BOOK REVIEW: The Winner's Curse (The Winner's Trilogy #1) by Marie Rutkoski

Title: The Winner's Curse
Author: Marie Rutkoski
Publisher: Square Fish
Publication Date: March 3rd, 2015
Genre(s): Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Format: Paperback
Pages: 384

They were never meant to be together. As a general’s daughter, seventeen-year-old Kestrel enjoys an extravagant and privileged life. Arin has nothing but the clothes on his back. Then Kestrel makes an impulsive decision that binds Arin to her. Though they try to fight it, they can’t help but fall in love. In order to be together, they must betray their people . . . but to be loyal to their country, they must betray each other.

Set in a new world, The Winner’s Curse is a story of rebellion, duels, ballroom dances, wicked rumors, dirty secrets, and games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

 Let me say that do not judge the book by its cover. A lot of people say that this book has beautiful cover but I think it was not beautiful at all. It was just a picture of a girl laying her hand on her forehead which I think it is one of the 'too much' kind of gesture. Well, I think we should stop talking about the cover and talk about the book more!

Because of my opinion of the cover, I kind of hesitant picking this book up. You know, the girl with that kind of dress, with that hand gesture ... not really my thing. Though, I kind of curious because it is said that it is a fantasy book. So, after the 2nd book came out like last month, I tried to read this one.

At first, I was just 'meeehh' (it was at 20% of the book) and then one particular scene happened (I'm afraid of spoiling you so I can't say which one) I got hooked right away. It wasn't like what I was thought of it before. Somehow it reminds me a little bit of The Final Empire of Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson minus the superpower. There is a political aspect, a little bit historical kind of setting (I'm not sure about this, I haven't read any historical fiction before), and romance (obviously). But keep in mind that this is the first book of the series, so not much happened in the book but really good set up for the next books.

The main character, Kestrel is not like the typical main character in any fantasy books I've read before. Usually the main character is strong in physical or having a different kind of superpower, but with Kestrel is different. She's got her brain for sure. She's smart even though she doesn't really strong in physical. As in Arin, the love interest, I didn't really sure about him. I thought that he was kind of weak, well not in physical but in heart, even though that was a good thing but in this kind of situation it wasn't good. You will know once you read the book.

Well, I loved it, and I was immediately read the next book right after (while reading the Amulet graphic novel series). I gave it 5 out of 5 stars, definitely something worth to check out!

Happy reading! :)

- Nikita