Blair's Reviews > The Betrayals

(3.5) Hmm, big mixed feelings about this one. I loved the world it created, and honestly felt the vagueness (of the setting, of the nature of the ‘grand jeu’) only added to the magic. I loved the detail: this is an evocative, nostalgic text. But I guessed the twist almost immediately – it feels like Collins wants you to, though I’m not sure why, because the narrative then carries on doing that annoying thing where we’re extremely close to a character’s thoughts yet they have to think in circles around something that’s being obscured from the reader, which takes all the tension out of the story. The ‘I hate this person! but... do I actually like them? no, it cannot be’ of both romantic threads seemed endless, and particularly unlikely for intelligent adults, no matter how guarded. I also hated the ‘rat’ chapters and would gladly have cut that whole pointless plotline out of the book. I sound negative here, but I liked the way it felt overall: cosy and so perfect for this time of year, a warm blanket of a book. A hot chocolate with brandy. A big cushion with stars embroidered on it