cathy and heathcliff hit the ice in this wuthering heights fan fic - the favourites by layne fargo

to wrap up another fantastic year of talk lit, get hit podcast, we wanted read the book that everyone was calling "the book of the year" and 'the favourites' by layne fargo fit the bill. one of many in a long line of ice-skating adjacent media that has shaped our personalities (think: icebreaker, ice princess and blades of glory) 'the favourites' is touted to be taut, sexy and compulsively readable. part wuthering heights, part daisy jones and the six - will this ice-dancing romance stick the landing or will it fall through the thin ice and into our bad books like so many others before it?

synopsis music by Tomomi Kato

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join talk lit, get hit podcast for deep dives into the hottest BookTok recommendations, trending contemporary fiction, and literary favourites! each episode features book discussions, spoiler-filled chats, and thoughtful literary analysis of novels everyone is talking about - from viral romance and fantasy to modern classics. whether you’re looking for BookTok book reviews, author interviews, or a virtual book club experience, out podcast is your go-to space for readers who love stories and want to explore them in depth.

talk lit, get hit are reading and recording on Giabal, Jagera, Jarowair & Turrbal lands. we acknowledge the cultural diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and pay respect to Elders past, present and future. always was, always will be.  

Transcript

Laura 0:00

Hello and welcome to Talk Lit Get Hit, a podcast where we read viral books the internet won't shut up about and rate them lit or shit.

Bridget 0:08

We're your hosts Bridget and Laura, lovers of sad golf fiction and tragic endings, fearers of smart urban fantasy, and who did this to you, Troy. Join us as we pick apart all the books the internet loves and embark on a journey to figure out why.

Laura 0:24

This episode we're lacing up our ice skates and gliding into a book that promises to deliver a triple axle of storytelling. Romance, drama, and thriller in one, part Daisy Jones and the Six, part Wuthering Heights. This month, for the book of the year, as voted by you, we're reading The Favorites by Lane Fargo. Bridget, hello, hello. Hello, hello. It's December. It's December.

Bridget 0:49

Isn't it wild the way time moves? Just how fast the night changes. Everybody. Before we get too bogged down in reviewing the year that was, I think we need to remind ourselves that we're going to talk about that in our talk lit get lit episode.

Laura 1:08

True.

Bridget 1:08

You know we love reminiscing, but we're going to save all of that reminiscing about the year that was 2025 for our talk lit get lit episode.

Laura 1:16

But in the meantime, how has your month been? My month has been great. I have two things I want to get off my chest. Great. Set the tone. Assertive. Okay, first thing. Rexona, sexy bouquet is that bitch.

Bridget 1:36

The spray. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes. Icy blast in your armpits.

Laura 1:41

It is. Look, in a world of mediocre deodorants, in a world of, dare I say, and I'm sorry to say it, gem deodorant, let's wind it back. Yeah. Let's stick to the classics because basics. I truly believe Rexona mastered formula and fragrance in a perfect union with Rexona Sexy Bouquet. The name does not allude to the softness and sensuality of it. Every time I wear it, I'm like, God, I smell so good. Apparently, sexy bouquet parcels up the freshness of apricot and the fragrance of jasmine, lily of the valley, magnolia, and rose. Yum. I implore you, go out, get some. That is a sexy bouquet.

Bridget 2:32

It is. See, I was gonna say that I think that like one of the best deodorants is the mum one. You know, mum. But that doesn't have the aroma. No. It's a very bland, flat smell. I love that we've talked about toothpaste this year. Now we're on to deodorant, what's gonna be next? Like fungal rash cream or something. I mean, I've got one if you're interested.

Laura 2:57

A rash and cream. Gross. Okay, whatever. Moving on. Second thing I want to get off my chest. Yeah. What about it? I read with my finger. Gone are the days of feeling insecure about this. I get a little confused when I look at the words on the page. And yeah, sometimes I need a finger to help. Is it a crime? It does make you feel like you're doing something big.

Bridget 3:30

Underlining every sentence. Chasing the ancient texts. What made you turn down this path?

Laura 3:37

It's funny you should ask. Because I saw a TikTok that was saying that people that need to read with their finger, stupid grown age. Yeah, it's an ick. They're dumb. Grow up. And I was like, hang on a minute. No, I won't, I won't be shamed. I won't be cowed into silence. I read with my finger and I'm proud. So not always a finger. Sometimes I'll use like a bookmark or something like flat to just track down the page. It makes me feel really fast. Yeah. I'm so glad you're with me on this. And if anyone is against me, shut up. I'm not in the mood for it. That's evident. Those are the things I wanted to get off my chest. The last thing that I wanted to talk about is more of a rumination. There's less heat involved.

Bridget 4:22

Yeah.

Laura 4:24

And that is kind of building off the back of your comments in previous episodes about wanting to get off your phone is what I'm coining my 2012 summer. I've just been thinking so much about how you and I could spend a weekend with $10 and a dream. If that I never even had a job really in high school. You were the sole worker. Breadwinner. Yeah. You barely, as we have said, even had a working internet connection. I don't know what we ate. Chips from the Angel Cafe. Yeah, true. With what money? I'm so confused.$10 and a dream.

Bridget 4:59

We I remember getting a milkshake and splitting it and getting chips. And that would have been like seven dollars. And it would have been so much money.

Laura 5:07

It would have been, it would have been. We were always doing like a skit or an adventure, and anything could be an adventure. It would be like, let's make a weekend around going to look at a big drain pipe in the park or something. And it was a thrill. Yes. So I'm just looking to get off my phone, get maybe a little digital camera, just generally impose myself on society with my dreams and adventures. And just get back to my roots.

Bridget 5:36

Maybe one day what we should do is we should get our mums to drop us at Grand Central and then we just spend the whole day walking around in Toomba and like go to the cupcake shop, go to JB Hi-Fi and just flick through every single record that's there, and then go to that skateboard coffee shop and like just do all these things.

Laura 5:51

Somehow spend a whole day downtown doing what with no money. I think having no money is key. And also a phone that doesn't take any good photos.

Bridget 6:00

We should bring back retro cam.

Laura 6:02

Can we still get it in the app store? We need to find out.

Bridget 6:06

I'm really on board with this journey. I've had enough.

Laura 6:09

I've had enough too. I'm sick of myself. Take me back to the Switzerland.

