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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
3.5 stars
I kind of wished I'd reread The Winner's Crime at least because I spent the first 25% of the book trying to remember who the supporting characters were.
For me it didn't quite live up to the intrigue of the 2nd book. Kestrel's amnesia was too contrived for me. It didn't feel earned and seemed to be just another way to add obstacles and drama to Kestrel and Arin's relationship (as if there weren't enough already).
I still enjoyed it though. I like Marie Rutkowski's writing style; it manages to not be either overly flowery or dry and basic (the two writing styles for most ya high fantasy). Over the course of the three books she managed to win me over on the concept of Kestrel and Arin despite my misgivings at the beginning and the relationship is still compelling here - I just thought it was MORE compelling when their obstacles were political intrigue, deception and betrayal rather than contrived plot amnesia.
I kind of wished I'd reread The Winner's Crime at least because I spent the first 25% of the book trying to remember who the supporting characters were.
For me it didn't quite live up to the intrigue of the 2nd book. Kestrel's amnesia was too contrived for me. It didn't feel earned and seemed to be just another way to add obstacles and drama to Kestrel and Arin's relationship (as if there weren't enough already).
I still enjoyed it though. I like Marie Rutkowski's writing style; it manages to not be either overly flowery or dry and basic (the two writing styles for most ya high fantasy). Over the course of the three books she managed to win me over on the concept of Kestrel and Arin despite my misgivings at the beginning and the relationship is still compelling here - I just thought it was MORE compelling when their obstacles were political intrigue, deception and betrayal rather than contrived plot amnesia.
The opening of this third book is absolutely captivating, with Kestrel trapped in a work camp that drugs her for compliance. I love the politics, the romance, and even though I normally hate big battles, I still really enjoyed The Winner's Kiss. A satisfying end to a series.
The first time I read The Winner’s Kiss, I gave this book five stars. With my second read, I still loved the book, however, this time I felt like there was a part that slowed the pace of the story, which, ironically, is the one which is heavy on the war stuff. It had to be done, of course, considering what the story is about, but the strength of this trilogy is the political intrigue and the sizzling chemistry between Kestrel and Arin. Unfortunately, there is little intrigue (again, because of the war) and we only get to be overdosed with feels within the first half of the book. I started truly enjoying myself again once the game is brought back to the Herran’s shores and into the city: the stakes are highest here, Kestrel and Arin finally get to murder me with feelings and the ending was truly satisfying.
You have no idea how horrible I feel for dropping the rating by one star. But as my sister isscreaming at me advising me to do, I need to be true to the reader I am now, not the one I was three years ago, and four stars is still a very good rating. I feel like the change happened for two reasons: one, I practically devoured the book the first time and had no time to focus on the war; two, I have grown, my tastes have subtly changed and I have read at least one hundred and fifty books during this time. I prefer the machinations behind the war rather than the actual war now. What has truly remained the same is that I worship Kestrel and Arin. Somebody give me all of the art for them, I beg you!
The fact that the rating slightly dropped doesn’t change the fact that it’s one of my favorite series. Because it is. I adore this series, I would defend it with my honor, and I will champion it even more now on Instagram. People of the world, you have to read this trilogy, it’s truly spectacular! Few characters can challenge Kestrel and Arin for me. They deserve all of the love and this series needs more hype!
You have no idea how horrible I feel for dropping the rating by one star. But as my sister is
The fact that the rating slightly dropped doesn’t change the fact that it’s one of my favorite series. Because it is. I adore this series, I would defend it with my honor, and I will champion it even more now on Instagram. People of the world, you have to read this trilogy, it’s truly spectacular! Few characters can challenge Kestrel and Arin for me. They deserve all of the love and this series needs more hype!
Even though my rating is high, I’m very upset with this book. I’ve been debating what to rate it since I finished reading last night and in the end I decided to divide the book in two parts, each one with a separate rating.
The first part, which covers the first half of the book, was a 5 star. The pace of the storytelling was fast and created the necessary amount of heart-stopping tension that the events of the book required. I was loving the high stakes and the emotional turmoil that the characters were going through. I was flying through the pages, in fact I thought I was going to be finishing the book much faster than I did.
