Image and blurb 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.
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My thoughts:
2 "Slavery isn't right, Kestrel,
and I thought you'd understand" STARS
Unpopular opinion following....
So, The Winner's Curse is supposed to be this really cool YA Fantasy according to its high rating on Goodreads. Most of my friends have read and loved it. Plus, it has a strong forbidden romance arc. Obviously I went into this prepared to love it as much as everyone else. Blah. Did not happen.
Why, you may ask?
Because I hated the MC - Kestrel. I didn't simply dislike her, like I did quite a few MCs in the past. She wasn't simply another character I added to my unlikable MC list. I really, really hated her, to the point that hating Kestrel made reading this book quite entertaining.
So, who is Kestrel and why did she piss me off so much?
Kestrel
is the daughter of a super powerful Valorian gerenal. The Valorian army once
upon a time (or ten years ago) conquered the Herrani, making them all slaves
(the ones who weren't murdered, obviously). Bottom line, we're talking about
slavery here, which makes me think of another YA I read last year: An Ember in
the Ashes (review here).
The
difference is, while Elias didn't make me think for a second he supported
slavery, Kestrel's actions did the exact opposite. And you know what is worse?
The way she's first introduced (as a girl who supposedly isn't comfortable at
an slave auction) misled me into believing I’d find a young rich lady who was
willing to risk it all to free the slaves. She was SO not that. No wonder I
loved Elias and couldn’t stand Kestrel.
While
we’re supposed to believe Kestrel is this nice person – look, she even begged
and convinced her father to free her nanny; the slave who practically raised
her --, she’s also the girl who bought a slave just because he’s hot and sings.
Yes, she convinces herself she doesn’t notice he’s hot while describing his
muscles and everything else. Yes, she’s obsessed with music. Yes, she bought a
freaking slave.
Music,
by the way, is everything to Kestrel. She buys a slave because of it. She
denies her father’s pleads to join the army because of it. She even attempts to
use it as an excuse for her lack of fighting skills. Kestrel’s everything is
her piano, which means everything else can go to hell as long as she’s doing
what she wants. Because being selfish is also something Kestrel excels at.
And
who is this slave Kestrel bought? Arian – a singer and a blacksmith; and also a
slave that acts like nothing but a slave, especially when around Kestrel. I
have to give her that. From the way Arian talks back at her, she could’ve
punished him big time, which she never did. But she also treated him like a
slave many times, in the sense that she enjoyed a bit too much to order him
around, like she did with every other slave that crossed her way. The moment he
didn't have to obey her any longer, her interest in him lessen. It's impossible
not to see that.
It’s
easy to say you don’t like slavery because you don’t punish your slaves, but
still act like they belong to you when you demand they do everything that
pleases you. Even when everything went to hell and she wasn’t in a position of
power anymore, Kestrel took pleasure in ordering Herrani men and women around
just for the sake of seeing them obey. I’m not making this up. Look at this
quote:
“Sarsine glared, because they both knew she would have to do just that.
There were too many things in the suite that could become weapons in the right
hands. Kestrel hated to see
them leave, but was glad that when they did, at least it would feel as if she
had given an order and Sarsine had obeyed”
I
wanted to slap her. It wasn’t the first time. Certainly wasn’t the last. That,
ladies and gentleman, is your MC. A girl who can't see beyond her needs; a girl
who couldn't see, even though it was right in front of her eyes, that the
Herrani had the right to be pissed off for being treated like slaves. I
expected her to understand. I expected her to put the pieces together when the
roles were reversed, but she never did. I was angry and disappointed.
While
Arian was a better character than Kestrel, because I thought he was always
moving toward a good cause and trying not to lose himself in the process, he
did get on my nerves quite often due to his feelings for Kestrel. Especially in
the second half of the book. I can’t say much because of SPOILERS!!!, but Arian
made some pretty terrible choices involving his people and Kestrel because he
trusted her way too much. He paid the price, even if briefly.
Krestle’s
choice in the end can be seen as a way to redeem her character, but I’m not
ready to like her yet. I’ll give book 2 a chance because of everything else
that is right about this story: the world building, the great writing, the
promise of an entertaining read (and the high ratings -- yes, I’m one of
those); but I’m uncertain I’ll be able to really like Kestrel and root for her
before this series is over.
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