Bridget 6:17

How about you? I actually have something I want to get off my chest as well. And it's something that I have been grappling with for ages. Every time I start a new book, I have this crippling fear that I've suddenly become like the biggest dumb shit in the world. And I'm like, what if I never understand what this book is about? And I want to know if anyone else feels the same. Am I too dumb to get this? Am I am I never gonna understand this story? And spoiler alert, I always understand the story. So I don't know why I'm having this opinion. But every time I's starting the book, I'm like, God, maybe this is the one that breaks me. Have you ever felt like this?

Laura 6:58

I feel like this almost always. And it can be a lowbrow book, it can be a highbrow book. It takes me a little while to set into a new style of writing. I obviously always feel this when I'm attempting to read a classic or something that's a little bit more maybe interpretive or like prose focused or whatever. I'm just following along on the threads of a plot. Yeah, I feel that. Okay, great.

Bridget 7:19

So we're all dumb together, that's what I'm hearing. Second thing I want to talk about that's been a big feature for my month, is that I'm like the star of that movie witness. Do you remember we watched that movie in like film TV? We watched like 15 minutes of it with the Amish people. Yes.

Laura 7:33

Yeah, I think about that all the time, but I never remembered what it was called.

Bridget 7:36

Yes, and I've never watched the rest of the movie. I just remember the start of it. So, anyway, now I'm in that movie because I have been witness to not one but two crimes in the last few weeks. Yes. First one was a bit boring. It was um we were driving home from the gym quite late at night, and there was a car on fire, and we were there before the police. It was amazing. It was stolen. The thieves had fled the scene, but the flames were aflaming. That was very exciting. And another night, I went to McDonald's after Trivia with Erin and Maddie and our friend Ryan. We were ordering on the little screen, ordering an ice cream, and a man walked in with a freaking gun, and we were like, What? So we had to tell the McDonald's people. Turns out it wasn't a real gun, but it was a thrill, let me tell you that. And we made some poor decisions. We were like, we want to stay and find out what happens.

Laura 8:25

Oh, Bridget.

Bridget 8:26

When he was in the toilet with the with the gun, and we were like, Oh, is it real though? We don't know. We don't really know anything about guns. But when he came out, we were like, no, shit got real, we should have left. But police were there, thank goodness, and it wasn't real. How do you know? Who told you that? The police.

Laura 8:46

I mean, he didn't shoot us. True. A win is a win.

Bridget 8:52

So that was exciting. We were hoping we'd get like a few days off work. Maybe we'd like have to go like testify in court because they took our statement and whatever, but unfortunately that not, you know, nothing's happened. We've we all had to go back to work the next day.

Laura 9:05

Bearing the scars of your trauma.

Bridget 9:07

Yeah. Actually, we haven't been back since, so maybe you know. To McDonald's. Yeah. To work.

Laura 9:18

All we wanted. Give a time go easy on yourself. You'll cheeseburger again one day. All we wanted was a Sunday.

Bridget 9:25

And the third thing I want to talk about is actually in line with the 2012 summer. This has been the month of Do Not Disturb. When we recorded our last episode looking for Alaska, I put my phone on Do Not Disturb as I normally do. And then I just didn't take it off for like weeks. Apologies to anybody who tried to message me, call me, send me a DM on Instagram, TikTok, I was ignoring everybody because I just wasn't seeing the message. And I just wasn't on my phone, and it was great. I have taken it off Do Not Disturb now, but I think I'm actually healed a little bit. My screen time has reduced drastically. Might be like five hours a day instead of eight hours a day. That's great. It's going down every week and TikTok. I feel like I've been on TikTok for maybe like half an hour all week, which is great. I'm feeling good. That's great. I love Do Not Disturb. What about reading? What have you been reading lately?

Laura 10:17

I think since we last recorded, I've read some pretty good books. I read Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry, which I enjoyed. I've read Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, which was also great. That was one of my 25 for 25 books. I read Universality by Natasha Brown, also really enjoyed that. All Fours by Miranda July, which was another of my 25 for 25. I started it in January, and then I thought I might just try it again as an audiobook. I actually found it pretty enjoyable overall. A lot of it was me thinking, yeah, okay, this is just like an American doing American stuff. And it didn't change my life. But that said, I did enjoy parts of it. I read Chosen Family by Madeline Gray. Um we're both big fans of Green Dot, and I think we both read Chosen Family, really struggling to sum out how I feel about this one. I don't think I've ever found a protagonist more baffling, honestly. Like I just, I just can't articulate how I felt. It pulled me in and it pushed me away every step of the way. I think I'd still recommend it, and I think because of the way it stuck with me, I would still say it was a great book. But yeah, I really don't know how to summarize my feelings. Two books that I'm pleased to report I've finished since we last recorded are Catabasus. Bit of a waste of time, if I'm honest. I should, I should have not believed. It was pretty boring, and it only got more boring. And as we've discussed, we both expected it to be not for us, and that expectation was fulfilled.

Bridget 11:54

It's still on the back burner for me, and I think I might just bite the bullet and DNF because every time I think about finishing it, I'm like, oh so I think that's a sign.

Laura 12:02

Yeah.

Bridget 12:03

Which is unfortunate, but once again, we knew that it wasn't gonna be for us.

Laura 12:07

We did know that, and I will say I found this a relieving exercise because I did sort of think that maybe I was just a mindless simp for RF Kwang, and I'm glad to feel that a crumb of critical thinking still lives in my body. And then lastly, I finally finished Betty by Tiffany McDaniel. Well done. Yeah. I've got to say it was another hard read. I'm not sure if I've attempted to describe what this book is about on the podcast before, but it's a sort of coming-of-age novel told from the perspective of Betty Carpenter, who's a young girl growing up in the 50s and 60s, born to a Cherokee father and a white mother. It spans a few decades in her family and follows the life of Betty and her siblings. And I've got to say, I suppose it's to be expected, but it was pretty harrowing. It's probably one of the hardest books I've read in terms of like the traumatic stuff that happens. I guess the comparison I would draw is a little life, but it didn't feel like Tiffany McDaniel hated these characters the way that upon reflection, it kind of feels like Hanya Yanagahara might have hated her characters. It was heart-wrenching, um, but it was phenomenal. So I'm glad to have finished it, but it was pretty hard at points. And I don't think I say that often. Apart from that, shitty podcast books.

