Review: The Winner's Kiss by Marie Rutkoski

Series: The Winner's Curse Book #1

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 484

Rating: 4 Stars

How I Got It: Gift for Christmas

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux

Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads

War has begun. Arin is
in the thick of it with untrustworthy new allies and the empire as his
enemy. Though he has convinced himself that he no longer loves Kestrel,
Arin hasn’t forgotten her, or how she became exactly the kind of person
he has always despised. She cared more for the empire than she did for
the lives of innocent people—and certainly more than she did for him.

At least, that’s what he thinks.

In
the frozen north, Kestrel is a prisoner in a brutal work camp. As she
searches desperately for a way to escape, she wishes Arin could know
what she sacrificed for him. She wishes she could make the empire pay
for what they’ve done to her.

But no one gets what they want just by wishing.

As
the war intensifies, both Kestrel and Arin discover that the world is
changing. The East is pitted against the West, and they are caught in
between. With so much to lose, can anybody really win?

Review

I thought I was going to blow through this book just like the second book, but I didn't. I think it was part not wanting the series to end and part the writing. It was a perfectly good conclusion to the series, but the second book was my favorite.

There was still suspense throughout the story. And the POV would alternate very often which would increase it. I was always questioning what was going on which is good, but was also stressful.

My "issue" was the writing style. It just felt a little too different from the rest of the series. And the god became more of a focus. That could've been an interesting thing if it was more apart of the earlier books, but it wasn't so it just felt kind of random.

I still really enjoyed reading this series and plan on doing a re-read in the future.

Thanks for reading!

Holly 

Review: The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski

Series: The Winner's Curse Book #2

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 402

Rating: 5 Stars

How I Got It: Gift from family

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux

Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads

The engagement of Lady
Kestrel to Valoria’s crown prince means one celebration after another.
But to Kestrel it means living in a cage of her own making. As the
wedding approaches, she aches to tell Arin the truth about her
engagement... if she could only trust him. Yet can she even trust
herself? For—unknown to Arin—Kestrel is becoming a skilled practitioner
of deceit: an anonymous spy passing information to Herran, and close to
uncovering a shocking secret.

As Arin enlists dangerous allies in
the struggle to keep his country’s freedom, he can’t fight the
suspicion that Kestrel knows more than she shows. In the end, it might
not be a dagger in the dark that cuts him open, but the truth. And when
that happens, Kestrel and Arin learn just how much their crimes will
cost them.

Review

At first, I wasn't going to review this, but I feel drawn to do something.

This was amazing.  

It's a beautifully written book that kept me engaged. I wanted to immediately pick up the next book even though it was midnight and I haven't felt that strong of a drive since the Hunger Games in my junior year of college.

Like Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder, this makes me feel like I could never be a good writer. There's just a special type of magic in this book and the writing. Like objectively, I still question the romance between Arin and Kestrel, but the books is so good I don't care anymore.

I'm so excited to read the next/final book. I'm sure it will lead to a poor night of sleep, but sometimes sacrifices have to be made. And there may be a book hangover coming. That hasn't happened since Poison Study.

Thanks for reading!

Holly