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Book Review: The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Aug 10, 2014

The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Pages:368
Publish date:July 3rd 2014
Publisher:Bloomsbury
ISBN: 1408858207
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

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.

The Winner’s Curse:

First Line: She shouldn’t have been tempted.

I received a copy of The Winners Curse from Bloomsbury Australia. This in no way has influenced my review.

I love this book. I cannot explain how much I love this book. It is even more beautiful than the cover and which is simply divine.

Just everything about this book is amazing. The world – how much I love the world created by Marie Rutkoski. It is so intriguing and striking. Rutkoski created something that is new and refreshing but still sticks to a ‘guideline’ for fantasy/historical fiction novels. It was interesting to see the world that Rutkoski created. She formed a world that is complex, but quite easy to get your head around.

The characters that she creates are even more intriguing than the world. You cannot trust anyone and they are multi-layered which adds so much depth to the novel.

Kestrel, the main protagonist, is so intriguing and different a character than. I have read before. She is strong and builds up all these walls, but they are brought down slowly by someone she doesn’t expect to affect her the way he did.

Kestrel is the daughter of general and she is given two choices: join the army or get married. As you can guess Kestrel wants none of those.

There are many reasons why we won…but the fundamental reason is simple. They were weak. We were not.

Rutkoski’s writing in The Winner’s Curse is simply beautiful and captivating. It draws you in and you just can’t seem to put the book down. If I tag could put sticky notes in the whole book I would, because there are just so many beautiful moments. There are many beautiful quotes that I want to remember.

Aria, the slave that Kestrel brought, is very interesting. We don’t know too much about him expect what the slave says to make someone try and buy him. But as the novel goes on we get to see more about him and, man, he was fascinating.

Kestrel’s father is also an interesting character. He is the army general, but when it comes to his daughter, he will do anything even if he doesn’t realise it. Kestrel and her father have interesting relationship that I actually didn’t mind at all. Because he may be all tough on the outside, but deep down he loves his daughter with everything.

Happiness depends on being free, and being free depends on being courageous.

I fell in love with the romance. Oh, it was just so beautiful. Slow, but just so gorgeous and breathtaking. I just swooned half the time. Both Kestrel and Aria don’t even realise how they feel about each other, but it’s beautiful to watch. Rutkoski is a mastermind. The combination of forbidden love between a slave and someone of high standard and the blissful moments are perfect.

She saw him and didn’t understand how she had ever missed his beauty. How it didn’t always strike her as it did now, like a blow.

Some might say that the first half of the book’s pacing is slow, but I think it is the perfect type of slow because the second half? Well, I just could not put the book down. It was thing after thing and it was amazing.

The ending…Wow. What a way to leave a book. You shouldn’t end a book like that, but Rutkoski did and damn I sobbed. I need the The Winners Crime now! I just cannot handle it.

Everything in war hinges of what you know of your adversary’s skills and assists…but how you negotiate the strengths of your opponent is more likely to decide the battle than anything else.

The setup of the whole book is just as amazing as the book. The gorgeous cover that I simply adore. The first pages that are fully black and the way that the chapter numbers are written add as much individuality as the novel does.

The Winners Curse doesn’t disappoint. An outstanding fantasy with relatable characters, beautiful romance, flawless world building and an enthralling storyline. Rutkoski has started the trilogy off with a mighty bang and if anyone asks for a book suggestion it’s going to be The Winners Curse without a doubt.

Have you read The Winner’s Curse? What did you think of it, did you love it as much as I did? Will you read it?

Book Review: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Jul 27, 2014

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Pages: 225
Publish date: August 1st 2014 (Australia), May 13th 2014 (US)
Publisher: Allen and Unwin (Aus), Delacorte Press (US)
ISBN: 1760111066
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

A beautiful and distinguished family. A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends – the Liars – whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

We Were Liars:

First line: WELCOME TO THE beautiful Sinclair family.

I received We Were Liars from Allen and Unwin in exchange for an honest review. This in no way influenced my thoughts on the book.

This book. Wow. I have a lot to say about this book and you have probably heard this from review after review, but it really was an amazing read.

Firstly, E. Lockhart’s writing is beautiful, the metaphors, the stories in the book. I cannot get enough of her writing. I haven’t read any other of E. Lockhart’s books, but her writing in We Were Liars is hauntingly beautiful.

“The universe is seeming really huge right now. I need something to hold on to.”

I think my favourite part about this book is the writing. It just adds so much depth and beauty and sophistication.

Another pretty awesome thing that this book has is at the start. A Map. What contemporary book has a map? We Were Liars also has a family tree, which I find totally awesome. I love how the whole book is set up It’s hard to explain, but when you pick it up you will know. The setup is so different to any other book that I have ever seen. It’s refreshing, just like the book.

Cadence is the main protagonist of We Were Liars. As it’s from her perceptive you really are captured by the emotions, her thoughts, everything that she thinks and feels. It’s beautiful at the start, but as the story goes on it gets harder and harder for her and it’s just so tragic but beautiful at the same time.

I really liked the ‘Liars’ as their parents’ call them, but I think that just doesn’t seem right. Throughout the book they are lying to their parents about how they feel. Their parents don’t know they lie. I think that if it was just changed to ‘we call ourselves the liars.’ It would have made the story flow better. But maybe Lockhart wanted it that way.

The liars are Johnny, Mirren, Gat and Cadence and I really did enjoy all of them. But I wish we got to see more of Johnny and Mirren. I felt that they lacked characterisation and I just could not connect with them. In saying that, I felt that all the characters lacked characterisation and I just could not connect with them the way that I would have liked to.

I think that Gat was my favourite character because he brought a light to the Sinclairs family. Well the ‘liars’ at least. He isn’t part of the family, but I felt that at least to the kids he was. The Sinclairs in my eyes are a very old fashion type of family. They are not good with change and Gat brought that in We Were Liars.

What if we could stop being different colors, different backgrounds, and just be in love?

I really didn’t like the adults of the Sinclair family. They just didn’t care about anyone else. They didn’t work for money and they brought that ideal onto their kids. The mum’s of the family just made me so angry and frustrated. They expect everything to be on a silver platter for them. The grandfather, man, he is a piece of work. I have nothing much to say about him than that I did very much dislike him.

The ending…you all knew that this was coming. I think that this ending surprised a lot of people and even though it was devastating I thought it was so good in an ending sense. You are not really sure as to what really happened but throughout the whole book you are left with clues here and there. I think that if you go and re-read it after you know the ending it will all make sense. I don’t want to go too much into this as I don’t want to spoil those who haven’t read it. All I have to say is what they did was stupid. I know that they were trying to prove something, but it was stupid.

Another thing that I really liked about We Were Liars is the little stories about the King, his daughters, and the mouse. It was different and really intriguing. It really added depth to the whole book and after the ending you really understand it a lot more.

Overall, I really enjoyed We Were Liars. It was a hauntingly beautiful, breathtakingly tragic read that you will not want to put down. The gorgeous writing from E. Lockhart and structure of the novel adds for much more to the novel. We Were Liars is thrilling, smart and completely unforgettable.