The Winner's Curse (The Winner's Trilogy Book 1) Kindle Edition

I rarely write reviews, but this book is worth taking the time.I’m going to give it 5 stars, not because it’s perfect--what is?--but because it is so, so good despite its imperfections.I could not put this book down. Well, I had to, because I had to go to class, but I was thinking about it the entire time, and I had it pulled up on my kindle app every free second I got until I could get back home and finish it.The romance between Kestrel and Arin is slow-burning in a way that is believable and refreshing. They are attracted to each other, yes, but are in denial about it for a long time. A large part of what draws them to one another is who they are as people, and what they are willing to do to protect one another. The way their relationship builds over time was what hooked me, and I stayed hooked all the way through.Also, PoC MAIN CHARACTER, y’all! And he’s complicated and well-drawn! That’s a big enough deal that I wish everyone would read this. It even has parts from his POV. Get excited!I’ve also seen it mentioned that Kestrel is a great change of pace, and I agree. She is a general’s daughter, and she isn’t some insanely honed killing machine. But she also isn’t bad at fighting. She’s average in an area where she’s expected to excel. I loved that, even though she isn’t a great warrior, she is a brilliant tactician. Kestrel’s perspective--the way she solves puzzles, the way she notices details--is a really cool headspace to visit. I also like that Arin is her match in these things. He’s not a strategist in the same way that Kestrel is, but he is very sharp, and musical. They come across as very different people, but with similar talents and mindsets.I’ve seen a few people criticize Kestrel’s “convenient” distaste for slavery. I don’t think that’s a particularly sensible critique. After all, there’s a reason that we read about characters who are extraordinary. This story *could not exist* if Kestrel didn’t have misgivings about the slave system. That’s a big part of it. And the reasoning behind it makes sense: Kestrel was, more than most of her peers, raised by a slave. Her mother had died young, her father was the general, busy and often away. Even other children with Heranni nurses wouldn’t have been as close to them as a girl who had only that woman as her primary parental figure. And it’s not as if her misgivings translate into “free all the slaves”. She doesn’t always like the system, but she still goes along with it. The main thing is that she is lenient; she allows herself to begin to see her slaves as people because she lets them act like real people. With Arin, she insists upon it. Sometimes, that insistence means that she lets him step pretty far over the line in what he should be allowed to say and do, sure, but what I got from that, more than anything, is that Kestrel is in desperate need of a clever confindante (Jess is her dear friend and all, but she isn’t on Kestrel’s mental level, and everyone else wants something from her). What she craves more than anything is a clear head, because it’s what she strives to have, so a slave that talks back a little too much doesn’t bother her if she gets his honesty in the bargain. As motivation, that does make sense to me.And the best part? It’s not as if they have a magically easy relationship. It’s fraught with very realistic difficulties.SPOILERS:One of the things that I love most about this story is that both characters have so much self-respect. They may ultimately accept their mutual attraction, and each other’s love, but both value their freedom just as much. Even though I didn’t want the revolution to tear apart Arin and Kestrel in the carriage scene, I was glad that it did, because it meant that Arin would not be her subordinate lover. And as bittersweet as it is when Kestrel leaves after their kiss when the tables have turned and she is the “slave”, I was sort of cheering her on. I’m happy that, if they have a relationship in future books, it will be as equals, or at least they will both be free citizens. And I think that’s really important. I’m glad to see that kind of narrative existing. It would have been an easy out if Arin had just continued to be Kestrel’s slave and depended on her goodwill. But that even had a time limit. It would have been even easier for Kestrel to allow herself to stay under Arin’s protection, but it wouldn’t have been right for either of their characters. They are both independent and proud. They are both strong. They have both proven that they value their freedom and agency above almost everything else. And because of this, I think that staying true to themselves, and not allowing themselves to settle, is really excellent.Also, I’m sure that Kestrel’s actions in the second half of the book will get some negative reactions. “She