Book Review: The Winner's Curse

The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Hardcover Edition-Bought

5/5 Lily Pads

No Spoilers!





Hey guys, today I am writing a review for "The Winner's Curse" by Marie Rutkoski. This is the first book in a fantasy trilogy. Before I tell you my opinion, here's what the book is about.

The Plot(Goodreads description)

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. 

My Opinion 

I went into this book not knowing much about it. I've seen this book around booktube recently and I've heard good things about it, so I wanted to read it. I'm glad I gave it a chance because I loved it! I don't read much fantasy but I'm trying to read more fantasy books. I didn't go into this book with high expectations. I'll admit I wasn't sure if I was going to like it because it's not my type of book. I really enjoyed reading it. I thought the book was so different and unique. It's hard to explain why but I feel it's different from other YA fantasy books. The plot was so unique, the characters were fun to read about and the world was so cool. It was just very different from other books I've read. Most of the time I think fantasy and dystopian books are the same. I prefer fantasy over dystopian because the world's are better and fantasy books have magic and mythical creatures. This one really stood out to me, and that's why I loved it so much. I usually don't care about the world building but I liked it in this book, it wasn't developed that well. I heard the second book has more world building in it and I'm glad because it wasn't really explained in this book. 

I really liked the characters. The main character, Kestrel was very likable. She was nice and smart and I just liked her. I also loved Kestrel because she's a musician like me, she plays the Piano. Music is her passion and I felt I could connect to her because I play Piano and music is one of my passions too. I thought Arin was okay. He's very secretive and mysterious, I don't know too much about him. I think he's nice but I'm not sure if he's on the good side or bad side. Hopefully I'll learn more about Arin in the second book.  

I really liked the writing, I loved Marie's writing style. I liked how I got to read about Arin's perspective too. 

Like I said before, the plot was very different and unique. The pacing was fine and I was never bored. It was a quick, easy read. 

Overall, I loved this book, it was so good. I really want to read book two "The Winner's Crime". I'm curious to know what happens next. If your looking for a good fantasy book that's easy to read, I would recommend this book. I think this book is worth a buy and you should go read this book right now. Obviously I gave this book 5 Lily Pads because it deserved it. Thank you so much for reading this review. Stick around for more coming soon, I will have a review on my booktube channel soon so stay tuned. Bye :)