REVIEW: THE WINNER'S CRIME BY MARIE RUTKOSKI.

Title: The Winner's Crime
Series: The Winner's Trilogy #2
Author: Marie Rutkoski
Edition: Kindle (eARC)
Publication: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK and ANZ) / March 10, 2015
Source: eARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley
Pages: 416
Genre: High Fantasy, Romance
Trailer: Not available.

Synopsis:

Lady Kestrel's engagement to Valoria's crown prince calls for great celebration: balls and performances, fireworks and revelry. But to Kestrel it means a cage of her own making. Embedded in the imperial court as a spy, she lives and breathes deceit and cannot confide in the one person she really longs to trust ...

While Arin fights to keep his country's freedom from the hands of his enemy, he suspects that Kestrel knows more than she shows. As Kestrel comes closer to uncovering a shocking secret, it might not be a dagger in the dark that cuts him open, but the truth.

Lies will come undone, and Kestrel and Arin learn just how much their crimes will cost them in this second book in the breathtaking Winner's trilogy.

Lady Kestrel is trying to convince herself that she made the right decision. She wants to believe she signed the treaty in order to free the Herrani. But she knows deep down that this is her sacrifice because everything is about Arin. This way, she will not only save Arin and his people but also it will make his father proud. But her feelings for Arin keeps resurfacing and she knows she won't be able to hold it down much longer. When Arin shows up in the castle for a party, Kestrel tries to shut him out to protect him. But the Emperor knows what she's doing. The Emperor keeps an eye on her that even though she feels she can outwit him, he's got more things up on his sleeve she's never prepared for.

I cannot go detail by detail or else, I will just spoil the entire book. But I loved The Winner's Crime. It is absolutely on hell of a sequel. The scenes kept me holding my breathe that I feel like someone will get caught any time, like I was at the edge of my seat all the way until the last page. The plots became much dangerous this time and everything's a shade darker. The characters developed in a emotional level I couldn't stop pulling my hair. There's a local song here in the Philippines and a line from that song is the best way to describe Arin and Kestrel's unbelievable love story, "Why can't it be, why can't it be the two of us?" Sounds about right, riiiiiight? They have such strong bond that the one can figure out what the other ploys. However, despite the love they cannot tell each other, they also couldn't be together. That's the sick part. No matter how much they love one another, the entire Winner's Trilogy universe conspires against them. And that sick part is one major part why I love this series.

Some parts of the story felt a little bit underwhelming to me though. There were several parts where a certain scene would be cut abruptly and you'll just know something is up. Those parts didn't feel right somehow. I wish these secrets were hidden a little more carefully or plotted a little inconspicuous rather than being that much obvious. It would have kept the assumptions/predictions debatable. Also, I don't understand why Tensen didn't give Arin the letter.

Arin and Kestrel's story is so rich I want to grab them off the book and make them kiss in front of me then shove them back in. It was such pure torture to be in front of the one you love most but you couldn't even hug the person. You couldn't even smile for the person. Rutkoski did such a marvelous job not only in the world building aspect, but in refraining such emotions from being shown. I mean, its as if you're breathing but with a low scale of oxygen. Rutkoski made readers ache from a remarkable set of romance. Am wishing that once we're at the final installation of the trilogy, something beautiful would come out of this. (But honestly, I want a bittersweet ending.)

Caution though, this series has the cruelest but bestest endings, EVER!

The Winner's Crime is crafted in a much thrilling way. Treacherous and cunning, it is set to to glorify the pain of separation and the loss for an ultimate sacrifice. What a truly, maddeningly good sequel!

Thank you Bloomsbury Publishing Plc for the eARC!

"But she hadn't expected this: this stupid hope, this punishing one, for who would long to see someone who was already lost? What goof would it have done? None."

"It was wrong to want to touch a scar and call it beautiful."

"They were painful, these waking dreams."

"..which pain was greater: to give up something precious or to see it taken away."

"He, too, wanted what he shouldn't. He, too, felt how the heart chooses its own home and refuses reason. Not here, he'd tried to say. Not this. Not mine. Never."

