The Winner's Crime

The Winner's Crime, the second in "The Winner's Trilogy" written by Marie Rutkoski, is very good but made me really mad. The main plot is that a thriving country by the name of Herran is taken over by a huge empire by the name of Valoria. For ten years, the people of Herran, rich in culture but weak in defense, are used as slaves for the Valorians that now populate the country they once lived in. You are first introduced to the character Kestrel, the daughter of the Valorian general and the emperor's right-hand man. She is faced with the decision of either getting married or joining the military. She is extremely smart and her father wants her to become a strategist, but she doesn't want to go to war.

The next character you are introduced to is Arin, a slave who is specifically sold to Kestrel. She plays the piano and he is auctioned off with promises of a singing voice. Arin is one of the leaders of a conspiracy to overthrow the Valorians, and by being put into the general's home, he will have a good chance at getting valuable information. By the time the night of the official start of the rebellion arrives, the predictable happens and Arin and Kestrel have fallen in love.

The second book picks up after Kestrel has escaped to the capital after being taken "captive" by the rebels, after she returns to Herran as the fiancee of Valoria's prince; she also has with her a document that states that the Herrani people may live on their peninsula with Arin as the governor but they are still under rule of Valoria. In the second book, we learn that Kestrel made a deal with the emperor of the empire to ensure that the people of the country she loves (though more specifically Arin) are allowed to live in peace. She has her struggles of course, and Arin won't stop trying to find out the truth.

But what makes me so mad about this book is how it ends! I won't spoil any more of the series but, Arin is an idiot! Sure, he redeems himself, and the trilogy has a relatively happy (if not open and unanswered) ending. But how could he be so stupid?! She makes something blatantly obvious by not being obvious. She says she hates him and everything, but it's painfully obvious that she's lying and yet he doesn't understand! And then she writes a letter to tell him the entire truth (that she doesn't hate him but she loves him) and it gets hijacked by her father and the emperor.

Don't get me wrong, the books are great and it's a good series that I highly recommend. But how could one man be so incredibly dense? He's more dense than Jason from the Heroes of Olympus series. And that's saying something, because Jason has a severe case of density when it comes to girls. If you're okay with reading through how much of an idiot Arin can be (oooo, the last book gets me so mad) then I highly recommend this series. It is pretty good, has a good plot, and you can really visualize the fight scenes. It's no gold-star series, but it is good if you have nothing else to read.