REVIEW: The Winner's Kiss (The Winner's #3) by Marie Rutkoski

The Winner's Kiss by Marie Rutkoski
Series: The Winner's #3
Published by Bloomsbury Childrens on 24th March 2016
Pages: 496
Source: *Received from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review*

Following the intrigue and danger of The Winner's Curse and the revolution and romance of The Winner's Crime, Kestrel finds herself in the tundra's mines and Arin has sailed home. The empire seems unstoppable. 

Lies will come undone, and Kestrel and Arin will learn just how much their crimes will cost them in this third and final installment in the heart-stopping Winner's trilogy.
Such a poignant and emotional finale to a wonderfully addictive and powerful trilogy. The Winner's trilogy is certainly not one to miss for those whom love a powerful female protagonist, a complex yet easy-to-understand plot and a beautiful romance. And these covers! Plus, the look of these spines on your bookcase will make even non-readers jealous of their beauty!

Following The Winner's Curse, The Winner's Kiss begins as Arin has sailed home with the simultaneous imprisonment of Kestrel. However, I really do not want to say much more, as this is the last novel.

Our characters! Rutkoski does a brilliant job in their betrayal. Kestrel, as in the first two novels, is a strong and powerful woman, whom stands up for what she believes in. In this final novel, I loved seeing her intelligence shine through, as we really got to see this more sure and confident Kestrel revealing her knowledge of strategy, giving the reader a different angle to read from. Of course, we also have Arin. I loved being able to read the novel from both of their perspectives as we witnessed them finding their way back to one another. Arin's perspective will be intriguing to any reader, it really showed Arin's true self, his inner conflict and the battle he has with himself in his head; at times it was very emotional and really made one think as he battles with himself in doing what is right in a war setting.

The writing, as always, was beautiful. Rutkoski really has this way of capturing you within her first sentence, and truly takes you on a powerful journey. The plot was fast-paced and surprising. There were certainly twists and turns I was not expecting, which made this all the more addictive and compelling. The setting was powerful and haunting, paired with Rutkoski's powerful writing, you truly felt as though you were there with them. And the emotion! My goodness, I certainly teared up at one point!

Overall, The Winner's Kiss was the beautiful yet emotional novel that really tied the knot for this trilogy, it was compelling and addictive, yet really made you think. Plus, that ending! I had not seen that coming, and for that I highly praise Rutkoski and am very much looking forward to reading more of her novels, especially The Shadow Society.


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