Title: The Winner’s Crime
Author: Marie Rutkoski
Series: The Winner’s Trilogy #2
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Publication date: March 3, 2015
Source: library
About: {The synopsis contains some small spoilers as this is the second book in a trilogy: Read the review for the first book here for the series synopsis.}
Book two of the dazzling Winner’s Trilogy is a fight to the death as Kestrel risks betrayal of country for love.
I am SO excited to be bringing you this review today, because this trilogy is now one of my favorites of all time. After reading The Winner’s Curse, the first book, in all of twenty-four hours (I reviewed it here last week) I could not WAIT to crack open the second one. (Luckily, I had it on hand from the library!) Annnnd… I’ve died and gone to heaven.
Going in, I knew this would end on a cliff hanger, I knew the last one wasn’t hitting shelves until late March, I knew I would just be frustrating myself, I knew I would be emotional. I knew all of that. I still jumped.
I intended to make it last as long as possible! I DID! I had good intentions! Ha. Ha. Ha. It lasted me three days. (Though that felt like an eternity compared to the one day in which I read The Winner’s Curse.)
Marie Rutkoski’s strong suit is her characters and her poetic way of story-telling. Actually, her strong suit is the plot. And action. And romance. And making her readers cry until they can’t breathe anymore. (It’s all good.)
But seriously! Marie Rutkoski’s way with words is like nothing I’ve ever read before. Her books are pure poetry!
The Winner’s Crime also had a lot more action than the first. I loved that it kept me on my toes: I swear my eyes moved a bazillion times faster than normal!
And the romance. Arin and Kestrel OH MY HEART. One minute I’m swooning and screeching and making happy inhumane noises over the adorableness of my two favorites and the next I’m heartbroken and screaming and making angry inhumane noises over the sheer stupidity of my two favorites. It’s a roller coaster of amazingness.
And of course, the big jerkbag of an emperor kept everything going crazy. (Because when has there ever been a benevolent ruler in a fantasy book?) But it wasn’t just an overused plot line. For example, I had expectations for the prince of the story: to either be a complete skunk or a charming, suave guy and thus creating an annoying love triangle. But Rutoski avoided all those cliches. Nothing was what I expected!
Not to mention Kestrel, our main character. In both of the books out so far, Kestrel isn’t like most YA female heroines. I liked that, for once, the MC *isn’t* physically strong. She can’t fight. She doesn’t have killer instincts. Kestrel’s strengths lie in her snap decisions and being an incredibly scary-smart strategist.
I loved the world. The setting became more and more alive in this second installment; I can’t wait to see how it develops in the next book. (And I really want a map!!)
So of course I am going to recommend this series. Read this book. Read it. So what if they ruin your life? So what if the ending of these books make you wanna throw yourself off a cliff? So what, if after finishing one of these books, it feels like your soul has abandoned your body and found a new home in this pages? In the words of thebookbasement on YouTube, “That doesn’t matter, right?”
5 stars!
have you read these books? are you excited for the last on in march?? are you adding it to your tbr list? go and get it! go and get it NOW, i tell you! now.
i’m going to go cry now because i can’t talk to kestrel again until march 29. later, bookworms!
