67 pages • 2 hours read
The Favorites
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Symbols & Motifs
Ice Dancing
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. In these ways, ice dancing serves as both context and a motif that outlines different themes in the book.
The Rings
Kat’s rings are important symbols in the book. The first ring that appears in the narrative is her mother’s engagement ring, which, at the beginning of the book, is Kat’s last connection to her late mother. Kat sells this ring without a second thought when she and Heath fall short on funds to finance their summer in Los Angeles. Heath’s amazement and discomfort at the ease with which Kat can part with such a dear object is significant: The act illustrates the sacrifices that Kat is willing to make for her ambition, while Heath’s unease highlights his realization that she may choose to part with him just as easily.
Kat does eventually cast Heath aside as a partner, and this damages their relationship for years. After they reconcile for the first time, Heath eventually proposes to Kat with a diamond ring. This time, Kat is the uneasy one, but it is because Heath presents her with the ring at the end of a competition, in public. Kat’s discomfort with the public proposal, as opposed to a private moment of intimacy, underlines how performative Kat and Heath’s relationship has become in the glare of all the media attention, highlighting The Gap Between Public Perception and Private Lives—despite the public perception of Kat and Heath as sharing a great romance, their love life grows mechanical and disconnected in reality. Eventually, Kat throws this ring away, too, in a fit of anger over Heath’s betrayal. However, while Kat is the one who parts with the ring once again, this time, it is Heath’s actions that spell their relationship’s end.
The Roses
The roses that Kat receives, eventually revealed to be from Francesca, are an important symbol in the book. Kat first receives yellow roses accompanied by a card that welcomes her back when she arrives in Los Angeles to partner Heath and return to the sport. What seems like an innocent gesture from an anonymous admirer is repeated when Kat and Heath arrive in Sochi, but this time with an ominous undertone—the vase that the roses arrive in is filled with blood. Things escalate when Kat and Heath find thorns in their skates, with Kat sustaining an injury; similarly, she finds her costume for the final event drenched in blood and strewn with rose petals.
Additionally, the roses connect to Francesca, the secret saboteur, symbolizing her duplicity: While beautiful and fragrant, rose plants also carry thorns that can be painful to the touch. This dual nature symbolizes the deception that Francesca carries out, presenting a lovely, innocent face to the world while carrying out cruel, hurtful acts in secret. This underlines the gap between public perception and private lives.
A final layer of symbolism is attached to Francesca giving Kat the roses. Roses are often presented by admirers to performers as a show of adulation or applause. Fittingly, Francesca, who grew up idolizing Kat, gives her roses. However, this is another instance of irony, as Francesca does indeed admire Kat but is also inspired by her cutthroat ambition; Francesca carries out her sabotage because she believes it is the kind of act Kat would engage in. The roses serve as both a symbol of admiration and the weapon of choice with which Francesca tries to eliminate her competition, signifying the lengths to which people will go to fulfill their ambition.
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