Oh man. I put this book off for a LONG TIME because I was afraid it wouldn't live up to the hype surrounding it. So. Much. Hype.
I did end up enjoying this book, but I do think that there are issues with it that wouldn't let me rate it higher than 3 stars.

What I liked:

1. I liked that the characters were flawed and different. Cath's issues with anxiety and people isn't something I'm used to reading in YA.

2. I liked that this story has nerdy characters in the forefront.

3. The story was a quick read and while I was reading it I was entertained.

4. I really enjoyed Reagan and Levi. I liked that they pushed Cath out of her shell (as much as they could) and were there for Cath when she needed a friend.

What I didn't like:

1. Cath and Wren. I didn't HATE Cath, but I found myself getting highly annoyed with her throughout the story, especially after she and Levi began dating and she wouldn't even hold his hand. I felt like he deserved better than her. I get that she had anxiety and that she has a hard time with new people and new situations, but her attitude about other people demanding so much of her almost came off as pretentious. I don't feel like I'm explaining my thoughts very well, so there may be an edit in the future. I really, really disliked Wren. She was slightly redeemed by the end of the book, but so much of the story was spent with her belittling her sister and acting like an idiot that I just didn't care.

2. My thing I disliked most about this story is all the fan fiction inserted throughout the story. It created a very disjointed pacing, and I wasn't interested at all in those characters. I would've preferred more development of the actual protagonists of THIS book. I get that her reading to him is a big bond between them, but I don't need pages and pages of a story within a story. I ended up skipping all those sections as they came up. This is the main reason I couldn't rate this book higher than three stars.

All in all, I was underwhelmed by this story. I want to try a couple more Rainbow Rowell books in the future, but this one wasn't my favorite. Now I'm going to go hide from all the people sharpening their pitchforks...

Wow. I loved this. It was hands down the best book in the series for me.

Now, I did not love the first two books in the series. I had a lot of issues with both of them, which I fully explain in my reviews of them. But I felt like there was enough potential that I wanted to finish the series to see how it all ended. I am so glad I made that decision, because I thoroughly enjoyed myself reading this book.

I waited a couple of weeks from finishing the Winner's Crime before beginning this last book. Part of that was because I was checking it out from the library. But even after that I waited about a week because I just wasn't looking forward to reading it. In the end, I'm glad that I did wait to read this final installment. I feel like I enjoyed it more than if I would've marathoned them back to back to back, especially since I had so many things about the first two I didn't like.

Things I liked:
1. I liked (loved, actually) that Kestrel and Arin spent the majority of the book together. I was nervous after the end of the Winners Crime that they were going to keep them separated for a good chunk of the Winners Kiss, but it only took about 90 pages before they were back together.

2. I loved the fact that there were no big misunderstandings that kept them apart and obstructed their relationship. The first two books, and the second one in particular had so many misunderstandings and secrets that it just wasn't enjoyable for me to read about their relationship. Young adult books seem to use this trope a LOT and it gets really, really annoying When you see two characters that, if they would just communicate, would solve about 90% of their problems. In this book Arin and Kestrel were very honest with each other and you felt their trust build and build throughout the book. Even when one person didn't like with the other was doing they were honest with them and that was refreshing.

3. This probably goes without saying but I loved the relationship between Arin and Kestrel in this book. Their relationship through this series has been a little problematic for me. I just didn't buy that this was some epic romance. But the way that they were written in this final book was awesome. I feel like having Kestrel lose her memory and have to remember falling in love with him and basically fall in love with him all over again really made me believe their relationship. In the first book especially, the relationship is based on a lot of secrets and lies essentially. But in this final book their relationship is based on mutual respect and strength and honesty and I feel like that's really why I fell in love with this couple in this book.

4. I love Roshar and Verex and Risha and Sarsine. They are really great side characters that don't just prop up the main characters They have their own personalities and their own views and I really appreciated that. I especially Love the friendship between Sarsine and Kestrel. I feel like Sarsine is truly the kind of friend that Kestrel deserved. I absolutely hated just in the first two books. I didn't understand why Kestrel would be friends with someone like Jess who is completely accepting the status quo of having slaves and subjugating an entire race of people. When just found out that Kestrel had fallen in love with a slave, and about the different things that she had done she rejected her. Sarsine knew all of Kestrel's deeds, good and bad, and she accepted her and she befriended her. I loved it.

5. The pacing of this book was superior, in my opinion, to the first two books, which dragged on and on for me. There was a moment in the latter 1/3 of the book where I just wanted them to get on with story and it lagged just a touch. But for the most part, I stayed fully engaged in this book from beginning to end.

