The Winner’s Curse (The Winner’s Trilogy #1)
By Marie Rutkoski
Genre: YA Fantasy
Recommended Ages: 17+
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.
The Gist
The Winner’s Curse tells the story of how a young woman grows close to a slave she purchases on a whim, and the consequences that has. I love that Kestrel treasures her intelligence, as all girls should. t’s a sweet story of Kestrel and Arin coming to see they have more in common than they think. My only complaint is that it was incredibly slow in the beginning. Very slow.
What I Liked:
The second half. By the time we got to the second half, things really started to take off and grab my attention.
I loved Kestrel because she’s different from other heroines. She as brave as them for sure, but she doesn’t win with strength and fighting skills. She wins her battles with strategies and her mind. LOVE!
Kestrel and Arin have very opposite personalities in some ways and it was fun to see how they played off each other. Where’s she’s soft satin, he’s rough burlap. And thank goodness it wasn’t a fall in love instantly thing. Though I wish it might have happened faster, I infinitely prefer slow over instant.
The world Marie created was also stunning. From the culture and laws to the houses they lived in, I was drawn in from the beginning in that aspect, especially the different societies and how they interact with each other. I also thoroughly enjoyed seeing some war strategizing at work.
What I Didn’t Like:
The first half. For me, it took FOREVER to really get interested in what was going on. It took too long for Kestrel and Arin to get close, it took forever for any real action to happen. There was just too much set up in the beginning for me and not enough tension in the plot. I don’t advocate putting in action scenes simply for the sake of putting in action, but I think something could have been added to raise the stakes in the beginning.
