This book sounded really intriguing and I had pretty high hopes for it. I loved Claire as a character,  it couldn’t care about Léo. He was just annoying;, but I also get that it fits the vibe of the setting, yet still .... Also, I found myself very underwhelmed by the actual plot. I was like: Is this it? At the end of the book I was still  confused about many things. It had so much potential, also with the concept of the grand jeu, which I really liked, but this book just fell short. 

While Collins' prose is as dazzling and intricate as ever, I will admit I did not love this book quite as much as The Binding. Keeping some bits of a story's magical realism to the imagination is a great device, but in the case of the book I became frustrated that the game around which everything hinged is never properly explained. I understand that is part of the appeal, part of the intention, but it made it difficult to be immersed in the book for me at least. I also struggled to really connect with the main character's arc - given the "party" was such a vague picture of any oppressive regime and his motivations within it never really became clear. Still, the plot and relationships were carefully and beautifully developed, and overall it was a stunning portrait of what it is to want something so desperately. 

*Minor spoilers below*


I have a lot of thoughts about this book!

Bridget Collins is fast becoming one of those authors I know I'm going to read, no matter what type of book she's bringing out.

I really enjoyed The Betrayals! First of all, building tension and relationship dynamics is clearly Collins' forte. The central relationship in this book and in The Binding are so well executed. The characters themselves are lovable but flawed, sympathetic but occasionally cruel.

I had to sit with my thoughts for a while on this book, because it subverted my expectations of the genre. I'm so used to reading fantasy where the political world-building, the big fantasy issues, are used as the main stakes in the narrative itself. I was constantly waiting for the political atmosphere of the world to take up more space in the narrative. For the book to turn into a 'save the world', revolution story and it never did. In this world, politics and problems are used to colour the smaller, individual narrative of the characters and the Montverre Academy. The larger fantasy world works to provide context for the character's individual stories. Because of this, the narrative doesn't tie up all the problems developed within, and at first I found it unsatisfying. Sitting with this for longer has made me realise how clever the writing is in doing this. It feels like it more closely resembles stories that could be happening in the real world - smaller by comparison to the big picture stuff, but still coloured and contextualised by it.

I think it gives the characters and the plot space to breathe.

My only criticism is that a lot of the world building was a little vague and mysterious. I love that I didn't know what exactly the Grand Jeu was, I think that was intentionally vague so I didn't mind that. But I would have loved it to be situated in time more. I know it's a fantasy world so it doesn't need to reflect a real world time or place, but I struggled to visualise the period, what places looked like, what characters wore etc. 

Overall an exciting, clever and beautiful book. Will definitely be re-reading.

I know they say it's about the journey, not the destination, and boy was this a journey. I'm not too sure about the destination.
I guess this is my way of saying I'm still not too sure how I feel about the latter part of the book, although I absolutely loved everything until then, and I am somewhat satisfied with the ending. It's not necessarily a bad feeling