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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
I am smitten by this book. I am besotted, enamored, in love, and every possible verb I can think of. There comes a time, once in a blue moon, that you come across a book or a series that is everything that you have been looking for and everything that you didn't know you had been looking for. This series is IT for me.
Ever since the Night Huntress, I have seeking for an urban fantasy series that can fill the void that Cat and Bone left inside my beating heart. Then I stumbled upon this gem. I have always been a fan of any fictional setting that takes place in the old and golden time or centuries ago. At least the Victorian Era. The high fantasy, medieval-ish setting dragged me off the cliff and into the world since the first novella. And I did not regret it one moment. I finished the trilogy in less than one week. And I was on vacation, as in I was supposed to be exploring the new city, but I ended up reading every chance I got. Every moment I was without the book, it stuck in my mind. I was an addict, craving the shot of Kestrel and Arin.
Lest I sound overly excited and dramatic, I just want to recommend this book to everyone that's into high fantasy. You might not find this series to be flawless, but it's refreshing and definitely an enjoyable read. The prose is great. Amazing, if you ask me.
Give it a try at the very least.
And now, I'm off to buy the physical books.
Ever since the Night Huntress, I have seeking for an urban fantasy series that can fill the void that Cat and Bone left inside my beating heart. Then I stumbled upon this gem. I have always been a fan of any fictional setting that takes place in the old and golden time or centuries ago. At least the Victorian Era. The high fantasy, medieval-ish setting dragged me off the cliff and into the world since the first novella. And I did not regret it one moment. I finished the trilogy in less than one week. And I was on vacation, as in I was supposed to be exploring the new city, but I ended up reading every chance I got. Every moment I was without the book, it stuck in my mind. I was an addict, craving the shot of Kestrel and Arin.
Lest I sound overly excited and dramatic, I just want to recommend this book to everyone that's into high fantasy. You might not find this series to be flawless, but it's refreshing and definitely an enjoyable read. The prose is great. Amazing, if you ask me.
Give it a try at the very least.
And now, I'm off to buy the physical books.
Real score 4.25. I just really lagged there in the middle. Or in the third quarter. Just looked back and I see I gave both other books in the series a five. I’m sorry Book 3, you just didn’t keep me as intrigued. I liked the beginning and I loved the end. All in all though, a great series.
My heart is full.
I adore this series. I am absolutely in awe at how outstanding it is. I never would have imagined I would love it this much. If you haven’t read it, go now! What are you waiting for! I cannot recommend it enough!
This book, the conclusion to The Winner’s Trilogy, left me in tears. I was so satisfied with the ending, and a little heartbroken that we won’t be getting more books with Arin and Kestrel. Those two have my heart. They are by far the best written YA romance I have ever read. I can never get enough of them. I’m going to miss them dearly.
This is one of those series I wish I could unread to re-read all over again. The writing was gorgeous. The plot was so intricately well done. The characters were to die for. The world-building did need a little more but I don’t mind. Marie Rutkoski, thank you for writing such a fantastic series that deserves so much more love.
I adore this series. I am absolutely in awe at how outstanding it is. I never would have imagined I would love it this much. If you haven’t read it, go now! What are you waiting for! I cannot recommend it enough!
This book, the conclusion to The Winner’s Trilogy, left me in tears. I was so satisfied with the ending, and a little heartbroken that we won’t be getting more books with Arin and Kestrel. Those two have my heart. They are by far the best written YA romance I have ever read. I can never get enough of them. I’m going to miss them dearly.
This is one of those series I wish I could unread to re-read all over again. The writing was gorgeous. The plot was so intricately well done. The characters were to die for. The world-building did need a little more but I don’t mind. Marie Rutkoski, thank you for writing such a fantastic series that deserves so much more love.
AHHHHH OMG THIS WAS JUST AS AMAZING AS I HOPED IT WOULD BE! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S OVER. MORE COHERENT THOUGHTS TO COME
Well, cancel 2017.
https://emmareadstoomuch.wordpress.com/2017/02/04/the-winners-kiss-review/
What do you rate a book when you’re saddened to your core that you finished the series, but also you didn’t enjoy it and thought it was objectively not good? WHAT DO I DO? It’s like mourning a childhood friend who turned out to be a meninist, or a My Little Pony fan, or a fan of buttered popcorn-flavored jelly beans. You know, something definitively but somewhat harmlessly Bad™.
