The Winner's Curse - By Marie Rutkoski
Kestrel and Arin live two very different lives. Kestrel is the daughter of a general in an empire that her people have conquered and now rule over. She has all the luxuries her father's money can buy yet all she really cares about is playing her piano, but soon she will have to make a choice. Get married or join the military as her father wishes she would. Arin is a slave bought my Kestrel. He works in the forge when Kestrel isn't insisting he be her chaperon for visits to the markets and her friend's home. Soon they begin to fall in love but Arin has a secret, a secret that changes everything and shatters Kestrel's world.
I was given this book as a gift and thought right away that it sounded like something I'd love. I was right. The Winner's Curse is set in a beautifully fabricated world. It took until about the middle of the book for some big action to happen but exploring the world through the characters in the first half was intriguing and fun. I loved Rutkoski's beautiful writing style. The story is well plotted, well written, and had excellent characters that felt real. There were small parts of the book where I wanted to shout at Kestrel, but I tend to want to shout at characters when they don't see what's going on. The Romance may feel like the main plot at times but it's only really a tool to drive the main characters actions and emotions. This is a book I would defiantly give a friend and a series I will continue to read.
Cover Babble: I love the cover. Its dramatic, intriguing, and just plain beautiful.
I'd give it an 8.5/10
