Sentence Sneak Peek - The Winner's Curse

The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

* ARC read via the publisher for review.

The first sentence from each chapter of The Winner’s Curse, it's a mini summary of what you can expect to read.

* Spoilers are highlighted like so :)

“SHE SHOULDN’T HAVE BEEN TEMPTED.”

“THE WAITING ROOM OF THE HOLDING PEN WAS open to the air and faced the street.”

“KESTREL DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY.”

“SHE HAD FORGOTTEN HIM.”

“USUALLY, KESTREL THOUGHT OF HER HOUSE AS an echoing place, one filled with mostly uninhabited, if lovely, rooms.”

“THE SLAVE PULLED A STRIP OF RED-HOT METAL from the fire and laid it on the anvil’s face.”

“THE GENERAL WAS A BUSY MAN, BUT NOT SO busy that he wouldn’t find out if Kestrel flouted his wishes.”

“ARIN WAS SATISFIED.”

“YET AGAIN, THE STEWARD STOPPED KESTREL before she could leave the villa.”

“OH, NO.”

“WHEN THE GENERAL RETURNED HOME AND heard the news about Senator Andrax, he didn’t wait even to wash off the dirt of the previous days.”

“ARIN HAD BATHED.”

“KESTREL’S FIRST LESSON WITH HER FATHER took place in their library, a dark room with inset shelves jammed end-to-end with beautifully bound volumes.”

“I BEGAN TO THINK THAT YOU WOULDN’T PLAY someone you couldn’t beat,” said Arin.”

“ENAI’S WORDS TROUBLED KESTREL.”

“WHEN KESTREL RECEIVED A MESSAGE FROM Ronan inviting her to go riding with him and Jess at their estate, she remembered something her father had said re-cently about evaluating an enemy.”

“KESTREL’S FATHER DIDN’T DISMISS THE CAPTAIN’S death as easily as Ronan and Arin had.”

“AFTER ENAI’S DEATH, KESTRAL SAT IN HER rooms remembering how the woman had taught her to paint a tree by blowing through a hollow quill at a pool of ink on paper.”

“WHEN THE DRESS FOR IREX’S DINNER PARTY arrived wrapped in muslin and tied with twine, it was Arin who brought the package to Kestrel.”

“KESTREL SLEPT EASILY THAT NIGHT.”

“PRIVATE CONVERSATION BETWEEN KESTREL and Irex was impossible, which probably pleased him.”

“AFTER THE DUEL, THE GENERAL HAD TO HELP Kestrel onto her horse, which only went a few steps before she swayed in the saddle.”

“LETTERS CAME.”

“WHEN NO ONE WAS LOOKING, KESTREL practiced walking around her suite.”

“THE WALK TO THE ORANGE GROVE HAD HELPED Kestrel’s knee, if nothing else.”

“BEYOND ITS ENTRYWAY, THE BALLROOM RANG with laughter and loud talk.”

“THEY MARCHED HER TO THE HOUSE.”

“HE TOOK HER HORSE.”

“ARIN HAD WORKED ON THE HARBOR BEFORE.”

“KESTREL WAS TAKEN DOWN THE RECEPTION hall of Irex’s home—no, Arin’s.”

“DON’T PROVOKE CHEAT,” ARIN SAID AS THEY stepped out of the carriage and onto the dusky path that led to the governor’s palace, which looked eerie to Kestrel be-cause its impressive façade was the same as the night before, but the lights burning in the windows were now few.”

“WHEN KESTREL AWOKE IN THE BED, SHE DIDN’T want to think about how she had gotten there.”

“ARIN BOUNDED ACROSS THE THRESHOLD OF his home.”

“AS HIS PEOPLE POSITIONED THEMSELVES IN and around the pass, Arin thought that he might have mis-understood the Valorian addiction to war.”

“KESTREL HEARD THE CHEERING FROM FAR away.”

“HE TRIED TO PULL HER DOWN TO THE FLOOR.”

“SHE HAD BEEN RIGHT.”

“ARIN DREAMED OF KESTREL.”

“SHE WOKE WHEN SOMEONE DRIBBLED WATER past her lips.”

“THE EMPIRE SUFFERS FROM IT.” KESTREL SAID.”

“WHEN ARIN SAW THE VAST VALORIAN FLEET muscle into the harbor, he was relieved.”

“KESTREL WATCHED THE GATE HEAVE OPEN.”