God, I love that gif. Okay. Okay okay okay. I’m going to try to coalesce approximately 1,472,389 emotions into a review here. Oh this is so hard. Oh I don’t want to write this. This review might be really bad, you guys. (Also I was in denial for roughly 60% of the book about the fact that I wasn’t liking it and thereby refused to take notes. So. Really making it hard on myself.)
I’m just going to jump into it. My BIGGEST ISSUE - the type of problem that makes you scoff and turn your nose up even when you’re alone - was stupid Arin. (Yes, the one who narrates 50% of this book.) I’m furious about this. I never loved Arin, though. He’s always been a touch too angsty and obsessive. But, you know, whatever. The surprising thing is that despite this guy creeping me out, I still lowkey shipped him and Kestrel. This book forced me to realize that I onlytattooed Arin + Kestrel 5ever on my lower back supported them when they were apart. Because they don’t work well together, like, at all.
(Exactly, LC! Thank you. Congratulations on your pregnancy.) Anyway, why are they not good together, you ask? Well, it’s Arin’s dumb fault. A good relationship - okay, wait. I want to clarify here that I’m making a sweeping generalization about love in YA fantasy, NOT giving unsubstantiated relationship advice. Despite my charm, charisma, beauty, and immense skill at review-writing, I’m not qualified for that shit. OKAY, so a good relationship in books consists of the two characters supporting each other. Having each other’s backs. Synonyms. But Arin is never supportive of Kestrel. This book takes place during a WAR, and every time Kestrel tries to do ANYTHING - like, make a plan, sneak around, or GOD FORBID go to battle - he spends 20 pages moping and begging her not to go. UGH. SHE’S A BADASS. SHUT THE F*CK UP FOR ONCE ARIN.
So...Kestrel. Her badassery got her into the exclusive club of my all-time-favorite-female characters list in the second book. The central aspect of her character is that she is not physically a badass, but her political and intelligent mind TOTALLY is. That’s an amazing foundation for a character. That’s my dream version of myself. But...she felt reduced in this book.
And so disappears my favorite part of the last one.
I don’t talk about writing style a lot in reviews, and when I do, it’s usually a positive. It’s not my intention to cast blame on YA books - I goddamn love them, bro - but a lot of the YA I’ve been reading of late has been stylistically unremarkable. I think that’s an asset to young adult books, as it helps with pacing, clarity and level of difficulty. But this book was written bonkers-ly. (Yes, I just attempted to use bonkers as an adverb. What of it?!)
First off, this book was TEEMING with the world’s longest sentences. I’m talking paragraphs of just a single run-on, baby! I wasn’t even mad so much as fascinated - like, this sentence is six lines long without so much as a comma? Bananas!
What really bugged me was how overwrought it was. This isn’t the kind of overwrought I talked about in my review of I’ll Meet You There, where every single moment is emotionally significant...although there was a lot of that, too. I’m talking about the sheer amount of figurative language put to work in this book. I have never read so many similes in my life. Marie Rutkoski, don’t think I didn’t notice you say make three separate comparisons between something and an egg. And these aren’t just the usual, dumb YA similes, like “his eyes were like chocolate” or “her hair shone like gold.” Here’s an example of one I literally just found on the random page I flipped to: “A feeling floated over him like sillage from a rare perfume. He seemed to hear the tinkle of a glass stopper lifted from a tiny flacon. The release of scent. How was it possible, to smell flowers that weren’t there?”
Everything is profound, everything is a simile, everything is a runon. For almost 500 pages. It was EXHAUSTING. I never wanted to be angry at this book, and so getting angry at it made me even angrier. And on and on, even more egg comparisons and sweeping, tryhard generalizations about ~life~. Flipped to another random page, and: Kestrel “wondered if there was any difference between how she listened to [her father] and how Arin listened to his god.” Um, yes, many differences. Just because it sounds smart doesn’t mean it’s deep. Or accurate. Or NOT DUMB.
