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ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: THE MIDNIGHT LIE
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.marierutkoski.com/
CITY: New York
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 270
http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/web/academics/faculty/faculty_profile.jsp?faculty=652
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born March 5, 1977, in Hinsdale, IL; married; husband an economics professor; children: two sons.
EDUCATION:University of Iowa, B.A. (English), 1999; Harvard University, M.A. (English), 2003, Ph.D. (English), 2006.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Author and educator. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, lecturer, beginning 2006; Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY, assistant professor, currently associate professor of English. Lecturer at conferences and seminars.
AWARDS:Mellon interdisciplinary research grant, 2003; Dexter traveling fellowship, 2003; Derek Bok Award for Distinction in Teaching 2003, 2006; Frank Knox Memorial fellowship, 2005; Winthrop Sargent Prize, 2005, for essay on William Shakespeare’s work; Best Children’s Books selection, Bank Street College of Education, 2008, for The Cabinet of Wonders; Whiting Teaching Award, 2010; Scholar Incentive Award, 2012.
WRITINGS
Contributor of stories to Tor.com; contributor to Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900.
The Cabinet of Wonders was adapted for audiobook, Macmillan Audio, 2008.
SIDELIGHTS
SUBMITTED IN SGML FORMATAn author of young-adult fiction, Marie Rutkoski drew on her interest in the Renaissance in writing her “Kronos Chronicles” novels, which include The Cabinet of Wonders, The Celestial Globe, and The Jewel of the Kalderash . Praised for its mix of fast-paced narratives and well-drawn characters, Rutkoski’s series has been followed by The Shadow Society, a supernatural thriller, as well as by The Winner’s Curse, the first volume in her “Winners” fantasy series.
Although her education led her to a career teaching on the college level, Rutkoski loved to write and harbored a dream of eventually achieving publication. She began writing The Cabinet of Wonders in 2006, after finishing her doctoral research on renaissance Europe. “For many, many years I thought that I would never be able to create something that could touch other people the way books have touched me,” she explained to Kate Pavao in an interview for Publishers Weekly. “There’s nothing better than having a lifelong dream come true.”
The Cabinet of Wonders centers on Petra Kronos, the twelve-year-old daughter of Mikal, a widowed artisan able to transform metal into wondrous objects. When Mikal’s magical talent becomes known to Prince Rodolfo of Bohemia, he is summoned to Prague and commanded to create a magnificent astrological clock. When the man returns home, he is blind, his eyes removed by Prince Rodolfo to further the monarch’s cruel ambitions. The courageous and defiant Petra vows to restore her father’s sight and sets out for Prague, accompanied by her metallic pet spider Astrophil.
In The Cabinet of Wonders “Rutkoski makes good use of her bucolic Eastern European setting touched with magic,” as Anita L. Burkam observed in her Horn Book review, and Amanda Raklovits commented in School Library Journal that the work “is well paced and contains a number of intriguing characters.” For Charity Taylor-Antal, reviewing the first “Kronos Chronicles” story in the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, “the presiding beauty of the novel is Rutkoski’s writing—a cacophony of elegance and ease—resplendent supporting characters, and the kind of simplicity an author writes hard for.”
When Petra returns in The Celestial Globe, she is under attack from Prince Rodolfo’s assassins. Rescued by John Dee, a British spy who uses a “loophole” in time and space, she soon finds herself in London. While attempting to locate her, Petra’s childhood friend Tomik is captured by pirates who seek a magical globe with limitless powers. Rutkoski’s “stellar sequel to The Cabinet of Wonders surpasses its predecessor,” asserted a Publishers Weekly contributor, and in School Library Journal Karen E. Brooks-Reese noted that The Celestial Globe “brings magic and mystery to life.”
