Wichita is just coming off an exciting weekend of Olympic-level ice skating, having hosted the U.S. Figure Skating Championships at Intrust Bank Arena. And if you, like me, are newly obsessed with twizzles, toe loops and the infamous kiss-and-cry, I have the perfect new novel for you.
The Favorites is an epic love story set in the dazzling but brutal world of elite ice dancing. Our main character, Katarina Shaw, falls in love with skating and with Heath Rocha, a boy stuck in the foster care system, and the two ascend from their humble Midwestern beginnings to carve a new path on and off the ice.
Author Layne Fargo cleverly tells their story by alternating between Kat’s first-person narrative and clips from the script of a fictional documentary titled “The Favorites: The Shaw & Rocha Story.” So we get commentary from fellow skaters, coaches, judges and more, along with a dramatic — and at times melodramatic — romance. Think The Cutting Edge meets Daisy Jones & The Six. One especially entertaining fact about the audio: The character of ice dancer Ellis Dean is voiced by retired figure skater Johnny Weir, and his performance alone makes the book well worth a listen.
Fargo obviously did her research into the ambition-fueled world of figure skating, and her characters come off as believable if a bit stereotypical. I learned after the fact that the novel was inspired by Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, so fans of that classic might appreciate the nod.
Overall, it’s a well-crafted page-turner that offers more than just your average romance.
