BOOK REVIEW: The Winners Curse & The Winners Crime by Marie Rutkoski

Synopsis - Just for the The Winners Curse so no spoilers.
As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions.
One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin.
But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.
Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

Review
Oh my gosh guys. These books got me and they got me good! Although I'm glad I've read them, I do wish I'd waited because I'm dying for the final book in this trilogy. 
I'd heard a lot of good things about these books but I'll be honest - The covers put me off as I'd made an assumption about the content - They always say never trust a book by its cover! Once I'd got into the story this turned out to be a fast paced, intense story that I couldn't predict which way it was going to go. It kept me addicted!  And now, looking back at the covers - they fit really well with the story and I love them!
The first book took around 70 pages or so to finally get into the story but as with all fantasy books the world building and set up to the story takes a little more time and description. As with many other YA fantasy books, there's a great war going on in the world etc - but this book made it feel like so much more, which I think is due to the way the characters are written. I genuinely cared what would happen to each and every one of them, which is rare for me. The female protagonist (Kestrel) was strong and independent without being overbearing and all powerful. I love that they focused on her intelligence being the strength through the books rather than being physically strong.
The romance was built slowly enough for me throughout the book and there was no immediate oh-my-gosh-I-love-you-we-need-to-be-together-forever when feelings came about - it was more believable. It took me a little while to warm up to Arin but I felt like this was done purposefully by the author since as the book developed, he was slowly revealed to have this softer side and you sympathized with his situation and the Herrani people. By the end of the second book he's completely in his element and I'm just swooooooooooooning and it's not just even from scenes with Kestrel!
One thing that surprised me was how much I enjoyed the political aspect of these books - usually when I'm reading I tend to enjoy the romance scenes of a book more and get bored during the more serious matters. But with this it was different. There were so many situations where I couldn't see a way out and yes, Kestrel, the logical genius that she is manages to find a way but it was never a straight forward win/cheers/story is over - a lot of the time it felt like an empty win that only solved the immediate issue and not the bigger picture. Thus, developing the story further. There was a lot of things that I didn't predict to happen and a lot of scenes that had me gasping and some which were gut-wrenching (hello, the end of the first book). Overall, I'm reaaaaaaaaaaaaally looking forward to the final installment and I haven't a clue what will happen because in these books anything could! I ended up giving both of the books 5 stars!