Bridget 13:26

How about you? I had a run of really, really great books, and I think it's because I'm finally getting better at DNFing books. So I have been DNFing books left, right, and centre, and it feels so good. The first one is a book that was recommended to me. It was There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafark, and this was amazing. I finished probably 90% of it in about three hours. It was great. It was sort of like all of a twist, but I feel like it's been too long since I've read it for me to like explain it in a smart way. But it was like three or four different timelines who were all connected by this like drop of water, like based on the theory that water has memory. It was like talking about like long-ago civilizations, and it was talking about the London sewers in like the 1800s and the Yazidi people in Iraq and Turkey during the 2014 genocide, and then it was also talking about 2018 London, and all the stories just came together in such a magical way, and I was like, This book is so good, and I loved it, it was fantastic. So that was the first one. Second one was Flashlight by Susan Choi, which was part of my book prize long list reading, and that was fantastic as well. It was very long, but I was very emotional when I finished it. I think every character was awful but like lovable at the same time. I read Loved One by Aisha Mahara, which I think you read last time we recorded. Yeah, what'd you think? I really liked it. I didn't do the audiobook, I read it as a book, and I think that was good because I think you said something about the narrator putting that sort of peppy, uh, sorry, again, American um vibe to it, and I thought it was great. I thought it was quite sad and funny and reflective, all the things that I like. I read another Laura book, Lead Us Not by Abby Lay. Loved that so much. It hit for me in the way that I wished Chosen Family by Madeline Gray did. I thought they were quite similar, but unfortunately, um, this one was just way better. So much better. So good. Evenings and weekends. Another Laura book. Another Laura book. I read another Laura book. One day everyone will have always been against this by Omar L. Accard. That was incredible. It is such a nice thing to read a non-fiction book that really hooks you in.

Laura 15:46

Yes, it is.

Bridget 15:47

And obviously, this is a very harrowing subject matter, but really, really well written. I read The Loneliness of Sonia and Sonny by Karan Desai, another very big book in the book of prize, but another very good book. Set in India and in America as well, like a lot of abusive relationships and family dynamics. Really, really good, lovely cover as well. And another Laura book in the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado. Fantastic. I think she's one of my favorite authors. I've read two of her books now, love both of them. Especially love the mention of Pokemon Go in In the Dream House. I was like, she gets me. And lastly, I read Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte in preparation for this episode. And I've read this now a few times, and I've had a bit of a different experience every time. The first time I read it, loved it. That was full like fully in my book snob era. And then the second time I read it, I was like, it might be a little bit boring. Like, was I lying when I said I loved it? But this time, loved it so much. And I read it in like one night, two nights, so good. It was a little bit embarrassing though, because the line that is, I cannot live without my life, I cannot live without my soul. I was like, wait, I know this line. I was like, Oh, it's it's in Twilight.

Laura 17:04

It's a new moon. So embarrassing.

Bridget 17:07

Twilight has been on my mind. I've started my reread. I went to the Twilight Saga movie marathon. It was like a 12-hour day. Um, nearly doubled the amount of movies I'd watched all year in a day. It was exhausting. I'm never doing that again, but it was a lovely experience, and I had a great time. I think you said at the time it was like being on a long haul flight. It really, really was. And I felt exhausted the next day. It took it out of me.

Laura 17:36

Well, I guess that's a perfect segue to lead into our initial thoughts, expectations, hopes, and dreams. Because the one thing that I feel we knew about this book before we started reading it was that it was somewhat of a retelling of Wuthering Heights. So, with that in mind, how are you feeling heading into the book? Uh, it wasn't feeling good.

Bridget 17:56

I haven't heard many, if any, good things about this book. I think a few people on my Goodreads friends list have read it. Um, I think there was a comment about it being way too long. And after finishing Wuthering Heights, I was like, um, you better not do anything that's gonna tar the reputation of my new favourite book. So I was dreading reading this, I think.

Laura 18:21

How about you? I mean, I've been here before. You know, like when we read Icebreaker, we talked about how we were looking for something that would fill the ice princess-shaped hole in our hearts, and we were so sorely disappointed. And so, although I was really intrigued by the concept, I wasn't really that hopeful. I feel like so many inspired by books fall flat with the caveat that there is twilight. Yes, which obviously delivers on all fronts. Yes.

Bridget 18:51

Another comparison that I kept seeing was that it was sort of inspired by Daisy Jones and the Sticks as well, and that's not a book that I enjoyed. So I was thinking not looking forward to it once again. If you're looking for a spoiler-free episode on The Favorites by Lane Fargo, then you're skating on thin ice with this one. Your safest course of action is to subscribe to the show and come back when you've read the book.

Laura 19:19

Content warnings for this episode include death, infidelity, physical abuse, and sexual themes.

Bridget 19:25

The whole world was obsessed with Kat and Heath. Childhood sweethearts turned Olympic champions, they captivated fans with their scorching chemistry, rebellious style, and roller coaster relationship on and off the ice.

Laura 19:38

Until that fateful day. As the world watched, the unthinkable happened. Everyone saw it, nobody knows the truth. But that's about to change. Well, Bridget, based off your passion for Wuthering Heights, I think it's only fair that you share your thoughts first. How did you feel post-read?

Bridget 19:57

I think I might be a bit of a letdown with the passion in this part because I don't really know. I don't think that it was a retelling of Wuthering Heights, and I don't know if I liked it, but it was juicy. And at some points when I was listening to the audiobook, I was actually like when things were revealed, but at the same time, I didn't really want to read it when I wasn't reading it, if that makes sense. Like I I read a bit of it, left it for ages, and then I was like, Well, I've got to finish this. So I don't know. I'm in two minds. I was quite bored, but I was entertained. I hated every character. Dunno. How about you? How did you feel about it?

Laura 20:41

I think I'm right there with you. I thought this book was compulsively readable, and then it completely flatlined, and then the ending was so incomprehensibly stupid to me that it basically cancelled out any joy that I'd felt about the book prior.

