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.

I mean holy shit I loved this. I got the ARC, started it, stayed up super late and then was reading it on my phone between clients 😅 Finished it in under 24 hours... The love/hate chemistry between Katarina and Heath, his obsession with her, her obsession with making it to the Olympics, the sheer DRAMA of it all, the relationship dynamics in the end, I loved this all and I'm absolutely certain I'll reread this again closer to the publication date.

Layne Fargo can do no wrong. This was fantastic. I really enjoyed reading it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC!

5 star read and being added to my favorites!

I absolutely love ice skating and am glued to the TV nonstop when the winter Olympics come around so reading the tale of ferociously dedicated skaters as they go for gold was such a delightful experience. The Favorites follows Kat and Heath, two teens from outside Chicago who claw their way to the big leagues and compete in the flawed world of ice dance. This story also heavily follows twins Bella and Garrett Lin, the children of former Olympic gold medalist Sheila Lin. I loved all of the four main characters and found them to be so relatable - even though I am as far from an Olympic athlete as people come.

Layne Fargo has a talent for writing characters that can be detestable and so charismatic at the same time. Her imagery is impeccable and I could picture each ice dance routine as she described it. The format of the book was interesting as it was primarily from Kat’s perspective, however many chapters ended with interviews from competitors, commentators, coaches, or judges as a documentary is being made about Kat and Heath’s skating journey. This was a clever way to interject different POVs and worked well.

I had a blast reading this and would widely recommend it to all! I’ll definitely be picking up a physical copy for myself when it publishes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for access to this eARC in exchange for an honest review

I don’t even know where to start with this review so firstly, thank you to @netgalley and @randomhouse for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I guess I’ll start off by saying I’m probably in the majority with having no idea what Ice Dance was, and this book was my introduction into an absolutely beautiful sport. As someone who didn’t have any information into this niche sport, it was nice that the author didn’t get too detailed into the technical aspect of the skills. It would have been over my head.

I felt the chemistry between our MCs and even some of the side characters was so well written. It was leaping off the page and kept me engaged, desperate for more. This book had me FEELING in a way I hadn’t in a long time. I got scared, angry, and worried. I was swooning and experiencing the joy right along with our characters.

I did feel that the plot got a bit repetitive. It seemed like every time a major competition was about to occur, something bad happened to our skating duo. It felt like we kept getting told that they cared about nothing outside of the sport, but right before getting on the ice, something caused them to get In their heads and blow the events. It got a bit redundant but with so much else going on, this was just a blip on my radar.

The format and writing style of this book is the most unique that I have ever seen. It’s chapters can be broken up into two parts, the first half is our FMC, Kate, telling us the story from her perspective in First Person Past tense. The second part is as if you were sitting in front of a tv watching a documentary where others talk about what happened (but you’re reading it). It was honestly the most engaging story I’ve ever read and it felt so immersive, like I was there. I could picture the TV screen showing those parts of the chapters.

Such a great and unique read with a fiery romance for the ages.

Release date: January 15th, 2025

This was so unexpectedly good! The chemistry between the main characters was 🔥! The plot was really interesting and unique and not what I expected. Would recommend and adding to our library!

I am a huge ice dance fan and a fan of Layne Fargo’s novels so when I saw this book hit NetGalley, I was beyond excited. While reading, I recognized the Wuthering Heights references, especially all the character names and the general concept of class distinction. But there, the similarities end and the plot is basically a musical chair, change partners soap opera as our lead and supporting characters move from one competition to the next, all chasing Olympic gold.
While I loved the book, I have some criticisms. I understand why Fargo wouldn’t want to get too detailed with the skating programs’ technical and artistic elements. It would turn off non-skating fans who just want to read good fiction. She only mentions major elements like lifts and twizzles, and describes music choices and costume styles.
I found the climactic do-or-die events at the end of every single Shaw & Rocha competitive skate to be too repetitive. This couple keeps getting some form of bad news, or are subject to a villainous event, right before they step on the ice. Then instead of acting like true athletes with one focused goal, they get in their heads and mess up each program, ending their big moment in some form of emotional crisis or injury.
Granted, I live for the melodrama but in all my years of watching ice dancing, the skaters at the international level rarely make mistakes and show far more discipline than any skater in The Favorite. I hope when the book is released, we hear more from Fargo on her research, and what athletes she interviewed for this book.
Regardless, I enjoy reading about figure skating in all its forms, fiction or non-fiction. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read and review. And thanks to Layne Fargo for giving readers a subject that doesn’t get enough attention.

