A review by asourceoffiction
The Betrayals by Bridget Collins

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

A stunningly written but ultimately disappointing story, which didn't live up to the wonder of The Binding.

I found I was able to enjoy this more when I stopped trying to understand what the hell the grand jeu was, and instead focused on the characters. I liked how this book seems to be set out of time; there are a lot of technical advances, but seemingly no electricity and everyone wears robes. It's an interesting alternate world.

I did event ally get immersed in the human story. But it felt so dressed up in this incredibly elaborate (and, yes, pretentious) game that it seemed to heavily favour style over substance. A lot about the wider world went unanswered, and although the writing was beautiful (I'd expect no less after The Binding), I just didn't care about the grand jeu.

Carfax and Claire are what I cared about; Léo and his total lack of self-awareness actually annoyed me a bit. The way the plot progressed definitely kept me interested (and I came so close to working out what was going on). But I just felt like this grand setting and lofty idea of the grand jeu seemed almost purposely difficult to understand, which actually distracted me rather than pulling me in.
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