Book Review | The Winner’s Curse | Marie Rutkoski

Title: The Winner’s Curse
Author: Marie Rutkoski (web | twitter)
Series: Winner’s Trilogy #1
Genre: Fantasy YA
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Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Release date: March 4, 2014
Source: ARC from the publisher via NetGalley

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.

It pretty much goes without saying, my dear friends, that if there is a fantasy afoot, I will be all over it. There is nothing I love more than being able to read something and completely escape my reality. I find it incredibly satisfying and impressive. THE WINNER’S CURSE by Marie Rutkoski is a book that you can lose yourself in. It has a fascinating world, emotional heft, danger, jeopardy, and well-rounded characters. LOVED IT, mostly. The end got a little too bananas in too short a time for me, but we’ll get to that. (Sans spoilers, obviously!)

So in THE WINNER’S CURSE, we meet Kestrel, the daughter of a general who has been raised in a noble house with all the trappings of wealth and position. Her people, the Valorians, are conquest-happy, and have taken up residence in the former homes of the Herrani people, who have since been enslaved. Kestrel is fighting with some pretty powerful expectation as the general’s daughter: either join the military or get married. All she really wants to do is play music. Until one day when she and her best friend come upon a slave auction, and Kestrel buys a young man on a whim, simply because she is taken with him. This is Arin. As their relationship as master/slave becomes muddier and their connection deepens, a WHOLE MESS of things happens. There’s rebellions, plots, death, romance, and ALL THE THINGS.

The driving force in THE WINNER’S CURSE is Kestrel. She is unlike most Velorian noblewomen in that she desires to flout the rules. She wants to wander around on her own without an escort, she wants to make her own decisions about getting married or joining the military (quite frankly, neither of those appeal to her), and she wants to be able to play music whenever she wants. Kestrel is a strong-minded character who takes risks and stands out because she wants to be able to make her own choices. These are all things I admire greatly, and Kestrel deals with some pretty big ups and downs in THE WINNER’S CURSE. It’s really hard not to respect her desire to be her own person, as well as her lady stones.

So what are these ups and downs? Largely, they come in the form of Arin, the slave Kestrel purchases at the beginning of THE WINNER’S CURSE. He is like a Kestrel magnet. They are intrigued by one another, and that develops into a very hesitant FEELING that they both fight, for obvious and not obvious reasons. They have great tension and chemistry. I really liked Arin. He’s charming and mysterious and strong. He has his own reasons for wanting to be a part of Kestrel’s household, but those reasons quickly become something else in the face of their growing relationship, and he struggles with the conflict between the two.

The climax of THE WINNER’S CURSE is actually more of a build-up to a certain point and then the aftermath of that point. It’s a pretty clearly defined before and after. The THING that happens is huge in scope and ramifications, and I loved it. It really takes things and turns them on their heads and brings the drama. The way Arin and Kestrel figure into this THING shows you a lot about their characters and their relationship, but it also changes it in a pretty major way. It’s great the way Marie Rutkoski pulls the rug out from underneath basically everyone.

Of course, once we get to the “after” part of THE WINNER’S CURSE, things started to kind of barrel out of control a little bit. I thought that the beginning of the book was SUPER. I was completely engaged, the writing was excellent (this didn’t change at any time), and the tension and drama were moving a steady pace. The “after” part speeds up tremendously and jams a bunch of stuff into the last handful of chapters that made it seem like Marie Rutkoski had to shoehorn things in. The “after” could have easily been several hundred pages longer. In fact, I would’ve liked it better if it was. It needed it, I thought, because the end was like a pinball machine a little bit. Alas.

That’s not to say that the end of THE WINNER’S CURSE doesn’t leave me with tremendous anticipation for book 2, because HELLO, IT TOTALLY DOES.  Arin and Kestrel are characters that get under your skin in the best way, so I’m dying to see what happens next with them and the paths they’re on.

Despite my slight feeling of mehs about the ending, I would 100% recommend THE WINNER’S CURSE to anyone who loves YA fantasy. The world is vivid and interesting, and I very much enjoyed the glimpses we got to the different cultures of the Velorian and Herrani people. Marie Rutkoski certainly has a gift for words and characters as well. I hope that the next book gives us more time to ruminate in the world she’s built with these wonderful characters who tug at your heart and the political machinations that make everyone edgy.

Check out some other reviews of The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski!

Asheley @ Into the Hall of Books: “As a person that adamantly opposes hype, I’m telling you to PAY ATTENTION to the hype for this one, pick this book up, and LOSE YOURSELF IN IT.“

Brittany @ The Book Addict’s Guide: “This is definitely a thrilling and captivating read and you can bet I’m in this series for the long haul!”