Teaser Tuesday: The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The Winner’s Crime by Marie Rutkoski.

The Winner’s Crime –
Farrar Straus Giroux

“Winner take all,” said Arin.
She looked at him. “The Stakes?”
“The truth.”
— Chapter 19

She supposed that it had been lost, and found again. Sometimes things happened that way. But sometimes, Kestrel knew, what’s lost stays lost forever.
— Chapter 37

I love a good second book in a trilogy and wow this one is an amazing second book. The first book ended with an emotional punch which I thought was quite hard to stomach already, but this book is downright an emotional pummelling. At the same time the plot is a gripping roller coaster that will grip you and before you know it you’re racing through the last chapter with your heart in your throat hoping that it will somehow work out but knowing that it can’t possibly. The author has an amazing ability to make you root for her characters and infuse you with hope for their well-being ... and then almost dangling it within reach before yanking it away. I’m so worried for some characters and heart-broken for others and no matter what will happen, even if it’s a happy end it will also be bitter, but can I please have the third book now?

Did you suffer any literary heartbreak over Easter or lots of sweets and sweetness? Also applicable if you didn’t celebrate the egg-festivities. Let’s hear from you in the comments!