Genre: Publication Date: March 29, 2016 Pages: 484 Published By: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Series The Winner's Trilogy #3 Review copy: Purchased
Buy it:
Amazon ~ B&N ~ Chapters
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?
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?
It would be a blessing to forget.
After all, what was there to remember?
Someone she never could have had. Friends dead or gone. A father that didn't love her.
The cup tipped. Water ran over her tongue, cool and delicious. She forgot the pain, forgot where she was, forgot who she'd been, forgot that she had ever been afraid of forgetting.
Dear one, what do you care?A small serpent of worry lifted its hooded head inside her.
Then his lungs opened and his mind grew quiet and clear. "Come back to me," he murmured.
"I will."
Where do you begin at the end? There is so very much to say about this book and yet very little at the same time. It's totally a conundrum. This trilogy is without a doubt action packed and filled to the brim with twists. Sometimes it was hard to tell where one thing stopped and another began and I mean this in the most amazing way possible. The Winner's Kiss was not just the final book in a trilogy, it was an adventure and
What amazes me most about this book is that it seriously completed my feelings on the series. It kind of took some things back to block one while carrying others forward. The entire Kestrel and Arin romance was ripped right apart. Not only was it ripped right apart, it was flipped, twisted and then basically burned to ash. I know that sounds horrible but sometimes something can come from ashes, something magnificent and life altering. Okay, it didn't alter my life but it altered so much in their lives and the story. I can't stress enough how this book stood on its own. This gave way to a spectacularly paced plot, with wonderfully produced setting. There isn't much about this books plot, setting and overall development that I didn't love.
It's so hard to describe Kestrel in this book. She has been this staple of strength in the previous two books and yet her position was somewhat compromised, while not being compromised. Curious, right? So, in order to do this without giving you some sort of spoiler is going to be difficult. What I can say is that despite the moments of 'weakness' Kestrel just has something in her that refuses to be put out. Her fire is something unique and admirable that doesn't die. She has a mind that continues to work no matter what she is put through. I have to admit that I enjoyed having a different side of Kestrel, it really completed her as a character for me. We all love strong characters but it's good to see that despite all of that strength, that they do have some weakness and the ability to work on it.
There was a lot more Arin in this read. He really becomes someone to admire and gets more developed than I had expected. I think this really came to because of everything ramping up to the end. He drew strength from his loss, his new knowledge and finding out the truth. In general Arin has been his own type of strong, but he has always been slightly naive. He seems to be taking steps forward to get past that. However, I think that the most important thing was that he learned to trust Kestrel. In fact in losing so much, they both learned trust. So, although he didn't have the relationship that they had, they get something that is built entirely different and has some legs to it. I enjoyed Arin so much in this book for those reasons and his massive character growth. He really became a character that I enjoyed and though I know the trilogy is over I wouldn't complain if there was a surprise more.
The Winners Kiss is by far one of the best endings to a trilogy that I have read...EVER! There was a complete feeling upon closing the book, and I can't say that happens often. I also cannot praise this book enough for being able to stand on its own. It wasn't just a final book, it was almost its own story. If you haven't started this trilogy I highly recommend it, and if you have I can promise that you wont be let down by this book. I really wish I could give more details in this review, but I have zero desire to ruin even one amazing moment for any of you.
No comments:
Post a Comment