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

The Winner's Curse (Winner's Trilogy #1)Author: Marie Rutkoski
Publication: March 4, 2014
By: Farrar Straus Giroux
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
4.75 Stars!

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.


Disclaimer: YOU NEED THIS BOOK IN YOUR LIFE! 

Thank you Macmillan, Farrar Straus Giroux and Ksenia Winnicki for this ARC. And the dagger because, well, it's a dagger! 

I had to make a few knock-off daggers because I got tired of telling my nine year old son, "Stop taking Mommy's dagger!"


Yes, one of the daggers is blood tipped.

Don't let the gorgeous cover or the summary fool you, The Winner's Curse is no light, swoony romance. It's a beautifully written, brilliantly crafted high fantasy story of love, betrayal, politics, and the fight for independence. (It will make anything you've ever written look like you've been finger painting with poo. Okay, so maybe that's just me, but still.)

The romance between Kestrel and Arin is a slow burn, one that is both heart racing and frustrating. Plot twists and constant strategizing keep the story moving and it all leads up to an ending that left me clutching my heart and eager to read the next installment!

I just wish I didn't have to wait so long for it! 

P.S. The line for Arin starts behind me. Sorry Kestral. (Not really)


Buy LINKS
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes |Indiebound | Google Books | BAM | Goodreads | Wesbsite | Facebook




About the Author
Marie Rutkoski is the author of The Kronos Chronicles, including The Cabinet of Wonders and The Celestial Globe. The Cabinet of Wonders, her debut novel, was named an Indie Next Kids’ List Great Read and a Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year, among other honors. 
Rutkoski grew up in Bolingbrook, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago), as the oldest of four children. She attended the University of Iowa, where she took Writers’ Workshop classes and studied with Pulitzer Prize-winner James Alant McPherson. After graduating, she lived in Moscow and Prague. Upon receiving her Ph.D. from Harvard University, she held dual appointments as a lecturer there in both English and American Literature and Language, and History and Literature. 

Rutkoski is currently a professor at Brooklyn College, where she teaches Renaissance Drama, children’s literature and creative writing. She lives in New York City with her husband and cat. 



 

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