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The Winner's Curse

(The Winner's Trilogy #1)

Marie Rutkoski (Goodreads Author)

3.95 · Rating details · 105,692 ratings · 12,679 reviews

Winning what you want may cost you everything you love.

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 ...more

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Hardcover, 355 pages

Published March 4th 2014 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

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Average rating 3.95 ·

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· 105,692 ratings · 12,679 reviews

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Start your review of The Winner's Curse (The Winner's Trilogy, #1)

Feb 04, 2014 Navessa rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: No one

Recommended to Navessa by: Everyone

Shelves: insufferable-mc, poorly-executed-strong-theme, romance, young-adult, trolls-love-me, books-everyone-loves-but-i-hate, love-triangle-hell, fantasy-light

*WARNING: SPOILERS*

Very seldom do I give only a single star to books that I've read from cover to cover. Usually I reserve such a low rating for ones with such abominable writing, such shallow, one-dimensional characters, such poorly constructed plots, that I can't bear to finish them.

The writing in this is good. Sure, it's not the kind of prose that sweeps the reader up and transports them fully within the pages, but it gets the job done. The characters are not one-dimensional. In fact, throug ...more

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Jan 10, 2014 Emily May rated it it was ok

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy, arc, romance, 2014

There comes, on occasion, those moments in the lives of readers when they find themselves putting a book down, pausing, looking around at all the glowing reviews and five star ratings, and asking themselves the question... did I read the same book?

When it comes to language, dialogue and general storytelling of small events in The Winner's Curse, it's obvious that you are in the hands of a competent writer with a talent for description and a nicely-spun phrase. But this book is so... tame ...more

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Mar 07, 2013 Steph Sinclair rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Everyone better read this one... OR ELSE (especially High Fantasy fans).

Shelves: macmillan, all-time-favorites, beautiful-prose, young-adult, print-arc, 2014-release, come-out-already, mind-blowing-good, smart-heroine, ebook

A year ago when I first heard about The Winner's Curse, it was during the Fierce Reads tour where I had an opportunity to interview a few MacKids authors, including Marie Rutkoski. It was a lot of fun and remains one of my favorite interviews I'd ever conducted. I really enjoyed The Shadow Society, Marie's YA debut novel, and loved her writing style, so I knew I'd be more than eager to check out any of her future works. I asked what she and the other authors where working on and she mentioned Th ...more

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Jul 10, 2014 Regan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: books-owned-read

ooooooh this was gooooood

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Feb 11, 2014 Khanh, first of her name, mother of bunnies rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, ya, romance, asshat, alpha-male, social-issues

Actual rating: 3.5

“A kestrel is a hunting hawk.”
“Yes. The perfect name for a warrior girl.”
“Well.” His smile was slight, but it was there. “I suppose neither of us is the person we were believed we would become.”

The second half of this book was exceedingly better than the first. The first was plagued with a rather weak, insipid heroine, an asshat of a "slave" who, seriously, did not act like a fucking slave at all, more like the king of a castle. I disagree with slavery (no shit...like anyon ...more

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Feb 18, 2015 Warda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: re-reads, i-fell-in-love, reread-worthy

I cannot get over how good and underrated this series is.

Reading it puts me under a complete spell. I’m transported to a world that’s richly built and full of political intrigue that only gets better and better with each book.

Every reread seems to make this story even better and more appealing to me.

Kestrel is trapped in a world she can’t seem to escape from, her destiny chosen for her. She wants something else, believes there’s something more out there for her. Her mind is beautiful. But her ...more

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Jul 04, 2017 sunny rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: boring-af, dystopian, im-all-kinds-of-shook, v-emotionally-moving, romance, young-adult, bf, shawty-so-bad, fantasy

I still love Arin and Kestrel l, but I found myself becoming bored with this at the beginning, but then it definitely got better.

Not sure if I should bring my rating down to 4 stars or keep it at a 5 because I definitely didn’t experience what I did the first time I read this.

my review:
This book is fucking awesome. I'm literally speechless and blown away by how enjoyable and gripping this book was. I am so fucking shook, I can't even begin to describe how fucking amazing this book was.

