett LIN and his sister Isabella Linton is Garrett’s sister Bella Lin. Thankfully, ‘The Favourites’ restricts itself only to one generation, so we don’t have the complex combinations and repetitions of character names as in the classic.

Bookish Yays:
⛸ The two leads: Katarina and Heath. What a complex connection these two share! Loved their character development and their interactions. Those who prefer characters who are likeable won't be big fans of this duo, but as I read them mainly as the modern embodiment of the star-crossed lovers from Wuthering Heights, I enjoyed their arcs. (Quite ironic, because I hate the original Heathcliff-Catherine pair. show less

Thank you to Libro.fm for an advance copy of the audiobook.

First off, format. Spectacular. It had Daisy Jones and the Six full cast documentary vibes which I ate up with a spoon. If it wasn't as good as it was I would have thrown this book off the tallest building I could find so you know, kudos.

Second. What.

Third, Kat was so unlikeable that I was absolutely obsessed with her. Her motivations were always pure and she never lied about who she was or where she was going. Heath I want to throw in the river though. That man was an absolute abomination as a romantic lead in this. He destroyed so many opportunities for her and never really even apologized for the ones that were in his control. They were toxic AF together which could have been show more fun if he wasn't also a hot dumpster fire disguised as a hot dude.

Don't worry though. I talked about this book a lot. show less

In The Favorites, author Layne Fargo weaves an exciting women's fiction story about love, passion, ambition, scandal, and the determination to win in the world of figure skating.

Ice dancers Katarina Shaw and Heath Rocha met at the local ice rink when they were kids. From the beginning of their partnership, they set their goal on one thing, the Olympic gold medal. Through trials and tribulations, highs and lows, and unprecedent success, Team Shaw-Rocha were the favorites to win Olympic gold in ice dancing, that is until a scandalous incident at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia brings a dramatic end to their partnership. On the tenth-year anniversary of the Sochi Winter Olympics, a documentary is released about the Shaw-Rocha show more partnership with salacious interviews and the unearthing of secrets about the pair from friends, rivals, and skating officials, Kat decides to stop the speculation and tell her own story.

The Favorites is a fascinating story that depicts the complexity of Kat and Heath's story. Their story is wrought with angsty drama, secrets, challenges, heartaches, betrayals, and their enduring bond of friendship/romance. I loved this story! If you are a fan of elite figure skating, then you must read this book! It was an exciting, dramatic, addictive look behind the curtains of the figure skating world. You can't help but get drawn into Kat and Heath's story, and how they took me on their journey to skate all the events leading up to the Winter Olympics.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that I grew up as a diehard fan of elite figure skating. As I read this story, I felt like I was taken on one heck of an emotional roller coaster ride, and that this breathtaking story left me emotionally spent but wanting so much more. It just doesn't get any better than that.

The Favorites is a fascinating women's fiction tale that will keep the reader engaged from beginning to end!

https://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2025/02/the-favorites-by-layne-fargo-... show less

4.5 - I couldn’t care less about sports. I only ever watched the Olympics when Michelle Kwan was skating. But Kat & Heath had me HOOKED. I quite liked the closed door spice because I honestly could’ve cared less about their sex life. Their chemistry on the ice was spicer to me. Also I love a woman who shatters all the expectations society sets on her. What’s wrong with wanting to be the best? A Katarina is the baddest bitch. 10s ACROSS THE BOARD.

This was riveting similar to the way the Olympics are riveting. The ridiculously high stakes. The cutthroat competition, where wobbles and tenths of a second can be the difference between overwhelming joy and crushing despair. The DRAMA, both on screen and off. I feel like Layne Fargo accomplished everything she set out to do in this novel—including making me care about some kind of awful people—so in addition to being entertaining, it was also satisfying.

This one was billed as Wuthering Heights meets The Cutting Edge and I don't know how anyone can resist that, certainly not me. In reality, while this book does use the characters from Wuthering Heights as a kind of beginning point, and it is set in the world of athletes competing in ice dancing competitions and hoping to make it to the Olympics, the similarities to either the book or the movie end there.

Heath is an orphan who joins Katarina in learning figure skating. She has the goal of making it to the Olympics and becoming a star like her hero, an ice dancing legend. Their relationship is very close, even closer once Katarina's father adopts Heath. As they move to LA to train at an exclusive figure skating school, their relationship show more grows ever more tempestuous as Katarina's drive and Heath's stubbornness clash. As the years go by, they work with other partners, but they keep returning to each other.

So it wasn't good, by any stretch, but there was plenty of drama and angst and emotion, which made it a quick and fun read. I will note that the cover was created with the help of AI, and I would not have read this book if I had known that before reading the book, this is published by Random House, which is able to pay for human work. show less

Daisy Jones meets Tanya Harding in this Wuthering Heights retelling. We're hearing the story of ice dancers who become famous in interview snippets after the fact. Heath and Katarina have a toxic relationship and anyone who has read Wuthering Heights won't be surprised to hear that. It's incredibly entertaining on audio, but also exhausting as the characters are just horrible to each other.