You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
I wasn’t a huge fan of The Binding but the design of this book seduced me and I wanted to give the author another crack, thinking maybe I missed something with that book because it was so popular and just missed me. Unfortunately I didn’t love The Betrayals either and I could have easily DNFed the book if I didn’t need to review it for NetGalley. This book is all about the Grand Jeu, an archaic, traditional game at Monterrey that will never be explained to you as a reader, despite being constantly referred to. As a reader this made me feel like I was on the outside of this book, peering in at something as opposed to being immersed in it. I even tried googling it, which isn’t a great start when you have a book in front of you already about it.
The book follows Léo Martin, a former student at Montverre and now a disgraced ex Minister of Culture, sent back to Montverre, and Claire Dryden, the (first female) Magister Ludi for the Grand Jeu. Claire has Léo’s diary from when he was a student, so the story goes back and forth from Léo’s school days where he must work with his rival Carfax in creating a joint Grand Jeu to present day where Claire must create this year’s Midsummer Game and Leo is still finding himself drawn into the corrupted politics of his Ministerial past.
Other than the vagueness of the Grand Jeu despite the pages talking about people planning theirs, my main issue with this book is that the characters are just awful, more specifically, Léo is awful,. I fully appreciate a protagonist doesn’t have to be likeable but this man, particularly reading as a woman, is just detestable and yet I never felt the book condemned his behaviour, making him almost the hero at times. As a student he is weak willed, a bully who cracks to pressure, hot headed, competitive and only steps up occasionally, the majority of his ‘good’ qualities are secret. As a grown man he isn’t much better, only an utter misogynist to boot. I get this is probably a key part of the character of ‘middle class white man in politics’ and yet a romantic storyline with Claire is pushed ahead. We have to read him referring to her as plain, “just a woman”, referring to her weakness and inferiority to him, him grabbing her to kiss her, him being rather repulsed by his attraction and thinking she should be grateful, he truly does not value or respect women so why did I have to read this ‘romance’?? It just enraged me. To add to this, Claire read his diary and saw, again, his thoughts and behaviour towards Carfax and yet it still continues?? Léo is made out to be an intelligent man and yet he consistently acts naive, immature and selfish throughout the book, he consistently makes mistakes and yet we keep getting told how clever he is. I genuinely wished nothing well for this character and only endured/tolerated his involvement in this book right to the end. Claire I liked more, she had more substance and fire to her. Carfax though is the heart to this book and really shows the talent Collins has a writer, his struggle and turmoil on the page is heartening, he’s fascinating, loveable and you so badly wish him well.
Another thing I didn’t really understand was the persecution element of this story, throughout this book we understand Christians are being persecuted, the government is corrupt and hateful and has started to condemn Christians, capturing them and taking them away and forbidding them from education. And yet, religion is also referred to during the classes and the Grand Jeu, the religion itself there not explained. Similarly there is a character called The Rat, a mysterious girl who hides in the shadows of the school, and you start to learn her story. While it helps add to the misogyny of the school, it doesn’t feel explored enough, as does mental illness/suicide also referred to.
Collins is an excellent writer, the atmosphere of the school is captured brilliantly, and her style is brilliant, I just didn’t enjoy this, in fact it made me regularly angry and I need to stop being seduced by beautiful covers.
The book follows Léo Martin, a former student at Montverre and now a disgraced ex Minister of Culture, sent back to Montverre, and Claire Dryden, the (first female) Magister Ludi for the Grand Jeu. Claire has Léo’s diary from when he was a student, so the story goes back and forth from Léo’s school days where he must work with his rival Carfax in creating a joint Grand Jeu to present day where Claire must create this year’s Midsummer Game and Leo is still finding himself drawn into the corrupted politics of his Ministerial past.
