A review by sarahelainereads
The Betrothed by Kiera Cass
2.0
A quick, non-spoiler overview of The Betrothed:
Hollis: *swoons* King Jameson!!
Jameson: oh Hollis, you are so funny. Ha ha. Ha. Ha.
Silas: *looks at Hollis*
Hollis: oh my GoSH his bLUe EyEs so preTTy
Delia Grace: Hollis, you’re my best friend but also I think you suck.
Hollis: ...whatt?
Hollis’ Parents: Hollis, we want to control everything in your life. Deal with it.
Hollis: *stomps foot*
Silas: Hollis, even though you barely know me, I think you are my soulmate.
Hollis: um, what? Sorry, I was too busy thinking about your bLUe EyEs
Etan: *rolls eyes sarcastically at everyone*
And, now a more in-depth, spoiler-filled review for those of you who have already read this:
I think this might be one of the reasons why I had such a hard time with this one-- both of the love interests sucked. Kiera dear, you tried, but you failed.
Yes, Kiera Cass, both of these sweet potatoes are blander than bland.
First, King Jameson was the most uninteresting person I’ve ever read about in my entire life. I saw a few reviews prior to reading this that compared him to Maxon (and also Silas to Aspen) and that could not be further from the truth. Honestly I’m kind of insulted in behalf of Maxon. Literally all Jameson cares about is how beautiful Hollis is, and he’s constantly saying that Hollis is so witty and hilarious, which makes zero sense… because Hollis is not witty or hilarious!!!
Honestly. I rolled my eyes every time he spoke. How is this man a king of a country and why has he not been overthrown or assassinated yet??
And then we get to Silas, who, I’m pretty sure, I’m supposed to like.
But I’m actually not sure why I’m supposed to like him because I personally think he’s worse than Jameson.
His character was so flat!!
Like, he talks to Hollis a total of what, three times?? And then they both kiss each other, he tells her she is his soulmate, and she agrees. And she thinks he understands her.
For example, we have this cringeworthy lovely bit of internal musings from Hollis:
Silas kept catching things that I didn’t know about myself. He said he liked the way I thought. And he was right, I had plenty of good ideas. And he said that I tried, and he was right about that, too. I had a hard time giving up.
Sometimes being in Hollis’ head was like listening to a child. How is she even supposed to know who she likes or what she wants if she doesn’t even understand the basics of who she is?? But somehow this random guy she just barely met knows her well?
Here’s the kicker: Silas uses the exact same pickup lines as Jameson. But somehow Hollis thought it was artifical when Jameson said it but romantic when Silas said the exact same thing?
Um… okay.
Anyways. I have beef with most of the characters in this novel except Valentina and Etan. I honestly think this whole book should be re-written about the two of them. The limited interactions we had with those two characters were immensely more interesting than the other 95% of the plot.
My predictions for Book 2? I think there will be a plot twist that Hollis is actually an Isolten (come on, did anyone else notice the numerous references to how much she looked like one?) aaand I also think that Silas is not dead (obviously) but Hollis will fall in love with the sarcastic Etan because the girl can’t just commit her heart to one guy. (Also because Etan is 1000 times more interesting than Silas, just saying). So, if either of these things happen, remember that you heard it here first.
Review on Blog
Hollis: *swoons* King Jameson!!
Jameson: oh Hollis, you are so funny. Ha ha. Ha. Ha.
Silas: *looks at Hollis*
Hollis: oh my GoSH his bLUe EyEs so preTTy
Delia Grace: Hollis, you’re my best friend but also I think you suck.
Hollis: ...whatt?
Hollis’ Parents: Hollis, we want to control everything in your life. Deal with it.
Hollis: *stomps foot*
Silas: Hollis, even though you barely know me, I think you are my soulmate.
Hollis: um, what? Sorry, I was too busy thinking about your bLUe EyEs
Etan: *rolls eyes sarcastically at everyone*
And, now a more in-depth, spoiler-filled review for those of you who have already read this:
Spoiler
I fully admit that I was in love with [b:The Selection|10507293|The Selection (The Selection, #1)|Kiera Cass|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1322103400l/10507293._SY75_.jpg|15413183]. Maxon Schreave has my heart more than like, 99% of fictional characters. I loved him. Sometimes I still open up [b:The One|18635016|The One (The Selection, #3)|Kiera Cass|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1395612906l/18635016._SY75_.jpg|21587145] and read his lines so I can swoon at them. And even though I was Team Maxon all the way, I still liked Aspen. I thought he was a good guy. He was likeable, he was relatable.I think this might be one of the reasons why I had such a hard time with this one-- both of the love interests sucked. Kiera dear, you tried, but you failed.
Yes, Kiera Cass, both of these sweet potatoes are blander than bland.
First, King Jameson was the most uninteresting person I’ve ever read about in my entire life. I saw a few reviews prior to reading this that compared him to Maxon (and also Silas to Aspen) and that could not be further from the truth. Honestly I’m kind of insulted in behalf of Maxon. Literally all Jameson cares about is how beautiful Hollis is, and he’s constantly saying that Hollis is so witty and hilarious, which makes zero sense… because Hollis is not witty or hilarious!!!
Honestly. I rolled my eyes every time he spoke. How is this man a king of a country and why has he not been overthrown or assassinated yet??
And then we get to Silas, who, I’m pretty sure, I’m supposed to like.
But I’m actually not sure why I’m supposed to like him because I personally think he’s worse than Jameson.
His character was so flat!!
Like, he talks to Hollis a total of what, three times?? And then they both kiss each other, he tells her she is his soulmate, and she agrees. And she thinks he understands her.
For example, we have this
Silas kept catching things that I didn’t know about myself. He said he liked the way I thought. And he was right, I had plenty of good ideas. And he said that I tried, and he was right about that, too. I had a hard time giving up.
Sometimes being in Hollis’ head was like listening to a child. How is she even supposed to know who she likes or what she wants if she doesn’t even understand the basics of who she is?? But somehow this random guy she just barely met knows her well?
Here’s the kicker: Silas uses the exact same pickup lines as Jameson. But somehow Hollis thought it was artifical when Jameson said it but romantic when Silas said the exact same thing?
Um… okay.
Anyways. I have beef with most of the characters in this novel except Valentina and Etan. I honestly think this whole book should be re-written about the two of them. The limited interactions we had with those two characters were immensely more interesting than the other 95% of the plot.
My predictions for Book 2? I think there will be a plot twist that Hollis is actually an Isolten (come on, did anyone else notice the numerous references to how much she looked like one?) aaand I also think that Silas is not dead (obviously) but Hollis will fall in love with the sarcastic Etan because the girl can’t just commit her heart to one guy. (Also because Etan is 1000 times more interesting than Silas, just saying). So, if either of these things happen, remember that you heard it here first.
Review on Blog