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ajboyd_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
5.0
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Classism
nytephoenyx's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Wow, The Winner’s Crime took me by surprise. This book was intense.
We talk a lot about how middle books are a bridge between books one and three and are a bit blah. That was not the case with The Winner’s Crime. This book – particularly Kestrel’s POV – was a constant rollercoaster. I loved listening to it.
Well, I loved listening to Kestrel’s POV chapters. As I found with The Winner’s Curse, Arin’s chapters were ridden with a lot of stereotypical poor decisions and I found him underwhelming. Honestly, I don’t know what Kestrel sees in him as a person because Arin is reckless and shortsighted and frustrating. Please know – when I say “stereotypical poor decisions”, I’m not giving Rutkoski enough credit. Even though Arin makes a lot of expected choices, Rutkoski chose to take the story in a different direction than I expected. This book stressed me out in a lot of the best ways and I appreciated it.
Kestrel, Arin, and the emperor all fit neatly into character tropes and are easy to get to know in a short period of time. As far as characters go, Rutkoski hasn’t done anything spectacular. These characters aren’t memorable on their own and won’t bring readers back for their own sake. The Winner’s Crime relies heavily on its plot to bring in readers. If you aren’t interested at the beginning or if you’re a very strong character reader, this series may fail to interest you.
For myself, I wasn’t overly impressed with The Winner’s Curse, but I was intrigued enough to pick up the sequel… and I’m glad I did. The interesting parts of the story flourish in The Winner’s Crime and this book stressed me out. In a good way. In that “yelling at the TV ‘NO DON’T GO IN THERE'” kind of way. I really enjoyed it and I’m glad I picked it up. I have no idea how this trilogy is going to end and I can’t wait to find out.
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racism, Medical content, and War
Minor: Slavery
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