A review by znvisser
The Favorites by Layne Fargo

mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Entertaining but slightly repetitive soap opera (to get the story going there were some real sentimental sentences thrown in, e.g. “Lee had figured out a long time ago: the best way to hurt me was to hurt Heath”). 

The documentary format is not horrible, but it did feel a bit old after Daisy Jones and the Six (after reading the acknowledgements I suspect it was meant as an homage). And I’m not actually sure it was really the best match for this story; either single or multiple POVs might have worked better for me than the string of predictable speculative quotes from each actor, none of which revealed anything new to the plot.

And weird: considering the background of the central characters and the time setting, it surprised me that despite all sexism in the sport, racism was not considered a factor by the author (it is even mentioned a few times that Kat, a white woman, has to work harder to appear likeable to the media and public, than her partner, a man of colour. Not that it’s a competition, but as I said, simply not a factor at all after the introduction of the fact). 

Oh and I am not sure I needed this specific happy ending. Kat and Heath seemed too messed up for too long to still become something healthy, so I was rather fine with the Heath and Bella option. I would have preferred an actual throuple to this weird way to give everybody what they wanted but not really: a baby + no baby = still a baby.
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