A wildly entertaining read, lies , secrets, deceptions, sabotage, sparkly costumes, a passionate love story and ice skating! I really enjoyed this novel. The world of Olympic level ice skating is unveiled , with the athletes willing to do anything to secure they are top of the podium. An enduring friendship, a love story and a willingness to sacrifice everything to secure a gold medal.
This brought me back to being enchanted by watching this sport on tv ,as a child . The drama, the talent, the headlines. I really liked the format of this book and the style of writing. It did start to feel a little repetitive around the half way mark but clawed its way back to a dazzling conclusion.
A fun read.

3,5

✨ARC review ✨

A Wuthering. Heights retelling about two ice dancers!!! OBSESSED! Wuthering heights was one of my favourite books growing up and I am really interested in ice skating, so I was very excited about this book.

The books follows two ice dancers from childhood, Kat and Heath and their journey to the Olympics. Each chapter of the book is half narrated by Kat and half told by present day interviews as part of a documentary. I’d definitely recommend to fans of Daisy Jones and the Six because the format of the book is very similar.

I loved all the characters of the book and the descriptions of the ice dances, I kept forgetting that they weren’t real and wanted to search the routines up on youtube 😭😭😭. The only negative I found in the book is about the constraints of it being a Wuthering Heights retelling. Although I adore Wuthering Heights, it left the book going down some outlandish routes that I found a bit unbelievable

WOW. I saw reviews for this saying it was like Daisy Jones and the movie I Tonya combined. I absolutely loved both of those so I had high hopes for this one, and let me tell you, it lived up to those high hopes.

I could not put this down. Every spare minute I got I was reading it. No joke, I even dreamt about it, woke up and picked it back up to finish it. The way it’s written, using interview inserts and then from Katarina’s POV was just brilliant. Whilst reading, I felt like I was watching a documentary in my head. I could visualise all the video inserts that spoke about so easily. Numerous times, I even forgot that it was fiction and tried to search the videos on Google🙃.

The characters were so well written. They felt like real people, hence my searching of Google mentioned above🤭.

Overall, this NEEDS to be adapted to the screen. This could well be my book of the year already and it’s only January. It’ll be thought to beat!

The Favourites by Layne Fargo is a fever dream, and I don't just say that because I was burning up with a sinus infection most of the time I read it. This came with a lot of buzz online, and was compared to Spinning Out and Daisy Jones and the Six, the latter of which I'm obsessed with as you know.

The book is told in part as a mockumentary format, VERY like Daisy Jones, about fictional ice dancers who feel very closely inspired by real life counterparts (or so I believe). Kat and Heath were scrappy young kids, falling in love with each other and ice skating, and Kat resolves that they will win an Olympic Gold medal despite not coming from the affluent communities that are key to unlocking that world. The reader knows at the outset that they do become world famous ice dancers, but infamous and scandalous too, making headlines for their personal lives as well as the competitions. There's lots of foreshadowing of some kind of disaster, which adds some mystery from the outset.

I presumed this wasn't for me as I don't follow any ice skating or ice dancing, and I thought I knew nothing about it until I remembered it being pitched last year as a modern Wuthering Heights retelling and I was completely allergic. You can see it isn't just the names that inspired Fargo, and it does feed into the book, but I think pushing that link was a bit much.

It is a rollercoaster with so many ups and downs that I was able to fly through it while I was sick, and I kept wanting to talk to people about it at the time. However, there's so many twists and turns that it could get repetitive, and I often got mixed up with what competition they were at, which maybe wouldn't happen as much if you were into ice dancing. It's really juicy and a great fun read, but I think it relies on that scandal to keep up momentum.

More to the point, it feels like it copies a lot of things that are popular and rides on them, but what a ride - it skillfully taps into a lot of things that are really popular and engrossing, and I kept thinking about it even when I wasn't reading it. Despite the issues I had with it, I really would still recommend it to so many people, and I think it could be huge.

a new favourite!! it's such a different blend of genres and I was hooked from the start. when reading it, it played out like a movie. every character was so well thought out, the plot was interesting and kept you wanting more and the balance between ice skating and drama was perfect. loved it!!!