just stands around” or “she doesn’t forgive him for so long, even though what he did is understandable,” or “she forgives him too easily when he just took down her entire social order.” And I don’t think any of those accusations are accurate. I think they’re oversimplifications, so I’m going to have a brief In Defense of Kestrel section.Kestrel doesn’t “just stand around”. She is captured. She considers suicide to escape, but chooses (wisely) against it. And then she is locked in a room/house for weeks, by people who *know* what a good strategist she is, and so plan in such a way as to make it impossible for her to escape for a good long while. She takes that time to reconstruct herself, as she’s really suffered a lot of serious emotional damage. And she gains information which she does ultimately use to make her escape, so it’s time that’s necessary, not wasted.As for not forgiving Arin for a while, I think that’s pretty understandable. He did betray her, and even if that is forgivable, considering that he was winning freedom for himself and his people, it’s also forgivable for Kestrel to be hurt. She had risked everything for Arin--her life and her reputation. All that without knowing that he cared for her at all. He’s told her a lot of lies, and her world has been turned upside down. It’s logical that it takes some time for her to make sense of who he really is.Finally, in regard to the “she just forgives him” accusation, which I’ve seen: no, I don’t think she does. She agonizes over it. Her forgiveness is slow to come, and even when it does, she’s still angry over what happened to her people. Kestrel has always been able to balance multiple perspectives, which is how she was able to admit that the slave system was flawed. By that same token, she can understand why the slaves revolted, and why Arin was a part of that. She cares for him. He saves her, he lets her go, even, and she doesn’t want him to die. She doesn’t want to be the cause of all those people’s deaths (she’s already mentioned several times that she’d never wanted deaths on her conscience). Considering those things, I’d say all of her hesitation makes a lot of sense, and makes her a more realistic, admirable character.END SPOILERSCritiques:The prose is often very beautiful, but occasionally errs too far on the side of the poetic. Honestly, as faults go, it’s not a bad one. No one gets it right 100% of the time, and I’m pretty picky when it comes to writing style. Rutkoski paints many lovely descriptions, and if a few of them are a little overdone--meh, I’m not bothered.I’ve seen it mentioned that the slavery depicted “onscreen” so to speak, is pretty mild. I think it’s a fair point. However, since most of the slaves we see are Kestrel’s own, I think it does make sense. She’s the lady of the house, and it’s pretty clear that, in household matters, her father often lets her have her way. We know that Kestrel has misgivings about slavery because she was basically raised by a slave, so she wouldn’t willingly allow slaves in her house to be abused. And if it *was* happening, she probably wouldn’t know about it. I agree that it would have been better if we’d seen a little more of the violence of enslaved life to help us really understand the stakes. However, from the descriptions that were given, as well as from my knowledge of slavery and all the feelings that the term conjures up, I understood well enough.Overall, I think The Winner’s Curse is a really excellent story that I would definitely recommend picking up on an evening where you can sit and read it all the way through. I am eagerly awaiting the next book. Seriously, when does it come out? There are things I need to know!

It pretty much goes without saying, my dear friends, that if there is a fantasy afoot, I will be all over it. There is nothing I love more than being able to read something and completely escape my reality. I find it incredibly satisfying and impressive. THE WINNER’S CURSE by Marie Rutkoski is a book that you can lose yourself in. It has a fascinating world, emotional heft, danger, jeopardy, and well-rounded characters. LOVED IT, mostly. The end got a little too bananas in too short a time for me, but we’ll get to that. (Sans spoilers, obviously!)So in THE WINNER’S CURSE, we meet Kestrel, the daughter of a general who has been raised in a noble house with all the trappings of wealth and position. Her people, the Valorians, are conquest-happy, and have taken up residence in the former homes of the Herrani people, who have since been enslaved. Kestrel is fighting with some pretty powerful expectation as the general’s daughter: either join the military or get married. All she really wants to do is play music. Until one day when she and her best friend come upon a slave auction, and Kestrel buys a young man on a whim, simply because she is taken with