"And he was so sickeningly furious with himself, for the way his mind kept reaching for her, at the way his body remembered her, even now, even here, half a world away, that he ground whatever thought he had been about to think into dust."

""Sometimes you think you want something," Arin told him, "when what you need is to let it go.""

REVIEW: THE WINNER'S CURSE BY MARIE RUTKOSKI.

Title: The Winner's Curse (The Winner's Trilogy #1)
Author: Marie Rutkoski
Edition: Hardbound
Published: March 4, 2014
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Pages: 355
Source: Bought from Fullybooked, Fort
Category: Fantasy, Romance
Trailer: Here.

Synopsis:

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.

When I first inquired about this book from our local book store, I was saddened to learn that it wouldn't be sold here in our country. By just merely looking at its gorgeous cover, I knew I had to have a copy added to my bookshelf. I tried, along with my other bookish friends, to talk to our bookstore so they would order it. Our persistence didn't falter and eventually, they listened to our heed. They did order it and a month ago, I finally had the chance to pet my fantastic copy of The Winner's Curse. It is so stunning I couldn't stop staring. Then I just had the worst case of reading slump.

It lasted two long months. I've never been this tired of reading and blogging. Usually, I would just go ahead and read different genres until I get my groove back but I kept dumping books. I only lasted around twenty pages on each one that I tried reading then I'ld give up. Reading was seriously hard for the past couple of months. Until I gave this one a try.

The Winner's Curse is a high-fantasy novel. I have been in love with this genre for so long that I know The Winner's Curse would lift me up and break this reading slump curse am into. It did. It did. It also left me so broken , so so broken.

The Winner's Curse, as explained in the book is winning a prize but losing something of yours in return. In the story, Valorian Lady Kestrel bought a taunting Herrani slave (for fifty keystones) she couldn't even understand why. She trusted her instincts that Arin, the slave, is more than a slave. She brought him home and since he's a black smith, she allowed her to work. She was also told by the auctioneer that Arin can sing only to be disappointed. The connection between Kestrel and Arin is too strong that onset of the story, I felt it. As they go along knowing each other, Kestrel learns major things about Arin, like how he can speak Valorian and how he could ride a horse. No slave is capable of those. She continues to trust him and even though she's suspecting something is amiss. Kestrel was being forced by her General father to join the military but she knows in her heart she cannot do it. She couldn't fight. What she's good at though is strategizing and figuring out things piece by piece. With this, she learned who Arin truly is only she's too late. She's in love with him. Her enemy.

The story is truly wonderful. I loved how the romance built slowly and how the development took place. Kestrel and Arin took a whole lot of time in figuring out what they truly felyt for each other without compromising their place in the society. I loved how the story twisted me from hoping that they would eventually run away and fight for what they feel. But I was wrong. I was broken all at once. Even though I slightly predicted Arin's character, I didn't see the ending coming. It was a punch in the gut. Well, it was a cut in the heart.

The world in the book that I imagined is really similar to the mountains I've seen in the Game of Thrones. Rich, beautiful, heart-warming. But also bloody. The war between Herrani and Valorian is action-packed and clever if I may say. Fighting for freedom isn't new to any of us but the author's take on her story is quite unique. The strategy Kestrel and Arin came up with are very solid that by the time they're done planning, you can immediately smell victory. That alone is a strength I couldn't highlight in this book. Not only a fantastic world buidling or amazing plotting one would enjoy but also brilliant characters, not sloppy or too cheesy ones.

The Winner's Curse is a story full of bravery, love and sacrifice. With Kestrel's ability to love unselfishly and Arin's courage to fight for his people, this book will surely capture ones heart. The False Prince meets the Game of Thrones, you will never go wrong with the unique voice of The Winner's Curse.

"Isn't that what stories do, make real things fake, and fake things real?"

"He knew the law of such things: people in brightly lit places cannot see into the dark."

"Happiness depends on being free, and freedom depends on being courageous."