Cover Image: The Betrayals

The Betrayals

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The Betrayals - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣

What a beautiful book! The Betrayals really whisks you away to another world, Bridget Collins is amazing at creating a world that is fantastic and vivid, one that seems mystical but still tied to our own world, making it feel even more realistic. ⁣

The story follows Leo and Claire at Montverre, an academy where scholars learn the art of the grand jeu, (you never find out what it really is btw, but I enjoyed this more, makes it very mysterious and magical!). They both have hidden pasts that Leo’s arrival as a disgraced politician brings out. ⁣

A beautiful book, the ending doesn’t tie everything up neatly but I liked that, sometimes a book wastes too much time trying to neaten everything up when it isn’t necessary, instead The Betrayals focuses on providing a well rounded story and insight into each character which makes you understand their motives and feelings. ⁣

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The ancient game, the Grand Jeu, is the pride of the nation. Students travel to the remote Montverre to study it and learn from the Magisters but times are changing in the country. The Government is placing restrictions on Montverre, there can be no mention of certain groups and the noose is tightening. For Leo Martin a return to Montverre is difficult, his political career in ruins he is forced to return to the place he left years before after a tragedy struck.
To describe this novel in a precis is very difficult as it swirls with big themes, politics and emotions, all set in a 'Hogwarts' atmosphere. I loved Collins' first novel and I love this one even more, I was hooked from the start. The twist isn't really a surprise but it is beautifully set up. This is a magical story which is ever so slightly underwritten, making it more profound.

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There’s something about those elaborate covers and promise of magical alternative worlds that compelled me to try this author. I haven’t yet read last year’s adult debut from her The Binding, but when I got a chance to try an advanced copy of her new release I went for it.

And it did live up to my expectations – in terms of world-building and fantasy terms, at least. The story is centred around Montverre, an elite academy where the brightest young boys are trained to take part in the grand jeu – an arcane, ancient ceremony which has become the country’s national ‘game’.

So, a bit about the grand jeu itself. It seems to be a point of contention for many readers because – here’s the thing – we never really know exactly what it is or involves. I have to admit I went into this novel expecting some kind of magical sparring along the lines of the Harry Potter Triwizard tournament maybe, or an age-old rivalry along the lines of The Prestige or The Night Circus.

It’s not that – it’s a mysterious game which seems to combine music, philosophy, science and politics. After my disappointment about the lack of magic, I came to terms with it. I actually like that it’s ambiguous and mysterious, leaving it to the reader’s imagination to recreate what exactly the grand games might entail. And whilst there’s no actual magic, there’s definitely an atmospheric, other-worldly feel to the entire tale.

There’s an age-old rivalry too – one of the main protagonists is Leo, a grand jeu Gold Medallist winner back in the day who has since built a career in politics. But he’s pushed out of the mysterious ‘party’ and sent back to Montverre in exile. His return to Montverre in present day is intercepted with excerpts from a diary he kept while he was a student, where we learn about his fragile friendship and rivalry with classmate Carfax.

The other main protagonist is Claire Dryden, also known as Magister Luidi, the games master. She’s risen against the odds in a sexist, fascist world to get the coveted title, and she lives a life of solitude and celibacy in the grand old school.

I liked the characters, but I didn’t love them. Leo is arrogant and foolish – both in the past and present – and I just didn’t feel I knew that much about Claire. There’s a rather overdramatic period scene near the beginning of the novel (‘She woke up covered in blood…’) which I understand is a tool to illustrate the hardship of being a woman in a man’s world, but just felt frankly bizarre to me. Apart from being the Magister Luidi and being a woman – two conflicting things by all accounts – I wasn’t really sure what made her tick for a lot of the novel.

What I do love about this book is the writing and world-building – Collins definitely has a talent with weaving words and bringing new worlds to life. The alternative reality presented is steeped in tradition and politics, but on the cusp of change, and I could feel that, even if I didn’t entirely understand all the ins and outs. The school itself is the perfect location, set in a rural location in the mountains complete with towers and turrets, it’s got classic creepy boarding school vibes in abundance.

After a relatively slow-burning first half, the action picks up in the second as the Midsummer Games are approaching, Leo’s old political colleagues make an appearance and long-buried secrets are revealed. There’s some twists and turns and quite a lot of romance – but not every question gets answered, the author lets the reader make their own conclusions.

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A beautiful book; intriguing, magical and engrossing. It took time to be really immersed in it but when I was I found it stayed with me through the day. I enjoyed the alternative world, the corrupt government, the arcane scholarly establishment, the mysterious Grand Jes. But essentially it’s about love winning out over hate and fear.

