The Favorites, Layne Fargo
The Favorites, Layne Fargo
List: $25.00 | Sale: $17.00
Club: $12.50

The Favorites

Author: Layne Fargo

Narrator: Christine Lakin, Louisa Zhu, Amy Landon, Elena Rey, Valerie Rose Lohman, Suzanne Toren, Graham Halstead, Julia Emelin, Layne Fargo, Eric Yang, Johnny Weir

Unabridged: 13 hr 36 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/14/2025


Synopsis

To the world, they were a scandal. To each other, an obsession.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • An epic love story set in the sparkling, savage sphere of elite figure skating, starring a woman determined to carve her own path on and off the ice

“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 By Any Other Name

She might not have a famous name, funding, or her family’s support, but Katarina Shaw has always known that she was destined to become an Olympic skater. When she meets Heath Rocha, a lonely kid stuck in the foster care system, their instant connection makes them a formidable duo on the ice. Clinging to skating—and each other—to escape their turbulent lives, Kat and Heath go from childhood sweethearts to champion ice dancers, captivating the world with their scorching chemistry, rebellious style, and roller-coaster relationship.

Until a shocking incident at the Olympic Games brings their partnership to a sudden end.

As the ten-year anniversary of their final skate approaches, an unauthorized documentary reignites the public obsession with Shaw and Rocha, claiming to uncover the “real story” through interviews with their closest friends and fiercest rivals. Kat wants nothing to do with the documentary, but she can’t stand the thought of someone else defining her legacy. So, after a decade of silence, she’s telling her story: from the childhood tragedies that created her all-consuming bond with Heath to the clash of desires that tore them apart. Sensational rumors have haunted their every step for years, but the truth may be even more shocking than the headlines.

About Layne Fargo

Layne Fargo is the author of the thrillers Temper and They Never Learn. She’s a Pitch Wars mentor, Vice President of the Chicagoland chapter of Sisters in Crime, and the cocreator of the podcast Unlikeable Female Characters. Layne lives in Chicago with her partner and their pets.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Sara on January 29, 2025

4.5 ⭐️ Oooo this one was gooooood!!!!!! The messiness, the obsession (with each other & winning), the side characters that pushed them, the rivalries, (all of it honestly) was so well done! Suchhhhh compelling storytelling, it felt like I was reading about real figure skaters history coming from nothi......more

Goodreads review by Clace on January 25, 2025

All the stars! “The thing is, when pushing your limits is all you know, when it seems normal to you...it's hard to remember you even have limits. Until you run right into them.” It's been such a long time since a book has consumed like this, I actually was speechless because I was so obsessed with......more

Goodreads review by Sydney Books on February 20, 2025

450 pages and I still didn’t want it to end!! All the stars. More coherent review to come 😅......more

Goodreads review by Brady on March 26, 2025

Alllllllll of that... for what?!?! omg I am so frustrated by this book lol. I wanted to love this book SO much and the audiobook was definitely a good time, but it was so much back and forth, the petty fights, young "love" that just didn't work for me. I like reading about emotionally mature charact......more

Goodreads review by Emmy on January 16, 2025

Beautifully brutal. This book gives a mix of ‘Daisy Jones & the Six’ meets ‘Magnolia Parks’. Perfection!......more


Quotes

“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 By Any Other Name

“One of the most heart-wrenching, epic and passionate romances I’ve read in quite some time . . . I already wish I could read it again for the first time.”—Betty Cayouette, People

“The horny ice skating novel The Favorites could not have possibly arrived at a more perfect time. . . . Immersive, wildly addictive.”—Paste

“[The Favorites] has a simple premise, executed perfectly: Wuthering Heights, but make it Olympic figure skaters. . . . So effing good.”—CrimeReads

“Irresistibly pulpy . . . The Favorites shimmers and delights.”—Bookreporter

“An epic love story set in the dazzling but brutal world of elite ice dancing . . . Think The Cutting Edge meets Daisy Jones & The Six.”—KMUW

“A true literary triple axel: a smart and nuanced retelling of a classic, a tense sports drama, and a perfectly twisted romance.”—Rachel Hawkins, New York Times bestselling author of The Heiress and The Wife Upstairs

“A glittery compulsive whirl of a book, filled with spite and love and sequins and ambition.”—Holly Gramazio, New York Times bestselling author of The Husbands

“Breathtaking . . . The ferocious passion between Kat and Heath leaps off the page, and the captivating drama that unfolds on and off the ice is unrelenting.”—Margarita Montimore, USA Today bestselling author of Acts of Violet and Oona Out of Order

The Favorites combines the emotion of a coming-of-age tale with the sensationalism of the most audacious news headlines, creating a thoroughly intriguing read.”—Chicago Review of Books

“Engrossing, thrilling, and just downright fun.”Booklist, starred review

“Colleen Hoover–style romance heads to the Olympic rink. Buckle up.”—Kirkus Reviews

“A deliciously scathing, sexy novel . . . passionate, cutthroat, and irresistibly fun.”—Julia Fine, author of Maddalena and the Dark

“A tale of ambition and scorching passion that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.”—Jean Kwok, New York Times bestselling author of The Leftover Woman

“What an addictive read . . .”—Emma Brodie, author of Songs in Ursa Major

“A drama of epic proportions.”Library Journal