The Winner's Crime

Title: The Winner's Crime

Series: The Winner's Trilogy - book 2

Author: Marie Rutkoski

Rating: 5 stars

Genre: Young Adult

Number of Pages: 416

Publication Date: 2015

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Summary: 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 suspecion that Kestrel knows more than she shows. In the end, it might not be a dagger in the dagger that cuts him open, but the truth. And that happens, Kestrel and Arin learn just how much their crimes will cost them.

What a spectacular sequel to The Winner's Curse. This book picks up a month following the end of The Winner's Curse as Kestrel and Arin try to come to terms with the drastic changes their lives have gone through. In The Winner's Crime Kestrel and Arin are not only pushed to their limits but have to exceed them. They have to be smarter than ever and play the game harder than they ever have before. And all the while keep in mind that their actions drastically effect others.

The Winner's Crime is filled with even more deceit and deception than you can imagine. Just as you think one lie has been unspun you realise you have only found the tail end of it. As Kestrel and Arin work at discovering the same secret plot the two inadvertently find themselves working against each other as they go to great lengths to stay away from one another. But the further the two of them push each other away the more they want to fight for each other.

While the trickery in this book made it so incredible it also made it a struggle. There were a few moments in this book where Kestrel and Arin's lack of communication and trust dragged the story a bit. What made this difficult was that it is such a fundamental aspect of the book. In order for Kestrel and Arin's character to grow and learn from their actions they had to see just how destructive their lies and games were. 

I was also glad for the arrival of the new characters such as the Emperor, the prince Verex and the more prominant role of Kestrel's father, General Trajan. The Emperor and Verex relationship offers Kestrel an example of how power games can push away they people who should mean everything to you. To put yourself so far above others you begin to forget how human others are. Kestrel's father, General Trajan allows Kestrel herself to feel the stinging blow of betrayal by someone you love and the loss of friends brings Kestrel into the reality of what it means to lose everything. 

And while Kestrel learns to experience betrayal and isolation first hand by her own deceit and games as well as by others; Arin learns how hard it is to love someone who not only doesn't trust you but who can also cause your own destruction. Arin is forced to learn to that in order to save himself and his people for now he must let Kestrel go.

This book is filled with dread, pain and suffering and it won't let you go until you have read to the last page. The Winner's Crime is a powerful and seductive read that will pull you in until you are just as invested in the plot as the characters are.

The Winner's Curse

Title: The Winner's Curse

Series: The Winner's Trilogy - book 1

Author: Marie Rutkoski

Rating: 4.5 stars

Genre: Young Adult

Number of Pages: 355

Publication Date: 2014

Publisher: Square Fish

Summary: 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.

I absolutely loved this book! I loved the world, the characters, the plot, all of it.

This book consisted of a world that was a mix of ancient Rome, the Middle Ages and fantasy without the magic. Here the characters live under the rule of an Emperor with generals holdings high powers of authority, there were old fashioned rules for society such as women needing an escort yet at the same time woman could join the army and had the right to then be considered a soldier like any man.Yet despite all these mixing genres the world never felt as if different styles were being forced to co-exist; the world was seemlessly created and easy to imagine existing. The world was very easy to get lost in and it felt as if you were standing right beside the characters in this ingenious world.

The characters of The Winner's Curse are some of the best characters I have ever read about. A large focus of this book is based around the romance between Arin and Kestrel but at no point was there any lines about how they were shockingly good looking, charming, breathtakingly beautiful; instead each of these characters were strong characters who were admired for their talents and actions they took. These characters were each refreshing and made the book so much more.

The main characters were not the only one's who helped to carry the story. Every character that was apart of this book left some kind of impression, both good and bad, but none were forgettable. The characters in this story made impacts on the story line and helped to add depth to both the other characters and to the world itself.

The plot of this book was, however, was what drew me in the most. I picked this book up and I didn't put it down until I realised that I had run out of words...I even read the acknowledgements looking for something extra that continued on the story - no such luck. This book was captivating and well written.

Right from the beginning this book has a story to tell, at no point did I feel like the book dragged or failed to convey its message. The second half of the book seems to appear out of nowhere; suddenly the book picks up and begins to weave an incredible story about fighting for your freedom, the people you love and using your wits to survive.

This book meets so many criteria that anyone who reads it is likely to find some aspect that they like about it. I would have loved to have given this book 5 stars but there is something (no idea what it is) that is missing. From here out the series can surely only get better.