The Favourites - Layne Fargo - ★★★★.½

AUTHOR: Layne Fargo

GENRE: Drama, Retelling.

PUBLICATION DATE: January 14, 2025

RATING: 4.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: A gripping romance-drama set in the competitive sport of ice dancing. Think ‘Wuthering Heights’ meets ‘Daisy Jones and the Six’. Excellent grey characters, gripping plot, fabulous insights into the sport, steady pace, great themes. This is partially inspired by the Brontë novel. I’m not a fan of the classic but I loved this modernised version. Much recommended, though not to those who want likeable characters. Go for the audio version, if possible.

Plot Preview:

Katarina Shaw has known since her childhood that she wants to go to the Olympics. Though she doesn’t have the family or financial background required for competitive sports, her spirit remains determined. When she meets Heath Rocha, a kid stuck in the foster care system, their instant connection ensures that they become a formidable pair on ice. Their chemistry and their rebellious dancing take the figure skating world by storm. However, even the sturdiest ice has to crack someday…

On the tenth anniversary of their final skating performance, an investigative documentary claims to offer the “true story” of what happened between ‘the favourites’. This reignites public curiosity about the pair.

We hear the story in two alternating parts – the documentary that contains interviews and reactions from various members of the figure skating world who know the duo, and Katarina’s first-person POV detailing her version of the events.

Though the blurb of this book had been quite tempting, I had been unsure of my ability to enjoy it as I am not at all familiar with the technicalities of ice dancing. Then I saw some strong positive reviews for the book from my GR friends, and I remembered how much I had loved Fredrik Backman’s Beartown trilogy without knowing even a teeny bit about ice hockey. Dear reader, I succumbed. And I am so happy I did!

When grabbing this book, I absolutely didn’t know that this was inspired by Wuthering Heights, and thank god for that! I am not a fan of the original classic. (Yes, I can hear your boos, but what can I say! Not every book is for everyone!) Had I known beforehand that this was a modernized loose version of the same, I wouldn’t have picked this up at all! But IMHO, this book contains a much better depiction of dark love without getting all creepy and stalker-y like the classic does.

You don’t need to have read the classic to get this novel better. The story stands alone excellently on its own merit. But if you do know the original, you will be able to better appreciate the Easter Eggs the author slips into the book. I loved connecting the dots between Brontë’s characters and Fargo’s characters. Heathcliff becomes Heath Rocha (And ‘rocha’ and ‘cliff’ both mean ‘rock’ – a word that applies to both characters in various ways.) Catherine Earnshaw is Katarina Shaw. EdGAR LINton turns into GARrett LIN and his sister Isabella Linton is Garrett’s sister Bella Lin. Thankfully, ‘The Favourites’ restricts itself only to one generation, so we don’t have the complex combinations and repetitions of character names as in the classic.

Bookish Yays:

⛸ The two leads: Katarina and Heath. What a complex connection these two share! Loved their character development and their interactions. Those who prefer characters who are likeable won't be big fans of this duo, but as I read them mainly as the modern embodiment of the star-crossed lovers from Wuthering Heights, I enjoyed their arcs. (Quite ironic, because I hate the original Heathcliff-Catherine pair. 🤭)

⛸ The secondary characters: the Lin siblings and their mother, the other competitors, and all those who contribute to the documentary. Most of these characters too are morally grey. We get to know each of them intimately even though we see them mainly as interviewees. The character detailing is excellent.

⛸ Excellent rep. Asian American and Latinx characters in addition to the white ones, and also Queer rep. None feel stereotypical.

⛸ The gender discrimination visible through Katarina’s arc. A clear depiction of how the same decisions/actions are perceived differently depending on whether the doer is a man or a woman.

⛸ Several other well-tackled themes, such as mental health issues, invasive media, toxic parenting, wealth bias, and competitive immorality, among others.

⛸ The alternating use of a personal interview with Katarina and the documentary with everyone else connected to her world personally or professionally. An excellent way of letting the story progress without its feeling repetitive or biased. I love how Katarina’s voice isn’t a part of the documentary but an independent perspective.

⛸ The documentary itself, containing an excellent description of visuals as well as sharp statements and retorts during interviews. Almost made me feel that this documentary was real!

⛸ All the details of the competitive world of figure skating/ice dancing – fascinating! For someone who comes from a tropical country and has seen snow just a handful of times, this book offered a mesmerising insight into a sport I have only seen a few times on television. (To be honest, prior to reading this book, I didn't even know there's a difference between figure skating and ice dancing! 🤭) The book is self-explanatory about the sport in every way and I never felt like I missed out on any nuance despite my lack of familiarity with it.

⛸ The Wuthering Heights Easter Eggs. Fun to locate, especially for WH fans.

⛸ The ending. *chef’s kiss!* So much better than the source material! I feel like this ending won't work for half the readers, but who cares?! I liked it!

⛸ The cover. Just wow!

Bookish Mixed Bags:

❄ The challenge of drama plots is that the drama should feel dramatic without feeling melodramatic or overdramatic. This book has regular doses of drama, but after a point, the drama gets repetitive. It’s like the duo is facing the world’s longest streak of bad luck during their competitions.

❄ This is more of a side effect than a problem. But the book could cause you to waste many hours going down the rabbit hole of watching ice dancing and figure skating videos, and also bemoaning the fact that Heath Rocha and Katarina Shaw don’t exist in real life and all those scintillating performances described in the book are merely fictional… So sad!

🎧 The Audiobook Experience:

The audiobook, clocking at 13 hrs 36 min, is narrated by Christine Lakin, Louisa Zhu, Amy Landon, Elena Rey, Valerie Lohman, Suzanne Toren, Graham Halstead, Julia Emelin, Layne Fargo, Eric Yang, and Johnny Weir. As you can guess from that extensive list, this multi-narrator version makes the whole documentary come alive. I am sure I would have enjoyed the book even if I had read it because the plot and the writing were gripping enough. But having a distinct narrative voice for each of the interviewees in the documentary was a smart decision by the production team. And the casting was perfect! Every single narrator did justice to their roles. (Reminds me of the fabulous audio version of 'Daisy Jones & the Six' – a rare case where the audio version is better than the actual novel.) If you are an audiobook listener, I would strongly recommend trying ‘The Favourites’ on audio.

Overall, to my utter surprise, I loved this novel. Not only am I an ignoramus about the sport of ice dancing but I am also a sceptic about Wuthering Heights being considered the epitome of love. But both these factors didn’t affect my enjoyment of this one-of-a-kind novel. Yes, the drama could have been a bit more toned down, but in the grand scheme of things, this point hardly mattered.

This is my first book by Layne Fargo, and I am totally ready for more!

Much recommended to fans of sports drama, underdog narratives, contemporary dark/toxic romance, and classic retellings, and most of all, to fans of ‘Wuthering Heights’ who might want to read a very different take on Heathcliff and Catherine.

4.5 stars, happy to round up wherever applicable for the audio version.

This was a library read.