Other than the vagueness of the Grand Jeu despite the pages talking about people planning theirs, my main issue with this book is that the characters are just awful, more specifically, Léo is awful,. I fully appreciate a protagonist doesn’t have to be likeable but this man, particularly reading as a woman, is just detestable and yet I never felt the book condemned his behaviour, making him almost the hero at times. As a student he is weak willed, a bully who cracks to pressure, hot headed, competitive and only steps up occasionally, the majority of his ‘good’ qualities are secret. As a grown man he isn’t much better, only an utter misogynist to boot. I get this is probably a key part of the character of ‘middle class white man in politics’ and yet a romantic storyline with Claire is pushed ahead. We have to read him referring to her as plain, “just a woman”, referring to her weakness and inferiority to him, him grabbing her to kiss her, him being rather repulsed by his attraction and thinking she should be grateful, he truly does not value or respect women so why did I have to read this ‘romance’?? It just enraged me. To add to this, Claire read his diary and saw, again, his thoughts and behaviour towards Carfax and yet it still continues?? Léo is made out to be an intelligent man and yet he consistently acts naive, immature and selfish throughout the book, he consistently makes mistakes and yet we keep getting told how clever he is. I genuinely wished nothing well for this character and only endured/tolerated his involvement in this book right to the end. Claire I liked more, she had more substance and fire to her. Carfax though is the heart to this book and really shows the talent Collins has a writer, his struggle and turmoil on the page is heartening, he’s fascinating, loveable and you so badly wish him well.
Another thing I didn’t really understand was the persecution element of this story, throughout this book we understand Christians are being persecuted, the government is corrupt and hateful and has started to condemn Christians, capturing them and taking them away and forbidding them from education. And yet, religion is also referred to during the classes and the Grand Jeu, the religion itself there not explained. Similarly there is a character called The Rat, a mysterious girl who hides in the shadows of the school, and you start to learn her story. While it helps add to the misogyny of the school, it doesn’t feel explored enough, as does mental illness/suicide also referred to.
Collins is an excellent writer, the atmosphere of the school is captured brilliantly, and her style is brilliant, I just didn’t enjoy this, in fact it made me regularly angry and I need to stop being seduced by beautiful covers.
This book was completely different from "the Binding". Yet drew me in just as much. Into this world that was much bigger than could be fully captured in this one book. Which was the downside of this book.
Truly fascinating setting with an almost magical axis (the grand jeu) around which the story unfolds. The betrayals at the heart of this story happen not only through intention but by accident, without thought, without considering that an act we think is well intentioned might become a betrayal - or perhaps was it intented that way to begin with. All these betrayals combine into a marvelous arc where you are not entirely sure if you trust the narrators to not betray you, the reader.
To conclude, brilliant story on what happens when we lie to others but most of all to ourselves. When the reality in our head is different from the one in theirs which in turn is different from the reality out there. To get everything we wanted but at the same time lose everything because of how we played the game that is life.
Truly fascinating setting with an almost magical axis (the grand jeu) around which the story unfolds. The betrayals at the heart of this story happen not only through intention but by accident, without thought, without considering that an act we think is well intentioned might become a betrayal - or perhaps was it intented that way to begin with. All these betrayals combine into a marvelous arc where you are not entirely sure if you trust the narrators to not betray you, the reader.
To conclude, brilliant story on what happens when we lie to others but most of all to ourselves. When the reality in our head is different from the one in theirs which in turn is different from the reality out there. To get everything we wanted but at the same time lose everything because of how we played the game that is life.
reflective
tense
slow-paced
As soon as you think you understand what’s going on you no longer know what’s going on.
A crazy world of the grand jeu an ex politician come back to the school that hold so many secrets and twist!
