I was a little nervous about reading The Winner's Curse. I came to the party pretty later so had already heard all the hype. Normally hyped books tend to disappoint me. They can never live up to the expectations I build up in my mind before reading them. With The Winner's Curse I sit somewhere in the middle. I enjoyed it but didn't have the love that I have seen expressed so frequently about it. Marie Rutkoski is clearly a talented writer. She weaves Kestrel's story with a gentle touch. She is subtle and take a thoughtful approach instead of the balls to the wall action that you see in so many YA books. I have no problem with that is the story is told well and is interesting. For the most part The Winner's Curse is told well and is interesting but there was just something missing. it needed something to stop it bordering on boring which is where this book sometimes strayed. Kestrel and Arin are good characters but I struggled to relate to them. The romance is front and centre which takes away some of the personality of kestrel. I would have liked a little less romance a bit more substance but I still got caught up in it. I look forward to reading more from this series.

It's taken me a long time to upload a review so I've just pasted my overall thoughts on the novel

-It reminded me a lot of Kate Quinn, particularly The Empress of Rome series.
-Beautiful writing style.
-Gritty and unbalanced atmosphere that suited the story.
-I tripped over some of the terminology so could have done with a glossary.
-Really enjoyed the romance: believable, didn't overpower the characters or their agency. Still remained true to themselves over anything else.
-Overall, I liked it but it didn't pull me in completely. I wanted more tension and action.