The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Summary 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.

Find the book on AMAZON

 REVIEW

When you finally get THIS book in your hands you get all jumpy and giddy! After all the amazing reviews I read, all the blog tours I followed, I was glad to get a copy of my own!


"The Winner's Curse" follows Kestrel, the General's daughter who must choose, either to marry or enlist in the army. When she buys Arin, a slave with gray eyes and secrets of his own, she will discover that love can appear, even in the most diring places.

The most important part of the whole book, except from the world-building and the descriptions and the social standings is refusal; refusal from both main characters of their feelings for each other. Arin is the first to understand Kestrel and Kestrel even reaches the point to deny everything in order to save finally Arin.

The book ends with a strong cliffhanger, which I will follow on the second book! This is a story for those who want something more than insta-love or building steaming scenes. There's angst and death, tears and love. I am sure this book and series will be unforgettable.



The second book of the series: (click the cover for going into AMAZON)

  Book two of the dazzling Winner's Trilogy is a fight to the death as Kestrel risks betrayal of country for love.

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.


About the author:

 Marie Rutkoski is the author of the YA novel The Shadow Society and the children's fantasy series The Kronos Chronicles, including The Cabinet of Wonders, The Celestial Globe and The Jewel of the Kalderash. Her next project is a YA trilogy that begins with The Winner's Curse, which is scheduled to be published in March 2014.

Marie grew up in Bolingbrook, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago), as the oldest of four children. She holds a BA from the University of Iowa and a PhD from Harvard University. Marie is currently a professor at Brooklyn College, where she teaches Renaissance Drama, children's literature and fiction writing. She lives in New York City with her husband and two sons.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/marier...