YA Weekend: The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Series: Book 1 of The Winner’s Trilogy

Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux (March 4, 2014)

Author Information: Website

Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

I admit it, I read this book for FORBIDDEN LOVE! Turns out though, it was not exactly the kind I had in mind. I expected a little more chemistry, perhaps? A little bit more of that “it’s you and me against the world”? The Winner’s Curse ended up giving me two lovers who actually spent more than half the book locked in conflict with each other, and so their romance lacked some of that je ne sais quoi which makes forbidden love so scandalous and delicious.

Meet the two star-crossed lovers in question: Kestrel, the seventeen-year-old daughter of a Valorian general, who one day visits a slave auction and spontaneously decides to buy Arin, a native of the Harrani lands her people conquered. Their meeting, however, was no accident. Unbeknownst to Kestrel, Arin is actually a high ranked member of a group of Harrani rebels, planted purposely at the auction to draw her in. As a slave in the Valorian general’s home, Arin would be in a position to gather intelligence and plan his people’s uprising.

What neither of them counted on was that their master and slave relationship would eventually evolve into friendship, deepening into love. But that journey was far from passionate for me; instead, it felt tepid and sometimes even bordered on awkward. It’s tricky creating chemistry when both your characters are torn between their loyalties to each other or their own people, and the story never managed to convince me that there was ever really any trust between Kestrel and Arin. Seeing as The Winner’s Curse is essentially a romance, that’s a pretty vital ingredient to be missing for me.

Okay, so their relationship was not as swoon-worthy as I would have liked, but no matter. The world, the characters and the story soon won me over, and I enjoyed this book a lot. While it is what I would classify as “standard” YA, it still contained plenty of surprises within its pages. I did love the setting, with the flavor of a historical fantasy. A martial civilization like the Valorians which also encourages women in their army fascinates me. If anything, I wish the scope of the story was bigger to encompass more of the events in the wider world. There’s a lot of potential for world building here; because of the narrow focus on Kestrel and Arin, we only get to see a tiny slice of what’s happening.

Forbidden Love just happens to be a trope I can’t resist, but the comments I made above notwithstanding, if you are a fan romance I would still highly recommend The Winner’s Curse. But if it’s excitement or a thrilling adventure you’re looking for, you might want to reconsider. The pacing is a lot more quiet, with a decent chunk of this book dedicated to getting Kestrel and Arin together, and it’s a gradual process not achieved through any wild or fierce means. There’s perhaps a slight pick up in pace in the final handful of chapters, but keep in mind the story itself isn’t about providing a lot of action, it’s about character development and building a relationship. The careful way in which Marie Rutkoski does it is undeniably this book’s crowning glory, and even though the romance itself fell a bit flat for me, I’m sure for many others it will be the most engrossing aspect.

Despite the shaky love story, I really liked this novel, and I’ll no doubt pick up the next book when it comes out. I’m still holding out for an exception forbidden romance to emerge triumphant from this series, and I think it still has a chance, not to mention things end just as the story gets even more interesting.