Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - The Betrayals

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The Betrayals by Bridget Collins

13 reviews

lateromantic's review

mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Could've been a 5* book if it had fewer twists, strands, characters. I liked the voice, it was kind of Arthur Koestler x Dan Brown. as a bridge player, I'm obsessed with the idea of grand jeu now. wish it had been queerer tbh.

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angry_tortoise's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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phoe_bees's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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adamm's review against another edition

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1.0

It seems like the author is a TERF, and it shows in this one :/

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theirgracegrace's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

What I liked about the book: the richness of the language and the complicated system of roles and reversals that kept me reading. What I disliked: literally everything else. The attempt at Holocaust imagery is absurd, the love story completely overshadows the setting and the threats, and the characters are completely forgettable and ordinary. The author is also a TERF and you can see it in the way that the final reveal is played out. Honestly want my money back.

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books_and_fairy_lights's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

I honestly love Bridget Collins, her (adult) books are truly amazing. The characters are great, the mystery is palpable but not impenetrable, the romance is on point. Didn't see the plot twist coming and yet it feels like I unconsciously knew and that's a great mastery from the writer. I've got to say The Binding remains my favorite but The Betrayals was really good as well. I really loved that I could really get into the story (I don't remember reading a book that size so fast for my pleasure) and see and understand it although it's centered around a completely abstract concept. What I loved the most, however, was everytime I closed the book the atmosphere of Montverre was still present, hanging in the air around me.
It's the type of writing I love, the type of story I love, I cannot wait to read more of Bridget Collins' masterpieces!

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albixiusa's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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kindra_demi's review

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.75

Honestly, if it weren't for my curiousity in what the Grand Jeu was and how to play it, I would have DNF'ed this book. The twist/surprise only really caught me because I had also spent the 300+ pages before it trying to piece together the game. And all of that was to ultimately never get a complete answer.

I do appreciate a slow paced book, but there are points where it is so slow that I put it down and didn't pick it up for a couple weeks. There are 4 different pov:
- The Rat: her point of view doesn't really matter until the end of the book though you did get to see her grow with it starting in her pov and ending in it.
-Léo (in the past. His journal from when he attended school): probably the pov where you see the most growth. It was typically the only pov I looked forward to because it actually built the story.
-Léo (present day): a man who is so self absorbed he can't see 2 inches past his nose

to realize he is being set up in a trap. I get there was a tragedy where it could have stopped his growth at the end of his journal and into present day him, but that being said, seeing him grow in the journal only to be so ignorant in present day was frustrating. He held records. Played this complex game that was worthy of an elite school (the one he attended). With all of this, I would hope that he would be smart enough to realize that him being forced into quitting his job and return to his old school to "rekindle his love of the Grand Jeu" isn't just that...

-Magister Ludi: One of the heads of the school Léo attended/was forced to return to. And don't forget that SHE must do it alone because SHE is a WOMAN and SHE is going to be the future of the Grand Jeu because women aren't allowed to play but SHE worked for it. Did I mention that the Magister Ludi is a woman? This pov gave me "written by a man" energy. It felt like there wasn't an understanding of being a woman actually, but every time this pov came up, it was overly emphasized.

I don't know if it should be called miscommunication, but that is about the closest thing to describe this whole background of the problem in the book. One character was purposely left in the dark by another. Another character took their understanding of Léo's journal and ran with it in a total opposite direction than the original meaning. It's a journal but in this character's mind, they could have been purposely misleading (like the purpose of a journal is for other people to read).

Before I got to the twist, I was weirded out by the fact Léo went from having feeling for Carfax to having feelings for Claire. After it is revealed she is Carfax, it makes sense, but it just wasn't something that sat right with me.

I know Bridget Collins has another book, and I've seen good reviews for it, but I don't have hopes for it and won't be picking it up any time soon after this book.

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stephelyse's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

It's so beautifully written, but I'm still confused. I enjoyed reading it, but at the end the confusion is still here.

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queenmackenzie's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is an absolute masterpiece! When I picked it up, I was uncertain, because though I loved her first adult novel, The Binding, I was worried that this one would be a little too complicated, and that I would abandon it before getting fully into it. It doesn’t help that the last two books I read this past week -both of which I had really been looking forward to- disappointed me, and I just needed something to stop me sliding into a slump. I can absolutely say The Betrayals did that and more!

The book follows serval threads; The Rat, a shadowy figure living her life in hiding in the dark corners of Montverre, Léo Martin in the present, Claire Dryden in the present, and Léo’s journal from when he first attended Montverre ten years before the current events take place. All of these string together so beautifully, and actually the structure of the story made me think, by the end, of the grand jeu, the game the characters study and perform in their school. The book opens with a point of view from The Rat, and this was the perfect way to draw me into the world, because her narrative is immediate, simple; she is a young girl struggling to survive in a place she should not be, so she has become something that will slip beneath people’s notice: a rat. Despite this though, the Rat is intimately connected to Montverre, and through this unique perspective I was hooked. I enjoyed her chapters, and also really appreciated the fact that, apart from being just another perspective, her narrative thread was woven through that of the other characters, too.

Then there are the alternations between Léo and Claire, and this strange world of the grand jeu. It took me a long time to even begin to understand what characters might be describing when talking about it. They mentioned music, maths, movement, and I honestly still don’t entirely understand, but I gather that it’s something performed, something that they often refer to as worship, and something that creates metaphors to view the world with. In an author’s note at the end of the book, Collins says that ‘The Betrayals was in part inspired by Hermann Hesse’s brilliant novel The Glass Bead Game (also known as Magister Ludi),’ which I have not read and know nothing about, so I might investigate and see if that brings more to light for me. But not understanding this central element of the story didn’t take away from my enjoyment, because the way Collins describes it throughout the novel is so full of life that I can picture it in the abstract.

It’s hard to talk about this book without giving things away, because there are some achingly good twists in it. Essentially, though, the story follows Léo as he is banished to his old school Montverre after opposing a new bill being passed by his Party, which is currently moving the country towards a ‘pure’ society, eradicating religion and all foreign influence. At Montverre he meets Claire, who is the first and only woman ever to be appointed Magister, and though they have never met there is something familiar in their interactions, and they play a dance of power and information throughout. Despite the twists, the whole narrative has this great sense of inevitability in it, and the characters all feel as if they are spinning towards something inescapable. Collins is really skilled at creating this background tension, especially by using the contrast of past and present, so that even during scenes where the characters are full of joy, you can feel the next disaster looming. It makes for very emotional reading, and I loved the way it tugged at my heartstrings.

What Collins also does very well is longing. Each character wants something, and in some cases it is one of the other characters, and it can be hard to write pining and mutual pining in a way that isn’t repetitive or overwhelming, and I think The Betrayals (and The Binding, for that matter) does it perfectly. There is a sense of longing even in the ending, which can also be hard to do, but I was happy with the way it was executed. The final pages left me wondering, and in some ways wanting to see more, but I was also satisfied with it.

I’m so glad I decided to pick this up; I read it in just over a day and I’m sure I will be thinking of it for many more to come.

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