** This has been a long, long time in the coming. More than a month overdue. **
Title: The Winner’s Curse
Author: Marie Rutkoski
Number of Pages: 384
Publisher: Square Fish
Date Read: 7.25.15
Rating: <3 <3 <3 <3
“Happiness depends on being free, and freedom depends on being courageous.”
Winning what you want may cost you everything you love.
They were never meant to be together. As a general’s daughter, seventeen-year-old Kestrel enjoys an extravagant and privileged life. Arin has nothing but the clothes on his back. Then Kestrel makes an impulsive decision that binds Arin to her. Though they try to fight it, they can’t help but fall in love. In order to be together, they must betray their people … but to be loyal to their country, they must betray each other. Set in a new world, The Winner’s Curse is a story of rebellion, duels, ballroom dances, wicked rumors, dirty secrets, and games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.
“The Winner’s Curse is when you come out on top of the bid, but only by paying a steep price.” - lady at the auction
I had been looking for another strong female character in a fantasy novel while I was waiting for the next Throne of Glass book (and anyone that’s read the series knows Celaena sets the bar pretty high). I have to say, when I picked this book up, I was intrigued. The book opens with a general’s daughter gambling in town with sailors, and it kept getting better from there on. Unlike most female characters in the fantasy novels I’ve read, Kestrel was not very apt at combat; but she was sharp as the “needles” she favored. I loved how she used intelligence and strategy to win her battles.
“My soul is yours.” - Arin
I like that Arin and Kestrel didn’t fall in love instantly. It always makes it more fun (for me anyway) when I “see” those moments when a pair slowly begins to recognize each other. So when they finally kissed, it was explosive (at least for me). I was sitting on pins and needles, chanting “do it, do it!” and then they did. Now, I love a good love story, but I liked that Kestrel and Arin’s relationship wasn’t the end-all-be-all of the story. The intrigue and betrayals sucked me right into the world. The rumors about the lady’s baby-daddy - awesome; the jerk who was a crappy loser - I’da liked to punch him in the nose; the deal in the end with the emperor - I think I gnawed all my nails off.
This was a really amazing book.
“People in brightly lit places cannot see into the dark.” - Arin
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