him. This is Arin. As their relationship as master/slave becomes muddier and their connection deepens, a WHOLE MESS of things happens. There’s rebellions, plots, death, romance, and ALL THE THINGS.The driving force in THE WINNER’S CURSE is Kestrel. She is unlike most Velorian noblewomen in that she desires to flout the rules. She wants to wander around on her own without an escort, she wants to make her own decisions about getting married or joining the military (quite frankly, neither of those appeal to her), and she wants to be able to play music whenever she wants. Kestrel is a strong-minded character who takes risks and stands out because she wants to be able to make her own choices. These are all things I admire greatly, and Kestrel deals with some pretty big ups and downs in THE WINNER’S CURSE. It’s really hard not to respect her desire to be her own person, as well as her lady stones.So what are these ups and downs? Largely, they come in the form of Arin, the slave Kestrel purchases at the beginning of THE WINNER’S CURSE. He is like a Kestrel magnet. They are intrigued by one another, and that develops into a very hesitant FEELING that they both fight, for obvious and not obvious reasons. They have great tension and chemistry. I really liked Arin. He’s charming and mysterious and strong. He has his own reasons for wanting to be a part of Kestrel’s household, but those reasons quickly become something else in the face of their growing relationship, and he struggles with the conflict between the two.The climax of THE WINNER’S CURSE is actually more of a build-up to a certain point and then the aftermath of that point. It’s a pretty clearly defined before and after. The THING that happens is huge in scope and ramifications, and I loved it. It really takes things and turns them on their heads and brings the drama. The way Arin and Kestrel figure into this THING shows you a lot about their characters and their relationship, but it also changes it in a pretty major way. It’s great the way Marie Rutkoski pulls the rug out from underneath basically everyone.Of course, once we get to the “after” part of THE WINNER’S CURSE, things started to kind of barrel out of control a little bit. I thought that the beginning of the book was SUPER. I was completely engaged, the writing was excellent (this didn’t change at any time), and the tension and drama were moving a steady pace. The “after” part speeds up tremendously and jams a bunch of stuff into the last handful of chapters that made it seem like Marie Rutkoski had to shoehorn things in. The “after” could have easily been several hundred pages longer. In fact, I would’ve liked it better if it was. It needed it, I thought, because the end was like a pinball machine a little bit. Alas.That’s not to say that the end of THE WINNER’S CURSE doesn’t leave me with tremendous anticipation for book 2, because HELLO, IT TOTALLY DOES. Arin and Kestrel are characters that get under your skin in the best way, so I’m dying to see what happens next with them and the paths they’re on.Despite my slight feeling of mehs about the ending, I would 100% recommend THE WINNER’S CURSE to anyone who loves YA fantasy. The world is vivid and interesting, and I very much enjoyed the glimpses we got to the different cultures of the Velorian and Herrani people. Marie Rutkoski certainly has a gift for words and characters as well. I hope that the next book gives us more time to ruminate in the world she’s built with these wonderful characters who tug at your heart and the political machinations that make everyone edgy.

Não tem jeito. Eu me apaixonei completamente por esse livro e essa história. Só de ler a sinopse do segundo, já sei que vou amar também. Tem uma razão bem específica para isso, esse livro tem uma coisa que me faz amar histórias e saber que não importa sua quantidade de páginas, eu sempre vou querer mais. Mas logo falo dela.Antes de começar meus elogios bem específicos e uma pequena ressalva, quero deixar bem claro que o infeliz classificou esse livro como distopia estava completamente errado e nem sabe o que a palavra distopia significa. Eu só recomendaria esse livro para pessoas que são apaixonadas por romances, principalmente de época; romance de verdade mesmo, de tirar o fôlego e proibido, em um ambiente antigo, mais parecido com o século dezenove. Não tem absolutamente nada de distópico aqui. Pelo contrário, a ideia da história e da situação dos dois países veio da ocupação romana na Grécia, e não tem como negar que a parte mais importante do livro é o romance.E que romance maravilhoso! Qualquer livro de romance que essa autora resolver escrever, eu vou ler. Ela soube criar o romance devagar e ir alimentando com cuidado, com tantos detalhes sutis, que foi impossível não me apaixonar junto! A escrita da autora é muito bonita e deixa tudo ainda mais emocionante.Como