Kat Shaw and Heath Rocha loved each other for as long as they can remember, since Heath grew up as an adopted brother of sorts and Kat’s competitive nature latched itself on to him. Two lower-class kids from the Midwest weren’t supposed to have a
shot at ice dancing fame, but Kat’s talent and tenacity and Heath’s willingness to do
anything for Kat propelled them to greater heights than they could have prepared for.
Shaw & Rocha (as they are collectively known) are a force to be reckoned with, and
even their rivals-turned-training-partners the Lin Twins recognize the greatness in
their midst. On the 10th anniversary of the scandal that ended their careers, an
unauthorized documentary fans the flames (or enflames the fans) of Shaw & Rocha’s
greatest hits and biggest humiliations. Because as we know, the only thing the public likes more than cheering someone’s rise to success is celebrating their fall from grace.
Blending traditional storytelling with first-person interviews from Shaw & Rocha’s coach, competitors, Olympic judges, family members, and bystanders, this book will have you Googling characters just to double-check they aren’t actual people.
This is a story of the competitive spirit, of power, of the lengths to which love takes us, of the toxic way we can become enmeshed in our closest relationships, and of the boundaries we establish and break. It reads like a Gothic romance with all the push and pull and suffering, but set on Olympic ice instead of on the English moors.
I loved this book for the depth of reality it brought to the characters and their experiences. Early on, I Googled “How many gold medals has Sheila Lin won?” before I realized her character was fictional and only the settings of Vancouver, Sochi, and South Korea were real. If you’ve read Carrie Soto is Back or Daisy Jones & the Six, this will be reminiscent—in fact, the author thanks Taylor Jenkins Reid in her acknowledgements. The Favorites was an unexpected “favorite” of mine so far, and I bet it will end up on the victory podium once all the judges cast their votes.
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