Bridget 20:58

Yeah, and I think a lot of the the like jaw-dropping plot twists, I was like, and all of this is about this. The betrayals of like whatever he did in Russia just sort of went right over my head, and I was like, I don't care. What's the point? I don't understand. And like, as you said, the ending was so ridiculous, so stupid. And like I've been seeing a lot of commentary, like when I've been doing my research about like how it's so feminist and like kick-ass women taking what they want and like not taking no for an answer, like all this shit. And I was like, Did we read the same book? It's just like awful people being horrible to each other, which is Wuthering Heights, I'll give you that. There's no likable characters in that either. But I think as Bella says in Twilight, their only redeemable qualities is their love for each other. And I did not see any evidence of love or chemistry or connection at all. So I don't know. It's such a weird story. Like it's such a weird thing to think about. I I don't have a fully formed opinion, and I tried so many times to write down my thoughts. And nothing was coming out.

Laura 22:02

Well, before we get too far into trying to figure it all out, let's take a minute to talk about Lane Fargo, the author. The first thing that I will say is that Lane Fargo's website is stunning. Have you had a look at it? No, I have not. I'm so excited. It's got some very beautiful fonts, really nice colours. It's quite like moody and gothic. There's some really like vampy, beautiful photos of her and like velvet and typewriters and all of that kind of thing. So big tick, cool website. I thought that you might enjoy taking a quiz. How well do you know Lane? Yes.

Bridget 22:33

I don't know her at all, but I love a quiz. I love any chance for academic validation.

Laura 22:42

Okay, then well, good luck. So question one. Written in the stars. Which star sign cocktail fuels Lane's writing? A. Gemini sun, Virgo rising, Pisces moon. B Scorpio sun, Leo rising, Libra moon. Or C Aries sun, Cancer rising, Aquarius moon. Does is it any of this meaning anything to you? I would say about 50% of it.

Bridget 23:13

I'm like, yeah. How about do you know much about astrology? No, only what CoStar tells me. To be honest, I don't know much about the sun, rising, moon things, but I know people that are Geminis, and I know people that are Virgos, and I know people that are Pisces, and I know people that are Cancers. I know mine, I'm a Virgo sun, Aquarius Moon, Aries rising. Whatever that means. But I will say that every time I look at Coastar, I feel extremely validated. So I believe. How do they know? Um, okay, so I think she's C, Aries Sun, Cancer Rising, and Aquarius Moon.

Laura 23:52

Let's find out together. Oh, wrong. Answer A. Gemini Sun, Virgo rising, Pisces Moon. The trifecta of chaos, perfectionism, and daydreams. Explains a lot, right?

Bridget 24:03

So is that her star sign or is that just her writing star sign? Because I don't know if that's really a thing, Lane.

Laura 24:11

I'm thinking it's her star sign and it is what fuels her writing. Okay, I hope so, because otherwise that's dumb. Yeah.

Bridget 24:18

Triple made up. Okay, I'm gonna read out the second one for us. Number two is literary obsessions. Which of these novels is not on Lane's list of all-time favourites? Is it A, Station 11, B, Wuthering Heights, and C Sharp Objects?

Laura 24:34

I know that some of her previous books are thrillers, so I'm thinking Sharp Objects is probably one of her favorites because it's kind of that girl.

Bridget 24:43

Yeah.

Laura 24:43

Maybe A, Station 11.

Bridget 24:46

When I was doing my research, I didn't see her say that like Wuthering Heights was, you know, a favourite of hers or anything like that.

Laura 24:51

But it could be a red herring.

Bridget 24:52

Yeah, it is a bit crazy that she'd write a whole retell of it and not I don't know. Could explain some things. Okay, I think I'll go, I'll I'll agree with you, Station 11. Let's see.

Laura 25:03

Oh my god, it's sharp objects. Oh, that was the red herring.

Bridget 25:07

Yeah, it says correct, though she's 100% a gone girl girly. Hashtag teamAmy forever.

Laura 25:13

Okay, whatever. Shut up, Lane. Okay, so next question, burlesque beginnings. What unusual skill did Lane learn while researching her master's thesis? A. Sword swallowing, B, fire breathing, or C, tassel twirling.

Bridget 25:31

I think I know this. I think it's C Tassel twirling.

Laura 25:36

I think you're right.

Bridget 25:37

Yes, yes, tassel twirling. Academic research has never been so fabulous. Amazing. Number four is lipstick and literature. What quirky blog project did Elaine once run? A. Pairing cocktails with book chapters. B. Pairing lipstick shades with book covers. Or C, pairing playlists with author interviews. Every photo I've seen of her, she's wearing great lipstick. Yeah. It seems to be a staple of her personality.

Laura 26:04

Cocktails?

Bridget 26:05

But as we know in the book, there's lots of mentions to playlists. I think it's B. It is B. Wow. 50% so far. Lipstick and literature. The ultimate feminine power couple. So true.

Laura 26:21

Girls can't read unless they look pretty. Girl bastards her way to literacy. Okay, number five, marked by stories. How many tattoos does Lane have? A, three, B, nine, or C, 13.

Bridget 26:40

Ah. C. There seems to be a lot, and they like some of them are quite small.

Laura 26:46

And why else are you mentioning it?

Bridget 26:48

I never know. I do normally go for the middle one if same. Let's go see. No.

Laura 26:55

Middle one B. Nine pieces of inked up storytelling, including a memento mori to mark the big four. Oh. What is that? Do you know what that is? Turning 40?

Bridget 27:07

Memento mori?

Laura 27:08

Oh. I don't know. Yeah, it's my first day on earth. Sorry.

Bridget 27:22

I like how you said it with no judgment though. Because if I thought someone was asking me what that meant, I'd be like, are you dumb?

Laura 27:34

I'm gonna Google Memento Mori.

Bridget 27:38

Artistic symbol to remind us of the inevitability of death.

Laura 27:42

Right.

Bridget 27:43

Okay. Probably could have guessed that if I just thought about it for a little bit longer. Well, okay, we've all learned something today. What did we get? We got one, two, three. We got three out of five.

Laura 27:54

That's pretty good. That is pretty good. Especially given that, as far as I'm concerned, I know nothing about Lane Fargo. So good guesses. Well done, Ars. Also from her stunning website is this tidbit that comes from her bio. It says Lane Fargo writes deliciously dramatic, unapologetically feminist fiction for women who refuse to play by the rules. She has a background in theatre, women's studies, and library science. Before publishing best-selling novels, Lane wrote her master's thesis on neo-blesque and the female gaze. Research that involved a full pinup photo shoot and learning to twirl tassels, as we discovered recently.