But this book does have one impressive thing about it: it manages to be pure, unadulterated boring while a WAR IS GOING ON. Even the battle scenes are just eh, nowhere near enough to make up for the countless pages of Kestrel and Arin making goo-goo eyes at each other. There was just so much romance in this book. I’m getting physically sick just thinking about it.
This just...got rid of everything I liked about the last one. The intrigue, the action, Kestrel’s cunning, the politics, the lack of romance, me not wanting to straight up murder Arin. I’m so, so, SO upset and I’m canceling this year. Four disappointments in a row.
Bottom line: I’m not giving this book one star only because I liked the last one SO MUCH. And I still think people should read this series. Maybe you’ll even like this book! But to make this all about me, as I so love to do: I really needed to love this book and I SUPER didn't.
https://emmareadstoomuch.wordpress.com/2017/02/04/the-winners-kiss-review/
What do you rate a book when you’re saddened to your core that you finished the series, but also you didn’t enjoy it and thought it was objectively not good? WHAT DO I DO? It’s like mourning a childhood friend who turned out to be a meninist, or a My Little Pony fan, or a fan of buttered popcorn-flavored jelly beans. You know, something definitively but somewhat harmlessly Bad™.
God, I love that gif. Okay. Okay okay okay. I’m going to try to coalesce approximately 1,472,389 emotions into a review here. Oh this is so hard. Oh I don’t want to write this. This review might be really bad, you guys. (Also I was in denial for roughly 60% of the book about the fact that I wasn’t liking it and thereby refused to take notes. So. Really making it hard on myself.)
I’m just going to jump into it. My BIGGEST ISSUE - the type of problem that makes you scoff and turn your nose up even when you’re alone - was stupid Arin. (Yes, the one who narrates 50% of this book.) I’m furious about this. I never loved Arin, though. He’s always been a touch too angsty and obsessive. But, you know, whatever. The surprising thing is that despite this guy creeping me out, I still lowkey shipped him and Kestrel. This book forced me to realize that I only
(Exactly, LC! Thank you. Congratulations on your pregnancy.) Anyway, why are they not good together, you ask? Well, it’s Arin’s dumb fault. A good relationship - okay, wait. I want to clarify here that I’m making a sweeping generalization about love in YA fantasy, NOT giving unsubstantiated relationship advice. Despite my charm, charisma, beauty, and immense skill at review-writing, I’m not qualified for that shit. OKAY, so a good relationship in books consists of the two characters supporting each other. Having each other’s backs. Synonyms. But Arin is never supportive of Kestrel. This book takes place during a WAR, and every time Kestrel tries to do ANYTHING - like, make a plan, sneak around, or GOD FORBID go to battle - he spends 20 pages moping and begging her not to go. UGH. SHE’S A BADASS. SHUT THE F*CK UP FOR ONCE ARIN.
So...Kestrel. Her badassery got her into the exclusive club of my all-time-favorite-female characters list in the second book. The central aspect of her character is that she is not physically a badass, but her political and intelligent mind TOTALLY is. That’s an amazing foundation for a character. That’s my dream version of myself. But...she felt reduced in this book.
Spoiler
Kestrel starts off this book in a work camp - one thing this book did well is the work camp trope, which didn’t get too repetitive or last too long - and becomes addicted to the drugs she is force fed. This addiction causes her to lose her memory. (Shoddy science but GOD you have to accept it in YA fantasy, no?) The memory loss plotline takes forever and is so boring. It also reduces the best part of her character, which, sorry, is just a bad writing choice.I don’t talk about writing style a lot in reviews, and when I do, it’s usually a positive. It’s not my intention to cast blame on YA books - I goddamn love them, bro - but a lot of the YA I’ve been reading of late has been stylistically unremarkable. I think that’s an asset to young adult books, as it helps with pacing, clarity and level of difficulty. But this book was written bonkers-ly. (Yes, I just attempted to use bonkers as an adverb. What of it?!)
First off, this book was TEEMING with the world’s longest sentences. I’m talking paragraphs of just a single run-on, baby! I wasn’t even mad so much as fascinated - like, this sentence is six lines long without so much as a comma? Bananas!