The final work in Rutkoski’s “Kronos Chronicles” trilogy, The Jewel of the Kalderash, focuses on Petra’s efforts to rescue her father, who has now been transformed into a Gray Man, a superhuman creature in service to Prince Rodolfo. As she journeys to Bohemia with Tomik in hopes of locating the creator of the Gray Men, the nefarious prince continues to consolidate his power in Europe. “Short, action-packed chapters lead to a climax of heroic courage, violent horror and tragic sacrifice,” noted a Kirkus Reviews critic, while Krista Hutley, writing in Booklist, called The Jewel of the Kalderash “a fitting finale for a distinctive series.”
In Rutkoski’s standalone novel The Shadow Society readers meet sixteen-year-old Darcy Jones. A troubled youth who has grown up in foster homes, Darcy has no memories of life before age five, when she was discovered on the doorstep of a Chicago fire station. Kidnapped by Special Agent Conn McCrea, a Shade from an alternate universe who lives among humans but possesses extraordinary powers, Darcy now finds her world in chaos once again. Pressured by McCrea, her only hope of staying out of prison is to infiltrate the Shadow Society, a terrorist group of Shades that is waging a war with humans in an alternate Chicago. “The author builds an engaging world, similar to the real Chicago but different enough to tantalize and keep interest high,” a contributor observed in appraising The Shadow Society for Kirkus Reviews.
Rutkoski opens her “Winners” trilogy in The Winner’s Curse , which focuses on Kestrel, the seventeen-year-old daughter of a powerful Valorian general. Forced to choose between marriage and the military, Kestrel impulsively purchases a handsome and musically gifted slave named Arin, with whom she falls in love. As she soon learns, Arin is actually an Herrani infiltrator, one of a group plotting to wrest control of the city from their enslavers. Writing in School Library Journal, Chelsey Philpot called The Winner’s Curse “a riveting novel about social stratification, mistrust, and honor,” while Booklist contributor Cindy Welch dubbed Rutkoski’s story “pure romance” and a tale “elevated above genre stereotypes by a talented author who understands pacing and satisfaction.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, July 1, 2008, Krista Hutley, review of The Cabinet of Wonders, p. 61; October 15, 2011, Krista Hutley, review of The Jewel of the Kalderash, p. 47; February 1, 2014, Cindy Welch, review of The Winner’s Curse, p. 67.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, December, 2012, Kate Quealy-Gainer, review of The Shadow Society, p. 216.
Horn Book, January-February, 2009, Anita L. Burkam, review of The Cabinet of Wonders, p. 102; March-April, 2014, Deirdre F. Baker, review of The Winner’s Curse, p. 128.
Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, September, 2009, Charity Taylor-Antal, review of The Cabinet of Wonders, p. 82.
Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 2008, review of The Cabinet of Wonders; March 15, 2010, review of The Celestial Globe; September 1, 2011, review of The Jewel of the Kalderash.
Publishers Weekly, August 18, 2008, review of The Cabinet of Wonders, p. 63; December 22, 2008, Kate Pavao, “Fall Flying Starts,” p. 24; February 15, 2010, review of The Celestial Globe, p. 132; September 17, 2012, review of The Shadow Society, p. 57.
School Library Journal, October, 2008, Amanda Raklovits, review of The Cabinet of Wonders, p. 158; April, 2010, Karen E. Brooks-Reese, review of The Celestial Globe, p. 167; April, 2010, Karen E. Brooks-Reese, review of The Celestial Globe, p. 167; November, 2012, Genevieve Gallagher, review of The Shadow Society, p. 116; February, 2014, Chelsey Philpot, review of The Winner’s Curse, p. 114.
Voice of Youth Advocates, December, 2012, Elizabeth Norton, review of The Shadow Society, p. 492.
ONLINE
Brooklyn College Web site, http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/ (May 1, 2014), “Marie Rutkoski.”
Harvard Magazine Online, http://harvardmagazine.com/ (January-February, 2009), Brittney Moraski, “Storytelling Scholar.”
Macmillan Web site, http://us.macmillan.com/ (May 1, 2014), “Marie Rutkoski.”
Marie Rutkoski Home Page, http://www.marierutkoski.com (May 1, 2014).