Bridget 28:30

I read an interview on a Substack called Kingdom of Ice Olation. There was an interview published on the 15th of November, 2025, and the interview asked her how much did her background in academia and doing her masters help in conducting the research that would have shaped her writing of The Favorites. And she replied and said it helped a lot. And also I just love to research. So it's kind of just my jam. This is the first of my books where I literally let myself go all the way down all the research rabbit holes, and it was so much fun and so generative. Like I just had all these ideas I would never have had without diving deep into the like I read all these back issues of Skating Magazine from like the 90s and the early 2000s and watched all these videos and read memoirs and all this stuff. She also said that she thinks her theatre background helped with the parts of the book that are written in the documentary style. And she's done some playwriting in college before, which helped her, and she really tried to um make sure each character in those parts of the book had a different voice. And so even if you weren't listening to the audiobook, you would be able to instantly recognize which character was giving that part of the interview. I read this book sort of dipping in and out of both the book and the audiobook, and I think the audiobook was fantastic.

Laura 29:45

Did you listen to much of the audiobook? I did, and I agree. And I think if her intention was to give them clear voices, whether it's on the page or in the audiobook, then I would say she was very successful.

Bridget 29:57

Yes, I agree. I was thinking about this last night as well, because it's quite funny how uh outspoken I have been about how much I dislike Daisy Jones and the Six, and I think a big part of why I disliked that book was the format. I didn't find that the story had any depth, but this take of the format I really, really enjoyed. I wasn't sure if it was because half of the book was that more traditional narrative style, but I was pleasantly surprised because I was like, oh, I don't want to read another Daisy Jones in the Six. I don't like that interview format, but for some reason it worked for me.

Laura 30:32

Yeah, I think that format was probably the redemption of this book. It was really, really artful and well executed. And I had listened to an interview, I think it was with one of the BBC book podcasts where they asked her something about her process, fleshing out the characters and scenes. And you know, do you start off by describing like the costumes and the scenery first? And she says no, she works in reverse because of that background in playwriting. So often she starts with the dialogue and then has to reverse engineer the setting and the descriptions around that. And I think that was really evident because the dialogue was so strong. That said, I also think the format could have been partially responsible for the downfall of this book in my eyes, because what I felt like this book was lacking was substance from the characters and some sort of emotional connection between the characters and myself. I didn't get that. It was juicy, like you said, and it was compulsively readable because it had that Netflix documentary shock factor. Like I can literally hear the like or like the kind of like sound effects.

Bridget 31:44

But that's like clickbait. I did see a review of someone saying I miss the days when authors weren't writing books in hopes of getting a limited series. And I think you're right about um not having any connection because we were always being told about their great love story and their great chemistry, but I just don't think it was evident in any part of the book. I think this might be a good segue to talk about those Wuthering Heights comparisons. And I'm seeing a lot of discourse about Wuthering Heights at the moment, obviously, with the uh movie that's about to come out with Margot Robbie and Jacob Ballordi. People are confused by this book being marketed as a romance, and I think a lot of people are also confused about the marketing of the movie Wuthering Heights, and it says the greatest love story ever made, or something like that. And I don't know if that's true for either one. I don't know if we should call either one of these books a love story. This one I think definitely not. I don't think it's a story of love, I think it's a story of ambition, and I think it's a story of passion, but I don't think the passion is for Heath, the passion is for the sport, but I just don't think it's a romance book. Did you find any romance in this book at all?

Laura 33:01

I mean, I was told about the romance many times. Yeah, and I see how it could be a romance, and I don't really know what what other category to put this book in. Yes, I was trying to think of that too. Because it's not really a thriller.

Bridget 33:16

No.

Laura 33:16

It's definitely a drama, and there are romantic elements, and not all romance has to be happy. I think that's where I get caught up because I just don't know. Like, I mean, I love a sad romance novel or a romance novel without a happy ending. But is it still romance? I don't know.

Bridget 33:33

This is actually something she talked about in that same interview. The interviewer asks her about people hating the ending and saying that it's not a romance if it has this kind of ending. And she says, I think it's just an expectation thing because there's been a lot of confusion about what the genre of this book is. And I don't know what the genre of this book is, but I know I did not intend to write it as a traditional romance. It is a love story. It's about like the relationship between Kat and Heath, but it's based on Wuthering Heights. And would we call Wuthering Heights a romance? I personally would not. So I think people will pick it up expecting the traditional happily ever after resolution. And you know, it is, I think, a happy ending. It's not what they were expecting. And so they just get really mad and send me emails.

Laura 34:15

Oh, I feel her on that. I do think marketing it as being inspired by or a retelling of Wuthering Heights is a good way of managing those expectations because it is just as turbulent, just as messy, if not more, than Wuthering Heights. Well, I don't know, he's not digging up graves, I guess. But the readers, how many readers of this book have also read Wuthering Heights?

Bridget 34:40

I don't know. I kind of felt by the end that it was sort of a cheap gimmick or like a marketing trick. I was expecting Heath to be mean. Like, I think in some ways their relationship was quite abusive, but like Heath Cliff is an awful man. And Heath he was just sort of misunderstood and a disadvantaged youth, really. Like he didn't really have much depth to him behind his like obsession with Katarina. And I think the only character that I thought, yes, great was Ellistine. The reimagining of Nellie as Ellistine. Incredible. Because like Nellie is such a messy bitch in Wuthering Heights, and she's like constantly like adding her own editorial about what happened, and she's like always there in the background messing shit up. And he that was perfect. No notes for him. Like he was great.

Laura 35:33

He was my hero, he was my favorite character for sure. So good. Spoiler alert, he's the best.

Bridget 35:39

But I think with everybody else, like it's just the name, it's just like a slightly bastardized version of the name or like appropriated name, modernized name, whatever you want to call it. And it just didn't interest me.

Laura 35:51

I think so many elements of this book did interest me, but they just weren't given the time or depth that I wanted from them. Like I did really enjoy, for example, Katerina and Bella's relationship. Yes, me too. Is it a friendship? I don't know. But we're told they're friends, we don't really see that they're friends. They have this really fantastic sense of competition and drive and shared ambition between the two of them, which I actually think is more interesting than any of the romance stuff with.

Bridget 36:21

Yeah.

