The Winner's Curse

This book started out rather slow. The first half is filled with the heroine, Kestrel, thinking about which decision she should take in life, and the slave, Arin, plotting for something that eventually blows up in the second half of the book. It's pretty clear from the start that there will be betrayals, though there are a lot more twists than I initially expected. The world-building is solid. The succinct writing style and short chapters made the book really easy to read, and I flew through most of the book in one day.

What I like the most, however, is how “human” the characters are. They commit mistakes, they fall in love, they make stupid decisions, and they don't easily abandon the people precious to them based on emotions alone. There's no easy way out considering Kestrel and Arin's positions, but they didn't fling everything out the window just to be with each other. Their relationship is complex. Despite the mutual attraction, their definition of right or wrong are clearly different, and that's exactly what makes it interesting.

It also feels refreshing to see a heroine who's actually good at strategics and keeps herself under control most of the time. Kestrel does act rebellious from time to time (which is understandable due to her background and the situation she's in), but she spends a lot of time thinking things through before taking action. I also like her friendship with Jess because of how genuine it is. Even after everything goes to hell, Jess is still one Kestrel's top priorities and stays in her mind up until the very end.

I can't help but feel sorry for Ronan, though. I hope he appears again in the second book, as I feel that the man deserves to be happy after being so supportive of Kestrel. (:3」∠)