Really enjoyed this! I know she thanks TJR in the acknowledgements and I can really see her influence in this book. It spans over many years and follows Katarina and Heath and the world of elite figure skating. Now even if this industry doesn’t interest you I still think you can enjoy this book with all the romance, drama and scandal.

It is told through Katarina’s perspective and also involves interview transcripts from various individuals who have known her - very similar format to Daisy Jones and the Six.

I just wish this authors books were more readily available in the UK - they never learn has been on my wish list for 4 years now but still not available on kindle!

Thank you to net galley for providing an ecopy in exchange for an honest review.

I fucking loved this!!!!!!! I’m almost a little bit gutted that this is a book and isn’t real because I am so so invested in Kat and Heath! I loved the documentary style weaved in with Kat’s own monologue. I am obsessed with the tension and the push and pull dynamic between the two of them. I didn’t know that this was a wuthering heights retelling until about half way through and all I was thinking was I hope Kat/Heath don’t die because I will riot!!!! This is the kind of book that makes you think do you actually like the main characters (yes is the only correct answer here). I have so many emotions right now about this book I may never be able to get them all out on the page. I absolutely wish and hope this is made into a tv show (daisy jones and the six style) because it would be just as incredible as this book. Wow wow WOW.

omg I absolutely devoured this, and loved it. This is like Daisy Jones & the Six's ice-skating baby cousin, and its so freaking good.
An absolute epic and thrilling sports romance centred around Kat, who wants nothing other than to win, and Heath, who wants nothing other than Kat. And both will do WHATEVER it takes!!
I forgot I was reading majority of the time, and that these weren't real people because it felt like I was actually watching part-documentary, part-their real life. I actually missed them when I had to put the book down 😅
So much drama, many intense moments, amazing storytelling and incredible characters.
A million percent I'd read this again, and I guarantee when I do, I'll feel all the same emotions. AMAZING!!!

A journey of a novel with a kick-ass main character who draws you in from the first page. I love the documentary-style narrative sprinkled throughout and the different perspectives it gives. A great book that I was sad to finish.

If I could give this book more than 5 stars I would without any hesitation. I honestly can’t even explain how incredible this book was and I thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this phenomenal book.

The writing style of this book is mixed interview alongside storytelling from Kat’s perspective in a style reminiscent to ‘Daisy Jones and the Six’ creating a documentary that plays out in your mind spectacularly.

The story follows Kat and Heath, two kids who grew up together with dreams of being professional ice skaters and winning the Olympic gold. You go through all the trials they experience while trying to ultimately meet this goal. Their connection and passion on and off the ice makes them a formidable team and the world can’t get enough. Tragedy is mixed with triumph and there is so much love/hate going on with their relationship both on and off the ice that you don’t know if you want to root for them or not.

I finished this book within two days of starting as it was so gripping. The ice skating elements were amazingly written and it was like I was watching their dances myself in the audience alongside. I honestly don’t think any sports romance book will live up to this for me. Intoxicatingly incredible.

I absolutely loved this book and would fully recommend. Characters that are well defined and even with their flaws make you root for them. Would be a great film or series.

The favorites
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you to @netgalley and @laynefargo for the early digital copy of this book.

My main obsession of September was this book, as it combines figure skating with one of my all time favorite classic, I was inmediatly in.

Katharina Shaw and Heath Rocha (oh the names 💔) are best friends since childhood and figure skating competitors at the Olympic level, however, the relationship between the two, both personal and professional, is constantly marked by drama and public scrutiny. It is not random, therefore, that the author chooses to present the story as a documentary, narrating the events that marked the lives of the protagonists (and those around them) through different points of view that little by little offer a complete image of the events (in a somewhat similar way to Daisy Jones and The Six although with its own distinct style).

The novel kept me hooked from beginning to end. Anyone who has read or seen any of the adaptations of Wuthering Heights will know that the toxicity, the complexity of the characters and the angst are well served, but I like that, despite being a kind of retelling of the classic, it is handled differently certain aspects to provide a new story that had me constantly wondering how everything was going to end.

It is also noteworthy that the figure skating aspect is not only there as a subplot, but the author goes deep into describing the routines, nutrition, pressure and the most and least glamorous parts of this sport.

The book will not be released until 2025 but I hope that if you know English, you will read it as soon as it is published!!! I hope some publisher brings it in Spanish too. 100% recommended.