eu mencionei, ela deixa muita coisa sutil, mas muita coisa mesmo. Quando você for ler, precisa ver mais do que as palavras escritas ali, precisa ler nas entrelinhas e entender um pouco do simbolismo que ela mostra, mas nunca deixa na cara. Foram tantos detalhes pequenos e ainda assim significativos, que dá vontade de criar um manual para futuros leitores. Tenho medo de muita gente ter lido sem prestar atenção a eles e achado que a história é superficial, só porque sua leitura foi. Para mim, esse livro tem muito significado e muito peso, o que é essencial para um romance emocionante como o que teve.Além disso, eu amo romances entre mulheres de classes sociais mais altas do que a do cara. Krestel é da aristocracia Valoriana, é claro que ela vai se preocupar com roupas, joias e bailes - e que vai se preocupar com decoro, com os costumes do seu país e de seu ranking. E eu adoro isso! Mas tenho que admitir que nunca vou ficar confortável com escravidão (ainda bem que me incomoda, né?). É uma escravidão diferente da que aconteceu aqui, foi bem inspirada na dos gregos pelos romanos, mas isso nunca vai ser fácil ou aceitável. A pior parte para mim foi o leilão do Arin. Nunca tinha lido um livro que me fez ficar tão incomodada assim por uma cena, principalmente, que eu estava esperando desde a sinopse.Mas a escravidão é abordada, não é só uma desculpa para colocar Krestel em uma posição acima de Arin. É possível que alguns leitores não percebam o efeito da escravidão em alguns dos questionamentos que aparecem, se eles não ficarem atentos aos detalhes que mencionei. Então, fique!Mas a verdadeira razão de eu ter me apaixonado tanto pela história e saber que leria milhares de páginas dela sem nem parar para ver em qual estou (adoro livros que fazem isso!) é a Kestrel. Só personagens conseguem me fazer amar livros como eu amei esse.Ela rapidamente se tornou uma das minhas protagonistas favoritas! Como adoro romances de mulheres da alta sociedade com caras mais simples, é claro que eu adoro mulheres que agem como da alta sociedade. Não faria o menor sentido se Kestrel fosse super humilde e não um produto de sua criação. Ela é privilegiada, sim, mesmo que dê para ver desde o começo que não se considera superior aos escravos, só os vê como consequência de uma guerra de conquista de território, uma que foi liderada pelo seu pai. Em muitos momentos, dá para você ver a compaixão que ela tem e o potencial para desenvolver bem mais. E ela se desenvolve, e ela evolui, e esse livro é incrível, porque ela é incrível.Aliás, desde o começo você também consegue ver claramente o quanto ela é inteligente, e talvez essa seja minha parte favorita. Eu gosto também de história de mulheres guerreiras e tudo o mais, mas estava começando a sentir muita falta de uma mulher que fosse mais inteligente do que o normal, cuja força fosse seu cérebro, que pensasse com bastante lógica e conseguisse planejar até as manipulações mais simples. Fiquei encantada por esse jeito da Kestrel e também por seu amor à música. Ela saber lutar, mesmo que mediocremente, ainda ajuda, já que seu amor por tocar piano não é sua única habilidade, mas uma escolha.E o Arin também é incrível, não tem como não se apaixonar por ele! A relação entre os dois é maravilhosa, a química deles é impecável e a inteligência de um combina perfeitamente com a do outro! Existem poucos casais tão bem criados e entrosados! Mal posso esperar para saber o que vem no segundo livro. Mal. Posso. Esperar!Agora, para minha única ressalva mesmo. O ritmo do livro é um pouco incerto. Vi muita gente falando que a segunda metade do livro é muito superior à primeira, mas eu amei a primeira e foi ela que me fez perceber que esse livro é um dos meus favoritos. A segunda é ótima também, muita coisa acontece, muita coisa que muda toda a situação, o que eu acho extremamente essencial em um livro. Só que o clímax do livro é perto demais do meio e o resto parece um começo de segundo livro, que tem uma certa evolução um pouco devagar (ou incerta, na verdade, já que não dá muito para prever o caminho que a história vai levar). Chega a parecer que terá outro momento digno de clímax, mas acaba se tornando uma preparação para o próximo livro. Isso não significa que foi ruim, em nenhum momento eu fiquei entediada, continuei amando tudo da história até a última página, mas não posso negar que em alguns momentos senti essa sensação de não saber bem aonde a história estava indo. Se tornou um pouco uma espera, ainda que curta e pontuada por momentos interessantes.Mas é uma mini ressalva, porque eu amei o livro e vou começar o segundo agora mesmo! Estou me sentindo um pouco besta de ter demorado tanto para comprar e ler, por ter ficado tão apreensiva com a história! Esse livro é maravilhoso e vai encantar todo mundo que é apaixonado por romances de época (mesmo que o mundo dele seja fictício).

