(affiliate link)
Jodi Picoult has called Layne Fargo’s new novel The Favourites: “Wuthering Heights meets Daisy Jones“. That was enough to send it to the top of my to-read list when my friends at Penguin Australia were kind enough to send me a copy for review.
Fargo transplants Brontë’s story of passionate, ill-fated love to the high-stakes competitive world of ice dancing, and tells it in chapters that alternate between transcripts of a schlocky documentary narrated by onlookers and the true story told through the eyes of the heroine.
The Favourites has big I, Tonya vibes, right from the first page. Katarina Shaw and Heath Rocha have nothing going for them but steely determination, and their bid to make the Winter Olympics team (on not much more than a shoestring and a dream) is plagued by scandal.
The highlight for me, of course, is the catty commentary from fellow ice dancer-turned-gossip blogger Ellis Dean – he’s just in it for the tea, and his name is a nod (among many) to the story’s classic origins.
The epilogue of The Favourites is a bit schmaltzy, but aside from that it’s an excellent and gripping read (even for those of us who know absolutely nothing about ice skating or high-level competitive sport).
Read The Favourites on audiobook via Libro.fm here. (affiliate link)
Leave a Reply