By Marie Rutkoski
Publication Date: March 4, 2014Farrar Straus Giroux, 355 pages
Source: Bought it from B&N
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.
-Description retrieved from Goodreads
First off, I really enjoyed this novel, it is definitely a lot different than the usual Young Adult novel. I was hesitant to get this novel, but I'm really happy that I did. It is such a good novel and I really enjoy the main character. I'll admit it, I'm plain picky when it comes to characters. I don't like characters who make dumb choices or are too weak. I like realistic, practical characters. I thought Kestrel fit my category of favorite characters.
This novel takes place in the past which these days, more novels take place in the future so it was interesting to get a book in the past. I loved that Kestrel wasn't perfect, she has awful fighting skills, but great at strategy which I felt made sense and made her seem more three dimensional. I thought Kestrel was a reasonable character, she was clever yet had her weaknesses so she had a balance of things.
The secondary characters could easily be ignored and much light didn't play onto them. There wasn't much about them for me to grow an attachment to them. But I did enjoy, Roman, one of Kestrel's close friends and I did want more of his character.
This book did have a serious twist, some may see it happening, but I'm not those type of people who can easily predict what's going to happen. But the ending was a serious shocker and it left you hanging on a cliff, but luckily, the second novel is coming soon and I have high hopes for that novel. Also, I like enjoy the title because it does become a major theme throughout the novel which I think anyone can notice. Also, the author explains the title and reasoning behind it and that helped piece the puzzle.
So I'm super excited for the second novel. Although, second novels tend to worst book in the series in my opinion from past experiences such as the Grisha Trilogy, Harry Potter (It is good, but compare to the other books, I would rank it last), The Mortal Instruments and a lot more. Although, there are novels where the second one is superior than the first one such as Shatter Me and more. I'm even more happy that it's coming out in March so I don't have to wait such a long time and I can be sure to pick it up real soon.
I would definitely recommend this to anyone who's tired of main characters who are a bit too well-rounded and want someone who has a good balance of traits. And also, someone who wants a novel that doesn't take place in the future or tired of dystopian novels.
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