What really bugged me was how overwrought it was. This isn’t the kind of overwrought I talked about in my review of I’ll Meet You There, where every single moment is emotionally significant...although there was a lot of that, too. I’m talking about the sheer amount of figurative language put to work in this book. I have never read so many similes in my life. Marie Rutkoski, don’t think I didn’t notice you say make three separate comparisons between something and an egg. And these aren’t just the usual, dumb YA similes, like “his eyes were like chocolate” or “her hair shone like gold.” Here’s an example of one I literally just found on the random page I flipped to: “A feeling floated over him like sillage from a rare perfume. He seemed to hear the tinkle of a glass stopper lifted from a tiny flacon. The release of scent. How was it possible, to smell flowers that weren’t there?”
Everything is profound, everything is a simile, everything is a runon. For almost 500 pages. It was EXHAUSTING. I never wanted to be angry at this book, and so getting angry at it made me even angrier. And on and on, even more egg comparisons and sweeping, tryhard generalizations about ~life~. Flipped to another random page, and: Kestrel “wondered if there was any difference between how she listened to [her father] and how Arin listened to his god.” Um, yes, many differences. Just because it sounds smart doesn’t mean it’s deep. Or accurate. Or NOT DUMB.
But this book does have one impressive thing about it: it manages to be pure, unadulterated boring while a WAR IS GOING ON. Even the battle scenes are just eh, nowhere near enough to make up for the countless pages of Kestrel and Arin making goo-goo eyes at each other. There was just so much romance in this book. I’m getting physically sick just thinking about it.
This just...got rid of everything I liked about the last one. The intrigue, the action, Kestrel’s cunning, the politics, the lack of romance, me not wanting to straight up murder Arin. I’m so, so, SO upset and I’m canceling this year. Four disappointments in a row.
Bottom line: I’m not giving this book one star only because I liked the last one SO MUCH. And I still think people should read this series. Maybe you’ll even like this book! But to make this all about me, as I so love to do: I really needed to love this book and I SUPER didn't.
OMG THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING.
LOVES:
- The whole ending. I can't really say anything without spoiling everything but......SO GOOD.
- Kestrel's amnesia was done soo well.
-THE COVER.
- Kestrel/Arin. *sighs happily*
- CAN WE JUST TAKE A MOMENT TO APPRECIATE ROSHAR'S SASS??! HE IS A KING OF SASS. I LOVE HIM.
- AND POOR RISHA. SOMEONE GIVE THAT POOR CINAMON ROLL A HUG.
- VEREX OMG.
- ALSO VEREX/RISHA.
- I LOVE EVERYTHING IN THIS BOOK.
LOVES:
- The whole ending. I can't really say anything without spoiling everything but......SO GOOD.
- Kestrel's amnesia was done soo well.
-THE COVER.
- Kestrel/Arin. *sighs happily*
- CAN WE JUST TAKE A MOMENT TO APPRECIATE ROSHAR'S SASS??! HE IS A KING OF SASS. I LOVE HIM.
- AND POOR RISHA. SOMEONE GIVE THAT POOR CINAMON ROLL A HUG.
- VEREX OMG.
- ALSO VEREX/RISHA.
- I LOVE EVERYTHING IN THIS BOOK.
This may even be 4.5/5 stars but it just wasn't quite there for me though it was prETTY STINKING CLOSE.
I am a ball of emotions guys. I cried MULTIPLE times in this book from lots of feELINGS.
Kestrel is seriously one of my favorite protagonists ever. She's smart strategically and doesn't let anyone tell her what she can and cannot do - and she's not *totally* adept at fighting, though she is competent, but her real strength lies in her amazing ability to play the political game.
I also love Arin, how can you NOT? And I feel like a lot of the side characters (Sarsine, Roshar, etc) got a lot more fleshed out in this book and I really loved getting to know them.
The plot was great, though the pacing was a little off for me. It didn't jump well from REALLY INTENSE to just chill time, it felt a little jagged between the two, but overall I liked the plot! Though I do love me some ARIN and KESTREL, the book bored me at times (OMG WHAT) but the other amazing parts almost made up for it.
