The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

[Mimisreads_23]

The Winners Curse is the first book in a triology by Marie Rutkoski. The book is about a girl named Kestrel who lives in a world where their are two cultures. One is the Valorians and the other is Herrani. Kestrel is the daughter of the Valorian general, General Trajan who led the Valorians to victory ten years prior. Now, the Valorians are in charge of the land, and the Herrani are their slaves. When the Valorian citizen are forced to choose between joining the army or marrying by the age if twenty. Kestrel wants neither, but her father is pressuring her to join the army. Instead she likes to spend her time playing music, which leads her to buy a herrani slave one day in the market. They slowly form a friendship and must face many hardships, including dealing with the criticism of two segregated people that have a relationship. What caught my attention about this book was that it was a new concept other than cliche nerd falls for jock or vampire human love story. It was refreshing to have a story that wasn't based on a stars truck Insta love kind of romance. Instead it's about the struggles in a society . The story was well written although sometimes I found myself frustrated by the characters. Also the end of the book was a cliffhanger me which is also driving me crazy.

Have any of you read this? And if so did you share any of my struggles with the characters?

[pdcyouthlibrary]

I do agree with you about the struggles with some of the characters. I'm just about to start reading the second book, The Winner's Crime, and hoping to have some more answers to this book series. I did enjoy the first book, maybe not a favorite, but really did enjoy it! Hopefully the series continues to be great!

[EmaliaAntonia]

I really appreciated the different POVs. It was awesome to really see both sides of the war and where the two main characters were coming from and that there was prejudice on both sides too. It was great to have a heroine who was actually smart, and it was refreshing that she didn't what she wanted ahead of what she needed to do.

[Katie Cocchiola]

I really enjoyed this book and liked the different POV's of Kestral and Herrani. I agree how refreshing it was to not have an insta-love between them and to actually have their relationship build despite the fact their feelings that grow for one another are essentially forbidden, considering he is a slave and she is the daughter of a General. This wasn't a favorite for me, but I definitely had fun reading it and that ending confirms that I will for sure read the rest of the trilogy.

[erinmichal]

To be honest I checked out this book simply for the cover. What a good decision that was! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and it was one of those stay up all night, can't put down books. This is the first book in the series. It is similar to many of the Young Adult fiction novels about a young girl and a society on the brink of revolution. However, one thing I thoroughly enjoyed was the fact that Rutkoski did not make this girl the "chosen one" which has become a bit too common lately in these types of novels. It was well paced and a few times surprised me (which I find is hard to do with these types of novels). The main character was very loveable and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

[KAV]

The general’s daughter, Kesterel is beautiful and has a mind to match it. Given the choice to either marry or join the military Kesterel delays her father’s command and sets her sights on enjoying her own choices. On impulse she purchases a slave named Arin with no intention of using him other than for his musical talent, but what she doesn’t realize is that Arin has plans of his own, which forces Kesterel to make her inevitable decision a little sooner than anticipated.

Awesome story. This novel kept my attention and like others have said it was unique from others that would be considered in its genre because it wasn't "instant love". I loved the drama, the dueling, the betrayal and the forbidden love that grew between the two main characters Kesterel and Arin. It was nice to see a female character with much more than just a pretty face. All of the dilemmas that arouse were solved not with a weapon in arm but with a keen mind. It kept me on my toes and I could never figure out what was going to happen next. I can’t wait to read the second book in the series, The Winner’s Crime.

[rls1226]

4.5 stars

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I first cracked the spine of this book. This was my first experience reading the work of Marie Rutkoski, and to say that I was not disappointed feels like an understatement. So I’m going to begin this particular review with one highly technical word. Wow. I’ll pause a minute so you can look that up in your dictionary. Okay, in all seriousness, it is quite appropriately the one word that I would choose to describe my feelings about the story that unfolds within these pages.