Loving this series so far, finished the first books and though usually I don't like serial novels this story flows really well and the second book just gets better so starting the series is totally worth it. The characters have enough tension and build up that it grips you, there is enough romance that it's exciting but not so much that it gets soppy and boring, a great balance.

Super livre, que j'ai dévoré en un clin d'œil, tout comme ses deux suites ! Une excellente trilogie, dans un univers intéressant. J'ai pris beaucoup de plaisir à le lire et à le relire, le monde développé est complexe et bien construit, les intrigues politiques bien faites et suffisamment attrayantes pour m'intéresser, moi qui d'habitude déteste ça... Ce livre m'as surprise et ravie ! Je recommande sans la moindre hésitation.

El libro esta mal cortado (roughcut) y no se menciona ninguna advertencia o descripción de ello. Es algo que se mira muy mal en apariencia.

Basically: A Greco-Roman inspired political strategy romance fantasy thing. (I suck at summaries stop judging). It's great.In Detail: I such heard great things about this book, I was worried the hype would totally ruin it for me. However, it didn't. This book was great.The Plot: I loved the way this was written, everything about it appealed to me. (Please note this book is a fantasy, historical hybrid and YA and relatively slow paced so it may not be your kind of book. Contemporary only fans may be disappointed in the structures of the world, high fantasy only fans may be disappointed in the historical elements, historical only fans may be disappointed in the random chunks of history thrown in).The world building of this book was fantastic, the combination of Greco-Roman elements along with the technology and society created somewhere else was completely fascinating. The society in particular interested me, the 'rulers' and their slaves is always a difficult subject to explore and I was pleased to see it was handled with respect in this book.I also totally enjoyed the fashion. The idea of people wearing beautiful dresses with daggers, in a warrior like society where military prowess is valued. I just like that. And the elaborate hair styles and accessories. It created an interesting contrast that I felt added to the book. That beauty and brains were valued equally.And the story was great. It felt really well paced and was handled brilliantly. I loved the way the twists unfolded and the suspense in some scenes was tangible. I really enjoyed it.The Characters: I thought the characters in this book were brilliant. They were real and flawed and multifaceted. I wanted more. (I still want more actually.)Kestrel was such a brilliant character to see this world through. A high ranking member of society with her own questions felt like a great introduction. I loved how she was aware of her strengths and weaknesses and reacted and adapted them. And I liked hearing her stories throughout the book.Arin was an interesting character. I personally found him difficult to connect with at times, but that's probably a reflection of him being placed into situations I couldn't imagine myself in. I liked how his mind worked, it reflected Kestrel's well (and I really hope there will be plotting and scheming with the two of them in the next book).Jess and Ronan were such cuties, I completely fell in love with them. The difference with them and the other characters were really brilliant - and the contrast with them and Kestrel. I also enjoyed the development and shifts their characters endured.Kestrel's Dad was a character I wanted more of (and I hope we will get more off one way or another). So much potential there.My Thoughts: I loved this book, it could have been written for me. The style of writing, the world building, the characters. Everything about it was fantastic. I personally would recommend it for everyone because it was good. However, not everyone is going to like it, avoid it if you're some kind of history buff who hates allusion societies, avoid if you hate discussions on slave trade (and some mildly hypocritical behaviour), and avoid it if you're only after happy endings. I feel this one could be a gamble with the emotions and sanity.