One my fellow book club members selected The Favorites for our March read because the Olympics have just concluded and the latest film adaptation of Wuthering Heights has been out for awhile, The Favorites being a modern adaptation of Wuthering but Heathcliff and Cathy are Heath and Katarina, an ice dancing pair hoping to make it to the top of the Olympic podium.
Katarina and her family take Heath in just as Katarina is beginning her journey to skating. Starting as a singles skater, Katarina and Heath soon join the ice dancing world but have a lot of hurdles to overcome. Her parents don’t have a lot of money to hire the best coaches or purchase the best equipment. Their early demise leaves Kat and Heath in the hands of Kat’s older brother Lee who squanders what money is left. Kat is obsessed with her goal of winning and medal and Heath is obsessed with Kat. What could go wrong?
I have never read Wuthering Heights, but I have heard a lot of the drama surrounding the toxic Heathcliffe and Cathy relationship. I also didn’t grow up with ice dancing, but my wife has introduced me to the off and on ice drama that is that sport. What I did know of skating in the 80s and 90s as the sport attempted to modernize and become less subjective, helped me understand how a couple such as Heath and Kat would emerge as contenders in the Torino, Vancouver, and Sochi Olympics. All that to say, I don’t think you need to know much about the original novel or ice dancing to enjoy The Favorites.
Overall I liked this book. It was an enjoyable read with a lot of references to skaters who helped and hurt the sport over time as well as peeling back the curtain and looking at the politics that is played off ice that contributes to so much of what audiences see on the ice. Out of all the Winter Olympic sports, ice skating, in all its disciplines, is one of the most corrupt and subjective. Just look at this year’s drama with the infamous French ice dancers and all their drama winning the gold even in the face of major mistakes on ice.
I think book clubs and solo readers will enjoy this book. There’s compelling characters and conflict to discuss, cheer for, and hate. There’s valid criticisms of the demands elite sport culture puts on athletes, along with a critique of how online culture and the rise of social media have affected sports and athletes. Personally, I think the effects of Kat and Heath’s toxicity was also a positive side of the novel; the author never glamorizes their relationship nor absolutely makes them into villains. The characters face their consequences but are also acting within a system and a society that often doesn’t give them a lot of good choices.
