The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Love this cover!

Title: The Winner's Circle
Author: Marie Rutkoski
Page count: 355 pages
Publishing date: March 2014
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
My rating: 3/5 stars! 

Blurb:

As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions. 

One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. 

Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin. 

But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined. 

Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.


I was drawn to this book because of the cover and the raving reviews on Goodreads. The cover is absolutely exquisite. It's magical, beautiful, and alluring. And, well, when all your friends on Goodreads are giving 5 star reviews to a book that has an overall 4.08/5 rating, you pick up said book when you see it. 

My problem is that I was expecting something magnificent when I began reading The Winner's Curse. By the time I finished the book, I was 99% sure I'd hold it close to my chest and stroke it like one would with a baby. But that didn't happen. At the most, I thought this book was alright. Nothing extravagant, but it wasn't terrible. 

I think a lot of my problems with this book was the plot and the romance. Both just didn't flow well. If the plot hadn't had boring chapters where nothing interesting happened and more action, this book might have sat better with me. Especially if the romance had been something better than what it was. But, alas, it wasn't.

What I liked:

- The world building. 

• Although most of the Goodreads community agrees that the world building was lacking, I disagree. (I'm a rebel, you see!) I loved the empire that Kestrel lives in. I thought Marie Rutkoski was able to weave an intricate web to introduce the reader into Kestrel's world. The reader isn't thrown into everything at once, which is helpful. We learn things about the world as we go along, and I think that's better than dumping a bunch of information into one chapter. 

-The writing.

• The prose was phenomenal. The author has a way of telling a story in a haunting way. Her words leave you breathless and contemplative. You want to learn more, know more, from her writing. She leaves sentences for you to interpret on your own. It's a beautiful thing, really, when a reader falls in love with an author's writing style. 

- The emotion.

• This book is very emotional. People are treated as slaves in this book and at times it can be very hard to read. There is a lot of pain and heartache in this book. You can feel it in the characters' souls and the actual book itself. Yet, at the same time, there is hope within the slaves that keeps the life in them burning bright. It made me want to go "HOORAH! GO HUMAN RACE!" Anyways, this book was an emotional roller coaster ride, and I loved it. 

What I didn't like:

- The plot.

• While the plot had potential, there were too many slow chapters that made the overall plot boring. Things didn't get good until the second half of the book and by then I had already wanted to skip through to the last couple of chapters. If things had picked up after the first couple chapters, my liking of this book would have increased. 

- The characters.

• I couldn't relate to any of the characters, especially Kestrel and Arin. They felt more like robots to me than actual people. That probably sounds weird if you look at all of the raving reviews on how awesome all of the characters are, but I just can't help it. I couldn't shake the feeling that they didn't really have any emotions whatsoever.. even if they actually did. 

- The romance.

• While I liked that there wasn't insta-love between Kestrel and Arin, I just didn't feel like they had a connection at all. Every time they were together, it felt bland. Boring. I know that each had their own problems to deal with before they could even think about developing feelings for each other, but still. I didn't care if they got together or didn't. I just... didn't care. 

Overall thoughts?

This series has potential to be something great. Lots of people will agree with me on that. With the way the book ended, I have a feeling that the sequel with have a lot more action and less slow chapters. Will I continue on with this series? Sure, I'll give it a shot. I think it will progressively get better as the series goes on.

Until next time, 

           

 

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Title: Hex Hall
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Page count: 323 pages, paperback
Publishing date: March 2010
Publisher: Hyperion 
My rating: 3/5 stars!

Blurb:

Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father—an elusive European warlock—only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.

By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tag-along ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire student on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.

As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

A few dozen books and three months later, I'm just now reviewing this book. I actually read it in late November of 2014, but the holidays had me swamped. I read books without reviewing them and now I have a list of books that needs reviewing and the list keeps getting longer. This book has been on the list the longest, and I figured I'd get it done and over with. 

I don't sound too happy about it, I suppose, and it's sort of true. Why?

Well, honestly, this book didn't leave any lasting impressions. When I rate a book three stars it usually means that I overall enjoyed it but it didn't 'wow' me. When a book doesn't wow me or make me want to bash my head into a wall, I usually don't remember much about it. I go on with my life and don't really give it a second thought. 

This is one of those books. The plot was mediocre, the characters weren't impressive, and there was something lacking with the book overall. Maybe it was the lack of a steamy romance or the fact that magic wasn't even really used in this book, but there was something about this book that made me want to yawn. 

The main character, Sophie, is a witch. She doesn't really want to be one, especially if it means getting sent to a reform school for paranormal freaks. But her daddy is making her, and when daddy orders someone to do something, they do it. So here she is, walking through Hex Hall. She hasn't been there for more than ten minutes when.. *cue love interest* Archer shows up in all his blazing glory. Except not. I don't know why I thought that this romance would amount to anything. I could tell by the way it began that this wasn't the kind of romance that I would ever swoon over. Archer is a jerk. I don't think there were any qualities about him that I enjoyed. When he didn't bore me to death, he made me want to rip his head off. He's not the kind of guy I wanted Sophie to fall for, but, eh, it happens. 

Sophie herself was okay. She wasn't anything special, but I didn't want to rip my hair out every time she thought of something or spoke so I guess it's a win/win situation for all. She's sort of immature, but given what happened at the ending, I expect her to shape up into a mature young adult. Hopefully. If not, there's no hope for this series. The main character should ALWAYS evolve into a deeper, more intricate character. Otherwise, what's the point? No one wants to read about a snotty-nosed brat or an immature teenager other than snotty-nosed brats and immature teenagers. 

One good thing about this book is that there are mysterious deaths happening in this book. The romance between not-so-gorgeous Archer and Sophie takes a back seat to the mystery. The mystery and the fear of who's going to die next was what made me keep reading this book. If it hadn't been for the crazy events happening in Hex Hall, I don't know if I would have finished it. 

Don't be fooled with the title and blurb for this book. There is NOT a lot of magic in this book. I expected a lot more than I got. A lot more. I guess I wanted Harry Potter-magical-awesomeness, but that aim was way too high. Don't get me wrong, there is some magic. I guess it's enough to say that this is a book with magic, but it's not a magical book. 

Overall thoughts? The mysteries in this book were the sole reason for giving this a higher rating. If not for the mysteries and the slightly creepy ending (that I saw coming a mile away), I would have given this a two star rating at the most. The romance was very faint and I'm glad. The characters were boring. I don't even feel the need to talk about them because they just don't seem to matter to me. Eh, would I recommend this? Not really, but if you want to give it a shot, be my guest. 

                                      

                                                                    Until next time,