The Winner's Curse (The Winter Trilogy #1)

Goodreads Summary 

Winning what you want may cost you everything you love.

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.

Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

What Did I Think?
This review will probably be short and not so sweet. I found this book to be average. The plot was intriguing and it turned out to be slightly better than the summary leads you to believe. The characters were one-sided. Arin was the mad slave and Kestrel was the spoiled, yet kind rich girl. We've all seen this dynamic before. It's tired. Her falling for him (not a spoiler since it's in the summary) made sense, but he hates her one minute and then loves her the next. It happened far too quickly for me. Plus they both turned on their own people to protect the other. That would never happen in reality! Lastly, I wasn't a fan of the ending. I wasn't surprised that it ended that was because Kestrel was too daft to realize that Arin actually loved her, but it was still really weak.

 1/2