The Winner's Curse: Winner's Trilogy, Book 1 Author: | Language: English | ISBN:
B00I5R5INY | Format: PDF
The Winner's Curse: Winner's Trilogy, Book 1 Description
Winning what you want may cost you everything you love...
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 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.
- Audible Audio Edition
- Listening Length: 8 hours and 24 minutes
- Program Type: Audiobook
- Version: Unabridged
- Publisher: Listening Library
- Audible.com Release Date: March 4, 2014
- Whispersync for Voice: Ready
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00I5R5INY
***Review posted on The Eater of Books! blog***
The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski
Book One of the Winner's Trilogy
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux (BYR)
Publication Date: March 4, 2014
Rating: 5 stars
Source: Copy borrowed from a friend (thank you, Jess!)
Summary (from Goodreads):
Winning what you want may cost you everything you love
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.
What I Liked:
Let me be clear: I most likely will NOT be doing this book justice, with this review. I loved this book so much, and I already know that I cannot express just how much I love this book, or everything that I love about this book, in one review. But I'll try.
This is more of a fantasy novel than anything. I saw on Goodreads that there are labels such as "science fiction", "dystopia", and "historical fiction". The first two are really off, but this book does have historical elements - like, medieval elements.
Choices for Valorian women are limited. Kestrel can join the military, as her father the general plannes for Kestrel since her childhood, or she can marry. No one would ever guess the path Kestrel truly wants to take. No one could imagine another choice in an empire that glorifies war and enslaves all it conquers.
Kestrel shouldn't have been tempted at the slave auction. Certainly not by a defiant slave whose every move broadcast contempt and disdain for his surroundings. Even knowing she will pay too much--knowing it will set off a series of disasters even Kestrel can't fully predict--she buys the slave.
At first Kestrel is too busy hiding her own activities to think much of the new slave. But Arin has his secrets too. As Arin and Kestrel circle each other they will embark on a journey together that will change both them and their countries forever in The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski.
The Winner's Curse is the first book in Rutkoski's Winner's Trilogy.
Rutkoski has created a vibrant world with a heroine who is shrewd and pragmatic even as she makes terrible decisions. Kestrel is a brilliant strategist--a skill that shows throughout the novel as she negotiates various obstacles throughout the story.
Secrets and lies are key to both Kestrel and Arin's characters, creating a story that is as much about what is said as it is about subtext. This novel is brimming with non-verbal communication and other subtle cues that Rutkoski expertly manipulates as a story of love and other--somewhat darker--matters slowly unfolds.
With a fully-realized world and vibrant, flawed characters there is a lot to absorb in The Winner's Curse.
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