In this first part of the book, the author made some very bold choices. Although I’m not a fan of the trope that was introduced, it felt like a realistic consequence of the events that Kestrel was going through.
But then the second part comes in, which covers most of the second half of the book, which was 3 stars. This was the part I was most annoyed with. The pace of the storytelling dropped significantly and I found myself being bored by many of the things that were happening. I was missing the dynamics and banters that had characterized the series for me and that I was hoping to see in the final chapter as well. I do admit that this is a direct consequence of the trope that I mentioned above, but this is exactly why I don’t like that trope! It left me with a fac-simile of the Arin and Kestrel I love…but not quite them either.
Fortunately enough, the last 50 or so pages of the book were amazing! It was almost the ending I wished this series would have, so I consider myself pretty satisfied.
Overall, I really enjoyed The Winner’s trilogy! It earned its place as one of my favorite series, and Kestrel and Arin remain some of the best written characters that I’ve read in YA. This series deserves more hype, and I will recommend it to as many people as possible over on my Instagram page (@ckarys).
The first part, which covers the first half of the book, was a 5 star. The pace of the storytelling was fast and created the necessary amount of heart-stopping tension that the events of the book required. I was loving the high stakes and the emotional turmoil that the characters were going through. I was flying through the pages, in fact I thought I was going to be finishing the book much faster than I did.
In this first part of the book, the author made some very bold choices. Although I’m not a fan of the trope that was introduced
Spoiler
(memory loss)But then the second part comes in, which covers most of the second half of the book, which was 3 stars. This was the part I was most annoyed with. The pace of the storytelling dropped significantly and I found myself being bored by many of the things that were happening. I was missing the dynamics and banters that had characterized the series for me and that I was hoping to see in the final chapter as well. I do admit that this is a direct consequence of the trope that I mentioned above, but this is exactly why I don’t like that trope! It left me with a fac-simile of the Arin and Kestrel I love…but not quite them either.
Fortunately enough, the last 50 or so pages of the book were amazing! It was almost the ending I wished this series would have, so I consider myself pretty satisfied.
Overall, I really enjoyed The Winner’s trilogy! It earned its place as one of my favorite series, and Kestrel and Arin remain some of the best written characters that I’ve read in YA. This series deserves more hype, and I will recommend it to as many people as possible over on my Instagram page (@ckarys).
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a perfect ending, while the second book was mediocre, this one was amazing. It is rare when the final book is the best out of the three.
The story concluded nicely, it answered everything that was left from the second book, I truly enjoyed reading it and will continue to follow the author.
The story concluded nicely, it answered everything that was left from the second book, I truly enjoyed reading it and will continue to follow the author.
4.5 stars!!! I really enjoyed this series.
This book did drag a bit in the middle with the waiting around aspects but I enjoyed the beginning! This series definitely loved to use the miscommunication trope lmao which was so frustrating—it was the main thing used to further the plot I hated that.
I felt like the ending with Kestrel and Trajan could’ve been better imo. Idk what I was expecting but it’s more open ended. I am happy Arin and Kestrel got a happy ending for now!
This book did drag a bit in the middle with the waiting around aspects but I enjoyed the beginning! This series definitely loved to use the miscommunication trope lmao which was so frustrating—it was the main thing used to further the plot I hated that.
I felt like the ending with Kestrel and Trajan could’ve been better imo. Idk what I was expecting but it’s more open ended. I am happy Arin and Kestrel got a happy ending for now!
This series is so amazing I love it!! The story just grows and I love all the characters even more than I did! I really enjoyed how much of this book was about war strategy. It was very interesting! Arin's POV was more prominent in this book and I really liked being able to get to know him more! The ending was beautiful and I'm so happy with how it all turned out! I am sad that it's over though. I think everyone should read it!
5 stars because Arin didn't kill Kestrel's father whom we both hate (and also Kestrel and I love). During the last war, I decided it would be a 5-star read because it was too much for me. I love Kestrel Trajan, I would do anything for her. This trilogy is special to me. Thank you Marie Rutkoski for writing this series.