The Win ...more

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Nov 29, 2019 jessica rated it it was amazing

wow. okay. i think i found my newest series to binge read because i honestly cant get enough of this.

there is sooo much to love. i am all for the whole forbidden/star-crossed lovers trope and the whole falling in love with a slave is just the right amount of taboo that i enjoy reading about. its the perfect combination of feeling forbidden but also hopeful when those boundaries are overcome.

i also enjoyed how there is a really great plot that resolves around interesting political motives. politi ...more

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Mar 15, 2013 Wendy Darling rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: costume-fiction, crush-worthy-boys, march, 2014-favorites, historical-fantasy, heroines-butt-kicking, young-adult, macmillan, mature-ya, 2014-publication

4.5 stars Love love love love love. If you're a fan of Leigh Bardugo's Grisha trilogy or Diana Peterfreund's For Darkness Shows the Stars series, you need to get your hands on this one ASAP. It has the feel of a historical fantasy without slotting neatly into either category, as well as a pensive mood and very romantic story.

Full review on the blog, with a few quotes to give you a feel for the writing: http://www.themidnightgarden.net/2014...

And we're giving away an amazing prize package (book! ...more

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Jul 10, 2017 Nadhira Satria rated it it was amazing

Shelves: trash-for-this, favorites

I'm in a slump so did I just read this god given masterpiece for the thirteenth time? Yes, you heard me. It was my twelfth time reading this. Yes, I'm obsessed. Yes, I need help

How do you even make a review of your favorite book in the world? You. just. fucking. don't
My soul is crushed and broken on the floor. bye I need to smoke a pack of cig and cry like a baby. adios. ...more

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Nov 02, 2020 chan ☆ added it · review of another edition

Recommended to chan ☆ by: nidhi :)

Shelves: 2020, ya-fantasy

definitely thought it was fun, i liked the beat

flag 155 likes · Like · see review

May 24, 2016 Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨ Campbell rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: magic-and-sparkles-and-shit, ya-ya-land, best-young-adult-books

Instagram || Twitter || Facebook || Amazon || Pinterest

Confession: when this book first came out with the original cover, I thought it was a book about ballet.

Spoiler alert: this book is not about ballet.

When a new young adult title gets released, two things inevitably happen:

1) a whole swarm of bloggers read the book, talk about how they can't even, you guys!, and rate it five stars.

2) I read the book in question, wonder if I'm in a parallel universe where good books turn into bad books, an ...more

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Mar 15, 2013 Jessica ❁ ➳ Silverbow ➳ ❁ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: rabid-reads-reviews, jerk-of-my-dreams, the-book-boy-is-mine, ya, cover-whore, half-fantasy

Reviewed by: Rabid Reads

Fantasy is one of my favorite genres, and it has been since I was old enough to make my own bedtime story requests. My appreciation has grown and evolved as I have likewise grown and evolved, and as an adult, I’ll pretty much take it however I can it, be it Dark, Epic, High, YA Fantasy, or otherwise. These days, however, I mostly stick to YA Fantasy b/c the books don’t typically come in a series of 12(ish), 1000(ish) page books, and are therefore less of a commitment.

SO a ...more

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Feb 16, 2014 Jennifer Armentrout rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

AHHHHHHHH. All the feels. Seriously

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Aug 21, 2015 Maureen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This may not be a SOLID 5 stars, more like a 4.8, but it's SO CLOSE.
MY HEART IS BREAKING INTO A MILLION LITTLE PIECES.
I had heard great things about this book, but not from a ton of people so it wasn't overhyped for me. I didn't really know anything going in and I think that was for the best.
Kestral and Arin are phenomenal characters and the story is really fantastic. It really shines in the second half when things are set in motion and we've got POLITICS and the like.
GAH just SO GOOD. I can't ...more

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Oct 24, 2014 Ben Alderson rated it did not like it · review of another edition

really did not get into this at all.
:( I love the cover and formatting but the characters I found very distant

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Feb 11, 2017 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy-all, own, young-adult

That ending! What are Kestrel and Arin going to do now? I guess I will find out in the other books.

Kestrel is a Valorian and a very high ranked one as her father is a general. Years ago the Valorian army defeated the Herrani people and turned them into slaves. Why? Because they wanted to and that's what jerks do. These poor people had to live as slaves in their own town and even in some of their own homes. RUDE!

