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maria_hossain's review against another edition
5.0
After Twilight, it was decades before I found book of my dreams. An Ember in the Ashes. I didn't think I'd find another dream book so soon. In my own personal record time, 12 hours, I started and finished this f***ing amazing book. God damn!!! This book is amazing!!!
I loved Twilight to the point of obsession, simply because 01) it's heavy with deep romance, 02) it's fantasy. Yes, Twilight was problematic AF but I'm still a huge fan of it. After Twilight, fantasy books had romance, yes, but full of love triangles that I hated! Or relationships that fell off and another couple formed, forcing me to change shipping the previous couple (Yes, I mean Sarah J. Maas' book where I constantly had to change shipping a couple. Ugh!) But in here, in The Winner's Curse, it was obvious from the get go that Kestrel and Arin are the couple and will be till the end. I couldn't be happier. I also have a soft spot for star crossed lovers in fantasy 😍😍😍
Yes, this book is also not without problems. For example, I hated the part when the author said that eating with one's bare hands is a sign of savageness. It is not! Being a Bengali, that's an insult and I hated that. Also the book's portrayal of slavery, portraying the revolting Herrani slaves as antagonistic forces, was problematic. These are the only problems I perceived. Nevertheless, I love love love this book and will definitely finish the trilogy.
I loved Twilight to the point of obsession, simply because 01) it's heavy with deep romance, 02) it's fantasy. Yes, Twilight was problematic AF but I'm still a huge fan of it. After Twilight, fantasy books had romance, yes, but full of love triangles that I hated! Or relationships that fell off and another couple formed, forcing me to change shipping the previous couple (Yes, I mean Sarah J. Maas' book where I constantly had to change shipping a couple. Ugh!) But in here, in The Winner's Curse, it was obvious from the get go that Kestrel and Arin are the couple and will be till the end. I couldn't be happier. I also have a soft spot for star crossed lovers in fantasy 😍😍😍
Yes, this book is also not without problems. For example, I hated the part when the author said that eating with one's bare hands is a sign of savageness. It is not! Being a Bengali, that's an insult and I hated that. Also the book's portrayal of slavery, portraying the revolting Herrani slaves as antagonistic forces, was problematic. These are the only problems I perceived. Nevertheless, I love love love this book and will definitely finish the trilogy.
celestialcode's review against another edition
5.0
OH MY GOD! this book blew my mind, it's been a really long time since I read such a good book. The best part I loved about it that Marie gave us the perspective from within the society, from the upper class. Every book I've read until now that has the same concept, the voice came from the poor or the lower class, it never came from the rich or the ruling people. I love how the society is and that Kestrel wasn't very sympathetic towards the Herrani but nevertheless she loved Arin. I loved it while and after reading it that I flew in it. I really am excited to start reading The Winner's Crime.
nastiiavlasiuk's review against another edition
5.0
5/5 ⭐️
Історія мене захопила з перших сторінок, я не могла відкласти книгу поки не дочитала.
В основі сюжету ми маємо 2 народи, валларіанці і герранці, перший з яких завойовували територію інших та зробили мешканців своїми рабами.
Головними героями історії є Кестрель, валларіанка, дочка генерала, яка любить музику, ігри, будувати стратегії, дізнаватися правду та перемагати. На торгах головна героїня купує раба, Аріна, герранця. Арін не простий раб, він має свої секрети, свої мотиви та цілі, яких він хоче досягнути за будь-яку ціну.
Сюжет далі не буду описувати, краще зануритись у цей світ і дізнайтесь секрети Аріна, стратегічний розум Кестель, політичні інтриги та на які помилки/жертви/маніпуляції може кожен з них піти задля своїх принципів та справедливості.
Перша книга історії мені сподобалась і я рекомендую зануритися в світ, який побудувала авторка.
П.С. Складно писати відгук після прочитання всієї серії. Анастасіє, не роби так більше :)
Історія мене захопила з перших сторінок, я не могла відкласти книгу поки не дочитала.
В основі сюжету ми маємо 2 народи, валларіанці і герранці, перший з яких завойовували територію інших та зробили мешканців своїми рабами.
Головними героями історії є Кестрель, валларіанка, дочка генерала, яка любить музику, ігри, будувати стратегії, дізнаватися правду та перемагати. На торгах головна героїня купує раба, Аріна, герранця. Арін не простий раб, він має свої секрети, свої мотиви та цілі, яких він хоче досягнути за будь-яку ціну.
Сюжет далі не буду описувати, краще зануритись у цей світ і дізнайтесь секрети Аріна, стратегічний розум Кестель, політичні інтриги та на які помилки/жертви/маніпуляції може кожен з них піти задля своїх принципів та справедливості.
Перша книга історії мені сподобалась і я рекомендую зануритися в світ, який побудувала авторка.
П.С. Складно писати відгук після прочитання всієї серії. Анастасіє, не роби так більше :)
lauregalie's review against another edition
3.0
“The Winner’s Curse is when you come out on top of the bid, but only by paying a steep price.”
Summary
Kestrel, a daughter of a respectable general, impulsively purchases Arin on a slave auction. But her newly acquired slave might not be who she thinks he is.
Writing
The writing style is beautiful, but simple. It made me enjoy this much so much more.
Characters
Kestrel is a part of Valorian aristocracy. The author tries to portray her as really smart, kind and compassionate… but she fails miserably. She is completely incapable of critical thinking. The thought that there might be something wrong about the fact that she lives in a mansion that belonged to the people who are now her slaves doesn't cross her mind even once. Yes, she freed her nurse, but only because she felt grateful to her. And she feels bad for Arin, but only because she has the hots for him.