I wasn’t expecting much from this book as I’m usually a fantasy reader but I heard good things about it. I have to say I throughly enjoyed it the descriptions of the ice dancing, the tumultuous relationship between Kat and Heath kept me gripped!!
Received as an arc

very entertaining read filled with drama, betrayal, tension, toxic relationships and plot twists. i loved the way the narrative was written like a documentary with a mix of interviews and television footage which made it feel like i watching a netflix show. both main characters were incredibly flawed and messy but i loved them for it. incredible storytelling about the realities of pursuing dreams, love, loss and found family. my only small issue was it was a little too long and started to drag towards the end but overall still a great read.

Okay, wow is the perfect way to start this! The Favourites by Layne Fargo is one of those books that just grabs you and doesn’t let go. Seriously, it’s a whirlwind of drama, tension, and complex characters that will keep you hooked from start to finish.

If you're a fan of Daisy Jones & The Six, this is definitely your next read. It has that same vibe of fame, rivalry, and secrets, but with a darker, more intense edge. The relationships between the characters are so layered and messy in the best way, and the way Fargo builds suspense throughout the book is just genius. I couldn't put it down.

Without giving too much away (because you need to experience it all yourself), this book explores the intricacies of friendship, ambition, and betrayal in such a unique way.

I’m calling it now—this is going to be a massive hit in 2025. It’s already my favorite read of the year (yes, I’m saying this early) and I cannot recommend it enough. Grab a copy, read it, and then shout about it from the rooftops because everyone needs to know about this book.

5/5, easily. You won’t regret it!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House UK for the ARC.

I wish I could give it more than 5 stars.....

This is my favourite kind of poolside/holiday reading: it's easy entertainment but has enough grip to keep the pages turning.

I'm a bit less sure about the use of Wuthering Heights as a model on which to build a modern storyline. The first parts follow the original quite closely with some imaginative transpositions. But then the inspiration gets left behind for a quite different trajectory and ending.

Katherine is a fantastic heroine: strong, ambitious, rule-breaking, talented. Heath just can't live up to Heathcliff and I never really believed in the passion between them.

A fun and engrossing read all the same.

A novel covering the brutality and rivalry of international ice dancing in the 1990s and 2000s. Katarina Shaw and Heath Rocha have been skating together since they were 10 years old. At 16 they are ready to break onto the international circuit. Meeting Kat's all time idol Sheila Lin is special and so begins a lifelong rivalry with her daughter Bella who skates with her twin Garrett. The four become frenemies and rivals for the Olympics. Dramas ensue. Partnerships change. Through it all Kat and Heath have an unbreakable bond. Their personal life and dramas often overshadow their professional careers. Told in the form of a documentary being made a decade after the dramatic event that ended their careers I went from being annoyed at this approach to intrigued. It read like a real life story. #netgalley #TheFavourites

'The Favourites' takes us into the world of Olympic Ice-Skating. We follow Katharina Shaw and Heath Rocha and their rivals, twins Bella and Garrett Lin on their quest to win Olympic Gold. This is an unputdownable novel laced with determination, rivalry, love and intrigue.
Part of it is written in documentary style which reminds of 'Daisy Jones And The Six'. This gives the reader a good oversight to the rest of the narration which is from Kat's viewpoint.
I adored this novel and couldn't put it down. My favourite book of the year so far.
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Vintage Random Hose for the ARC.