Laura 36:22

Because like that is Katarina's driving force, this whole novel. Uh, and everything is secondary to her love for ice skating, but it just fell so flat. It just felt so empty at the end of it all. And that was frustrating. I sort of wondered if she almost shackled herself into writing a substandard story by trying to fit this Wuthering Heights mold because there were so many other things like corruption and sabotage in the sport, or all the Russian characters that were really interesting and like based a little bit more on reality that I would have liked to know more about. But obviously that doesn't happen in Wuthering Heights, so we didn't get to see much of it.

Bridget 37:04

It's funny that you say that about her like pigeonholing herself with the Wuthering Heights retell because she's also said in that same interview that a friend of hers tweeted her during the Olympics and said, You should write a book about murderous gay ice dancers. And I was like, I should. So I kind of just started thinking about it, and they didn't really end up being murderous or gay exactly, but that got me thinking about that world and that it could be a good setting for the book. And actually, the two projects were it was a thriller set in the ice dance world and then sort of a modern gothic romance. But the Wuthering Heights thing that came in later, and that was what actually gave me the idea to match them together because I saw how some of the themes and character archetypes in Wuthering Heights worked like matched weirdly well with figure skating. So that's so interesting. Because I really thought that she would have set out to do a Wuthering Heights retail. This is by her own design, I guess, like being sort of stuck in this cage.

Laura 37:57

Lock me up. Yeah.

Bridget 38:02

I'm not quite clear on what ice dancing is, and I don't know what the difference between ice dancing and figure skating is, because in my mind it was just figure skating. Is that wrong?

Laura 38:14

Can you enlighten me on this? Well, I was just as confused as you, but apparently, yes, they are different things. So I actually have an article that's from the official Olympics website, and it says, What's the difference between pear skating and ice dancing? For inexperienced spectators, rude, the figure skating disciplines of pear skating and ice dancing may seem exactly the same, but if you look closely, you'll notice key differences in several elements of each. I doubt I will. You just said I was dumb, so you overestimate me. First key difference clothing. Oh. Apparently, female ice dancers can wear trousers. In ice dancing, the competitors can barely jump. So that's a figure skating kind of thing. Um it would help if we knew about figure skating. Yeah. Other elements prohibited in ice dancing are throws, jumps, or are throw jumps, twist lifts, overhead lifts, and other moves which are close to acrobatics. Were they not doing I thought so. I'm so confused.

Bridget 39:22

Maybe this is when we like at the start of the episode when I said, Are we dumb? This is when we find out yes, we are actually dumb.

Laura 39:28

Apparently, in ice dancing as well, they can't skate separately for a long time. So I'm thinking Blades of Glory, how they're both kind of zooming around doing their own thing and then coming back together for the big move. That would be a no-go in ice dancing.

Bridget 39:42

Okay. I was wondering where Blades of Glory was going to fit into this episode. It was inevitable. Because actually, this is I was thinking about this yesterday because it is so weird to me that we like that movie. It's it was so far removed from our tastes at the time.

Laura 39:58

And what uh influential movie of our teenage years. So drinking. Why would I step in baby food? It's a rug moron.

Bridget 40:15

Anyway, let's go back to the book.

Laura 40:19

A key element of ice dancing is the twizzle, which is a traveling turn on one foot with one or more rotations, which is quickly rotated with a continuous action. Honestly, this is like a bunch of verbs that mean nothing.

Bridget 40:34

I think this is quite indicative of how interested or like the lack of interest I had in this book overall, because it's like what 500 pages. At any point, I could have watched a video about this, I could have Googled it, I could have Google imaged, I could have done literally anything, and I was like, I guess I'll find out in the episode.

Laura 40:52

You know what? I've just scrolled to the bottom of the article, and the third and final difference is music. So I could have just cut all this out and said there's some differences in clothing, they do some different moves and they have different music, but nope, here we are. So I hope you enjoyed. Another thing I think that I read is that uh they can have much longer careers. Um, and they typically skate together for a long time. Dance, maybe I should say together for a long time. So, from a narrative perspective, I suppose that was quite useful for her as well.

Bridget 41:27

Yeah. We've already like dipped our toes into this a little bit, but I think we should start talking about the characters. Oh, yeah, true. First of all, let's start talking about Katarina Shah, the big bitch of the face dancing report, Tanya Harding.

Laura 41:44

I really want to watch that movie. Yeah. Just did it on TikTok. All I visualized was Margot Robbie. How did you feel about Katerina? Actually, I'm just sorry. Wothering Heights, Margot Robbie, Ayatonia. Oh my, it's been a plan ever since. My God. Illuminati are real, I believe. Whatever that means, I'm putting the puzzle together and it's gonna be big. It doesn't make sense, but it does. Yeah. Katarina, I didn't like her as a character. I liked her drive and her determination. I thought by the end of the novel, God have some self-respect. Um, but overall, I found her to be interesting, not overly predictable, and a good character. How about you?

Bridget 42:24

I liked her as well. Sometimes I was a little bit confused about who she was as a character. Like, for example, at Sheila's funeral where she decided to get up and do a speech. I was like, Since when are you gonna do this? That doesn't make sense to me at all. I think instead of going back and hiding out in Illinois or wherever that was, I think she just should have gone and I don't know, like done something with her life away from her ancestral home. And she never should have gone back and tried again with any of them.

Laura 42:53

Yeah, I thought all of the decisions she made at the end of the novel were completely at odds with who she was at the start of the novel. As a book that kind of positions itself to be feminist, like girls get it done, like girls sticking up for themselves. I found it unusual that as someone who's consistently said, No, I don't want children, um, was not interested in being married, did not like having her success, or I guess their shared success undermined by kind of like a frivolous societal expectation that she would just sort of happily co-parent these two people who were meant to be champions of her, who ended up being some of her biggest haters.

Bridget 43:31

Yeah.

Laura 43:32

I thought that was stupid.

Bridget 43:34

Same. The ending really reminded me of the epilogues of Icebreaker and Wildfire. Like it was that sort of dumb like, hey, Annie Katie, what are you doing today? Do you want to come ice skating with me on the rank that we have in the backyard? You're my favorite aunt ever. What is this stupid ending? I hated it. I hated it too. It felt so cheap. I don't buy that Bella Linda. Would be having a baby at this point in her career. Like she's about to maybe get a gold medal. Like she's discovered that her passion is coaching. And I just don't buy that she would be like one having unprotected sex during this time. I don't think she would even lose focus for a second to think about having sex. Katarina said like she had never witnessed Bella do anything like that. I don't know why this would happen at this point.