Overall really happy with this close to the series, but I don't know if any of the books will capture me and have the same magic for me as the first book. But still SOLID SOLID series that I would highly recommend.
I am a ball of emotions guys. I cried MULTIPLE times in this book from lots of feELINGS.
Kestrel is seriously one of my favorite protagonists ever. She's smart strategically and doesn't let anyone tell her what she can and cannot do - and she's not *totally* adept at fighting, though she is competent, but her real strength lies in her amazing ability to play the political game.
I also love Arin, how can you NOT? And I feel like a lot of the side characters (Sarsine, Roshar, etc) got a lot more fleshed out in this book and I really loved getting to know them.
The plot was great, though the pacing was a little off for me. It didn't jump well from REALLY INTENSE to just chill time, it felt a little jagged between the two, but overall I liked the plot! Though I do love me some ARIN and KESTREL, the book bored me at times (OMG WHAT) but the other amazing parts almost made up for it.
Overall really happy with this close to the series, but I don't know if any of the books will capture me and have the same magic for me as the first book. But still SOLID SOLID series that I would highly recommend.
HOW GOOD WAS THIS?!
I will tell you folks. It was so fucking good.
Welcome, readers. For those of you who've stuck through from the start of The Winner's Curse, well... gird your loins folks, you've got a wild and wonderful ride ahead of you. For those of you who happen to have by some strange chance stumbled across my blathering, raving review, seriously: go now. Go! Even if you find it only mildly enjoyable, I promise you, IT GETS SO MUCH BETTER.
I can't even begin to explain how I enjoyed this finale of this book. The gentleness but still strong foundation of action, suspense, and romance of the Winner's Curse is just the bare bones--sure, you have interest, you have excellent characters, you have a world divided. But by the end of The Winner's Crime you will be GOBSMACKED. Left hanging by mere threads, heart in shreds, you will wait in anticipation much as I did for the finale to finally reach your grasping fingertips
Only to behold this PERFECT conclusion. Oh, my, word.
I seriously could not find a single flaw with this finale. Arin and Kestrel are depicted with even more depth and nuance than before, and supporting characters such as Roshar and even Kestrel's father are depicted with such honesty. UGH. How I enjoyed Roshar. For me, each character's struggles with family, war, loyalty, and betrayals hit just the perfect spot, not too ridiculous, absolutely believable, and so heartwrenching. And the drama... the action... the skill of Marie Rutkoski's clever weaving of this intricate story, oh man, put a fork in me, I am DONE.
Sorry not sorry for the mad ravings. What can I say folks. Just read the DANG thing already!!
I will tell you folks. It was so fucking good.
Welcome, readers. For those of you who've stuck through from the start of The Winner's Curse, well... gird your loins folks, you've got a wild and wonderful ride ahead of you. For those of you who happen to have by some strange chance stumbled across my blathering, raving review, seriously: go now. Go! Even if you find it only mildly enjoyable, I promise you, IT GETS SO MUCH BETTER.
I can't even begin to explain how I enjoyed this finale of this book. The gentleness but still strong foundation of action, suspense, and romance of the Winner's Curse is just the bare bones--sure, you have interest, you have excellent characters, you have a world divided. But by the end of The Winner's Crime you will be GOBSMACKED. Left hanging by mere threads, heart in shreds, you will wait in anticipation much as I did for the finale to finally reach your grasping fingertips
Only to behold this PERFECT conclusion. Oh, my, word.
I seriously could not find a single flaw with this finale. Arin and Kestrel are depicted with even more depth and nuance than before, and supporting characters such as Roshar and even Kestrel's father are depicted with such honesty. UGH. How I enjoyed Roshar. For me, each character's struggles with family, war, loyalty, and betrayals hit just the perfect spot, not too ridiculous, absolutely believable, and so heartwrenching. And the drama... the action... the skill of Marie Rutkoski's clever weaving of this intricate story, oh man, put a fork in me, I am DONE.
Sorry not sorry for the mad ravings. What can I say folks. Just read the DANG thing already!!