I don't think I can quite sum up how much I adored this book. And it's apt that it's called The Favourites, as it is now a firm favourite of mine that I will be recommending to anyone who will listen.
The highs, the lows and the push and pull are executed flawlessly and I lost count of how many times I gasped or felt a punch to my gut.
Even if you're not a fan of ice dance, it's not too technical to be off-putting and it completely immersed me in that world.
I loved the nod to Wuthering Heights and had my fingers crossed that it wouldn't end quite as tragically as the classic. For me, Wuthering Heights never felt like a true romance, whereas this and Kat and Heath's relationship was much more absorbing.
You're rooting for them and each and every character added to the story and the drama.
Let's just say, I was completely hooked and could not put this book down.
It definitely reminded me of some of Taylor Jenkins Reid's books, primarily Daisy Jones & The Six (because of the way it was set out in interview snippets) and Carrie Soto Is Back (which just so happens to be another one of my favourite books of all time), which isn't a bad thing at all, particularly as a big fan of hers too.
It was just such an easy 5 star read for me. And after loving They Never Learn, as well, I cannot wait to see what Layne Fargo does next.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I haven’t felt this way after reading a book in a while. This book is a freaking masterpiece. If you have read and loved The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo/Daisy Jones and The Six, this gives off similar writing vibes. WHY AM I CRYING OVER FICTIONAL CHARACTERS?! THEY’RE NOT EVEN DEAD. THIS IS SO WEIRD

When I say this book consumed me for 2 days… absolutely NO NOTES. Wow, wow and wow.

The only way I can describe it is like the best quality car crash tv like you cannot look away... The way this book reads, the pacing, the storytelling and the mixed media setting on the audiobook is 5.

Katarina and Heath were some of the most complex yet compelling characters I’ve read in a long time. Their story spanned decades of love, loss, competition and scandal and this book makes you feel like you are skating alongside them.

Perfect for fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid, the story of Kat and Heath was so much fun. I loved the documentary format (I think it would be fantastic as an audiobook!), and watching it unfold was so exciting.
There were so many tense moments, and many times I was so angry whilst reading (angry with some characters more than others...) and I did find myself a little disappointed with the ending, but overall a brilliant read.

The perfect escapist read for all those who grew up watching ice princess and reading wuthering heights. It’s a novel full of drama and twists (although these are somewhat predictable if you know wuthering heights) that kept me entertained throughout. Just what I needed to brighten a gloomy January.

I was asked to review by NetGalley

I dont think I have been transfixed about skating since I cried through Champions a Love Story or watched Torvil and Dean get Gold at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo.

I am new to the table with this author, and was engrossed from chapter one.

Wow this has ambition, sadness, betrayal - gosh who would have known the world of skating was so toxic, tense and horribly cut throat. Maybe I have been in a bubble I do not know.

All I can say is this is a must read in 2025 and was published 16 January 2025.

Good Twin, bad twin and everything in between.
I have never being particularly interested in figure skating, I shall certainly look at it in a different light now.
Katerina and her brother Lee are being bought up by her Father after her Mother dies. Kit watches ice skating after her Mother dies and wants to learn how to skate. She first skates at age four and pushes herself, Heath an unhappy boy watches her and falls for her, she teaches him to skate. The two become close, Heath is a foster child and is due to be moved away, Kat's Father offers to foster him as Kat can not face losing him. When her Father dies Lee tries to throw him out, despite Lee's aggression Heath sleeps in barn and continues skating with Kat. The two escape and go to a skating academy run by Kat's heroine Sheila, they meet her twins Garrett and Bella, Garrett welcomes them and tries to help while Bella ignores them.
Kit and Heath work hard at skating, a partner swop happens and Heath eventually leaves a lot of gossip surrounds this. Eventually reunited, can the couple get placed in the Olympic games? lots of underhand dealing, backstabbing and dirty tricks.
The story has interviews with various friends, supporters and rivals, these are eventually used in a documentary, it adds to the book and keeps us guessing .

In a similar vein to Taylor Jenkins Reid’s ‘Carrie Soto is Back’, ‘The Favourites’ is a thoroughly engaging read. I was so invested that I sobbed all the way through the final dance! I loved every scandalous, high-stakes minute and I can't wait to read more of Layne Fargo’s work.

Oh my god I LOVED this! I can't believe these characters aren't real! This is so compulsive, readable, the action leaps of the page and the interview/documentary style is a great way of breaking up the narrative and adding something different. Everyone needs to read this!