Marie Rutkoski Web log, http://marierutkoski.tumblr.com (May 1, 2014).*
Marie Rutkoski is a New York Times bestselling author of several novels for children and young adults. She grew up in Illinois as the oldest of four children, and has lived in Moscow, Prague, and Paris.
She holds degrees from the University of Iowa and Harvard University, and is now a professor of English literature at Brooklyn College, where she teaches Shakespeare, children’s literature, and fiction writing. She lives in Brooklyn with her family and two cats, Cloud and Firefly.
Marie Rutkoski
USA flag (b.1977)
Marie Rutkoski grew up in Bolingbrook, Illinois, as the oldest of four children. In high school, she was a member of the Young Adult Advisory Board at the Fountaindale Public Library in Bolingbrook. She later attended the University of Iowa, where she took Writers' Workshop classes and also studied with Pulitzer Prize-winner James Alan McPherson. After graduating, she lived in Moscow and Prague. Upon receiving her Ph.D. from Harvard University, she held dual appointments as a lecturer there in both English and American Literature and Language, and History and Literature. Marie is a professor of English literature at Brooklyn College, where she teaches Shakespeare, children's literature and creative writing. She lives in New York City with her husband and two sons. Marie can tie a good double figure-eight knot and is very fond of perfume, tea and excellent bread and butter.
Genres: Young Adult Fantasy
New Books
March 2020
(hardback)
Fall Like Thieves
Series
Kronos Chronicles
1. The Cabinet of Wonders (2008)
2. The Celestial Globe (2010)
3. The Jewel of the Kalderash (2011)
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Winner's Trilogy
1. The Winner's Curse (2014)
2. The Winner's Crime (2015)
3. The Winner's Kiss (2016)
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Novels
The Shadow Society (2012)
Fall Like Thieves (2020)
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Novellas
Jacks and Queens at the Green Mill (2012)
Bridge of Snow (2014)
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Marie Rutkoski is the New York Times bestselling author of several books for children and young adults, including The Winner's Curse. She holds a BA from The University of Iowa and a PhD from Harvard University. She is a professor of English literature at Brooklyn College and lives in Brooklyn with her two sons and two cats. Her most recent book is The Midnight Lie, which will be published in March 2020.
Marie Rutkoski is the author of The Shadow Society, the Kronos Chronicles, and the New York Times-bestselling Winner's Trilogy, which has garnered starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, and was included in lists for Best Books of the Year by Amazon, YALSA, and Kirkus, among others. She is a professor at Brooklyn College and lives in New York City.
Bustle
Search Bustle...
Marie Rutkoski Introduces Her New Book 'The Midnight Lie'
By KERRI JAREMA
Oct. 2, 2019
Macmillan/Bustle
When Marie Rutkoski's Winner's Trilogy came to a close in 2016 with The Winner's Kiss, fans were already clamoring for more from the YA fantasy author. Now, on March 3, 2020, Rutkoski will return to the universe of her beloved trilogy in The Midnight Lie. Bustle has the exclusive cover reveal and an interview with Rutkoski below.
Set two decades after the events of The Winner's Kiss, the new book follows Nirrim, a Half Kith woman (according to Rutkoski, the term "kith" is synonymous in this book with "class" or "kind") who lives in the Ward, a grim and punishing city kept behind a wall. A harsh tribunal rules and insures that society's pleasures — everything from brightly colored clothing to certain fruits — are reserved for the High Kith. People of Nirrim's low status keep their heads down, or risk their lives. But when Nirrim encounters Sid, a rakish traveler who tells her that the High Kith might possess magic, Nirrim decides to seek that magic for herself. But to do so, she'll have to place her trust in Sid, who asks, above all, not to be trusted. Along the way, Nirrim finds herself questioning everything — including her growing romantic feelings for another woman, a relationship that is illegal for her Kith.
"This woman is not somebody who sticks around," Rutkoski tells Bustle. "She is in fact somebody who looks a lot like 'The Rake' archetype from a romance novel. 'The Rake' is somebody who seduces women, who is out for his own pleasure, who is charming but also, irresponsible. And I thought that it would be really interesting to write that kind of character, [as] a woman, the love interest of my main character."
