The Winner's Kiss Review

The Winner's Kiss by Marie Rutkoski (486 pages)
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
Date Read: 16 August 2-16

Synopsis:

Some kisses come at a price.

War has begun. Arin is in the thick of it with untrustworthy new allies and the empire as his enemy. Though he has convinced himself that he no longer loves Kestrel, Arin hasn’t forgotten her, or how she became exactly the kind of person he has always despised. She cared more for the empire than she did for the lives of innocent people—and certainly more than she did for him.

At least, that’s what he thinks.

In the frozen north, Kestrel is a prisoner in a brutal work camp. As she searches desperately for a way to escape, she wishes Arin could know what she sacrificed for him. She wishes she could make the empire pay for what they’ve done to her.

But no one gets what they want just by wishing.

As the war intensifies, both Kestrel and Arin discover that the world is changing. The East is pitted against the West, and they are caught in between. With so much to lose, can anybody really win?

My Review:

So my rating for this is actually a 3.5 stars instead of a 4 stars, but I rounded up. Oh and there will be spoilers in this review, so you have been warned.

This was an okay ending for the series-it wasn't bad but it wasn't bad either.

The characters got whiny and I only understood some of their motivations for what they did. Kestrel and Arin were very angsty throughout the series, and they did not disappoint in this book either.

I understand Kestrel had to forget herself in the work camp to be able to survive the camp and to become a better person afterwards, but to me, it was kinda pointless. Yes, she gets to start a new relationship with Arin and everyone else, but it seemed like a cover for the story to be able to go on without as many hitches. She was still able to retain some of herself, but most of her memories were gone? That just didn't make much sense to me. With that, how would she remember how to play the games so well if her mind was gone? I'm pretty sure that war strategy doesn't stay with you longer than your core memories, but hey, that's just my opinion. Another convenient thing that came with Kestrel's memory loss was that some of the previous novels' subplots were not touched on because she couldn't remember them. Again, not really my favorite thing in the world when it comes to  writing.

Because of these couple of things, I did see quite a few plot holes that were too big for me not to notice.

I liked Arin the tiger. I want a tiger friend because that would be awesome.

I also really liked the clever way Kestrel took down the emperor. That was a brilliant move and I was actually really worried for her when I was reading that part of the book.

Overall, it was paced quite well, it was a very quick read, but there were plot and characterization problems that kept me from absolutely loving it. I am glad that I finished reading this series and that I waited to be able to binge read them all in one summer, but it was also kind of a let down from what I had expected.

If you like books with interesting concepts, lands, and politics, definitely pick this series up because, like I said before, I didn't dislike it! Not by a long shot!