The Winner's Trilogy (Book 1)

The Winner's Curse

Rating

5 stars+ 

Date Read

26/7/15

Age Group

15+

General Thoughts

A day. Well essentially two, considering that reading this saw me trough the early hours of Wendsdnay morning as well. But I couldn't put it down. That might, in some extent, have something to do with the way it reminded me of An Ember in the Ashes, the inspiration from the Greco Roman period, the concept of hard, seemingly cold masters and defiant slaves spying on them, fighting for the freedom of their people. Turns out I have given up paranormal and switched to dystopian without even realizing it.

Main Characters

Kestrel

I was dreading this part. Kestrel is nothing like Laia and considerably harder to explain. She is intelligent. Devious. How did her friend call her? Fiend. She has a knack for secrets and is even better at yealding them to serve her as weapons, overcompensating for her lack of physical skills, a byproduct of her slender, fragile frame. She's also good at hiding. Hiding her feelings, feigning them, distortimg them, tricking people to consider the truth as a lie. She is complex and determined and she feels way more deeply than she lets on. She feels the cold, the betrayal, the loneliness. The love. And still, she thinks clearly, strategically, a warrior with a sharp mind and tongue, coming up with plans with minimum resources, lying to people, to him, to herself.

Arin

Honest. Cruelly so. Intelligent and cunning. A born leader. He gets to know her, observes her, falls for her. And still knows better than to underestimate her. His mind catches on fast, and, despite his cool demeanor and hard words, he is as attentive as he is loyal. As his secrets are slowly unveiled and he is softened around the edges, it's impossible not to fall in love with his vengeful yet passionate character. But not compassionate. Compassion has no place in a rebel fighting for his people's freedom. And yet his morals are impressive, hard set as he is not to step all over them, not to become like the savage, wild beautiful people he is fighting against.

The General

Did he have a name? He must have... An intimidating, stern disciplined figure. Kestrel's father. His gentleness around her was touching, especially because he wasn't own to spoil and coddle his only daughter. He raised her a warrior, a fighter, a soldier. But his love and pride shines through his words and actions and the way he treats her as an equal, listens and argues with her, respects and protects her and finds it hard to deny her anything, even if it means allowing her not to enlist in his regiment, or to free up a slave makes him a wonderful father.

Jess

Jess is pleasant and talkative and girly and compassionate and quick to pick up on things; cordial and discreet as she is, though, she avoids confronting them. Like she doesn't comment on Kestrel's rigid posture in the slave market, like she doesn't take offence in her best friend's distracted mimd whenever she made the effort to cheer her up after a hard week.

Writing

The dialogues are a delight to read. Arin's intelligent, cunning mind matches Kestrel's own, making their interactions interesting and intense, full of sharp words, witty remarks, hidden meanings and inside jokes. Having found their equal, they tease and toy and trick and fall in love.

Narrative

Who would have thought that I could plunge myself into a third person novel and enjoy it so much. Considering Fallen was my first and one of my favourite romances, you wouldn't think it hard. Then again, I was 12... To the point, it all comes down to execution. Making sure the characters are real enough, alive, not stiff and forced. Rutkoski did it. And the third person narrative even made things clearer, shedding just enough light into the characters feelings to relate to them, while still allowing for unbiased, detached eyes to see them through in order to evaluate their actions and understand how they view each other, all the secrets and lies that weigh down their realationship, all the words unspoken.

All in All

Slow, aching, forbidden romance, political rifes and strategies, tables turned and rebellions started, top notch story building, wonderful writing, complex characters. Perfect for fans of An ember in the Ashes who enjoy a more obvious romance and impossible-not-to-fall-in-love-with male protagonists. All the praise that went to the Ember applies, minus the gruesome mood and the closer-to-normal teenager female protagonist that was Laia. Unlike her, Kestrel is fevered, cunning and stategic. A delegate. The ending had just the right amount of a cliffhanger, more of an emotional one, making this an almost stand alone novel. Of course I'm craving the next one. Recommend to everyone.

XOXO

Aggie Pearson