The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski (review)

When the Valorians defeated and subsequently enslaved the Herrani people ten years ago, young Kestrel assumed a life of luxury and privilege as the daughter of Valoria’s greatest military general. Such comfort, however, comes at a price: at seventeen, Kestrel must now make a decision to either marry or join the military, a choice that she keeps putting off to pursue music, scandalizing the gossips of high society. Her purchase of a handsome slave, Arin, who might be a musician, further incites chatter, and her public defense of him brings ruin to her reputation. Ultimately, however, the society goings-on and Arin and Kestrel’s growing feelings for each other cease to matter when Arin successfully stages a rebellion and reclaims Herrani, organizing the killing and/or enslavement of any remaining Valorians. The coup occurs about midway through the book and it is the ensuing reversal of roles that allows these characters to fully develop, giving definition and depth to both Kestrel and Arin as real people as opposed to just parties in a forbidden romance. That’s not to say that the romance isn’t heartstoppingly lovely and admittedly steamy to begin with, because it is, but the raising of stakes and the reluctance of the couple to give up their respective cause, even as they confess their love for each other, lends their relationship a complexity not often seen in the genre. An author’s note cites Greco-Roman culture as inspiration, and the lush, sumptuous setting certainly has a Mediterranean feel and the military strategizing calls up Homeric epics. A last-minute compromise between the lovers secures a sequel, and fans of Kristin Cashore and Robin Lefevers will be pleased to have a new romance to follow.