6. I liked that Kestrel's 'intelligence' and quick thinking actually helped propel the story. I feel like the first two books had her making some incredibly stupid and head-scratching decisions. All the while we are supposed to believe that she is this witty, quick-thinking, strategic genius. I actually believed it in this book.

Other thoughts:

1. There were a couple of parts that seem to get a little repetitive in the second half. This goes back to what I was talking about with the pacing. For the most part, the book flows along really nicely but when it felt like Arin and Kestrel we're having the same conversation over and over again about her going out into danger I did get a little bored. Ultimately I for gave that because I feel like it showed growth in both of their characters. It showed that Arin could trust Kestrel and that Kestrel could be honest with Aaron and I really appreciated that.

2. I wish we had seen more of Verex and Risha's relationship. Maybe a novella? I would be all in for that.

3. Ditto for Sarsine. I wanted more of her interactions with Kestrel and Arin. I understand why they had to move along the story and I appreciate it but I just still want more.

All in all, I am so happy that I decided to finish the series after almost giving up after the second book. This series definitely gets better as it goes along, and this final book is without a doubt my favorite in the series. If I had to grade the series as a whole I would probably give it about four stars because it did get better at the end and the ending was pretty much what I wanted.

This is the first Ruth Ware book I've picked up. I don't read a ton of thrillers generally, but with Halloween right around the corner I was looking for something on the creepy side.

This book sucked me in right away. There is something I really appreciate about Ware's writing. It is thoroughly engaging. I was all in on page one.

The plot of this book is okay, but I don't know how realistic it really is. If I hadn't had any contact with a person in over ten years I wouldn't accept an invitation to their bachelorette party...because there is undoubtedly a reason we haven't spoken in ten years. In any case, the tension that is created among these characters over the course of the weekend is very well-written. It kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen.

The first half of this book made me feel uncomfortable (which I think was intentional. If I were Nora I would feel entirely uncomfortable by the situation) and creeped out.
Unfortunately, I feel like the second half of this book (after 'the incident') suffers a bit from a pacing standpoint. Now, the book isn't an action-packed book, but he first part at least has some movement in the story. The second part is all Nora trying to remember what happened while she remains almost entirely immobile. Once she finally does piece it all together, the story wraps up incredibly quickly.


I marked the SPOILER button, but just in case someone made it this far: There will be massive spoilers below. Continue to read at your own risk...


Here is my main gripe about this book: I figured it all out much more quickly than any of the other characters did. From the pregnancy/abortion/faked text reveal (I figured Clare had been the one to break up with Nora before they even said what the actual text even said. It just totally fit her character.) to Clare being the ultimate baddie, I just wasn't at all surprised by any of the reveals.

All that said, this was a super quick read that did keep me entertained and I appreciated Ware's ability to set a scene and create tension. I will pick up her books in the future.

This book was a super quick read. I enjoyed this for the most part. I had some problems with Sawyer and Reena's relationship in their younger years, but that was kind of the point. It was a toxic relationship and wasn't supposed to be romanticized. I do wish that they'd spent a little more time in the 'after' part of the story showing them coming back together, and I wish we'd seen more of Sawyer bonding with Hannah. Actually, I feel like this book could've benefitted from a dual perspective so we could see his POV. Part of me liked the 'before' and 'after' structure of the book, but it had a tendency of disrupting the pacing and flow of the novel. I found myself wanting to get through the 'before' sections because Sawyer had been such a jerk and Reena so naive. I just wanted more of the 'after' portion to develop their characters and relationship. I feel like the same information could've been disseminated with fewer flashback chapters...

Knowing that this is the author's first novel, I would definitely think about checking out more of her work in the future.

3.25 stars

This was better than Winner's curse. Marginally. I still had a lot of issues with the story/characters, but there were some bright spots that gave me hope for the final book.

Things I liked:

1. VEREX!!! I really liked Verex, specifically his relationship with Kestrel. When he was first introduced, he was written very strangely, almost as if he was a young child...he was whiny and petulant. But after the first or second scene with him, I really grew to like him. I like that he is intelligent, but in a completely different way than Kestrel (supposedly) is. He isn't cunning, strategic, or manipulative. Instead, he is caring and thoughtful, and would be a good ruler for his people. I was worried when I began liking him that Rutkoski was setting up the ever-present YA love triangle. I'm so glad I was wrong, and that they kept it strictly platonic between him and Kestrel. I like that she had sort of an ally in the palace, even though she couldn't confuse EVERYTHING in him. I hope to see more of his relationship with Risha, although I'm not sure how the third book will handle that since Kestrel is off to a work camp and away from the palace.

