I understand the allure of this type of love as much as the next reader, but The Winner's Crime was filled with it a cup overflowing, I could call it. The book didn't focus on the main problem at hand, or the plethora of smaller ones, but instead on two forbidden lovers, focusing their everything on each other, while trying to vehemently deny it. There was too much going on, and the things were really one-sided. I absolutely loved it.īut while I loved it for the most part, I also didn't. There was so much going on, with the characters, the tension between Kestrel and Arin and the turmoil that the both of them felt. The Winner's Crime took us deeper into the world of Valorian politics, the court, its abundant and excessive riches, and the games that are being played. I can't tell you what happens in the Winner's Crime without completely spoiling the first in the trilogy, and I hate spoilers, so I simply won't. With her devious schemes, her loyal heart, the two kingdoms she has been playing with, and the boy she can never have.Īfter the shocking turn of events during the last five pages in The Winner's Curse (book one), the Winner's Crime picks up exactly where it left off, amidst the chaos, an Independent Herran, an engagement, and the start of a new war. Lies will come undone, and Kestrel and Arin learn just how much their crimes will cost them in this second book in the breathtaking Winner's Trilogy.Lady Kestrel is back. As Kestrel comes closer to uncovering a shocking secret, it might not be a dagger in the dark that cuts him open, but the truth. While Arin fights to keep his country's freedom from the hands of his enemy, he suspects that Kestrel knows more than she shows. Embedded in the imperial court as a spy, she lives and breathes deceit and cannot confide in the one person she really longs to trust. But to Kestrel it means a cage of her own making. Lady Kestrel's engagement to Valoria's crown prince calls for great celebration: balls and performances, fireworks and revelry. It's a fight to the death, where no one will escape a strike to the heart. I want more' Kristin Cashore, author of the Graceling Realm books

The characters' dilemmas fascinated me and tore at my heart… I loved it. 'Every line in The Winner's Curse is beautifully written. THE SECOND BOOK IN THE HEART-STOPPING WINNER'S TRILOGY: an irresistible story of forbidden romance and class warfare

The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski