Thursday Thoughts: Re-reading The Winner's Curse Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski!!!

Hiya there guys!

Trying to stay on top of the blog juggling extra shifts at work, trying to have some family & social life as well as everything else can be a bit of a job, but I think I'm hanging there alright, even if I might not post every day!

For this week's Thursday Thoughts I'm continuing with the re-reading reviews of a series I've done this year. I must say I'm pretty proud of the amount of re-reading I'm allowed myself to do, enjoying books I've loved and preparing for the next or final book in said series!

And this week it's all about The Winner's Curse trilogy and ALL THE FEELS!!

The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

I adored this one the first time I read it, and I adored it this second time. I love the writing, I love how although I knew the plot and what was beneath and unknown and untold until the revolution happens and I could see the hints and bits scattered throughout the narrative much more clearly.

I loved Krestel a lil bit more this time, even, and I'm alway been rooting for her. She's a wonderful female character that wants to be true to herself and what she wants, and even if she has to play by the rules of the society she lives in, she finds a way to try and bend those rules in her own way.

As far as Arin goes, I feel like I could understand him a lil bit better, his doubts, his anger, his plotting... all the times he snapped at Kestrel, and how he keeps on being torn between personal feelings and his fight for his freedom and his country.

The world building I adored as I did the first time. I call this series historical fantasy, because it kept reminding me of the Roman Empire culture (with a bit of Greek and even Minoan too) but it had its own flavour too. I loved how we got lil details like stories about the gods, cultural differences, traditions... all of it woven into the story.

And the relationship between Kestrel and Arin gave me ALL THE FEELS again! I also felt like Kestrel is loved by her friends and father but it's already seen as not entirely unconditionally, she's loved as the Kestrel she allows to be seen, and not entirely her whole real self.

The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski

The first time I read this book it was an insane rollercoaster for my feelings and it wasn't any different on this re-read. To be completely honest the amount of emotional distress this book caused me was kind of insane! Damn these two, I already knew what was going to happen but the anxiety and distress and the tears kept on coming! *shakes fist at book*

After Kestrel's bold (and heartbreaking) move at the end of Curse, we see how she has to deal with the consequences, and how she might have bitten a bit more than she can chew. We see her using all her (considerable) strategist ability to navigate the Imperial court life, and if things seemed complicated at first, once she decides to do what is right and NOT what is expected of her as a Valorian.

The mistrust and secrets are hard to keep and even harder when it comes to having Arin in front of her, breaking her heart and risking her life.

The stakes are higher, the world building expands because we see more of the Empire and Arin journeys away to find support and allies for the Herrani cause, and we meet another country and another culture (this time I was reminded of both the Egyptians and the Persians) and nagivates another complicated set of intrigue and politics. We meet some new and complex character that add some more diversity to the game.

The ending is absolute torture and so full of emotional anguish that I was so very relieved to at least this time have the next and final book on hand to dive into right away!


The Winner's Kiss by Marie Rutkoski

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Feelings overload and a wonderful feeling of contentment, even when dreading working the morning shift on 3 hours of sleep because I couldn't put down this most wonderful book... And now I'm suffering a massive book hangover and needing a nap (badly!).

After the horrible ending of Winner's Crime and suffering through it all over again on my re-read, I dived into this one straight away. Seeing Kestrel desperate but never really giving up on her fight might have been tough, but when she loses the will to continue fighting? That broken my heart like nobody's business!

I'm afraid to spoil something by talking about all that happened in the book, so just in case, consider yourself forewarned!

Seeing Arin work as a leader and navigating the seas of political intrigue and alliances and getting ready to fight a war that can be considered lost before it even begun with a stronger foe? He might not have Kestrel's brain for strategy, but he's quite the clever man himself! When caught between a rock and hard place he keeps fighting to find the way to escape with as few scrapes as possible.

I was so very worried about these two and their relationship for half the book and then I was even more worried on the second half, because whatever progress that was made could be wiped away if the fight and the war went awry, as it might very well could!

Kestrel demonstrates a strenght on her mind and on who she is and what she thinks it's right that makes her a character to love even more, and she comes to terms with finding some peace about those who couldn't love her as she is.