A crazy world of the grand jeu an ex politician come back to the school that hold so many secrets and twist!
challenging
medium-paced
ARGH THIS WAS GOOD. The Binding was wonderful but this was better, and for me really cements Collins as an author to watch out for. I’m not really sure what genre to ascribe it to - it’s sort of an alternate reality historical fiction with a romance at its heart but also a dystopian undemocratic government in power which gives everything a sinister edge. The main character Léo goes to an elite school high in the mountains to learn how to play the ‘grand jeu,’ a mysterious and arcane game that is part music, part maths, part poetry, part religious exercise. As one of the most promising young students, he develops a rivalry with another brilliant student, Carfax, which starts as hate and then begins to mellow towards friendship when they are forced to work on a joint game together. But something tragic occurs and we also read from the point of view of a decade later when Léo goes back to visit the school while in disgrace. At the heart of this book is a really beautiful exploration of the friendship and rivalry of two equals, Léo and Carfax, and I really enjoyed reading about this and also about the mysterious ‘grand jeu’.
I do not know what to make of this one. Maybe because I hadn’t read The Glass Bead Game, which Collins’ uses as her inspiration, I’m not too sure, but I’ve spent most of my time reading it feeling very confused about the whole thing.
The story was quite convoluted and not very clear to follow, so I don’t think I ended up with the full story and I almost feel like I’d been dropped in to the middle of a series where I had missed all the worldbuilding that had gone before.
There were moments of conflict and intrigue that did keep me going, and I was almost surprised by the twist surrounding the Magister Ludi’s identity, but other than that there wasn’t a massive amount in this book that kept me intrigued.
The story was quite convoluted and not very clear to follow, so I don’t think I ended up with the full story and I almost feel like I’d been dropped in to the middle of a series where I had missed all the worldbuilding that had gone before.
There were moments of conflict and intrigue that did keep me going, and I was almost surprised by the twist surrounding the Magister Ludi’s identity, but other than that there wasn’t a massive amount in this book that kept me intrigued.
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Betrayals is an intricately plotted book that confuses and amazes in equal quantities. It is extremely imaginative and could be described as a fantasy, mystery, political allegory with a touch of romance.
Leo Martin, a culture minister in an authoritarian government voices disapproval at fascist bills that are being proposed such as the Heritage Bill to tax books to the hilt and the Purity Bill to remove rights from undesirables such as Christians, communists and the homeless. For voicing decent loses his job as a minister and is sent to Montverre, where he was a former scholar, to feed back information to the government. Montverre a place where the ‘national game’ of Grand Jeu is studied; an elusive game that combines prayer, maths, music and ideas in an atmosphere of meditation, and is taught and overseen by a Magister. We first see Montverre through the eyes of ‘The Rat’ hiding in the shadows and possibly not a rat. Montverre is a male only establishment but by mistake they have appointed Claire Dryden as a Magister. Leo can’t help but notice that Claire looks like his old friend and rival when he was previously studying at Montverre. With the stage set we now settle in to two stories as we learn about Leo’s previous time spent at the college and the current events.
The novel keeps you guessing as what happened in the past and how they affect current events until near the end where there is a very satisfying final twist. Highly entertaining, highly recommended.
Leo Martin, a culture minister in an authoritarian government voices disapproval at fascist bills that are being proposed such as the Heritage Bill to tax books to the hilt and the Purity Bill to remove rights from undesirables such as Christians, communists and the homeless. For voicing decent loses his job as a minister and is sent to Montverre, where he was a former scholar, to feed back information to the government. Montverre a place where the ‘national game’ of Grand Jeu is studied; an elusive game that combines prayer, maths, music and ideas in an atmosphere of meditation, and is taught and overseen by a Magister. We first see Montverre through the eyes of ‘The Rat’ hiding in the shadows and possibly not a rat. Montverre is a male only establishment but by mistake they have appointed Claire Dryden as a Magister. Leo can’t help but notice that Claire looks like his old friend and rival when he was previously studying at Montverre. With the stage set we now settle in to two stories as we learn about Leo’s previous time spent at the college and the current events.
The novel keeps you guessing as what happened in the past and how they affect current events until near the end where there is a very satisfying final twist. Highly entertaining, highly recommended.