For Rutkoski, the book's cover speaks specifically to its explorations of truths and lies, love and betrayal, and the equivocations that her characters make to protect others — and themselves. Check out the stunning cover below, which was designed by Elizabeth H. Clark and illustrated by Lisa Perrin:
"I think this is my favorite cover out of all the books I’ve ever written," Rutkoski tells Bustle. "It’s beautiful, and I also think that artistically, it is very clever. Because you have a lot of visual echoing within the design. You have the two snakes that echo each other. You have the rose, the center of which echoes the heart that’s engraved into the vase. You have the two sets of leaves that come from the rose, the two tails at the bottom. All this doubling is very connected with the title itself, The Midnight Lie, which refers to a term in the book. A 'Midnight Lie' is a lie that you tell for somebody else’s good, or it’s a lie where you technically tell the truth and, by doing so, deceive others. I also love that the cover lets us know that this is a romance, that this is about two people who find each other and fall in love."
In the Q&A below, Rutkoski talks to Bustle about her writing process, returning to the universe of The Winner's Trilogy, and why The Midnight Lie is her most personal book yet:
How different is the world of this book from the world of The Winner’s Curse, despite the fact that they exist in the same universe? It does sound like it is a very different place that they are living in now.
Marie Rutkoski: Yes. The Winner’s Curse books are set in an invented world [but] there is no observable magic. In those books, Arin thinks that he has been blessed by the god of death and that the god of death speaks to him. Kestrel is an atheist and doesn’t believe in the gods. And she also knows how damaged Arin is, as someone who lost his family at such an early age, who endured slavery. And so, her suggestion at one point in the book is, “Are you sure that you’re hearing the god of death? Or are you maybe just hearing a voice in your head?" Even though there’s the potential for some people to believe in something like magic in those books, there’s also always a plausible deniability. In this book, the possibility of real magic seems to exist.
The book is set on an island that is forgotten by the rest of the world, if they ever knew of it. Its culture seems to be close to the Herrani culture, as is established in The Winner’s Trilogy. Its people look very similar, they once believed in a set of gods like the Herrani do... So its almost as if Herran came from this island and then forgot about their own origins. [Also] the people on the island itself don’t remember their own past. There’s this phrase that they say over and over again: 'It is as it is.' If somebody asks Nirrim, 'Well, why do you live behind a wall?' she’ll say, 'It is as is it. It is the way it has always been.' Whereas in The Winner’s Trilogy, people understand why their world is the way that it is.
For an author like you whose book is so highly anticipated, what was your writing experience like this time around? Did you feel any pressures, or have any new expectations for yourself?
Rutkoski: I do care deeply about bringing pleasure to my readers. I want to write something that will enrapture them and take them to another world. But it’s also, I think, important to write about issues that matter. With this book as with my other books, while it does include what I hope is a compelling romance, it also explores things that are really crucial to understanding our place in society such as: How do power dynamics work? What do we do with inherited and problematic systems that oppress some people and elevate others? The things that have always been important to me in writing definitely hold true in this book.
I was surprised to find myself writing in the first person for this book. It’s not a point of view I usually write in. This book is told in Nirrim’s voice and it was a good choice, because it was important to see not just how Nirrim sees her world, but also how she doesn’t understand fully the situation that she is in. She is, in some ways, an unreliable narrator. Not because she intends to be unreliable, but because she doesn’t even see the way that others treat her as being as problematic as it really is.
Marie Rutkoski, photo courtesy of Macmillan
As an author, do you feel a different sort of connection with the characters when you write in first person?
Rutkoski: I think so. I mean, I do feel maybe more connected to Nirrim than I have to other characters. I loved Kestrel and I felt connected to her in the sense that she’s really analytic of her world and her surroundings, and I too, am constantly trying to figure out why people do the things they do and say the things they say. But I really connected with Nirrim, and see myself in her, because she tries so hard to be good and to do good, and is also somebody who, although she tries to do what people expect of her, does stuff out of line. [She] doesn’t follow the script that society has written for her. And I found myself doing that too, in my personal life.
