sohxpie 's review for:

The Betrayals by Bridget Collins

3.0

challenging mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

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After reading Collins' first novel 'The Binding', I had high hopes for 'The Betrayals' but unfortunately, I was a little let down. I enjoyed the writing style,  I found myself drawn into the story very easily. The descriptions are again wonderful, definitely a highlight of the book. I'm not too sure about the story, I think it took a while for the story to get properly going, at first it was a little difficult following several different perspectives trying to piece the story together. As the story progressed, all the connections became clearer, naturally making it easier to follow the plot. I think starting with 'The Rat' and not returning to her for a while didn't help, I'm not sure she was an important enough character to follow in that much depth, I may be missing something obvious but aside from her latter chapters with Emile, I'm not too sure what her purpose in the story was. I enjoyed the overall story of Leo, Carfax, and The Grand Jeu, it was very clever. The sections of Leo's diary were probably my favourite parts. I also found myself rather interested in 'The Party' and their actions, I would have liked to have seen more of that aspect of the story. It feels like there is definitely potential for it to be expanded on. I liked the ending, it was frustrating not getting complete closure but at the same time, it fits perfectly with the established relationships between characters and the idea of The Grand Jeu. Overall, I didn't enjoy this as much as 'The Binding' but I still found it to be a fairly decent read.