This book just wasn’t for me. I can see how people will really enjoy it, and have enjoyed it, so don’t let me put you off. I just struggled to get into it, and when
I did, I just wasn’t feeling it. I think it’s because I couldn’t connect with the characters more than anything, as the writing style is good.

Wow what a debut novel. The story of Heath and Kat has it all backstabbing families, friend enemies, fame, fortune, Olympics, skating and a ton of rivalry written in a format of book I haven't seen before.

I absolutely loved how Fargo wrote this book. It's so different and unusual and it's one that going to put her on the map. I can absoutely see this as a tv series or a film it has that much grit and drama to it. It's impossible not to fall in love with the main characters, even if it is over 400 pages long.

But my question is now what happened to the next generation? This needs a sequel for sure.

Kat watches a gold medal champion ice dancer on the tv when she is 4yrs old and decides that's what she wants to do. She meets a young boy, Heath, at 10 yrs old who becomes her ice dancing partner. The book follows the ups and downs, jealousy and infighting of this highly competitive world.
There are also comments and opinions by others involved in this world.
I loved reading this book as their lives unfold. So gripping.

Absolutely phenomenal. Kat Shaw’s determination to be the best is so compelling. I was hooked by her and Heath’s story, their relationship and the fight for survival amongst their competitors. I felt as if I was watching the story unfold on the television, the detail, the raw emotion present in every character and on every page. I loved the media coverage quoting, contrasting the actual events. This is my first Layne Fargo book, and I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this.

Im honestly not sure what everyone is going on about frankly, this is nothing and i do mean nothing like Daisy Jones and The Six, any comparison to it is frankly ludicrous and lazy. And as for Wuthering Heights comparisons, have people even read that book? Honestly what nonsense. Band wagon jumping, thats what you get for letting immature and lazy tik tokers review books!

One of my favourite films of all time is called The Cutting Edge, it stars Moira Kelly and D B Sweeney who play Kate Mosley and Doug Dorsey. Kate is a ice skater who cant keep a partner, and Doug is a Hockey player who gets injured and is then offered a 2nd chance to skate by pairing up with Kate.

This book reminds me so much of that film.

Katarina has dreams of being a professional ice skater, one day she meets Heath, a foster kid who they kinda adopt as their own and he moves in with Kate and her dad. Kate teaches Heath to ice skate, and together on the ice they are incredible. Not only are they mesmerising to watch but they dont take their eyes off each other during their routines.

Kates dad dies and her brother kicks Heath out of the house but they stick together and one day they steal her brothers car and drive to the National Championships to compete. They dont win, but are approached by professional ice skater and coach Sheila Lin who is Kates personal hero. They start training and they start winning. They become highly competitive and they are unstoppable. However, once they get to the Olympic Games things change and they go their separate ways. 10 years later a documentary is made about their life and old feelings and secrets rear their ugly head and Kate has a choice, does she own her story, or does she let others write it for her. Are Kate and Heaths feelings for each other still there, and what does the future hold for each of them?

Genuinely brilliant. My 2nd favourite book i have read this year after Sarah A Parkers When The Moon Hatched.. I have just ordered it in hardback because i need to own a copy and read it in that format and really savour it. Ebooks are great dont get me wrong, but there is something really magical about disappearing into a hardback.

I would also say this deserves to be a limited run tv series. I can see it being 10 episodes and if it doesnt get made it would be an absolute travesty

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK Vintage and Chatto and Windus for the ARC.

I’ll start this off by saying I’m a huge Taylor Jenkins-Reid fan and Daisy Jones is one of my favourite books in the world, so I was instantly drawn in by the comparison.

Add to this that I was a child who grew up watching the UK classic reality show, Dancing On Ice which was always plagued with romantic drama, injuries and scandal 👀

So I really really enjoyed this book. I loved the documentary style of writing, the rivalry, the drama. I found myself between resenting and understanding Kat, our main character, but ultimately, ending up relating to her feelings.

I flew through this book in just two days and it was the perfect palette cleanser after a long fantasy book I’d finished earlier in the week. I could not put it down and it played out so seamlessly in my head like a film.

Dramatic, bingeable, fun and captivating read! Would definitely recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Layne Fargo for providing me with an ARC, I really enjoyed reading this book and discovering a new author!

This book is an amazing friends to lovers romance with lots of drama, the perfect sporty romance! The story is gut wrenching and really keeps you wanting to read more, I couldn’t put it down!