Why did you make that shift this time to centering queer characters? Why was that important to you?
Rutkoski: There are so many reasons. When I went on tour for The Winner’s Kiss, I did a book event in St. Paul at The Red Balloon bookshop. And there was a reader who came up to me, and she said, 'I love these books, and I love that we have a gay character in Roshar, but where are the women? Where are the fantasy books that really show queer women characters?' And there are! There are those books, and I’m so grateful for them. But I wanted to add to that. I wanted to write a book that would be for that reader. I wanted to add to that corpus of very important queer fantasy books written for teens.
I also think personally, it was important for me to write this book. I do think that we all inherit a really powerful script, a guideline for how to live your life. If you’re a woman you’re expected to grow up, marry a man, and have children. And I did follow that script. I was in a straight marriage for a long time, and I still care very much about the person to whom I was married, and respect him. But it’s also been really liberating for me to now be in a queer relationship, and to realize that there are actually many different scripts, there are many different stories, many different narratives that young readers could see in my book and in other books and see a potential way to live.
Did you find writing this book helpful or cathartic in any way toward understanding your own feelings?
Rutkoski: I can say that my personal experience helped me write both Nirrim’s fear and also her wishes, her hopes and also her desires. Nirrim is a very dear character to me, partly because she’s so vulnerable. There’s the risk of believing that she’s not brave, or that she’s too tentative. But she’s somebody who risks a lot. She is somebody who decides that she is going to seek what she wants, even though she knows that she will probably lose in the end. She does fall in love with another woman, and even as she’s falling in love, she knows that it’s incredibly likely that it’s a love that isn’t going to last. And she chooses it anyway. I don’t know that I am as brave as Nirrim, but I hope that I would be.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
You can now pre-order The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski, available on March 3, 2020.
Marie Rutkoski
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Marie Rutkoski
Born Marie Rutkoski
March 5, 1977 (age 42)
Hinsdale, Illinois, United States
Occupation Author, Professor at Brooklyn College
Nationality American
Education University of Iowa, Harvard University
Genre Young Adult, Children's Books, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Website
www.marierutkoski.com
Marie K. Rutkoski (born March 5, 1977)[1] in Hinsdale, Illinois[1] is an American children's writer, and professor at Brooklyn College.[2] She has three younger siblings.[1] She graduated from the University of Iowa with a B.A. in English with a minor in French in 1999, and then her English M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2003 and 2006 respectively.[2] She lives in New York City with her husband and son.
Contents
1 Awards
2 Works
2.1 The Kronos Chronicles
2.2 Young Adult
3 Reviews
4 References
5 External links
Awards
1999 University of Iowa Honors Program Collegiate Scholar Award[3]
2003 Dexter Traveling Fellowship[2]
2005 Frank Knox Memorial Fellowship[2]
2008 American Booksellers Association's Indie Next List for her debut novel, in its children aged 9 – 12 group[4]
Works
"Arm the Minds of Infants: Interpreting Childhood in Titus Andronicus" Criticism, Volume 48, Number 2, Spring 2006, pp. 203–226
"Breeching the Boy in Marlowe's Edward II" SEL: SEL: Studies in English Literature 1500–1900, Volume 46, Number 2, Spring 2006, pp. 281–304
"Bridge of Snow" in Burniac, Lauren, ed. (2015). Fierce Reads: Kisses and Curses. Square Fish. ISBN 9781250060532.
The Kronos Chronicles
The Cabinet of Wonders (August 5, 2008). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, pp. 272. ISBN 978-0-374-31026-4
The Celestial Globe (April 13, 2010). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, pp. 304. ISBN 978-0-374-31027-1
The Jewel of the Kalderash (October 15, 2011). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, pp. 336. ISBN 978-0-374-33678-3
The Final Showdown (May 4, 2013) . New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, pp. 354. ISBN 978-0-374-33479-6
Young Adult
The Shadow Society, 2012, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
The Winner's Curse, 2014, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
The Winner's Crime, 2015, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
The Winner's Kiss, 2016, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ICM PartnersMarie Rutkoski is the New York Times bestselling author of many books for children and young adults. She received her PhD from Harvard University and is a professor of English literature at Brooklyn College. She lives in New York City with her two sons.
