The Winner's Kiss (Winner's Trilogy, #3)

by Marie Rutkoski

[Ashley]

Seriously, it breaks my heart that I didn't love this book. I wanted to... I so wanted to.

I think the biggest problem for me was the romance.

* I liked the romance in the first book. I liked it quite a bit! I wouldn't say I was "in love" yet, but the "like" was definitely there.

* The romance fell apart in the second book.

* The third book was where it was supposed to come back together again, and it did. I just wasn't on board with it. I think there was too much that fell apart in the second book and it didn't get put back together in a way that I could enjoy and really be part of.

I actually quite liked Kestrel and Arin separately but I no longer liked them together. I had zero passion for their romance/relationship, and ultimately that's what the entire book was about. I felt like even the war took second place to their romance. And since I didn't love the romance, I couldn't love the book.

Furthermore, so much of the book just felt slow to me.

In the beginning ("spoiler" is just of what the first half is about—nothing from the end) Kestrel had lost her memory and she just spent the first half trying to get it back. I guess this was frustrating to me because I, as the reader, knew exactly what she'd forgotten. I had to sit there while she tried to remember stuff that I already knew. It just wasn't a fun read for me.

Then, the middle to the end was basically one big road trip. Walking. Travelling. Riding. Camping. The actual action was very little. It didn't hold my interest.

Finally, Kestrel's relationship with her father ended up being anti-climactic, I thought. It never really got resolved... It just... ended. I would have liked to see them hash it out more.

My favourite part of the book was probably Roshar, who ended up being quite a minor character. But I just loved his personality. He was funny and unpredictable.

I'm pretty devastated that I didn't love this series. I probably could have loved it if I was more on board with the romance, but since I wasn't, that basically just ruined any chances I had.