The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski

TL;DR Kestrel and Arin kind of screwed themselves over in The Winner's Curse and are now trying not to go down in flames

(finished 6/20/15)

I reviewed The Winner's Curse back in December. I rated the first book really high, and though I rated the second book only three stars, it's not a detrimental downgrade. I actually really enjoyed reading The Winner's Crime, but I wasn't all that happy with it, if that makes sense. My three-star rating is mainly just my "... what" response towards the ending.

I don't remember if I mentioned this in The Winner's Curse review, but I really like the mood of the narration. It's really poetic but it doesn't push purple prose (imo) and I really liked how it set up the capital and the Queen's city. I sometimes have trouble with fantasy set in different worlds but this series hasn't been too bad for me. The map on the inside of the cover really helped. Somehow I got the impression that the Valorian capital was to the east of Herran, not the west, so it took me a little bit to fix that in my mind. 

I was kind of frustrated with the characters. I mean, in their situation, there's not many other options without essentially killing themselves in the process, but I really wish they'd have been a little more honest with each other. It's not even just Arin and Kestrel. All the characters lie and hide things, which I guess is to be expected, but more than once I wondered how the plot would've been affected if Kestrel had told Arin the truth about the engagement from the beginning and not the eventual way that she did. 

Honestly, the plot didn't feel as exciting to me as it did in The Winner's Crime. It wasn't a struggle at all to finish the book, but I think that was mainly because of its mood and aesthetic. I wasn't all too impressed with what all went down by the end of the book, and where it left off, I'm not very sure that I want to read the final book. I probably will. It's just not very high on my priority list. 

TL;DR I liked the aesthetic more than the plot or the decisions of the characters. It probably depends on what you thought of The Winner's Curse.