Layne Fargo truly has the ability to make a reader feel every emotion that character feels, and some!

I’d recommend this book to any romance book lovers or anyone giving romance a try! It really is a phenomenal read 🩷

The only thing I would say is that as someone who has never ice skated or knows very limited of the sport, some of the terms are quite technical, however, its very nice to see that an author is so specific and careful with their details! ⛸️🩷

The Favourites is a new favourite!
Ice skating meets Daisy Jones and the Six (but much better)!

According to the media, Katarina Shaw is a bitch, a diva, cold-blooded, a sore loser, a manipulative liar.
She is also one of the most (in)famous Olympic ice dancers alongside partner, and lover, Heath. This follows their obsession. Scandal. Tragedy.

Starting with a banger hint of what is to come (blood on the ice, headline news), we go back to the start of Kat’s ice skating journey. From Heath being sequestered firmly into her life after a bad foster past, her childhood with an abusive brother, and Heath’s protective relationship.
Heath is the only person to understand her. People joked they were either going to die in each other's arms or kill each other with their bare hands. Nothing in between.
Two poor small-town Midwestern trash who don’t belong in the elite sport.

<b>That free dance was the story of us: Heath and me, spinning away from each other one second, only to clutch each other close the next.
Never still, never simple, always pushing and pulling, shattering each other and putting the pieces back together again.
</b>
Told through both Kat’s perspective as well as interview transcripts from people who knew the couple, or professionals from the sport, these short chapters keep you on your toes and biting your nails.

This will put you through your emotions. Love, angst, pride, pain, rage, suspense, anger. I couldn’t stop turning the pages… it was so addicting.

I am a sucker for anything to do with dance or ice skating as a former competitive dancer myself. I know how the sporting world functions and seeing this through a thriller, romance, lit fic form was so enticing, ambitious, passionate!

Thank you to Penguin Books for sending me a PR box!

Loved it. It's a book that grabs you by the throat on entry and does not put you down til the end, which I was sad to get to so soon! We are thrust into the Olympic ice dance world of Kat and Roach - two souls who have had an unbreakable connection since childhood. As their namesakes, they are found together for all time. I loved and hated the main character of Kat- she really is one of the most self-absorbed, self-centred driven women I've ever read but on the flip side she is searching for love, for home and to belong. I really liked the format and differing points of view - it gave the book a great pace.
A really good read and one we'll be recommending again and again!

I really liked this book. It took me a while to understand what was happening but once i did i was hooked and kept wanting to turn the pages to find out what happened next.

Thank you for letting me read and review this book on Netgalley.

THE FAVOURITES - LAYNE
FARGO - ARC
Kat and Heath are all each other have, Ice skating is all they have. Kat will do anytking to succeed ANYTHING! This book flips between Kats story and a documentary on Kat and Heaths career.
There are so many ups and downs in this book. I didn't expect most of them. I was screaming at the pages as though they would rewrite and not do whatever they were going to do! Honestly it was as turbulent as Kat and Heaths relationship!
Kept me thouroughly entertained though and I couldn't put it down! Would love to see this one made into a movie.
Release Date - 16th January 2024
@rachaelmcreads

This was a gossipy, frothy book about the world of elite figure skating. I enjoyed it for what it was.

A pet peeve of mine is when books are described with the tagline, "If you liked [insert successful novel], then you will love this one" or worst still, "Perfect for fans of [insert three incredibly successful authors". I tend to think those types of descriptions are lazy and don't allow a book to stand on its own two feet.

However, allow me to break a cardinal rule of mine. Jodi Picoult describes this novel as Wurthering Heights meets Daisy Jones and the Six, and I honestly couldn't think of a better way to describe this one.

The book tells the story of Kat(arina) Shaw and Heath Rocha, who meet as troubled, young children who develop a passion, and skill, for ice skating. During the course of their trials and championships, they come into contact with Bella and Garret Lin, twins of the famous ice seater, Sheila Lin, who takes Kat under her wing.

What follows is a documentary type novel of the amazing careers of the four, from childhood skaters to the Olympic games. There are highs, lows, sabotage, vindictiveness, love, talent, hatred and many more emotions before coming to an excellent conclusion.

It is one of those books which just immerses you in the life of others and loses you a few hours of your afternoon.

Thanks so much to Random House UK, Vintage | Chatto & Windus for an ARC in exchange for an honest review