Anyway, Kestrel was out gambling one day (she's pretty good at it) and her and her ...more

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Jun 05, 2016 Jasmine rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: EVERYONE!!!!!

Recommended to Jasmine by: Lisa

Shelves: deja-vu, all-time-favorites, beautiful-stories, cliffhanger, ebooks-ibooks, great-fighting-scenes, highly-recommend, will-reread, strong-emotions

“Kestrel thought about how this might be what hurt the most.
That they had used something she loved against her."

Maybe I shouldn't judge someone or something by my first impression on them, but I can't help myself. So it's official that Marie Rutkoski becomes one of my top favorite authors and The Winner's Curse my top favorite books of all time. I can't stop admiring how wonderful her writing style and how incredibly well-written this story is. She tells the story in a pretty easy ye ...more

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Mar 11, 2014 Mitch rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: no-just-no

Why do I feel like I just read something out of the Spartacus fanfiction reject pile?

To be perfectly honest, I thought I'd seen the very bottom of bad young adult historical fantasy. Not gonna name names, but even among such esteemed company, The Winner's Curse is a new low. However you want to measure it, plot, setting, character development, Marie Rutkoski's latest book fundamentally fails at being anything other than bland, shallow, cliched, and predictable. Maybe I'm being spoiled by fond me Why do I feel like I just read something out of the Spartacus fanfiction reject pile?

To be perfectly honest, I thought I'd seen the very bottom of bad young adult historical fantasy. Not gonna name names, but even among such esteemed company, The Winner's Curse is a new low. However you want to measure it, plot, setting, character development, Marie Rutkoski's latest book fundamentally fails at being anything other than bland, shallow, cliched, and predictable. Maybe I'm being spoiled by fond memories of Melina Marchetta, Kristin Cashore, and Maria V. Snyder, but I really expected more from this book, and all I got out of it was the biting anticipation of finishing a train wreck I just couldn't look away from.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet, but my first reaction? - what a a blatant knockoff of Spartacus, and not a good one at that. You have your ~~Roman~~ er Valorian Empire and all the backstory predictably associated with that. You have your supposedly charismatic slave leader Arin (never mind he has the personality of a dull block of wood) who not surprisingly is revealed to be a ringleader of a planned slave rebellion not too many chapters in. The rest, as anyone who's seen one of the many incarnations of Spartacus can attest to (I'm partial to the Starz version myself), is much murder, mayhem, violence, and killing of ~~Romans~~ Valorians, only in this case, everything's sanitized and not much of it makes any sense (I'll get back to that in a moment). Unfortunately, while Rutkoski borrows just enough of Roman culture, history, and trappings to make it obvious, the lore, mythos, world building, whatever you want to call it, behind this world is bad, like really bad. The setting's not really well developed, with enough name dropping (congratulations Dacians, you're now the Dacrans!) that we're not dealing with a blank canvas here but beyond that there's no richness or flavor that makes me go, hmm, Rutkoski really gets the Romans (see, e.g., anything by Elizabeth Bear for comparison's sake). Normally, that's not a fatal flaw, but in this case, we have slaves who I would literally forget were slaves based on their behavior and how they're treated if Rutkoski hadn't kept reminding me (I'm not saying an author has to go all in like Steve McQueen in 12 Years a Slave, but when slavery is such a crucial part of your book, it's borderline insulting to both your audience and history to portray them like well off servants for the most part) and a second half that relies so much on political intrigue that it completely fails at making sense because Rutkoski doesn't take the time to explain the why, especially given how contrary it is to everything that's happened in the preceding chapters (the last few chapters were complete WTFs to me).

