By Marie Rutkoski The Winner's Curse (The Winner's Trilogy)

The Winner’s Curse is a prime example of why you should never give up on a book. I have had the series on my TBR and shelves for many years. But I have never felt reading it when I’ve picked it up. But this month I was determined to add this to my TBR and finally read this. I am so glad that I did the book was amazing and everything I want from a YA fantasy novel.I story follows a high-ranking general’s daughter by the name of Kestrel. She is struggling to decide if she is to become a soldier like her father or a wife to high ranking blue blood. Kestrel and her farther live in a land that once belonged to another group. One of these people is a man named Arin a blacksmith who is currently for sale in the local slave market. Our lead characters meet when Kestrel stubbles in into the market and gets caught up in Arin’s auction. She wins by placing a large bid and wins. This large win in known as a Winner’s Curse (or you just paid too much for your bid). When Arin and Kestrel return to the general’s home she does not realise to has got more than she bargained for.I read this one sitting, not something I normally do, but I am happy that I did. I enjoyed the authors writing style and the many twists and turns in the story. I would highly recommend.

I came into this story not really knowing what to expect. I wasn’t even sure if I would like it. To be honest, it seemed a bit strange, and dare I say it a bit boring. But then I started reading and I realised how wrong I was.The world building in this story is vast, yet it is so natural and does not feel forced. I liked the references that were made to the Greek/Roman culture, which made, for me, the world much easier to understand and visualise. Overall it made Kestral’s home seem so real, almost like we were reading about a far a way land.The first part of the book felt a little slow as we had to deal with Kestral’s indecisiveness (and to be honest she was a bit of a pain) and Arin (or Smith, depending on where you are in the story) behaving, well not as he should. I’m glad I didn’t have to deal with him – he is not a very good slave. And then all the events seemed a little droll, there’s lots of balls and picnics and fun to be had. I only kept going because of the offerings of tantalising clues about what was to happen.But then the second half picks this all up and the book completely changes tone. Everything that was mysterious in the first half suddenly makes sense and the political games start.Torn between two sides, will the right decision be made? Will Kestral and Arin finally be together? I loved that both characters were flawed in how they handled situations, despite their strengths (both have brilliant minds and are good strategists), but also they both grow and develop as the story goes on.Pretty much everything about The Winner’s Curse is perfect and I’m intrigued to see how the next book will turn out.

Marie Rutkoski certainly knows how to spin a pretty word; this book is genuinely written beautifully. In fact, for the most part, the writing style is what kept me reading - although the tale itself is strong.Arin is a slave for sale at the local market. He is a Herrani; which means he knows a thing or two about losing wars. Kestrel (pretty name right?), is a Valorian generals daughter. So she knows a thing or two about living the perfect life, winning wars and going to social gatherings.Until she buys Arin, on a whim, from the market and employs him as a blacksmith in her home. Read: Lavish mansion with ponies.I loved these two characters. Arin is cunning, observant and difficult to assess. Although the story is mostly told from Kestrels point of view, although not as the narrator, we are given subtle insights into Arin's personality and history which made me excited about his character. Kestrel, despite what I've just made her sound like with the ponies and parties, is equally gritty. I loved Kestrel in fact because I expected her to be air-headed and a bit of a princess. In actuality, Kestrel is wise and challenges what she is told to believe. I love that she was a sort of lie detector, it made for an interesting read.The general story is that Kestrel has a short time to decide for she will join the military as her father desires, or marry into a Valorian family of merit to make her fathers empire look more impressive. As you can imagine, Kestrel doesn't fancy a marriage - giving up her independence doesn't appeal to her nature and that was great. I hate submissive characters who seem to actually enjoy being controlled by rules and authority so Kestrel was a breath of fresh air. I also liked how the author showed Kestrels resourcefulness. She is able to notice her vulnerabilities, like poor fighting technique, and use her smarts to get her out of sticky situations instead. Now I like some female bad-assery as much as the next YA fan, but it's great to see someone use their head to save their skin too.You might expect a forbidden romance type thing here. And in some ways there is a romance element, enough to keep romantics happy anyway. However, it's more subtle than I expected from the blurb and actually the two protagonists fight each other with equal cunning and out-witting for almost all of the book. This was much better than the standard love at first sight thing I've come to expect from this genre.So why the lower ranking? I toyed between 3 and 4 stars, so really its 3.5. But the problem I had with this book was that it was quite slow. I'm not saying it was bad at all, it wasn't, there was a great deal to enjoy. It was just a slow burn for me. I didn't feel fully immersed all the way through, but actually sort of dipped in and out of being glued to the book by some really good bits and some much slower bits. This kind of inconsistency lost some love from me. Equally, I struggled with some of the action scenes. There was so much this author could have done with these intense scenes, and in fact with the "bad-guy" but instead they were quite superficial and not especially detailed accounts of what happened with an unconvincing baddie. This book is sold as a fantasy, but in actuality I think it missed the mark a little there by limiting the detail. This is true also for the history of the past war and the Herrani/Valorian people. Although we are told pieces of the past, there isn't enough to build a true picture of it sadly.Despite these flaws, this book is very good. The story is wonderfully written, and the characters are brilliant and layered - something I think this genre was missing. I will definitely read the next book, and have heard fantastic things about it, I just hope the author gives us a nicer back story this time with a faster pace.