Hello, fellow bookworms! Welcome, or Welcome back! My name is Amanda, and this is where I share spoiler-free book reviews and other bookish things. Thanks for visiting. Let’s get Smitten for Fiction.

After loving They Never Learn I was pumped to receive a digital advance copy of Layne Fargo’s newest book. This new book is NOT a mystery/thriller but they both have unlikeable characters.

“Part Wuthering Heights and part Daisy Jones & The Six, this novel is as brilliantly choreographed as a gold medal performance and will keep you guessing until its last page.”—Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of Wish You Were Here

About The Book 📚

Title: The Favorites

Author: Layne Fargo

Publication Date: Jan 14, 2025

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group

Genre: New Adult, Romance, Sport’s Fiction

Pages: 448

Setting: multiple

Content Warnings: Click here for Content Warnings

Three Words That Describe This Book: Obsession, Ambition, Celebrity

About The Author

“Layne Fargo has a background in theater, women’s studies, and library science, so it’s only fitting that she now writes deliciously dramatic, unapologetically feminist stories for a living. She’s the author of the novels The Favorites, They Never Learn, and Temper, as well as co-author on the bestselling Young Rich Widows series, and her work has been translated into over a dozen languages. Layne lives in Chicago with her partner, their pets, and an ever-expanding collection of books she’s definitely going to read before she dies.”

My Review

› I prefer the UK cover:

In a video, Layne Fargo said she first had the idea for this book while watching the 2018 Olympics. Fargo has a library science background, so she knows how to research! All of the competitions listed in the book are real. Inspired by Wuthering Heights, The Favorites is told from the perspective of a documentary and prose. The interviews in the documentary tell the story of ice dancers Katarina Shaw and Heath Rocha and the “unprecedented events” that happened at the 2014 Olympics.

› First Line: “Today is the tenth anniversary of the worst day of my life.”

› Kat and Heath have known each other for a long time. Both have had traumatic childhoods and they were brought together by ice dancing. We meet Kat as a sixteen-year-old living with her alcoholic brother, Lee, after their father died. Heath grew up in foster care. He doesn’t know his exact heritage but suspects he is Portuguese or Spanish according to the name listed on his birth certificate. Kat has looked up to Sheila Lin for as long as she can remember and is shocked to be invited to join Sheila’s ice dancing training school following a competition. At the training facility, Kat and Heath get to know Sheila’s twin children Garrett and Bella who are also ice dancers. In the ice dance world, Kat and Heath are judged for their financial upbringing and skin colour and we follow them over the next decade as they struggle to win gold.

Quotes That Stuck With Me

“As we moved deeper into the crowd, I was careful to keep a smile on my face at all times. Heath might be able to get away with brooding, but if I appeared anything besides absolutely delighted to be there, I’d be branded a bitch.”

I think the story could benefit from more description of the settings, internal conflict, backstory and characteristics. I didn’t feel appropriate emotions, however, I liked the short chapters and Fargo’s writing style. It has high readability and using the documentary is a unique way to introduce many points of view. As for the plot, I loved the beginning and then it was downhill from there. Some parts are repetitive. I was interested in knowing more about Kat and Heath, but I didn’t care about any other characters or if they won their competitions. There are a few elements that didn’t make sense and I don’t like how the queer characters were treated. I also don’t like the miscommunication trope and I feel like the book is too long. Overall, it was just okay for me. I’m in the minority on this one as 88% of Goodreads reviewers gave it 4 or 5 stars.

APPEAL FACTORS
Storyline: action-packed, character-driven, intricately plotted, issue-oriented, nonlinear, open-ended, own voices, plot-driven, sweeping, unconventional, tragic
Pace: medium
Tone: angsty, high-drama, moody, suspenseful, edgy
Heat index: steamy (PG 13)
Humour: offbeat, sarcastic
Writing Style: conversational, attention-grabbing
Character: authentic, awkward, brooding, complex, flawed, sarcastic, unlikeable, diverse, multiple points of view
LGBTQIA+ Representation: gay
Racial Representation: Asian, Black, Indigenous, Latino/Latina, Multiracial, people of colour

Read Alikes:
Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Me Soul Twin by Nino Haratischvili
You, Me, and the Sea by Meg Donohue
Fangirl Down by Tessa Bailey

› In the past I have given a rating out of ten and converted that to a star rating, but I’m no longer giving a star rating here on my blog. I will continue to do that on Goodreads and The Story Graph.

› Final Thoughts
• The Favorites is an angsty story about childhood trauma, classism, toxic relationships, manipulation, lies and betrayal. I think an adaptation would be compelling. I recommend this to people who like messy relationships. I’ve heard good things about the audiobook.

 Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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