The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski

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AHH THAT ENDING. Oh my goodness. I can't wait to read book three. But, back to the actual REST of the book. This novel was fantastic. Twice as good as the first. All the backstories going on and the hidden secrets coming to out to play. I was in heaven. Kestral and Arin are in the thick of it. Though she has saved her old home. She has now entered the lion's den. It may be even more dangerous than the war that started as a result of the first novel. Arin is fighting with all he has, and even though he doesn't know it, Kestral is doing the same as much as she can. She is a woman trying to protect those she loves and it rips your heart out page after page. I hurt reading this book. I hurt for Arin, I hurt for Kestral and I hurt even more for all the people hurt as a result of this looming war between all of the areas. The deceit and the lies in this book run deep. Throw in a bunch of spying and a plethora of secondary plans and I never saw that ending coming.

Synopsis:

Book two of the dazzling Winner's Trilogy is a fight to the death as Kestrel risks betrayal of country for love. The engagement of Lady Kestrel to Valoria’s crown prince means one celebration after another. But to Kestrel it means living in a cage of her own making. As the wedding approaches, she aches to tell Arin the truth about her engagement... if she could only trust him. Yet can she even trust herself? For—unknown to Arin—Kestrel is becoming a skilled practitioner of deceit: an anonymous spy passing information to Herran, and close to uncovering a shocking secret. As Arin enlists dangerous allies in the struggle to keep his country’s freedom, he can’t fight the suspicion that Kestrel knows more than she shows. In the end, it might not be a dagger in the dark that cuts him open, but the truth. And when that happens, Kestrel and Arin learn just how much their crimes will cost them.