Armchair BEA 2015: Giveaway

It is the fourth and final day of Armchair BEA.  The themes are Giveaways and Book-to-Movie Adaptations.  I am choosing to host a giveaway.

One of the major themes of Armchair BEA is experiencing an event and a community online, since we aren't able to do it in person.  That inspired my giveaway.

A few weeks ago, I went to a Fierce Reads Spring Fling tour event at Blue Willow Bookshop.  (You'll note that the second leg of the tour starts tomorrow, at BookCon.)

It was a great event - they had a photo area with a backdrop and lots of props, bingo with custom cards, and the store provided a raffle.  Katie Finn, Lynne Matson, Marie Rutkoski, and Lindsay Smith were all promoting the second books in their series, so they were all a bit handicapped about what they could talk about.  I was familiar with most of their books, but understood that it was likely not everyone in the audience had read them.

My reviews of:
The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski
The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski
Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend by Katie Finn
Sekret by Lindsay Smith

They could talk odd coincidences, like how Finn and Matson's books both start in a Target.  (Finn did that because she strangely seems to always wear her one red shirt to Target.)  The authors also talked about worldbuilding and how it can drive plot.  Rutkoski first decided that her more martial culture would carry knives and then that they would allow duels.  At that point, she knew that there had to be a duel in THE WINNER'S CURSE.  It seems like most of them were pantsers, which is a big problem when you're writing the second book in a trilogy!

Anyway, part of the fun of an event like this is all the swag.  So I'm giving away a swag pack!  There is a Fierce Reads tour poster signed by Finn, Matson, Rutkoski, and Smith, plus a Fierce Reads pen.  There are two bookmarks and a pin for Nil and Nil Unlocked by Matson.  There is a watermelon soy chapstick for Finn's series.  There are two bookmarks for Rutkoski, plus two bookmarks from Smith - one for her upcoming novel Dreamstrider.

BONUS ROUND!  For every ten entries, I'll add more swag to the swag pack.  And believe me, I have all sorts of cool stuff - including more posters.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: The Winner's Crime

Book two of The Winner's Trilogy
By Marie Rutkoski
Available now from Farrar, Straus and Giroux BFYR (Macmillan)
Review copy
Read my review of The Winner's Crime

 Marie Rutkoski knows how to keep you on your toes.  THE WINNER'S CRIME is a tale of entwining intrigues that ends in a cliffhanger that will make you wish you had THE WINNER'S KISS on hand.  (People reading this review at least a year in the future, I envy you for your ability to do just that.)

Kestrel is promised to marry Prince Verex and become the next empress, even though she loves Arin.  Arin is now the governor of Herran, but that doesn't mean his country is instantly set back to rights.  His country has been looted and stripped of much of his resources, yet they must still tithe the emperor.  Arin is reeling from the knowledge that Kestrel betrayed him and never loved him, whereas Kestrel is reeling from all she gave up is order to keep everyone she loved alive.

I normally don't like it when miscommunication propels the plot of a novel, particularly one with romantic elements, but it works here.  Rutkoski has created a situation where it isn't safe for the characters to just say the truth.  There are spies everywhere, and one wrong word will get both Arin and Kestrel killed (and more people along with them).  I also think it worked for me because they need some time where neither of them are the other's slave.

I enjoyed that the romance took a backseat to the politics.  The court is complicated, and Herran isn't the only source of conflict.  The country to the east is still fighting back, unconquered.  Their biggest weakness is the queen's sister, a hostage at the capital.  I cannot wait to see how that plot develops further in THE WINNER'S KISS.

Now, THE WINNER'S CRIME is a second book.  There's lots of establishing a new status quo and setting up all the exciting things to happen in the final book of the trilogy.  But it still works on its own, particularly a wrenching confrontation towards the middle of the book.  It's an exciting book to read and a rough one, because the characters keep making mistakes that are so them.  I can only hope that they get it right by the end.

Review: The Winner's Curse

Book one of The Winner's Trilogy
By Marie Rutkoski
Available now from Farrar, Straus and Giroux BFYR (Macmillan)
Review copy

I was under the impression that THE WINNER'S CURSE was almost entirely about the romance between Kestrel and Arin.  I was wrong.  Their love for each other drives many of their decisions, but THE WINNER'S CURSE is about much more than two teenagers in love.

Kestrel is the seventeen-year-old daughter of a general, and thus a high-ranking Valorian.  She must marry or enlist in the army by the time she is twenty, but until them she is determined to find her own path.  Things go a bit awry when she stumbles across a slave auction and makes an impulsive purchase of a young Herrani man.  You see, Kestrel lives in the Herrani peninsula, where the Herrani where enslaved after the Valorians took over.  The Herrani are obviously unhappy about this, which Kestrel is a bit blind to, despite her strategic mind.  She is uncomfortable with slavery, however; initially she ignores that she bought a person.  Then she starts using Arin as her escort, for single Valerian women must be escorted and she trusts him to let her do what she wants.

I didn't always buy that Kestrel and Arin fell in love (she owns him!), but I loved the complicated dance between them.  Arin has his own motives and his own clever mind.  Kestrel is terrific at getting out of tricky situations using her powers of observation and intelligence.  Despite my crack at her strategic mind before, THE WINNER'S CURSE is not a case of being told about a character's skills.  Kestrel shows her abilities over, and over.  Thus, THE WINNER'S CURSE is about two capable, crafty survivors who are unwilling to let their people be the one's thrown over the bus.

I wasn't familiar with the term before this, but "the winner's curse" is an auction term referring to win the winner pays too much for what they receive.  Kestrel invokes it when she buys Arin.  And, as the story goes on, it seems that one of them will have to invoke it again, to save either their love or their country.  Author Marie Rutkoski is not afraid of making things complicated.

I devoured THE WINNER'S CURSE in a single afternoon, and the unexpected ending has me eager to read the next book.  The romance between Arin and Kestrel might be a slow burn, but the story is fast paced and thrilling.  Notably, Rutkoski makes both sides sympathetic to the reader.  The characters are sometimes vile and sometimes charming, no matter which side they're on.  Killing people always has weight.  But slavery is always bad, thankfully.  Man, I just have to know how things turn out.