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I was surprised to find I didn’t like this book at all. I really loved The Binding. The characters I found unsympathetic, the story bored me. What else to say? I did not finish the book. Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

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The Betrayals follows Lèo Martin a young scholar from Montverre who'd been appointed a job as the Minister of culture. When a bill comes through that Lèo doesn't feel comfortable with he drafts out a letter of concern which leaves him in a position of untrust and disgrace within government.
Left with no choice he steps down from his role and is sent back to Montverre; a place that holds bad memories for him, to study the grand jue a game he once excelled at creating.

The story is told from 3 POV; The Rat, Lèo Martin and Emily, the Magister Ludi. I really enjoyed reading the different pov I feel it gave me a real sense of the story from all angles.

Although at first the character of the Rat seems rather pointless and annoying. I think it actually became one of my favourite Character. The storyline just had short bursts cutting in to the main plot, however the way it was written was sporadic giving an almost intense feeling knowing something wasn't quite right and something was always on the verge of happening.

The Magister Ludi and Lèo Martin hold just as much importance to the story as eachother. When Emily saw Lèo pull up at Montverre her reaction was unfavorable, although she'd never met him it was quite apparent that there was a connection with them in some way. Upon their First meeting Lèo, not being able to place her felt a presence between them, a likeness but there couldn't be, he'd never met her during time in government and females couldn't study at Montverre, he couldn't place a time their path would've crossed.

I can't say I really liked many of the characters, I'm not entirely sure you're supposed to they're full of arrogance, self entitled rich kids; bullies. It didn't spoil the story, I think they had to be portrayed like this or the story would have fell flat. However I adored Carfax, Lèo's old grand jue partner, what a beautifully written character constantly ridiculed and bullied by the other students however stayed resilient throughout.

I love Bridget Collins writing style, it seems so effortless yet so detailed. The book itself was a good pace, chapters were short which is always a plus. The story was not only separated in to pov but into chapters and parts too. I did remove a star because I found it to be a bit of a slow burner it took me a little time to be fully invested in the storyline.

Overall a brilliant read that I'd recommend especially if you enjoyed the binding.

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I didn't love this as much as The Binding but this was just as good as a read. The plot and story grew over the pages and i thought that the characters grew with them be it in a positive or negative way. The twist was interesting and it had some beautiful and touching moments in this.. The one part of this story i didn't understand was the rat and the role that she played in this apart from the more obvious moments. The subtlety was lost on me and it would have been nice if the character was given a bit more explanation as to why they were there.

I feel like if i didn't read the Binding first then i would have loved this more than i did but this was still a worthwhile and fascinating read.

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The Betrayals tells the tale of the ongoings at an all male school Montverre, that practices the beloved grand jeu, meanwhile exploring outside impact on the school in an increasingly hostile society.

We follow Lèo Martin (a disgraced politician and former school pupil of Montverre), Magister Dryden (the first female teacher in the history of Montverre) Lèo’s journal entries from his school days and occasionally from the character the Rat.

The Betrayals is an intricately composed story, that for all its brilliance, the writing was hard to read. I ended up having to resort to the audiobook to persevere, which revived my interest in the story. I absorbed and understood what was happening more than I did solely reading the kindle. The narrators did a really good job. I 100% recommend the audiobook for a better experience of the story.

The novel tells the tale of elitism and a growing dystopian government prosecuting certain factions of society that aren’t the wealthy, Catholics or men. It’s infecting infrastructure, such as Montverre, with their conservative views and threatening the essence of the fantastical world within its walls.

This made the character Magister Dryden very interesting and very important, as she’s the only woman who teaches at the school. She goes up against misogyny time and time again, where many male characters count her extremely lucky to get where she’s got and they challenge her authority and resent it too, purely because she’s a woman. It was actually rather sickening to read. The entitlement and superiority Lèo feels and actually projects onto Magister Dryden was infuriating.

So, safe to safe, Lèo’s demeanour and conduct throughout the book, toward Dryden and another character, Carfax, is rather sickening. He’s arrogant - like Gaston from Beauty and the Beast level - and is not a likeable character. Yet he plays an important role in one of the book’s biggest themes: mental health.

The book alludes to and explores a variety of mental health. The sense of loss of a loved one and the grief left behind, deteriorating mental health, the impact and consequence of bullying and subsequent suicide. All of these points in the overarching theme were handled and established extremely well, where when appropriate and provoked enough, had my heart heavy and my blood boiling.

Beyond this, everything else is purposefully vague throughout the read. To be intriguing? To be irritating? Well, it’s a bit of both.

There comes a point when I feel like there are some books that are published with a vision of what the reader’s experience is imagined to be, versus what they’ll actually experience. It’s very difficult because it’s all very subjective, until it isn’t. Until it’s something like The Betrayals. The Betrayals, not to be too grandose, betrays it’s reader in its difficult readability. It shouldn’t be so hard to connect to a story that has so much in its meat... but yet it is. In fact, there’s arguably too much, with the Rat’s perspective really not needed other than to pull off a plot move. Other than that, the Rat was redundant.

