Review - The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

by Marie Rutkoski
publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux Books for Young Readers
date of publication: March 4, 2014
format: ARC
pages: 355
source: publisher
series: The Winner's Trilogy (#1)
buy it: The Winner's Curse (Winner's Trilogy)

From Goodreads:

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.

Having just finished The Winner's Curse, I find myself pondering the best way in which to tell you what I thought of this book.  First, it isn't quite what I had expected.  What I got instead was something so much better.  Expecting a war-time romance, what I found was a story of distrust, betrayal, passion, and grave danger.  The tale of Kestrel and Arin is not a tidy one by any means.  Theirs is not an easy love and by the end of The Winner's Curse you will see their individual struggles between what is right and what is wrong when it comes to both love and country.

Kestrel is one of the most cunning, intelligent characters I have been faced with in a long time.  Even though she has the mind of a strategist, she has a love that outshines any ambition for the military life her father wishes for her.  Kestrel is a gifted pianist and it is her love for music that ultimately changes the course of her destiny far beyond anything she ever expected.  Arin is one of those characters that makes you tease out every little facet, every little blip of information from them.  He is strong, silent, and defiant.  What's more, he is not who he first appears to be.  When these two come head to head, there is no denying the nature of their relationship.  There is distrust.  There is heartache.  First and foremost, there is a series of hard choices that ensures a struggle for their love beyond their wildest dreams.

The landscape of The Winner's Curse is both desolate and rich at the same time.  I'm still not sure how Rutkoski pulled this off, but suffice it to say she did.  The impression of isolation from the rest of the empire is there, yet there is frequent mention of the bounties the region boasts.  When bolstered with details of Harrani turned Valorian estates, sumptuous balls, and high-stakes games of chance, the full picture is painted.  Harran is the now jewel of the Valorian empire, one which the Valorians ruthlessly made their own.

In the end, the first line in the book's above description has it right.  Winning isn't always the thing you need or want the most.  Kestrel and Arin learn this the hard way and take us along for the ride.  The Winner's Curse isn't just about freedom or possessions or even romance.  At the heart of it, betrayal, redemption, and heartbreak are the ongoing themes.  The fact that it isn't a perfect love story is part of its appeal.  It really makes you think and, in doing so, you are drawn right into the story, not knowing who is right.  Perhaps no one is.  Either way, The Winner's Curse is rife with emotion and beauty.  You would be hard pressed to find a better story, at least during this half of the year.