The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski
Title: The Winner’s Curse
Author: Marie Rutkoski
Series: The Winner’s Trilogy #1
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication Date: March 4, 2014
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 355
Winning what you want may cost you everything
you love.
As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions. One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction.
Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin. But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.
Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.
As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions. One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction.
Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin. But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.
Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.
“He knew the law of such things: people in brightly lit places cannot see into the dark.”
I should really stop reading the first book of a series right after it’s released. That should stop. Because, seriously? Now I have to wait a whole eight months before the sequel comes out. You think I would've learned by now, but no.
Kestrel is the daughter of a warlord, forced into a life she doesn't want. Arin is a slave, one of the conquered race that is now forced into labor. Their epic story begins when Kestrel buys Arin at a slave auction on a crazy impulse, not knowing the dark secrets Arin brings along with him. When secrets are revealed and a revolution begins, they are forced apart, even more than they were before. Will they ever be able to find a way back to each other again?
“Music made her feel as if she were holding a lamp that cast a halo of light around her, and while she knew there were people and responsibilities in the darkness beyond it, she couldn't see them. The flame of what she felt when she played made her deliciously blind.”
This book was fantastic. The characters were complex and intricate and the plot was even more so. Of course, the book ends just as its getting good. Instead of fading into black like how books are supposed to, this one reaches the epitome of the story line, and just ends. Just. Ends.
Besides the obvious problem of the Mt. Everest of cliffhangers, I would read this book again. And again. And again. It was that good. The romance? Perfecto. The plot? Suspenseful and enthralling. If you loved Graceling by Kristin Cashore, this book is more than just a must read for you. It is a have to read.
Everything about this book was perfectly perfect. I loved the setting and the conflict. It was impossible to put it down. Reading this book was all I wanted to do. One piece of advice? Read it when the sequel is out.
“‘Happiness depends of being free’, Kestrel’s father often said, ‘and freedom depends on being courageous.’”
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