It’s so infuriatingly disappointing, especially when I think back to Emmet and Lucien of The Binding (and many other strands of that story too), and how I fell so hard in love. With The Betrayals, I feel cold toward it, and then confused because I know I shouldn’t, but I do. I say all of that because, The Betrayals should have been much better received by me, especially when I am in awe of just how much Collins put into story. But it lacked soul between its pages and an overall charisma it sorely needed, which I know for a fact Collins is capable of (The Binding). The Betrayals missed that mark for me unfortunately.

However, the bit we’ve all been waiting for - the grand jeu. The grand jeu - at the heart of the plot - is undefined throughout the entire book.
... Or is it? Collins has masterfully created something that is what you prefer it to be, providing an interactive element for all readers, to contribute their own imagination alongside reading the story. I wasn’t initially impressed at first, but the more the story goes on and I became familiar with it, I found it endearing.

The Betrayals is a deeply subjective experience: to all readers of my review, it’s a personal conclusion as to whether the pay off is worth the work. For this reader, the payoff was most certainly worth the wait. The distant and slow pace is a necessary evil to appreciate this clever story that is a true masterclass of unwrapping a beguiling mystery. I never saw the twists, which was thoroughly delightful and made the book entirely worthwhile. Although, the sorrowful ending sadly took the jubilant feel from the climax, which was disappointing as I felt a more upbeat feel was needed after the leaden bleak weight throughout.

Nonetheless, The Betrayals is one of those books that lingers in the mind, on and on. It works on you, like a kind of hypnotic mesmerised effect. It wasn’t perfect, and won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but it was certainly thought provoking about the world we live in and the world we don’t, which will stay with me for some time to come. It’s an extremely distinct yet enjoyable story to read from a wonderful and sleek imagination that leaves me eager to see what Bridget Collins cooks up next.

Thank you kindly to the publishers and Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for this honest review.

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This book has hidden circumstances which tend to keep the reader guessing throughout the book. It starts with a character for whom you do not learn the back story until much later in the telling, but for whom there is a tendency to feel sympathy.

Léonard Martin is Minister for Culture, so how come that he is at Montverre now? Clare Dryden is the Magister Ludi and not happy that Léo is back at Montvere. During his visit they rub each other up the wrong way and cause agitation.

Leo is not happy with is accommodation provided for his stay at Montverre, but the Magister is not prepared to alter his rooming arrangements, so he must endure the difficulties of the situation, alongside those of his banishment.

There is a lot of depth and detail in this telling, you won't guess how it all twines together. The characters have links across all the levels and somehow it all just comes together.

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Absolutely enchanting.

The Betrayals is so intricately written, that anything I can think of to praise it seems too bland. The book grabbed me by the throat and didn't let me up for air until the very last page. It's full of mysterious magic, long-hidden secrets, and a slow burn romance that teases you mercilessly.

If you're a fan of historically bent fantasies full of magic and themes of right and wrong and what the cost of each of them is, this is a book you must read!

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Leo Martin is a disgraced politician, with suddenly unpopular beliefs he is forced to resign and retire to his old school. A school where 10 years earlier his competitive rivalry with the unpopular Carfax may have led to tragedy. Returning to the school allows old memories to surface and Leo finds himself drawn to the only female magister - Claire. She is another outsider but her dislike of Leo goes deeper than disdain for his politics.

This is so many things - murder mystery, romance, LGBT, boarding school drama or political thriller. There's elements of all. It took a while to settle into the style of it but I really enjoyed it.

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I enjoyed The Binding very much and was pleased to receive an ARC of The Betrayal, ,thanks to the publisher and NetGalley.
It’s beautifully written,but it’s not an easy read and I struggled to get into the story.It’s set in the 1930s in an unnamed European country ,governed by a Fascist party who persecute Christians .Léo is a disgraced politician who is asked to return to his old school, Montverre, to continue studying the grand jeu ,the national game ,for which he received a gold medal 20 years before. There he meets Claire Dryden, the Magister Ludi ,the first woman to hold this position. She reminds him of his school friend and rival,Carfax, who died some years previously,and they gradually establish a relationship based on their shared love of the grand jeu.
The story is told through flashbacks to Léo’s diary from his school days ,from the point of view of both Claire and Léo at the time of the story ,and a mysterious girl called The Rat. It’s a school story in a way-Hogwarts for adults- and the setting of the school is beautifully described and very atmospheric.However,the grand jeu is never really explained and I found it frustrating not to know what it was-music,maths,movement or a combination of the three.The author writes at the end that it was inspired by Hesse’s Glass Bead Game, but I didn’t know what that was so it didn’t help me to know that!
This was a challenging read ,and although I finished the book, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I had hoped I would. These opinions are my own.

