The Favorites – Book Review

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.

This is one of the best books I have read so far this year.

I am not normally a fan of sports romance but this book was quiet unputdownable. The Favorites follow the story of Katarina Shaw and Heath Rocha. Katarina has one dream–to become a professional ice skater and an Olympic winner like her idol, Sheila Lin. In a chance encounter, Katarina meets Sheila who invited her and Heath to train at her academy in California. They meet the Lin twins–Bella and Garrett–Bella is Katarina’s frenemy who like Katarina wants to follow her mother’s footsteps while Garrett is a sweet guy. Katarina and Heath somewhat shows a passionate yet dysfunctional love relationship between them–and this love story takes them all the way from the US, to Japan to Russia.

I like the tits and bits of documentary parts where they interview all the people who were affiliated with Katarina and Heath from the coaches to the people who competed against them. Katarina is determined, and would do anything to get her goal–even if it include straining relationship with the people she loved. Heath and Katarina somewhat have a strong chemistry–where at times it was passionate and at the other times it could be dysfunctional. The story itself is very realistic with the things that are happening in the sports world and how the media are very much interested in Katarina and Heath scandal. There is so much drama, so much scandal, passion and suspense that you simply wouldn’t want to put this book down.

Very rare I would give a romance book a five star but this is a whopping five stars for me. Can’t wait to read more books from this author.