Monday, March 2, 2015
Blog Tour Q&A with Marie Rutkoski + Giveaway
Q&A with Marie Rutkoski
Does your career as a professor and the works you teach ever help to inspire your own writing?
All the time. There’s a sentence in The Winner’s Crime inspired by a line from Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. It seemed like a throwaway line in the play, a metaphor that was so interesting to me, but I could almost feel Shakespeare’s disinterest, like he wrote it and thought, “Well, that’s serviceable,” and moved on. It’s not like him to let an idea he loves lie. I don’t think he loved this line. But the metaphor was great, so I tried to see what I could do with it.
Do you ever write any calling cards (a signature characteristic, such as a style of writing, a reoccurring theme / joke / name / idea / symbol, etc) into your stories? If so, any hints as to what readers should look for?
I like to invent myths for my cultures. Each of the books in the trilogy has at least one small story that is told as a story. In Curse, it’s the one Enai tells Kestrel about the seamstress. In Crime, it’s the story of Jadis. In The Winner’s Kiss, well…you’ll see.
If you could write one famous literary / TV or film character (hero, villain, supporting character) into The Winner’s Crime, who would you choose?
Maybe Veronica Mars. She and Kestrel would be close friends, and I think Veronica could help Kestrel see that you can be strong but also let yourself be vulnerable with people you trust. Also, Kestrel could see how Veronica is with her dad and realize, “So that’s what a healthy, loving father-daughter relationship looks like.”
If only Veronica could be a part of this trilogy! That would be amazing.
What two songs do you believe capture the essence of The Winner’s Curse and The Winner’s Crime?
For Curse, I think maybe “Sigh No More” by Mumford and Sons.
For Crime: U2’s “With or Without You.”
For The Winner’s Kiss (the third book): Florence and the Machine’s cover of Drake’s “Take Care.”
(Very) Random Question: If you were a font, what type would you be?
Maybe Henry Morgan Hand.
wednesday, march 4, 2015
The Winner's Crime Blog Tour
Interview with author Marie Rutkoski + Giveaway
Blog Tour organized by Mac Teen Books
See the full schedule HERE
The Winner's Crime is book two in The Winner's Curse trilogy.
As I said in my review, it should be illegal to put this much beauty and heartbreak into one story. But really, you need to stop everything and start reading this series.
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Book description: Following your heart can be a crime
A royal wedding is what most girls dream about. It means one celebration after another: balls, fireworks, and revelry until dawn. But to Kestrel it means living in a cage of her own making. As the wedding approaches, she aches to tell Arin the truth about her engagement: that she agreed to marry the crown prince in exchange for Arin's freedom. But can Kestrel trust Arin? Can she even trust herself? For Kestrel is becoming very good at deception. She's working as a spy in the court. If caught, she'll be exposed as a traitor to her country. Yet she can't help searching for a way to change her ruthless world . . . and she is close to uncovering a shocking secret.
This dazzling follow-up to The Winner's Curse reveals the high price of dangerous lies and untrustworthy alliances. The truth will come out, and when it does, Kestrel and Arin will learn just how much their crimes will cost them.
Published: March 3, 2015 by Farrar Straus Giroux
Find: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | The Book Depository
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Today, I'm thrilled that author Marie Rutkoski is stopping by for a chat.
Welcome back to Love is not a triangle, Marie!
LAUREN: When we met last, we talked about Kestrel and Arin’s identities as were-beasts. According to you, Kestrel would be “a Kestrel of course,” and Arin would be a “lean, sexy, tiger,” the preceding adjectives being an important part of Arin’s animal nature (If he were to have one). What I want to know is what animal forms some of the other characters in the sequel would take, especially, The Emperor, Verex, Tensen and Jess?
