Book Review: The Winner's Crime; Marie Rutkoski.

I had to take a nap straight after reading this in order to sort out my head before writing the review. I still feel a little dazed too. Am I supposed to feel this angry, upset, and yet oddly happy about a big improvement at the same time? I have no idea! Still, I'll explain as best as I can my loves and gripes with this book. I'm entering this into this month's 'Monthly Motif' challenge too, as in her own way Kestrel stands up for her beliefs that other cultures are not to be feared or conquered.

SOURCE: Netgalley
TYPE: E-Read

TITLE: The Winner's Crime
AUTHOR: Marie Rutkoski
SERIES: The Winner's Trilogy (#2)
PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury Childrens
PAGES: 416
GENRE: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance

RATING: 4/5 Stars

Blurb:
Lady Kestrel's engagement to Valoria's crown prince calls for great celebration: balls and performances, fireworks and revelry. But to Kestrel it means a cage of her own making. Embedded in the imperial court as a spy, she lives and breathes deceit and cannot confide in the one person she really longs to trust ...

While Arin fights to keep his country's freedom from the hands of his enemy, he suspects that Kestrel knows more than she shows. As Kestrel comes closer to uncovering a shocking secret, it might not be a dagger in the dark that cuts him open, but the truth. 

What I Liked:

• My review for 'The Winner's Curse', the first book in the series, was okay but hardly glowing. I definitely felt like this was a big improvement to it's predecessor. One of my gripes had been the constant jumping around and unfinished moments/conversations. The constant change of character happens in this book too, but I felt like Rutkoski actually explored everything fully before moving onto the next scenario. As a result, I was completely hooked by the plot from start to finish and fully invested in the outcome.
• I guess my other problem with Book One was Kestrel and Arin as a couple. Due to the jumpy, slightly forced nature of the book, I really felt very little in the way of romance between the two of them. However, the atmosphere and chemistry between these two was totally electrifying in this book and I couldn't believe the huge difference. I actually really believed in these two as a couple and wanted them to get together. Thank goodness too, as if I hadn't then I don't think I would have really bothered with the next book in the series.

What I Disliked:

• With this book comes a huge feeling of frustration and anger. At least, it was there for me. Despite an improved relationship and sexual tension between the two romantic leads, their inability to talk to one another on a basic level wore thin pretty fast. They were so immature at times, and in the most childish way continued the petty charade of pretending not to care in front of each other, while claiming to know the other so well. Not only did I want to throw my Kindle across the room, but I couldn't help but feel disappointed that at times it felt like Rutkoski's plot was reduced to a series of misunderstandings.
• This is a really small annoyance but were there meant to be chapters? Because there weren't. Any. At all. There were just very sudden, unannounced viewpoint changes that slightly threw me every single time it happened.

Overall Conclusion:

This was certainly a marked improvement to the series and I definitely want to read the final instalment and see what happens. The world-building was not heavy enough to overload you, but definitely provided the information I needed and the plot was thick with twists and turns this time around. There was even an element of mystery that I enjoyed. I loved the political intrigue and the deeper meaning behind the conversations that the characters had, particularly in scenes with the Emperor who was a remarkable villain in the story. I did find myself feeling a great deal of frustration as characters missed the obvious in order to create plot points, but that cliffhanger is too hard to resist.

Book Review: The Winner's Curse; Marie Rutkoski.

I have heard so much about this book on both Goodreads and the blogs that I follow, and I wanted to love it so much. Unfortunately, while I liked it, it didn't grab me in the same way that the hype suggests it should have done. It will be entered as one of my entries for this month's Key Words Challenge however!

SOURCE: Bought
TYPE: E-Read

TITLE: The Winner's Curse
AUTHOR: Marie Rutkoski
SERIES: The Winner's Trilogy (#1)
PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury Childrens
PAGES: 369
GENRE: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance

RATING: 3.5/5 Stars

Blurb:
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.

What I Liked:

• The general plot concept and story-line were such a good idea. Forbidden love is always a trope I quite like reading and racism was a theme nicely interwoven into the story-line. I also quite liked the way that there was no black and white throughout the story. Everything was a grey are: which characters you were supposed to like, who you were meant to root for, whether you liked the decisions they made.
• Most definitely the last third of the book. It was in my opinion what saved it (more on that later) and made me actually want to read the next book in the series! I felt like more effort was put into it, there was a clear direction that the author was heading towards and it flowed much more nicely than the rest of the book. I was gripped while reading this part!

What I Disliked:

• The first portion of the book just felt a little disjointed and vague. What I mean by that is it felt rushed: conversations felt unfinished, there wasn't much detail about the world-building as a whole and important plot events felt a little glossed over. As a result I didn't get the connection to the story or characters that I was hoping for from the get-go and that was a bit disappointing.
• For most of the book, Arin and Kestrel as a couple were a little disappointing. I liked them but I didn't feel completely invested in them like I expected to for one simple reason. There was no real chemistry between them! Mostly, that is because of the reason I mentioned above: there was simply not enough detail put into the world and the characters that lived in it, and the moments between them were often cut short. I appreciated the lack of insta-love I suppose but I didn't really root for them as a couple until the final part of the book.

Overall Conclusion:

While I did enjoy this book, especially the last section when things seemed to flow better and become more interesting, I just felt it was a bit too jumpy. I felt like Rutkoski knew where she wanted the book to end but in her rush to get there, neglected the beginning and middle portions a little. It jumped too much from character to character and I feel like key relationships and events were brushed aside far too much. There was a build in both plot and romance that I liked, and the concept was good, but if the whole book had been like the end section I would have liked it a lot more!