When it comes to Arin, I think he is a very interesting character. I really liked him and I enjoyed his POV until the last 50-100 pages when he became frustratingly dumb. But honestly I expected nothing else from YA book with "forbidden romance".
I firmly believe that there is no such thing as consesual romance between master and a slave. However that is not what this book portrays. The power dynamic between the two main characters is constantly shifitng and that makes this book really interesting.
Plot
I was enjoying myslef while reading this book. But when I finished it, I tried to recall the storyline and I realised that actually almost nothing happens in this book until the last 100 pages.
Overall
I knew absolutely nothing starting this book. And by the time I reached page 10 I already knew that Kestrel and Arin were going to fall in love with eachother. And it made me put this book down and I almost DNFed it. I think that portraying master/slave romance as "forbidden love" or "star-crossed lovers" is disgusting. That's why I was never able to read The Captive Prince.
I am glad that I decided to give this book a chance and continue reading. This story turned out to be actually something completely different from what I expected.
However, I firmly believe that a book that talks about slavery needs to criticize it. And I feel like The Winner's Curse didn't do a really good job with that. Arin delivers 2 or 3 lines about the fact that he and his people are treated like property and he is hostile towards Kestrel at first (duh). But there was really nothing more.
timetravelreader's review against another edition
4.0
A strong start to a trilogy. It's fast-paced, with a lot happening very quickly. The only downside of that is I didn't see the chemistry develop between the main characters. It went from enemies-to-lovers to instalove almost. I wish there had been more scenes to show that relationship change.
I'm so glad I picked up this series after seeing Illumicrate's version. The original cover is so, so misleading, and I never would have bought the book if I had seen it at the store. It's a surprisingly violent, dark series with great world-building.
I'm so glad I picked up this series after seeing Illumicrate's version. The original cover is so, so misleading, and I never would have bought the book if I had seen it at the store. It's a surprisingly violent, dark series with great world-building.
warnettexoxo's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
lauras_rambles's review against another edition
4.0
In reality I'm giving the book 3.5 stars. I wanted to know more backstory for each character, even the secondary characters. Because of this skimping on background I didn't feel attached to the characters, but the plot was interesting.
booktrovertreader's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.0
catpingu's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This little book probably turned out to be a niche fandom at the time it was published, because of the growing popularity of Sarah J. Maas and Kiera Cass, and remnant hype over Rick Riordan's The Heroes of Olympus, Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments, Marissa Meyer's The Lunar Chronicles, Veronica Roth's Divergent side stories, Marie Lu's new series The Young Elites, etc. It wasn't very big in my circles, nor did I ever hear a lot about this particular series afterwards. It's something that was missed and people should be more hyped about.
Lady Kestrel, daughter of the fabled Valorian General Trajan, makes an unexpected slave purchase at the market, a brawny, silent, muscled Smith. The fifty keystones she spent on him is the talk of the town, spent not for blacksmithing at her father's estate, but for his supposed ability to sing. Arin does not sing, but he has achieved his goal of infiltrating the general's household to provide information for the Herrani rebellion to take back their city from their Valorian conquerors. Kestrel and Arin are smart and like winning, and as they dance around each other with suspicion and interest, the undercurrent of violence and conspiracy is too strong to stop.
My synopsis summary is weak for the stilted-but-progressive steady "not really an enemy but definitely stranger I don't trust" to "kinda lovers but we never really said we were". Slow-burn, obviously. "Dancing around each other" is probably the nicest way and clearest way of describing these two.
Okay in other news, this is way better than [book:An Ember in the Ashes|213075476]. The master-slave relationship isn't annoying, overblown, or even like a huge factor in their relationship. It's a means to an end of infiltration and character development, as Kestrel has to figure out what to do with this slave that she technically bought, and whose free time is spent in the smithy because it's a great marketable skill.
They're judgemental of each other. Kestrel being a Herrani sympathetic yet blind to all the disgusting chores and harsh treatment the Herrani and other slaves face from her race, only bought this slave because she heard he could sing and she loves music. Arin, a spy, judges Kestrel for being the daughter of the man who conquered his city. The relationship between these two characters develop implicitly through actions and thoughts that aren't voiced anywhere. It's very much a read-between-the-lines book, as neither character wants to openly admit their attraction for each other.
Lady Kestrel, daughter of the fabled Valorian General Trajan, makes an unexpected slave purchase at the market, a brawny, silent, muscled Smith. The fifty keystones she spent on him is the talk of the town, spent not for blacksmithing at her father's estate, but for his supposed ability to sing. Arin does not sing, but he has achieved his goal of infiltrating the general's household to provide information for the Herrani rebellion to take back their city from their Valorian conquerors. Kestrel and Arin are smart and like winning, and as they dance around each other with suspicion and interest, the undercurrent of violence and conspiracy is too strong to stop.
My synopsis summary is weak for the stilted-but-progressive steady "not really an enemy but definitely stranger I don't trust" to "kinda lovers but we never really said we were". Slow-burn, obviously. "Dancing around each other" is probably the nicest way and clearest way of describing these two.
Okay in other news, this is way better than [book:An Ember in the Ashes|213075476]. The master-slave relationship isn't annoying, overblown, or even like a huge factor in their relationship. It's a means to an end of infiltration and character development, as Kestrel has to figure out what to do with this slave that she technically bought, and whose free time is spent in the smithy because it's a great marketable skill.
They're judgemental of each other. Kestrel being a Herrani sympathetic yet blind to all the disgusting chores and harsh treatment the Herrani and other slaves face from her race, only bought this slave because she heard he could sing and she loves music. Arin, a spy, judges Kestrel for being the daughter of the man who conquered his city. The relationship between these two characters develop implicitly through actions and thoughts that aren't voiced anywhere. It's very much a read-between-the-lines book, as neither character wants to openly admit their attraction for each other.