MARIE: The emperor: a mink. They’re nasty. Have you read Tana French’s Broken Harbor? The animal believed to be living in the house is maybe a mink. OR SOMETHING WORSE.
Verex: The very best kind of loyal and loving dog.
Tensen: A friendly yet cunning monkey.
Jess: a cat.
LAUREN: It’s well documented that Kestrel and Arin love games. There are also points in their stories where like it or not, they’ve had to fight for their own or others’ survival. I want to know how you think each would do in the ultimate survival game: the Hunger Games. If Arin and Kestrel were somehow transported to Panem and Reaped into the games, how would they do? Who would last the longest? Do you think either of them could win?
MARIE: The only way to answer this is to pretend that Kestrel and Arin don’t and won’t know each other in these games, because otherwise they’d probably try to ensure the other’s survival.
Kestrel would win. Strategy counts for a lot in the Hunger Games, and she can usually keep her head. Arin would get far, but he’d find the whole situation so intolerable that he’d make a mistake, he’d let his emotions get the best of him, or he would do something both noble and dangerous.
LAUREN: Let’s go crazy for a minute and pretend that that you, I, Kestrel and Arin are hanging out together, and we decide to play a game of “Would You Rather.” This might be hard for those two, because there’s no right or wrong answer in this game. Though maybe they’d argue that there is one.
How would you and they answer the following questions:
A) Would you rather wear the same outfit every day for the rest of your life OR eat the same meal?
MARIE: Outfit
KESTREL: Outfit
ARIN: Meal
B) Would you rather always have to say everything on your mind OR never speak again?
MARIE: Say everything
KESTREL: Never speak again
ARIN: Say everything
C) Would you rather fail or never try?
MARIE: Fail
KESTREL: Fail
ARIN: Fail
D) Would you rather always laugh at sad things OR always cry at funny things?
MARIE: Cry at funny things
KESTREL: Cry at funny things
ARIN: Cry at funny things
(laughing at sad things seems too cruel, and I frequently cry when something is hilarious—they are happy tears. I think Kestrel and Arin would feel like I do)
LAUREN: If Kestrel and Arin went to a job interview and were asked the classic “name one of your strengths and one of your weaknesses” question, how would they answer for themselves? Would that answer change between the beginning and end of The Winner’s Crime?
At the beginning of the book?
KESTREL: Strength - Determination
Weakness - I worry that I will never be the person I want to be.
ARIN: Strength - Survival
Weakness - Sometimes I let loneliness rule my decisions. Also, I want what I can’t have. I wonder whether I do this deliberately to punish myself.
By the end?
KESTREL: I think my strength is actually my weakness.
ARIN: I don’t want to answer your question. I can handle my weakness. I can use my strength.
LAUREN: As you know, some of us have started a support group for those who have finished The Winner's Crime. We’re pretty sure that anyone who finishes the book is automatically going to want to join. Does it fill you with glee to cause us inner pain? Just kidding! But seriously, if you were going to attend one of our hypothetical meetings, what words of advice or comfort would you offer your readers? Anything you can tell us that might ease our pain a little bit? Or are you more of a tough love kind of person?
MARIE: Probably if you got me alone and in person I’d spill lots of secrets, because I’m not a good secret-keeper (as you yourself know). But it’s easy for me to use tough love online, so I’ll just say that you’re going to have to decide whether you trust me or not. How far would I go with these characters?
But I’m really not gleeful about causing unhappiness in readers. When I finished writing Crime I was (really, still am) worried that it’s going to be too dark for some people, and I care about my characters. I don’t want to hurt them. On the other hand, their natures drive their decisions, and their decisions have consequences….sometimes writing a book is like chess. Once you move a piece (or character) into a position based on the kind of movement they can make (the one that fits their nature, like how a knight piece can only move in the shape of an L), only certain scenarios can unfold before you. That is the plot.
Of course, characters aren’t chess pieces. Their movements (their nature) change. One of the exciting things about writing The Winner’s Kiss is seeing how Kestrel and Arin change. They’re not the same people we saw in Curse or Crime. I’ll let you decide whether this worries or comforts you.