Laura 44:25

And then I don't know why they would all be together on this weird, like thrupple situation. I didn't understand any of Bella's motivations for anything related to Heath. I don't understand what he gave her that she needed. And I don't understand what possibly could have motivated her to feel that she wanted that revenge. I mean, I guess there's that element again of competition and rivalry. But like you said, she seemed so disinterested in all of that. And so if it was just sabotage alone, it seems like the joke stretched on a little bit too far.

Bridget 45:00

I guess we've sort of moved on to talking about Bella. But Heath, I think we've said a few things about him already. I was disappointed with his characterization. I wanted him to be actually mean or interesting. Yeah. I found the big reveal when we found out his big betrayal was like a non-issue. It was so underwhelming. Where did you think he got good at ice skating? Well, he wasn't just like working at Walmart or something. Like obviously he was training with somebody.

Laura 45:30

The whole thing with how he had those scars on his back and who tortured you and what happened. And then it just ended up that he got pushed out a window by someone who had not really featured in the novel at any point until then. Really, I just sort of thought there would be some more like torture or abuse or darkness to that storyline. Not to say that it's okay to get pushed out of a window, but it fell so flat. I did not care one bit. No, and he should have died. He should have died.

Bridget 46:04

He should have died at least at the end when he had his heart attack. Um my god, I forgot that happened. But I think there were multiple points in the story where somebody should have died. Like the pivotal moment in Wildering Heights is Kathy's death. Like that's the haunting of the narrative for the rest of the story. The whole time I was just gunning for someone to die.

Laura 46:26

And no one did. Except for the brother, Rip. And I thought maybe she was trying to subvert expectations at points like that because we expect Kathy to die or we expect them to not have a happily ever after. But it didn't make the story better to do that, I'm afraid to say. No. And I think trying to subvert those expectations was to the detriment of a logical narrative arc. Like the brother, what was the point of him? What a hollow, boring archetype of a character. Like sorry boring. Beat for beat could have told you what was happening with that man. I think Garrett is the only time that I've thought a character shouldn't be gay. If we're gonna have a messy book, make it more messy, let them all kiss. Maybe not the siblings. I mean, it would be messy. That's true. I feel like such a normie, but I really wanted Garrett and Kat to get together as revenge. Yes. And then when they didn't, I was like, okay, she's got principles. You know what I really like that about her? But then his character went off to do nothing. And her character went off to perform some character assassination. Yeah. And it just felt shit.

Bridget 47:40

He was so boring. I I mean, happy for him, studying psychology, blah blah blah. But a wet sock. Is that the t is that the term? It's the technical term, yes.

Laura 47:55

Boring. I mean, I like him because he's nice, but Principled but boring.

Bridget 48:01

This is something that we've talked about often in these sort of modern contemporary books, but I hate the inclusion of modern artists. I hate playlists. I hate when we hear what people are listening to on their iPads. And Heath was the worst one in this book, I think, for me. Like all the time he was listening to some song. I don't think it adds anything to the story. I think it's cheap. I think it dates the book even like 20 years after these songs have been released. I just don't like it. And also, since when was he such a big playlist man? Like, why was he always making people playlists?

Laura 48:38

If that was gonna be an important thing about his character or to his character, then do something with it. Like, what does music mean to him? Yeah. You know, like maybe that was his salvation or something. Yeah.

Bridget 48:49

He became like the choreographer or whatever at the end of the book, but the link between the two things was never quite clear.

Laura 48:55

Because he didn't even like ice skating. No, I don't get it.

Bridget 48:59

And did he even choreograph the dancers when they were young? Didn't they do it together? Or did the coach? I thought the coach did it. Oh, I don't know. There's just so many things. And I mean, your book, you have some bonus content in the book, and you have a playlist in the back, and there's so many songs in that playlist.

Laura 49:15

Do you want me to count them up? I think so. There are playlists for each six sections of the book. I would say the smallest section has about 20 songs. The largest would have 50, I want to say, if not more. Songs in bold are mentioned in the book. One that's jumping out is Mumbo number five. A little bit of Kathy in the song. A little bit of Bella. Oh no. Oh my god. I agree with you. I think it is kind of cheap because I mean there's songs like Somewhere Only We Know by Kin. I've never said that out loud. Um, obviously there's a lot of Taylor Swift. We've got Wicked Game. And I think with the recency of this book as well, it was published at the start of the year, 2025. Some of these are also like a little bit trending on TikTok.

Bridget 50:19

Yes. Well, the inclusion of the Taylor Swift thing is purely a publicity ploy because the things that she says about the songs are wrong. She called the last time a bop. It's a ballad. Like you don't call ballads bops. I think she's just thinking, what's trendy? Taylor Swift. This will get the Swifties. And I speak for everybody, Swifties, people that hate Taylor Swift, just stop mentioning Taylor Swift in your books.

Laura 50:44

Please. It's so painful. And it's genuinely never made any of those pieces of media better.

Bridget 50:49

And I think before we've talked about this and we've said like bonus materials are a waste of space, honestly. But playlists, if they're on the author's website and it's like, this is what I listen to, that's fine, whatever. I think it shouldn't have a place in the book.

Laura 51:05

Yeah, I don't like bonus content. I think it speaks to a real lack of confidence in both your product and in your reader. Uh, like at the end of this, we have ice dancing rules and fun facts. And okay, so you either think you didn't explain it in the book, or you think that your reader isn't interested or able to find that information for themselves. Me? I found out some things today, but it didn't really have any impact on the storytelling. So I'm fine with that. Like I get the gist. Playlist as well, yeah. I think they're kind of like telling you how to feel. Your writing should be able to do that. Well, we have spoken a little bit about how we felt that we didn't get a whole lot of depth from many of these characters. And another piece of supplemental material at the end of my copy of The Favorites is a section called Meet the Ice Dancers. Now, this breaks down their name, skating partners, strengths, weaknesses, has a little bio and a key quote from each character. So I thought to really quiz you, I will give you the strengths and weaknesses of some of these characters and you can guess who they are. I love this.