Arin grows so very much in this book, working hard to become the leader he needs to be and learning to trust again and to let that trust strenghten love. He also works hard to make sure the bargains he needs to make don't come back to bite him in the arse.

I simply adored this one and I feel like it was the perfect conclusion to this trilogy! Very much deserved 5 (and then some) stars!!

Thursday Thoughts: Re-reading the Red Rising trilogy by Pierce Brown!!!

Hey there guys!

Since I've been re-reading quite a bit this year for a change and I've decided that I'll be using my Thursday Thoughts to talk about those books I've re-read (most of them in preparation for the next or final book in a series) and then a slightly more regular review for the next/final book.

I adored Red Rising the first time I read it, I loved the build up of the Reds, their culture and the transformation. But on the re-read, I guess that because I knew what was coming, I felt like that was a bit slow... I must confess that I started loving the book as much as I did the first time the moment they got to the Institute. The moment the plotting, warfare and bloodshed started, I was 100% on board and in love with the book again!

I'm not sure what that might say about me, but yes, the most violent parts of the book is what made me love it again. Darrow's mistakes and triumphs and the way he discovered how he could care for those he was supposed to hate, and how he made friends and brothers between the Golds. Meeting Pax and Sevro and Mustang and all the rest... Gave me a different appreciation of the personalities of them all. Must confess that I thought I remembered more and/or better but as it happens I seemed to have forgotten quite a bit or to be more accurate I missremembered a lot! I kept thinking something should be happening right about now, and I had forgotten other stuff that had to happen first. In the end I absolutely loved it again and give it once again the full 5 stars!

Re-reading Golden Son was similar to re-reading Red Rising in the fact that I had forgotten some shocks, forgotten some scenes and kept misremembering some stuff (thinking something happened before it actually did), but since the bloodshed, conflict and warfare are peppered more all over the book, my blood thirsty self enjoyed the book more from the very beginning, without as many lulls as Red Rising.

I loved how Darrow kept getting back up after looking like he was beaten down, and how he kept surprising everyone (including me, for the second time!). I loved getting to meet the Stained again and loved seeing the different mythologies and cultures added to the mix. That is actually one of my favourite parts of the series, the way the Roman and Norse mythologies and cultures are part of the culture of this world, as well as the Irish feeling of the Reds.

Once again, I adored the book, it destroyed me emotionally becayse clearly no one is really safe and the deaths affected me quite a lot once again! I got pissed a bit more than the first time with some of the characters, and some of the betrayals hurt a lot more, because despite Darrow's flaws and his tendency to keep his friends at arms' lenght, I feel every attack to him as a personal attack to me!

After the re-reads, I was very well prepared having everything fresh in mind, and it really was the best idea ever. After the utterly horrible cliffhanger that was the ending of Golden Son, I started reading Morning Star full of trepidation.

As usual, Pierce Brown did NOT disappoint. There is plenty of politic manouvers, bloodshed, warfare and twists here and there and everywhere I'd even say!

It's gonna be really difficult to review this book avoiding spoilers for it and for the previous ones and that's gonna make this review so very vague!

Darrow never had an easy path, but in the beginning of Morning Star, things got even harder! After his wake up call and his confrontation with all the fears he had avoided, his character was even  better and more interesting. Everything changes in this book, quite a few times over. The Sons of Ares as an organization has changed, many characters have changed even if not fundamentally, just continued progressing and evolving.

There were a pair of occasions when I wanted to throw the book at Pierce Brown's head and I would have never forgiven him if certain events had really stick and were not permanent. Good thing both were false alarms and surprising plot twists that I never saw coming! I don't know if Mr Brown is that good or I was particularly thick while reading!

Morning Star will put you through the full range of emotions, from fear to horror to hope to anger and rage to happiness and excitement and concern and excitement and all over again! It's the right way to end a trilogy, making the odds even higher, turning up the tension up a notch every few chapters and having surprises and aces up their papery sleeves. The ending was both satisfactory as it was but also open enough to give us space to imagine what might come after.

Once again, very much deserved 5 stars, even if there were a few little things that I didn't agree 100%, but nothing that would change my rating.