I’ll begin with the beautifully descriptive language that hugged every page, every sentence, but never once felt overwhelming. I never had to stop and think, “What does that mean?” You know those descriptions. The ones that sound so completely elegant and gorgeous but you have not one clue what they’re trying to say. Books that hide their thin plots or one-dimensional characters behind too much flowery language hoping you won’t notice the major flaws. You need not worry about that here. There were so many stunning descriptions throughout the length of this novel that I stopped trying to make notes of my favorites. Here is an example and it’s far from being the best.

This was a discovery ten years old and yet remade every day. It
should have been dulled by repetition. Instead, he was sore from
its constant cut of surprise. He was sour with swallowed anger.

Even more than well-done descriptions, I love when I find a novel with well-rounded characters oozing from the pages at every turn; characters that remain consistent and true to who they are, yet often learn from their mistakes and grow (whether in a good or a bad way). Even the secondary characters here are amazing but, for the sake of this review, I’m going to focus on the two main characters: Kestrel and Arin. The story is told in their alternating points-of-view, woven together quite nicely. Kestrel is a strong, snarky female MC, something that I think young adult novels often lack these days, at least the ones I’ve read. It seems they either fall flat because authors are too afraid to put them in harm’s way, or they try too hard to be something they aren’t. Kestrel feels real to me. With a mind meant for strategizing and a heart destined for love, she boldly makes decisions all while questioning if she’s making a mistake. She’s human. She is a character with much strength but someone who can also admit to her weaknesses, even if it’s only in her head much of the time. And I just adore a girl with a smoothly veiled attitude. For example, in a line to one of the antagonists, she is able to deliver quite a fine insult cloaked in what would appear to be a compliment by anyone overhearing.

My thanks to you equals the grace you have shown me.

And Arin. Oh, Arin. He stole my heart and somehow held it gently in his calloused hands, even while he was crushing it, grinding it to a pulp. When his feelings for Kestrel begin to grow, he is angry with himself. He feels that he is a traitor to his people for loving a Valorian, and his heart and mind often fight internally, each begging to win. The secret that he holds is a major one that Rutkoski doesn’t keep from the reader for long. For me, this is a strength of the novel, knowing the full depth of one’s secret and knowing that the other MC has no idea what she’s walked into. And despite his secret, I loved him the entire time. Without saying too much more and risk giving anything away, he is such a complex character that will forever hold a place in my memory and a place on my wall of book crushes.

At its heart, The Winner’s Curse is a romance more than it’s a fantasy. The relationship between Kestrel and Arin builds slowly, which is a big plus in my opinion. I quite enjoy the slow burn of a blooming relationship, going on the journey with them. Books featuring instalove romances do nothing but irritate me. I want the suspense of wondering when they’ll get together or if they’ll get together at all.

While I didn’t have many issues with this book, I did have a couple. As I mentioned above, this is more of a romance than a fantasy. While Rutkoski did a good job with the world building and I was able to picture most of the setting without issue, there were also times when I couldn’t quite envision what was being put before me. Luckily, it was never enough to truly bother me or remove me from the story but this may be something that ruins the novel for others. I suppose it’ll depend on whether you are more tied to the romance or the fantasy elements of a story.

For the most part, I flew through the pages eager to see what came next. There was only one lull for me and that occurred about two-thirds through. Oddly enough, it happened almost immediately after the big reveal, which surprised me. I feel like this was where things should’ve picked up but instead it managed to fall on the dull side. However, this only lasted a few chapters before I was pulled back in.

I’ve read many reviews on this novel and it seems reviewers either love it or hate it, with very few standing on middle ground. Obviously, you can see which end of the spectrum I stand.

[Catherine Hsu]

I'm definitely in the minority for this one. I've tried reading The Winner's Curse three times, and I still couldn't get through it. I just felt extremely disconnected from the story and the characters, and I couldn't get a feel of the setting and world at all.

[ashley_claire]

I also had a hard time with this book. A big part of the problem for me was that this book was very largely political. I know a lot of readers enjoy political plots and this would be a great book for them, it's just not something I'm particularly interested in. Despite not having loving the first book, I tried listening to the second book as an audiobook because this series has such great reviews. I made it 20 minutes before I gave up and decided that this is just one of those series that I'm going to be in the minority in.