Which leads me to my next complaint - the real problem isn't the boring, borrowed, shallow backstory, it's that none of the characters behave in character (actually, I'm being pretty generous calling these cardboard cutouts 'characters' and assuming they're intended to have a character, but I probably shouldn't go there). Kestrel, for example, is written both as a vapid society girl and a supposed military genius, and now I'm not saying a kickass heroine can't also be a little vain, but her two halves do not gel. She's supposed to be torn by her feeling for Arin and her loyalties to the Valorians, but if so, Rutkoski does a poor job of it, because all I see is a lovestruck girl who doesn't give two shits about her country except as an obligatory aside, and all that does is make me question every choice she ends up making - like, why does she do this? How does that make any sense? And it goes without saying she, heck the entire book, would've been much more interesting had Rutkoski developed Kestrel as the kind of character who's uncomfortable living in a slaveholding society despite that world being the only one she knows, but that part of the book is so glossed over there's no tension there and makes the eventual role reversal when Arin's rebellion breaks out all the more ridiculous. And that's not even mentioning the complete fail of all the supporting characters - young adult as a genre is usually good at delivering the best (girl) friend, the best (guy) friend, and the jackass suitor tropes, but these? You're kidding, right? Critically, this is a book without real villains, the whole premise relies on the shades of gray of humans, Valorians, accepting the inhumanity of slavery and the consequences of that acceptance when the slaves overthrow their masters, but such a book really needs exceptional, nuanced characters to work and none of Rutkoski's stepped up to the plate and made me want to care about what was going on.

So what's left? A plot that left me wondering, is everyone in this book really that dumb? Seriously, I don't know how else to explain Arin plotting rebellion under everyone's noses and nobody, including Kestrel who's supposed to be incredibly perceptive, noticing anything. I guess given all the other fail, asking for a clandestine, suspenseful conspiracy is a little too much, but this is the worst kind of handholding where everything that happens is viewed through the lens of (and supposed to fuel) the growing angst of these two star-crossed lovers. Eh. Otherwise, there's no twists, no turns, no complex characters, no exploration of a relationship between a girl and the slave she bought besides the tritest of batting eyelashes, and no resolutions except those that are clearly of the 'because the author said so' variety; it's all meaningless pining, generic action sequences, some nonsense leading to the kind of ending I can't explain except to say, gee, how does this even work except to make the sequel even more angsty and gut wrenching? - I could go on and on about how the actual story feels like a hollow, dumbed down shell of a premise, a complete letdown of what I thought the teasers promised, but like I said, after the first five chapters I was steeling myself for the train wreck to come and yet despite my morbid curiosity and sense of schadenfreude keeping me going I was still unprepared for how unexpectedly devoid of emotion, genuinely awful, and completely tangential to the premise this thing degenerates into.

Frankly, I'm not exactly sure what the appeal of this book is. In terms of borrowing from Roman history and culture, in terms of building characters separated by slavery, in terms of delivering a plot that logically goes from point A to point B without devolving into a hot mess, The Winner's Curse completely misses the mark on all fronts. ...more

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Feb 11, 2017 mxa ☂︎ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, babes-favs, romance, sci-fi-dystopia

wooAAHHHHHH. that ENDING. i'm still SOBBING.

I bought the entire series last summer knowing NOTHING lol I don't really know what got into me that day but I'm so glad that it was a blind purchase because I loved this book so much!!!! I was hooked from the first chapter and nothing ever felt slow to me :') The political aspect of this book and the plot's emphasis on using strategies to get what you want was quiet refreshing to read about. I also didn't mind the fact that this book didn't focus on w ...more

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Jun 07, 2017 Beth rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 4-stars, book-series, 2017-reads

The Winner's Curse is when you come out on top of the bid, but only by paying a steep price.

Where do I even begin with this review? This. I did not expect this.

Honestly, this was never ending, to say it's not the biggest book in the world SO much happens! There were parts where I was like how is this even happening?! The building of the storyline was so well done, and forever had me guessing what was coming next. Not only that, but we saw different difficulties coming in to play and how not ever ...more

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Feb 08, 2015 Whitney Atkinson rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2015

2.5 stars

I cannot put my finger on what didn't work in this book. The writing was enjoyable, but something about the plot or characters or I don't even know what just lost me. I wasn't necessarily bored, I just didn't care. It may have been because I listened to this on audio, but I could not connect to the story. The characters were meh, the plot was meh, and most of the book was just war plotting, which was so confusing because we got barely any backstory about the different kingdoms or whatev ...more

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Dec 25, 2019 Elle (ellexamines) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sff-high-fantasy, x-series, z-2019reads, y-2000sreleases, 3-star

People in brightly lit places cannot see into the dark.