That settles it. I'm going to have to get you alone again and ask some more questions…that wasn't meant to be as creepy as it sounded. Or was it?!
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About the Author
Marie Rutkoski is the author of The Winner's Curse, The Shadow Society, and the Kronos Chronicles, which includes The Cabinet of Wonders. She is a professor at Brooklyn College and lives in New York City. Find her at marierutkoski.com and @marierutkoski
Rutkoski, Marie THE MIDNIGHT LIE Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Young Adult Fiction) $18.99 3, 3 ISBN: 978-0-374-30638-0
Memory and illusion, truth and lies--all paths lead to heartbreak in this first of a fantasy duology.
"It is as it is." That's always the response in isolated Herrath when anyone questions the oppressive caste system. Once that was enough for Nirrim, who is plagued by visions of a different past; but after meeting the cocky, nosy, and confusingly attractive traveler Sid, Nirrim discovers how dangerous it can be to want. Set some 20 years later in the same world as Rutkoski's acclaimed The Winner's Trilogy, the baroque (almost purple) prose begins in medias res, which Nirrim's naively unreliable narration does little to clarify. Although clever and kind, her passivity and desperate neediness make brown-skinned, green-eyed Nirrim an atypical YA heroine. While fans of the earlier books will easily guess her secrets, dark-eyed, fair-haired Sid presents at first as careless, arrogant, and as confident in her sexuality as Nirrim is shocked by Sid's attraction to other women. But this facade eventually proves to be another "midnight lie": a truth intended to mislead. When their almost instantaneous mutual desire develops quickly into a prickly friendship and (discreetly) consummated romance, both acknowledge it cannot last. Yet the relationship's development--combined with the genuinely shocking revelation of Herrath's history--leads Nirrim to a horrific choice…one that will leave readers clamoring for the next entry.
Lush, swoony, painful, enraging, and as cathartic as a good cry. (Fantasy. 14-18)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Rutkoski, Marie: THE MIDNIGHT LIE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Jan. 2020. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A611140241/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=70e51e08. Accessed 3 Mar. 2020.
Rutkoski, Marie. The Winner's Crime: The Winners Trilogy, Book 2. Farrar Straus Giroux/Macmillan, 2015. 416p. $17.99. 9780-374-38470-8.
Daughter of a Valorian general, Kestrel agrees to marry the emperor's son, Verex, but schemes to ensure the safety of her former slave, Arin, now governor of Valorian-controlled Herran. Kestrel realizes that revealing her political motives or her attraction to Arin to anyone would invite disaster. As Prince Verex cozies up to Risha, Arin tries to eradicate his romantic feelings for Kestrel by concentrating on her cruelty and duplicitousness. Espionage and intrigue swirl everywhere, and Kestrel is in the midst using masker moths to pass on information. As the tactics for dominance play out, they precipitate lost friendships, suffering, and death. Kestrel's father ultimately discovers his daughter's treason, Arin severs her from his life, and Kestrel is taken in shackles to a work camp.
Rutkoski's well-written prose is sumptuous. Whether describing the horrific torture of peeling skin off the fingers of a spy or painting Kestrel with the hues of stained glass upon her hands, the author creates exciting visuals. Basically a romance with a side of war games, this novel concocts a potent chemistry between Kestrel and Arin that bubbles throughout--Kestrel's dream of Arin slowly removing her stockings. Arin is headstrong and immature but grows in heroism as the plot unfolds. Kestrel is a clever and strong protagonist, and her heartbreaking interactions with her father make her real. Backstory can be picked up easily from this volume if readers have not read the first book. The shocking ending will leave readers hungry for the sequel.--Barbara Johnston.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2015 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 8th Edition APA 6th Edition Chicago 17th Edition
Johnston, Barbara. "Rutkoski, Marie. The Winner's Crime: The Winners Trilogy, Book 2." Voice of Youth Advocates, vol. 37, no. 6, Feb. 2015, p. 64. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A402738649/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=4f840c98. Accessed 3 Mar. 2020.