2. NEW PLACES! AND A MAP!!! I liked that we were taken to some different locations in this world. I would've liked to see more depth in the development of the capital city and Dacran (sp), but I like that the world expanded a. It. More than that though, I LOVED that a map was included at the beginning of this book. Book one did not have a map, and I feel like that was an opportunity that was missed because it really helps visualize in stories like this that take place in other worlds. But they fixed it with this book, and it made me happy.

3. KESTREL. Kestrel was (slightly) less infuriating. I still had a lot of issues with her, specifically her relationship (or lack thereof) with Arin. And for someone who is supposedly so smart, she makes some really stupid freaking decisions. But, I did like that she wants to help Herran and Arin. I wish there had been more of Kestrel's spying and less of her angsty drama with Jess.

4. THE WRITING. Marie Rutkoski certainly knows how to spin a phrase.

Things I didn't like:

1. JESS AND RONAN. I hate these two characters. They served no purpose in book one other than to prop up the main character. I don't even understand how someone like Kestrel, who is supposedly against slavery, could be best friends with someone who not only had no problem with slavery, but actually believes that she and her kind are entitled to whatever they want because they BRUTALIZED AN ENTIRE NATION AND ENSLAVED THEM. So yeah, she's a real winner (haha, no pun intended). And Ronan...completely pointless character. Him not being in the story did not affect it in the slightest.

2. THE ENDLESS MISUNDERSTANDINGS. I hate this particular trope. It is prevalent in YA, especially during second and third books where the author wants to keep the couple apart and angsty. There are so many times in this story where if they would just talk to each other, it could make a world of difference. We're supposed to believe that Kestrel was afraid to confide in Arin because the Emperor might find out and would retaliate...so instead of meeting him once and telling him, "I really care about you which is why I'm doing all of this but we can't keep meeting because I'm being followed and I have to keep up appearances with the Emperor and by the way, I'M THE SPY!", she meets him several times and has several misunderstandings that neither one of them realizes are misunderstandings until it's too late to do anything about it. Ugh. So annoying. Her not wanting him to know about her being the Moth was the biggest WTF for me. It makes no sense other than as a contrived plot device to keep them apart. At the end she says something like, "It didn't make sense to keep it from Arin. When had she started doing things that made no sense?" And here I am like, "SINCE THE BEGINNING OF BOOK ONE!!! This entire series exists because she does things that make no sense.
But Arin isn't blameless in this either. We are supposed to believe that they have this connection and he knows her like no one else does, and yet it doesn't occur to him that she is marrying the crown prince in order to secure the treaty that gives Herran its independence?


3. THE ROMANCE. I'm still not really feeling this epic love between the two characters, especially not in this book where they only have like three scenes together and no other interactions like letters or anything like that. I've heard many people refer to this as a 'slow burn' romance...but in order for something to burn, it needs oxygen...and this romance has been completely smothered, IMO. We are TOLD that they love each other, but I don't see it.

4. THE EMPEROR. This guy is a mustache-twirling stereotype of a villain if there ever was one. He isn't given any kind of a backstory that would explain his motivations or his bat-shit craziness. He is evil just for the sake of evil. Why does he want to bring destruction and death to every other culture on the continent? Because...reasons?

5. THE PACING. I had the same problem in book one. For the first 75-85% of the book, it is very slow going. Now, if this story was mostly character driven, I wouldn't have minded a slightly slower pace. But this is supposed to have spies and political intrigue and stuff like that...but most of this book was just Kestrel and Arin being angsty over each other and Kestrel being upset because her terrible friends are terrible. Then the last few pages picks up and gets you all crazed about the last book in the series.

6. SHOCKING SECRET!! In the synopsis of this book, it mentions a SHOCKING SECRET being discovered...I'm assuming they are referring to the Herran water being tainted...but really? Is that 'shocking' anybody? We've spent the last 350 pages learning that this Emperor is crazy AF. Not to mention that he delights in torturing and enslaving entire nations of people...just because. So how is it shocking that he would choose to poison their water supply and kill them so he could presumably take the country back after they all die? Spoiler alert...it's not shocking. Not at all.

All in all, I did enjoy this a little better than the first book, but I'm still not seeing what is making so many people obsess over this series. I will pick up the last book more out of curiosity and my need to finish series than actually LOVING the book, but I have hope...