Review : The Winner’s Crime by Marie Rutkoski

Posted by on April 15, 2016 4:25 am in 4.5 stars reads | 0 comments

the winner's crimeThe Winner’s Crime by Marie Rutkoski
Pages : 402
Genre : YA, Fantasy
Series : The Winner’s Trilogy, book 2
My Rating : 4.5/5

About the Book  :

A royal wedding means one celebration after another: balls, fireworks, and revelry until dawn. 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: that she agreed to marry the crown prince in exchange for Arin’s freedom. But can Kestrel trust Arin? Can she even trust herself?

Kestrel is becoming very good at deception. she’s working as a spy in the court. If caught, she’ll be exposed as a traitor to her country. Yet she can’t help searching for a way to change her ruthless world…and she is close to uncovering a shocking secret.

My Thoughts :

It was only a month ago that I read and fell in love with the world of The Winner’s Curse; I was impatient to continue on with the story then, but I decided to wait until the third book in the series came out to do so. Luckily I didn’t have to wait too long!

But first, of course, I had to read book two – The Winner’s Crime.

There’s little to say without spoiling too much, but I loved where the story went with this book. I loved the push and pull between Kestrel and Arin and how tensed their encounters were. I loved that, despite romance being at the heart of the story, the two were mostly kept apart and torn away. Lots of drama, but well crafted drama (the best kind, right?)

The dynamics between the characters were also so interesting. Not just between Kestrel and Arin, but Kestrel and the emperor, the prince, her father… and a few more. Kestrel is so conflicted, and it makes all of her interactions meaningful and, as a reader, a little unpredictable. The political intrigue is also well crafted and had me guessing through the story, and I really enjoyed how quick of mind Kestrel was about it, even though she was sometimes a little less apt at understanding other people’s motives (Jess, Arin, etc.)

And most of all, I loved Marie Rutkoski’s writing. It was as beautiful as it had been in the first book. It definitely makes me want to read more from her once I’m finished with this series.

I’m keeping it short for today; I’m going right ahead and reading The Winner’s Kiss, so I’ll have more to say about the series soon! But I’m so glad I can say that I enjoyed this book even more than its predecessor : it had better pace, a tighter intrigue and a roller coaster of twists and emotions. It’s quickly becoming a favorite series for me!

Series Reading Order :

  1. The Winner’s Curse
  2. The Winner’s Crime
  3. The Winner’s Kiss

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