Just wow. This was fantastic and so thrilling. One of my tops reads of this year for sure, and possibly a new all time favourite. I have never had a book make me FEEL so much when I was angry I wanted to smash something, when I was hurt it felt like I'd been punched in the gut and when I was sad there were actual tears streaming down my face. This is a testament to Fargo's skills, I'm in awe. I really loved the interview format that some of this book took and I loved the short chapters and obviously the characters, Katherine and Heath I love you. The plot was so thrilling I didn't ever want to put it down. This is the kind of book you give an instant 5 stars to, it's that good. Perfect for fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid!

Who doesn’t love a good spicy figure skating novel? You can’t go wrong with this book! Perfect level of spice and scandal. The need for more is so intense.

4.5 ⭐️ I could not put this book down!

Synopsis: “The Favorites” follows the story of Katarina and Heath as they work their way up the ranks of the ice dancing world. It’s inspired by “Wuthering Heights”, which I may have to move higher up on my TBR list.

If you enjoyed Daisy Jones and the Six like I did, you will also enjoy this one. Part of the novel is told in the style of a documentary transcript and part is told from the perspective of Katarina, one of the main characters.

From the very beginning, I was hooked. I loved the format, I loved the writing style, and I loved the characters. The chapters were fairly short, which kept me engaged and frantically turning the pages, especially toward the end of the book. I will be reading some of Fargo’s previous works and will definitely re-read this when it’s released next year.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for an advanced copy of this book.

Layne Fargo does it again with ‘The Favorites’ and gains her third 5-Star review from me. I absolutely love ‘They Never Learn’ and ‘Temper’ and ‘The Favorites’ will have a spot on my bookshelf waiting for its publishing date.

I’ve never been one to be captivated by ice skating. In fact, while I can appreciate that it takes a high level of skill, I’ve always found it quite boring. Fargo takes the world of ice skating, particularly ice dancing, and was able to make me feel invested and interested.

We start out with a young Katarina and a young Heath who are best friends, ice dancing partners, lovers, and each other’s entire world. Throughout the book we follow their path from nothing into something, the push and pull competitive sports consists of, and every emotion in between.

I could write so much about this book but it would do it an injustice and take away from the magic that Fargo herself has written. This book has it all; Friendship, love, hate, happiness, anger, you name it. I look forward to reading it again once it comes out next year.

The way I screamed when I was approved for this book on NetGalley!!!

I have been such a big fan of @laynefargo since first reading ‘They Never Learn’ a few years ago. Since then I’ve vowed to read any words written by Layne, from now until forever ✨🥹

Thank you @randomhouse for the review copy!

⭐️THE FAVORITES, out JAN 14⭐️

#thefavorites #laynefargo #randomhouse #thatbookbetchhh

At first I wasn’t sure if i was going to like a book based on Olympic Ice Dancing, but it being written by one of my favorite authors i should have known that i would be utterly obsessed! In my opinion Layne Fargo can do no wrong. Her writing is phenomenal and draws me in every time, for hours at a time! Also her character development is always PERFECTION! The ability for an author to make a 2D flat charter in a book into a fully fleshed out character in my mind, is simply amazing!

This book truly had everything!! It was salacious, full of drama, full of real deep emotions and sadness. I couldn’t recommend this book more!