I guess we’re back on the bandwagon of reading 2010s-published YA fantasy that I missed out on when I was probably in the right age range to appreciate it. It is with gladness in my heart that I say I was very engaged with this fantasy, following a world inspired by Greco-Roman slavery and two main characters from different sides. It is with a heavier heart that I say some aspects of it really were not hitting their marks.

The be ...more

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Jan 01, 2014 April (Aprilius Maximus) rated it liked it

Shelves: 2015

Felt a slight disconnect with the main character, but otherwise I loved it!

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Dec 01, 2017 Marie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

So I finished this book a few days ago now, and can I just say, I don't remember the last time a book hit me so hard. This was a book I wanted to give my full attention to and couldn't wait to review.

I'll try to grow this review into my trademark ranty sort soon, but for now, this will have to do.
IT'S ALL MY EMOTIONS WILL LET ME DO.

So here we have it. Reasons to Read The Winner's Curse Because Emotional Death is Fun:

• The author's name is Marie. Clearly a name of legend *cough cough* so you kno ...more

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Aug 21, 2018 Helena Paris rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, hardback, greco-roman

“The Winner’s Curse is when you come out on top of the bid, but only by paying a steep price.”

Ok, so I don’t know what happened to this buddy read with Laura, but I’m just going to go ahead with this review as it’s been sitting here in RTC-mode since 19 August. :D It’s about time, guys and gals!

All right! So, I was ecstatic about this book, after completing it, (as I read it in nearly one sitting initially) because I found the writing style to be so engaging and the plot to be so addicting. How ...more

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Feb 08, 2019 Laura rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: amazing-heroines, romance, ya, ugh, audiobook

It’s a 4.5 star rating for the book by itself, but the narrator was no for me. It was killing me listening to the book and it was painful because I liked this story a lot and a friend of mine is reading for the first time and so I got nostalgic… it was a bummer. I did not enjoy it whatsoever and maybe it was me who didn’t click with the narrator but it was painful nonetheless.

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Jan 31, 2015 Riley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ya-fantasy

Wow this book exceeded my expectations! I am blown away. I loved Kestrel and Arin. I loved the strong political aspect of the book as well as the connection with music between the characters. Best book I've read so far this year ...more

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Jul 10, 2017 Ishmeen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

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

THIS WAS SO GOOD OMG I LOVE KESTREL?? AND ARIN?? AND OH BOY MY HEART IS TORN 💔
Regret not picking this book up ages ago, it was just so damn intriguing y'all I'm not really into politics much but Kestrel is literally a queen gosh she has definitely become one of my favourites in just one book. Can't wait to see where this story will lead and the extent to which it will wreck my heart 🙂
-
A certain someone who loves ...more

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Apr 26, 2014 Sophia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

three things:
1) i cannot remember the last time i fell in love with a book so quickly.
2) i knew i was signed up for emotional turmoil, but even my expectations could not have prepared me for the real experience.
3) this is now one of my favorite books ever.

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Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
What's the Name o...: SOLVED. YA Fantasy with female protagonist who is high up within royalty after a battle and spitefully purchases a missed behaved servant. [s]	4	22	Apr 19, 2021 12:45AM
Challenge Corner: The Winner's Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski -> Starting January 5th 2020	13	14	Feb 07, 2020 08:20AM
What's the Name o...: SOLVED. A princess who falls in love with her bodyguard. [s]	6	108	Jun 20, 2019 12:04AM
What's the Name o...: SOLVED. YA book, fiction, romance, society where the upper class has conquered the lower class, the girl is part of the upper class and buys a boy servant (of the lower class) from the marketplace, they fall in love [s]	3	37	Mar 18, 2019 05:20PM

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About Marie Rutkoski

Marie Rutkoski

7,685 followers

Marie Rutkoski is the New York Times bestselling author of several books for children and young adults, including THE HOLLOW HEART (September 14, 2021). Her debut for adults, REAL EASY (January 18, 2022), is a literary crime novel.

Born in Illinois, Marie holds degrees from the University of Iowa and Harvard University. She is currently a professor at Brooklyn College and lives in Brooklyn with he ...more