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stephsbooktalk 's review for:

The Favorites by Layne Fargo
5.0

Thank you so much to PRH Audio for the complimentary audio!


"Imagine being down so bad you'd master a whole Olympic sport to spend time with someone."


The FOMO took over me on this one! I just couldn't wait any longer to get to it. And boy did it take over my evenings! I was consumed with the storyline from the very beginning. The book takes us on a journey of Katarina Shaw's quest to become an Olympic figure skater with her long time friend Heath Rocha there by her side. We learn of their background and how cutthroat the competitive field of skating is.

This is classified as a romance but I would say its more fiction with a romance subplot. There was a lot that happens to Kat & Heath throughout the book and you can't help but root for them. I think Kat is an unlikeable character that you can't help but to be enamored with. She has such a drive and will do whatever she can to get that gold medal. But others are just as conniving as well.


"I hated them. I wanted to be them. I couldn't take my eyes off them."


What is cool about this book and audiobook is the mixed media woven through. They become side characters to the story of Kat & Heath. I love a full cast audio and this one is *chef's kiss*. I am a huge fan of Christine Lakin's narration and she was so good during the Kat centered chapters. Other narrators include: Louisa Zhu, Amy Landon, Elena Rey, Valerie Rose Lohman, Suzanne Toren, Graham Halstead, Julia Emelin, Eric Yang and Johnny Weir. Johnny Weir was the PERFECT person to voice the sassy Ellis Dean.

In the author's acknowledgements she mentioned about a film agent which to me sounds like this is potentially going to be adapted. Though I would love to see it on screen, I wonder if a limited series would be able to really build the characters personas and story arc. But we shall wait and see!