Title: The Winner's Crime
Author: Marie Rutkoski
Publication Date: March 03, 2015
Series: The Winner's Curse #2
Rating:
Summary:
The engagement of Lady Kestrel to Valoria’s crown prince means one celebration after another. But to Kestrel it means living in a cage of her own making. As the wedding approaches, she aches to tell Arin the truth about her engagement…if she could only trust him. Yet can she even trust herself? For—unknown to Arin—Kestrel is becoming a skilled practitioner of deceit: an anonymous spy passing information to Herran, and close to uncovering a shocking secret.
As Arin enlists dangerous allies in the struggle to keep his country’s freedom, he can’t fight the suspicion that Kestrel knows more than she shows. In the end, it might not be a dagger in the dark that cuts him open, but the truth. And when that happens, Kestrel and Arin learn just how much their crimes will cost them.
THE WINNER'S CRIME WAS ALL I WISHED FOR IN A SEQUEL OR IN A FANTASY BOOK OR IN EVERYTHING. Suffice to say that I loooove love loved it so much. I was even clutching my tablet for a good hour reeling over everything and over THAT ending. That's very cruel, Ms. Rutkoski. Seriously, this book is all sort of amazeballs, brilliant and superb. I have no other words. This ends my review. Goodbye! I am going to wallow in the misery and agony of waiting for the third book.
I fangirled over The Winner's Curse last year and here I am fangirling over the awesomeness of its sequel. It was more than the romance. I think the vivid, intricate and stellar wold-building and authenticity and rawness of all the characters made this book really powerful and vicious. It's not just Arin and Kestrel that we watch in motion, there's dynamics to the new characters and new places. The story unravels and upped its game on revenge, cruelty and inequality. This story was more complex than the predecessor and such intensity requires strong and withstanding hearts for OH BOY, THE ANGST AND FEELS AND PAIN. Trust has been tested and loyalty has been stretched. It makes me wonder how much these characters are going to push forward and pull backward.
Kestrel is that heroine that is acutely aware of her strengths and weaknesses. She's badass not for her physique, but for her brilliant brain. I love love how she developed and bravely fought the emotional turmoil, even alone. Arin. . Oh, Arin.
The writing was heaven. All I could do is devour every prose and metaphors and figurative language all at once. I just read there in awe and try to shake away from my trance because I am completely enthralled by the writing. It was beautiful, lyrical and powerful. It makes you think of how much an author could compare, contrast tangible and intangible things.
There's involvement of new characters such as Verex, Rishka, Terense, and the people from the East (Dracans). There was diversity of cultures that actually reflect the present society, I think. The story was written well and the pacing was a delight. If The Winner's Curse was about the rebellion and rise of a new era, The Winner's Crime takes us deeper and more rugged. The strategies, ploys and tactics were astounding as well.
The romance... It's like giving you a taste of the most delicious and mouth-watering cookie and then suddenly depriving you the next second. That's how the romance in this book felt like. I WANT MORE. I want them to hurt each other more (evil laugh) because that's what star-crossed lovers fucking feels, right? That's my fave kind of OTP! But seriously, the romance was burning and painful especially on the first chapters because. . . UGH. And then the latter, which was also a big SOBBING fest.
The Winner's Crime is so good and so poignant that you just lay there and accept the pain. It is rich with emotional turmoil, personal battles, all around dazzling setting and spontaneous and brilliant plot that keeps you begging for more.
