ARC Review: The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski

The Winner's Crime (The Winner's Trilogy #2) by Marie Rutkoski (March 3, 2015)
352 pages
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Source: I won a free ARC on twitter from @FierceReads! Thanks Macmillan! **This didn't affect my honest review.
Purchase:Barnes & Noble|Amazon|The Book Depository

Goodreads Summary: Book two of the dazzling Winner's Trilogy is a fight to the death as Kestrel risks betrayal of country for love.

The engagement of Lady Kestrel to Valoria’s crown prince means one celebration after another. But to Kestrel it means living in a cage of her own making. As the wedding approaches, she aches to tell Arin the truth about her engagement…if she could only trust him. Yet can she even trust herself? For—unknown to Arin—Kestrel is becoming a skilled practitioner of deceit: an anonymous spy passing information to Herran, and close to uncovering a shocking secret.

As Arin enlists dangerous allies in the struggle to keep his country’s freedom, he can’t fight the suspicion that Kestrel knows more than she shows. In the end, it might not be a dagger in the dark that cuts him open, but the truth. And when that happens, Kestrel and Arin learn just how much their crimes will cost them.

MY REVIEW

This is one of those reviews that I wouldn't be able to write without using a crazy amount of GIFs to express my true feelings. I want to give The Winner's Crime the proper justice that it deserves. Pictures are worth a thousand words right? So I went that route. This isn't so much of a review as much as a list of my emotions dealing with the relationship between the two main characters while reading. My heart raced, my heart bleed, my heart stopped beating and began again. (Yes, I am being dramatic, just go with it.)

As always I was nervous to begin reading a sequel of a book I loved, but I took a deep breathe and cautiously began.

The novel started off strong, although somewhat gruesome with graphic details of a torture scene, but really I was just excited to read a book that once again stared the characters I love, Arin and Kestrel. Yet... the relationship between these two love birds was beyond frustrating. I wanted a little less pain and a little more hope.They drove me insane.

The tension between Arin and Kestrel was suffocating. Even though I did love their chemistry and the pair's tension kept me interested and on edge, I was really mostly just...

I still loved all of the plotting and strategy of Kestrel's doing.

But all I wanted. All I NEEDED. Was for Arin and Kestrel to be truthful to each other.

Every time I thought I was going to get some relief from my frustrations with these two while reading...

It never quite went how I wanted.

Then the novel began to wrap up and I still wasn't satisfied. I was starting to run out of pages. I could barley breathe, I couldn't read fast enough.

Then the ending happened!! I have to wait how long for the next book?!?

I had a Love/Hate relationship with The Winner's Crime, but It was still a wonderful read. Anything that made me this emotional/invested deserves at least a four star rating from me in my book.

Even though I was frustrated throughout most of the book, I can say with certainty that the writing was superb. Well done Rutkoski.

I know I mostly just talked about Arin and Kestrel's relationship in this review, but it was the main thing going on in The Winner's Crime. I of course was also interested in the strategic game of who will rule all, but it was so in the background that I don't have much to say on that topic except that I liked the intrigue and that I look forward to see what is going to happen next.