Marie Rutkoski is Two for Two with The Winner’s Crime

The winner’s curse refers to a phenomenon in which the winner of an auction pays such a high price for the winning bid that it exceeds the worth of the item, and indeed the books of the Winner’s Trilogy are all about the steep prices we pay for that which we value. Kestrel is a Valorian, the daughter of a general and so effectively among the royalty of the ruling class. She is swift of mind and tough of spirit, and in a society that forces a choice between marriage and military, she’s at a loss, as she is neither violent nor romantic. She does, however, possess a fierce loyalty to her father, her lone parent, who wishes to see her skills well used on the battlefield.
But General Trajan is not the only man with the ability to work his way into Kestrel’s heart. When Kestrel sees a Herrani slave on the auction block, she pays an exorbitant price to bring him to her home. There, over conversations and games of Bite and Sting, the two become friends, despite the fact that her people have destroyed his, and he is, unbeknownst to her, working toward a rebellion. As her kindness and his protectiveness are increasingly revealed to their people, rumors of a relationship that goes beyond friendship spreads like a poison. Meanwhile, in the stolen moments between them, those rumors begin to take form…until Kestrel makes a move that destroys it all for good.
The sequel picks up after Kestrel’s decision, and at the risk of spoiling too much for those who haven’t had the pleasure of starting the series just yet, I’ll skip a summary in favor of five reasons you need the first two books of the trilogy on your shelves now, and next year’s The Winner’s Kiss on your to-read list, stat.

1. The writing. Good Lord, can Rutkoski write. I read both of these books in as close to one sitting as possible, and both had me begging for the next by the time I was through. The fact that there’s only one left pains me. Despite the tremendous stakes that only continue to increase as the books go on, the prose never feels overwrought, the characters never exaggerated. The tension is always high, the chemistry is always searing, and the different settings are richly drawn, as are the people and customs within.
2. The political intrigue. The world of the feuding Valorians and Herrani is an impossibly fascinating one, full of spies, betrayal, political machinations, slavery, torture, military campaigns, coded messages, traitors, and treason. The Winner’s Crime ups the ante on all of these, while also pulling readers into the lives of a third people, residing in the east. Running throughout the trilogy is the theme of the impossible choice between love of individuals and love of country, and nothing claws at your heart like watching its main characters be forced to choose over and over again, and face the consequences of those decisions.
3. The romance. YA isn’t exactly lacking for good romances, but the one between Kestrel and Arin is that rare one I absolutely love for all the reasons it exists and all the ways it does and doesn’t manifest. There are two things that make the perfect romance for me: when a couple banters well, and when they’re drawn to each other by mutual respect, particularly for each other’s intellect. This is why I love the couples crafted by Melina Marchetta, and why Kestrel and Arin absolutely rank up there with them. (I so tremendously recommend this trilogy to fans of the Lumatere Chronicles series.) Kestrel and Arin are a slow-burn romance that flares into a sudden spark, but it never overtakes the story; instead, it remains a heated undercurrent to the larger picture.
4. The father-daughter relationship. YA has a little bit of a reputation for dropkicking parents out of the picture, and okay, sometimes we deserve that. But though Rutkoski could’ve easily taken that route, given Kestrel’s mother is dead and her father is the general of a warlike nation, she instead crafts a deep and meaningful bond between Kestrel and General Trajan. There are conversations, expectations, conflicts, beautiful moments…it’s truly  one of my favorite father-daughter relationships in YA, not because it’s perfect but because it’s so wonderfully real.
5. Kestrel. Fact: Kestrel is one of my favorite YA heroines. And it isn’t because she’s strong (she is) or smart (she is) or merciful (she is) or crafty (she is) or brave (she is) or sympathetic (she is) or talented (she is) or musically inclined (she is) or flawed (she is) or loyal (she is…and she isn’t) or honest (she is…and she isn’t) or blunt (she is). It’s because she’s all of those things, and above all, human.