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Book Summary and Reviews of The Favorites by Layne Fargo

The Favorites by Layne Fargo

The Favorites

A Novel

by Layne Fargo

  • Readers' Rating (6):
  • Published:
  • Jan 2025, 448 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

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.

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.

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What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (2/19/2026)
I just finished The Favorites by Layne Fargo. It was a five star read for me. I really enjoyed reading it during the Winter Olympics.
-Maureen_Connolly


What are you reading this week? (3/20/2025)
I just finished (and loved) The Favorites by Layne Fargo. I'm finishing up The Husbands by Holly Gramzaio for Book Club :slightly_smiling_face: , and I'm listening to Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel.
-Karen_Belyea

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Engrossing, thrilling, and just downright fun." —Booklist (starred review)

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

"The Favorites is a dizzying left hook to the jaw that drops the reader behind the scenes of competitive pairs ice dancing...[Fargo's] characters are unabashedly extra." —The Washington Post

"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

"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

This information about The Favorites was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

Maureen_Connolly

Captivating
This was an amazing book to read while the Winter 2026 Olympics was going on. As I watched the skaters glide on the ice, I recalled what was happening in my book.
This is a captivating story of Katarina Shaw and Heath Roca, childhood sweethearts. They had to fight hard to obtain their dreams. It was a very competitive world filled with drama, jealousy and scandal.

The story is told and with two alternating narratives. Kate’s journey told in her words and the second narrative with interviews from various people of the skating world.
The writing just draws you in to the ups and downs of Kat and Heath as they compete for the title. It is a real page turner as a tragic event brings their world to an end.
Ten years later an unauthorized documentary is released about what happened, forcing Kat to tell her story.
I just loved this story.

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Author Information

Layne Fargo

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 psychological thrillers 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.

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