The Winner's Curse: The Winner's Trilogy, Book 1

Star-crossed lovers are at the center of the story, leading to this question: What's stronger -- a sense of loyalty to country, family, and way of life or the love of one person? The brutality of war and the cost of freedom also are explored. One character is willing to be as brutal and merciless as his enemies, and another is not.

Mostly aftermaths of battles are described -- piled-up bodies of people poisoned, a floor slick with blood after the massacre of prisoners. A few scenes describe brutality as it happens: the slitting of a throat and the sexual assault of woman, stopped after a forced kiss and a black eye. A duel ends in minor injuries. Talk of slave whippings and maltreatment -- if a runaway slave is caught, ears and noses are cut off. Mention that Kestrel's mother died from plague when she was 8 and that she watched the doctor who treated her illness kill himself. Another sad death from illness and one near-death from poisoning. Exploding cannons cause much of the battle damage.

Really mild: "damn" twice, "hell," and "ass."

Kestrel is 17 and drinks wine at dinner with her father. Teens and adults drink at fashionable parties.