#kestrel trajan

[rosiethorns88]

Arin and Kestrel from The Winner's Curse by @marierutkoski

[ariadnethedragon]

— The Winner’s Curse, Marie Rutkoski

[elains]

It’s Christmas in Bookclub! ❧ the winner's trilogy for @bookofmirth

 “Isn’t that what stories do, make real things fake, and fake things real?”

[bookloverturnedfangirl]

The Winner’s Curse Quote

this parallel will never not be the death of me…

You are the god of lies, Kestrel had said.

“Kestrel, you don’t know. You don’t understand.” “I see things quite clearly.” [….]“You don’t,” Arin said. […] She didn’t look back when he spoke again.“You don’t, Kestrel, even though the god of lies loves you.”

[vasyaskarachun]

YA LIT MEME: [1/∞] favorite female characters → kestrel trajan from the winner’s trilogy by marie rutkoski

      She remembered how her heart, so tight, like a scroll, had opened when Arin kissed her.                         It had unfurled.            If her heart were truly a scroll, she could burn it.       It would become a tunnel of flame, a handful of ash.       The secrets she had written inside herself would be gone.                        No one would know.

[lit-society]

@lit-society’s favorites — julie: the winner’s trilogy by marie rutkoski

The snow fell on her, it fell on him, but Kestrel knew that no single flake could ever touch them both. She didn’t look back when he spoke again. “You don’t, Kestrel, even though the god of lies loves you.”

[dreamsoffaerie]

female awesome meme: females in literature [3/20] ↝ kestrel trajan (the winner’s trilogy by marie rutkoski)

the truth can deceive as well as a lie.

[iwwv]

THE WINNER’S CURSE — MARIE RUTKOSKI

This was what curiosity had bought her: fifty keystones for a singer who refused to sing, a friend who wasn’t her friend, someone who was hers and yet would never be hers.

Kestrel looked away from Arin. She swore to herself that she would never look back.

[the-starless-one]

FRIENDLY REMINDER

Kestrel Trajan was THE female character. Brilliant. Well-written. Amazing. Clever. Badass.

Everyone just PLEASE read this series.

[cardanblue]

ya lit meme: [5/10] books or series: the winner’s trilogy

Arin wondered if she would lift her eyes, but wasn’t worried he would be seen in the garden’s shadows. He knew the law of such things: people in brightly lit places cannot see into the dark.

[thegodoflies]

The Winner’s Curse (2014)

They stood before the palace door. “Truly,” she said, “I haven’t the faintest interest. You may tell your sad story to someone else.”

He flinched as if slapped. His voice came low. “You make people feel so small.”

Kestrel went hot with shame- then was ashamed of her own shame. Who was he, that she should apologize? He had used her. He had lied. Nothing he said meant anything. If she was to feel shame, it should be for having been so easily fooled.

[shewholovesvillains]

Favourite female characters p.2!

Kate Harker from this savage song by V.E scwab

Nina zenik from six of crows by leigh bardugo

Kestrel trajan from the winners curse by Marie rutsoski

Bryce quinlan from house of earth and blood by Sarah j mass

Drusilla blackthorn from lady midnight by Cassandra Clare

Nadia zhabin from shadow and bone by leigh bardugo

[ariadnethedragon]

— The Winner’s Kiss, Marie Rutkoski

[booksandwords]

Paper was as delicate as silk, spilling over the piano bench in the music room. It was as soft and gentle as gold, weaving through the air, spread out like a ship’s sail in the wind. It was as smooth as cream skin under calloused fingers which were marred with scars of the past. Paper was as fragile as crystal tears that fell and fell while red was staining the carpet.

ink & wine by ladykestrel

This is such a beautifully written fic that suits the setting and the writing of Marie Rutkoski. I really just wanted to share this, the opening paragraph.

[bookloverturnedfangirl]

The Winners Crime Spoilers!

the music room scene will haunt me forever

[torvagatai]

are you as devastated by what we found out in the midnight lie about kestrel and arin’s parenting as I am? I love them both so much but guys wtf and then roshar doesn’t seem to be doing much to help her out with them? we better get more on this whole thing because I am deeply upset with that whole situation

🚨🚨🚨SPOILERS FOR THE MIDNIGHT LIE🚨🚨🚨

Yeah, I guessed pretty early on who Sid’s parents were and spent the entire rest of the book wincing every time she mentioned her mother.

Part of me isn’t surprised though. Kestrel is first and foremost tactical. Now that she’s queen, she presumably wants her country (a country which, let’s not forget, was subjugated until she and her husband led a rebellion to free it) to thrive. The Kestrel I know would want to protect her people no matter the cost. The Kestrel I know would want her daughter to follow in her footsteps as a powerful woman, and in Kestrel’s view, that means marrying a man to strengthen Herran’s political alliances. In their world, a country without an heir is weak. It’s awful, and I truly believe that Kestrel hates herself for having to ask it of her daughter, but she doesn’t see any alternative.

Don’t forget, this is an older, jaded, stuck-in-her-ways version of Kestrel. She went through so much when she was Sid’s age and I can imagine that the idea of Sid suffering as much as she did terrifies her. She thinks she’s doing what’s best for her daughter. Look at her options - her daughter can either live a comfortable life as a princess married to a rich nobleman, or she can lead a difficult life, constantly having to prove herself and justify her existence as a queer woman in a man’s world. If she wants her daughter to be safe, tactically, it’s a no-brainer.

It’s the same with Kestrel and Arin’s rule over Herran. Sid makes a good point about her parents being hypocrites (freeing a country just to rule over it) but I genuinely think that Kestrel and Arin didn’t see any other ways forward. Or if they did, they likely thought the risks were too great. Better to rule over Herran as kindly, fair rulers than take a chance at setting up a democracy, fail, and throw Herran back into even more turmoil.

Do I agree with Kestrel and Arin? Absolutely not, and I’m not trying to justify the way they’ve treated Sid AT ALL. But I think that’s the genius of this plot - we get to see characters we love behaving appallingly because they don’t know any better and don’t see any alternative. It SHOULD hurt us to see Kestrel behaving this way.We’re put in the exact same position as Sid; she loves her parents and they love her, but they don’t understand her, and their inability to understand and accept her for who she is hurts her.

I’m confident that Kestrel and Arin will learn from their daughter and that in book two we’ll get to see a reconciliation between Kestrel and Sid. (I’m really hoping we get Sid’s POV in book two, because I NEED more information about what exactly happened between them).