The Favorites

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, emotional abuse, and physical abuse.

The Favorites is set in the world of ice dancing, and the sport works as both context and a motif within the story. Being focused on an elite sport that makes an appearance at the Olympics allows the story to explore themes like The Cost of Ambition. Kat, Bella, and Sheila all embody this theme and illustrate the dark side of the sport—the elitism, politicking, betrayal, sabotage, and damaged relationships—underlining the sacrifices that are made in the name of ambition.

The partnered nature of the sport also allows for the exploration of The Complexity of Relationships Formed Under Pressure. Ice dancing is a team sport, with one team comprising just two partners. This calls for a deeply interdependent relationship between skating partners, with a need for total synchronicity in skill level, motivation, performance, and even physicality. The intensity and intimacy of this relationship that exists in a context of competitive pressure is mirrored in the complex and layered relationships between characters in the book, even beyond Kat and Heath. Kat and Bella, and even Bella and Heath, have complicated relationships with each other that are influenced by different pressures.