The Winners Curse was the book I had to read in 2014. Having seen all the wonderful reviews coming out for it from bloggers in the US, I felt really disappointed that the book had not been picked up in Australia yet. But the wonderful Bloomsbury did gain rights, so I was basically over the moon and couldnt wait to get a copy into my grabby hands.

I am a huge fan of fictional stories based loosely on ancient Roman/Greek history. So when I heard about this book, my ears perked up immediately. I was hooked by its premise, and looking forward to a book that would immerse me in a story of intrigue and disastrous romance. I wanted bloody wars, heartwrenching storylines and a romance I could root for. Unfortunately, The Winners Curse was not that amazing book I was hoping to read.

The book follows a girl named Kestrel, whos the daughter of a great Valorian general, well-known for his part in conquering a city called Herran. Following Herrans defeat, its citizens were forced into slavery by the Valorians (anyone think of Valyrian?), who were once uncivilised savages that the Herrani took pity on and traded with. The book starts off where Kestrel is seen gambling away secretly all night, only to leave once the market starts filling up. She and her friend Jess attempts to go home, and Kestrel leaves the important task of sneaking home unescorted, which apparently should never happen when youre a noblewoman to her friend who leads her straight to a slave pit where a crowd has gathered. They cant seem to leave because suddenly the area is filled with high society members whos there to purchase slaves. Kestrel refuses to participate in this horrendous endeavour until the auctioneer spots her and specifically targets her by selling a slave who can sing. Kestrel is hooked from that point as shes a lover of the musical arts, although its frowned upon by her society whom deems music as a slaves chore. She then throws herself into the auction, and ends up paying an exorbitant amount for the singing slave who refuses to sing.

The first half of the novel follows the developing relationship between Kestrel and her slave Arin, who works as her fathers blacksmith as well as her escort when shes leaving her estate. At first, the slave refuses to serve her, even going as far as to insult Kestrel when theyre alone. I found it quite unbelievable how Kestrel doesnt even blink when shes being insulted by her slave, although shes grown up having been taught that shes far superior to them. Also, I find it absolutely ridiculous that Kestrel lets her disobeying slave to wander off without an explanation when he demanded it. The reader is continuously told that Kestrel is smart, logical and very strategic. But thats one of the major problems of the book a lot of the action is told and unfortunately, not shown.

Character wise, I really did like Kestrel. I found her personality to be quite strong, despite some of her actions. Shes protective of the ones she loves, especially her best friend Jess who is a juxtaposition to Kestrel, personality wise. Kestrel is also strong-willed, and does not back down even when times get rough. She knows what she wants and knows how she will get there. I really admire people like that. The best thing about Kestrel is her love for music, and her love for the piano. Shes so protective of her gift, she refuses to train to her best abilities for fear of injuring her hands.

Arin, the slave, was also likeable. But frankly, I felt there was a complete change in character from the Arin at the beginning of the book, to the Arin in the second half. The book can be divided into pre-revolution and after. The Arin at the start was an angry and unmovable character, but the Arin after the revolution was a sappy mess. He spent over a day looking for a plant to create an antidote because Kestrel had guilt-tripped him into it. Whats worse is this was occurring while his people were preparing to defend themselves from a second Valorian siege, and they were looking to him to lead them. At that point, I really wanted to smack some sense into him.

So you can probably already tell that I wasnt exactly invested in the romance right? Honestly, while there was no insta-love, the romance still felt quite forced to me. I enjoyed the two characters together, and how they slowly got to know one another, but their actions still seem stupid to me. After getting to know Arin for a few months (maybe less?), Kestrel puts her own life on the line for him after he was caught stealing a book from Inexs library. While she hates Inex and discovers that the book had really belonged to Arin prior to the Valorian invasion, I still think basically pronouncing that she will duel Inex to death for it was utter idiocy. Yes, yes, I understand its to show how their relationship is changing and Inexs ultimatium was creepy as all hell, but seriously? Shes been telling us that shes an awful fighter for the majority of the book, so for a supposed strategist, this is the best situation she can think of to prevent Arin from being whipped for thieving? Kestrel basically puts her whole reputation and life at stake for Arin (yes I know, romantic) but she continuously makes stupid decisions all throughout the book that contradicts her supposed strategic mind.

But in saying that, Kestrel does come up with some pretty sneaky plans. She survives her duel with Inex through trickery, and manages to manipulate the emperor into following her plan for the Herrani people. Arin also comes up with some pretty cool strategies for the war as well. But with all this strategising, what was lacking became the action. The action was what I was looking forward to most, and was thoroughly disappointed when most of the war was one big they did this and then that happened. In retrospect, most of the book fell short of showing the reader what happened, but rather just telling what happened. I didnt mind all that much because the writing was really good, and stuck to the time period it was based on. What Rutkoski did best was definitely the beautiful writing, I enjoyed that quite a lot, especially the exchanges between the characters. Unfortunately, the writing could not save those last few pages where the long-awaited war was basically told to have happened through Arins perspective. I understand my expectations of a bloody war would never have appeared in the pages of a YA novel, so thats not what disappointed me. The biggest disappointment was that nothing really happened, we were just told it did.

Overall, I did enjoy the book. It was different to the siege of paranormal and dystopian genres filling up the YA shelves, which is quite refreshing. I enjoyed the two main characters, and I liked them together. Do I ship them completely and with all my heart? No, probably not, but that ending is intriguing enough for me to pick up the next book in the series. It feels like its setting the story for a love-triangle but dare I say it, I think Im actually looking forward to it. The action was definitely subpar, so some court intrigue will definitely spice up this story!