Bridget 52:13

I'm not feeling confident.

Laura 52:15

I'll just say that right now. Strengths, ambition, expertise, and leadership. Weaknesses, ruthlessness, high expectations, emotional distance.

Bridget 52:27

I mean, it could be Katerina, it could be Bella, it could be Sheila, but I think it's Sheila.

Laura 52:32

It is Sheila. Oh, yeah. She says, Yes, I do consider myself a role model.

Bridget 52:37

Wait, is this written in the perspective of Sheila giving the quiz about herself?

Laura 52:42

No, it's just it's just the quote. She says, Yes, I do consider myself a role model for all American women. Oh yes, I remember that. Okay, here's another one. Strengths, ambition, again, technical skill, competitive spirit. Weaknesses, pressure of legacy, rivalries, and perfectionism. Bella. She says, I want my mother to be a footnote on my page in the record books.

Bridget 53:12

I did think that was kind of a bar. Like that was a bit cringe, but you know, I it's good for a memoir.

Laura 53:19

Yeah. There were some hits and misses. Yeah. What about strengths? Charisma, perception, wit, weaknesses, cynicism, using humor as a shield, and provocateur. Ellis. Yes. Ellis says, you want to win a la ice, you have to win here first. I am actually impressed by my knowledge of this book. You're crushing it. And spoiler alert, the next one might be easy for you to. Okay. Strengths. Emotional depth. Musical expression. Resilience. Weaknesses. Emotional volatility. Guarded past, dependence on cat. Okay. I'm sorry. Emotional depth for Heath. And emotional volatility. Oh me go ice now. Me like girl. Me want cat. Mommy. Me out window. Let me in. Me dig up grave. Thorn in chew. Yummy. Me eat poo. Baby mine. Okay, well, we know who that is. He thought he says, Katerina, you're my home. Well, while we're here, let's do one last one. We have strengths, fierce determination, bold independence, and artistic expression. We have weaknesses, rebellious nature, emotional turbulence, and intense rivalries. Is it cap? Yes. I was like, have I said her already? She says, call me what you want. I don't give a damn anymore. My story is mine, and I'll tell it the same way I skated, in my own way, on my own terms.

Bridget 55:32

Don't anybody try to tell me what to do because I'm gonna skate the way I want to skate. Now, if I want to skate to Kate Bush, I'm gonna skate to Kate Bush.

Laura 55:41

Bitches. I'm surprised they didn't skate to Eminem. Lose yourself. Something else that I didn't enjoy about this novel was hearing about teenagers having sex passionately. Yeah. Same. It was a bit much. And then I was very confused about how old they were at various points throughout their career. So in my mind, they were still like country bumpkin, like 16-year-olds getting at parties and going home to bang, and he's got candles in a room, and they're not talking to each other, and he's emotionally abusive. And I was like, oh, I hate that.

Bridget 56:18

And I said, Me Mole's coming, you better get off me. I thought they were like that couple at school who, you know, like on free dress days, they'd wear like boot cut blue jeans with like a um like a rodeo belt, you know, like like a Bisley work shirt or something, like bright pink for the girl and like blue for the boy. And then when they are together, like they're always like hugging and they're always sitting in each other and like on the ground, facing each other, legs hooked over the top and heads resting. Yeah, that was the vibe. And it as everyone knows, that is an awful couple to be around. So I kind of love that everyone hated them. Everyone was like we were sick of their shit. Yeah. Because you would be sick of their shit. And I think there was so much shit we didn't hear about because, like, at the end, there was always references to them like yelling and fighting and screaming and in love, and they hate each other, and like, um thank god we didn't have to hear about all that. But yeah, you're right, the teenage youth were especially excruciating.

Laura 57:20

Well, we've skated our way to the end of the episode, and it's time for favorite characters, least favourite characters, and lit or shit. So, Bridget, who was your favorite character in The Favorites by Lane Fargo?

Bridget 57:34

My favorite character in The Favorites by Lane Fargo was Elastine, obsessed with him.

Laura 57:40

I love him. How about you? Same. I also love Elistine most of all. Iconic, bitchy, perfection.

Bridget 57:47

Yeah, and also I think he had more depth than everybody else because he could be bitchy and he could be messy, but also sometimes he acted in like a caring way. And he was uh invested in their lives. Sometimes he was trying to help people, and I liked him. What about your least favourite? I think my least favorite character was Heath because I was expecting him to die. I was expecting him to be mean and nasty, and none of that really happened. He just sort of, as we said before, he was just sort of me want cat. Me want baby. And that's about it. How about you?

Laura 58:27

Yeah, it's also Heath. I thought he was so boring and hollow, and I couldn't really tell you anything about him.

Bridget 58:35

No.

Laura 58:35

Well then with all that in mind, it's time to bestow the ultimate rating. Is the favorites by Lane Fargo lit or shit? I still don't know.

Bridget 58:44

I can see the stress in your eyes. If I look at the other books we've done this year, and I look at the ones that we've rated shit. So we've got Magnolia Parks, Credence, Ypre Love, Atomic Habit, Spanish Love Deception. I don't know if I would lump this book in with those books. I think it has to be lit because I was hooked. I was gasping when I was listening to the audiobook. And although parts were slow and boring and nothing was happening, ultimately, overall, I think I enjoyed it. How about you?

Laura 59:14

I feel the same. I guess I kept thinking about how I landed on my rating of lit for the housemaid, which was did I like the writing? No. Did I like the characters? No. Did I think the plot was interesting? No. But was I hooked and on the edge of my seat and compelled to keep reading? Yes. And in the case of the favourites, I would say that overall I liked the writing, and I did actually like some of the characters, and the plot was relatively interesting. And so although it really dipped off at the end there, and I mean I've said a lot of mean things that I can't take back in this episode, I would also rate this lit.

Bridget 59:51

Wow, who would have thought? That really kept me guessing right till the end. For our next and last bonus chapter of the year, we will be having a drink and acting inappropriately at the Talk Lit Get Hit Christmas party. We will be reviewing our KPIs one last time by reading Mary Ever After by Tessa Bailey. Have your say in what we read next by keeping an eye on the link in our show notes and on our socials. Make sure you subscribe to the show, and if you want to be on the same page as us, follow us at talklit.get on Instagram and TikTok.