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Such a stunning cover! But unfortunately this was such a tricky read…

I enjoyed most of the story, the learning and two brilliant minds finding a connection by enthusing over their shared love of the game, as well as the secluded academic setting. The relationship and the slow reveal of exactly what happened years ago was interesting to read. I just found myself getting distracted, because there was just too much left vague. I was constantly confused as to where it’s set, what’s going on in the world, if it’s based on actual history or completely imaged, exactly what the political climate is all about – feels like fascism, there’s prosecution of certain groups, but why? But most of all I was so lost on the grand jeu, or grand game.

This is such an immense part of the story, it’s constantly referred to and it’s what connects our protagonists. It’s why they are at Montverre. It is apparently based on a game from a 1931 novel, The Glass Bead Game, and is a mix of music, math, philosophy and… well, possibly more, and not even game, really. It sounds so intriguing and I was speculating and theorizing as to what it could be, or what it would look like. I had hope that we would eventually find out what it actually entails, but this is never revealed. For me, I got very focused on this point and it did spoil the reading for me slightly – I found myself enjoying it only when I managed to let go of my fixation with figuring out this damn game!

If you’re not like me, and you don’t mind the vagueness, you might enjoy this more – but I finished feeling unsatisfied.

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If you are looking for an atmospheric novel about love and betrayal, set in an old boarding school, clouded in a heavy fog of something sinister and unsettling, with the addition of a mysterious game, and some dystopian themes, then you will love “The Betrayals”. It is hard to write something about a book you loved other than “ooooohhhhhhs" and "aaaaaahhhhs” and to be able to actually point out exactly what about it that made you feel like you never wanted it to end. For me, it was the unsettling, gothic-like atmosphere – Bridget Collins knows how to weave an opulent, vivid world canvas and plot her story to entice the reader. There is an unnamed country dealing with political unrest and nationalist tendencies, that could strike a chord as being particularly relevant now. Then there is a grand jeu, an intricate, mysterious game in the centre of the story, revered by all, taught to a chosen, privileged few in Montverre, a cloistered and secretive school. There are also characters - distinctive and loud on the pages; they are jealous, ambitious, imperfect and full of longing. The secrets from years before are roused from hiding, the political unrest is threatening the survival of the grand jeu and its players.

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Thank you to Netgalley, Bridget Collins & The Borough Press for my ARC of The Betrayals in exchange for an honest review.

The Betrayals is the second book from the author of The Binding one of my all time favourite books you can read my review of that book here: https://lifehasafunnywayofsneakinguponyou.wordpress.com/2018/12/13/the-binding-by-bridget-collins-review/

So understandably I had super high expectations for The Betrayals. Sadly those expectations were not met this time.
Bridget Collins is a fantastic writer, her prose is beautiful and she writes with very interesting and grandiose ideas. Sadly for me The Betrayals felt more grandiose than interesting.
I couldn't even really tell you what this book was about, I mean I could give you the synopsis but you can find that for yourself, the story itself was very disjointed and confusing it was hard to follow who was narrating at each point (this may be an arc issue though?) and I think it would definitely have benefited from some upfront world building and explaining in terms of the game and the grand jue. Without it, the book fell very flat, it became hard work to understand and I could not enjoy it.
I'm super sad as I was really looking forward to this but I would definitely recommend giving it a go if it seems more your thing, and I would definitely read more from Bridget in the future.

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In The Betrayals, as in The Binding, Bridget Collins creates a magical world which feels timeless but recognisable in equal measure. It is told from the point of view of three characters; the Rat, Leo (both from his younger self’s diary and the present day) and Magister Ludi in a school called Montverre during a period of political upheaval where Christians are sidelined and the ruling party is becoming more hardline. Montverre specialises in the art of creating the ‘grand Jeu’ and the story revolves around Leo learning this with his friend Carfax in the past and then returning to the school as an adult in political exile where the Magister Ludi is teaching it. Collins has stated she was inspired by Herman Hesse’s book The Glass Bead Game when devising the ‘grand Jeu’ - the detail in The Betrayals about this game is extraordinary - but I am not familiar with this work and have to admit to still being confused about what the ‘grand Jeu’ is in the story. Also, the story opens from the point of view of the Rat and then leads onto the Magister Ludi but it was not until Leo’s story began that I became engaged in the story. Overall though, this is a enjoyable story and world to get lost into that examines friendship, rivalry, loyalty and ambition through very recognisable relationships. I have also now seen the physical book in person and just like The Binding it is a gorgeous book to behold.

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I enjoyed this book, it just didnt capture me the same way as the binding did. It was still a clever story and I enjoyed the characters.
I do enjoy this genre and i will defintely still read more from this author in the future!

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I'm so sorry! I really struggled with this. About halfway through I dedicated some hours to try and understand and get into the story. First half I only managed to read a chapter at a time which didn't help me soak in the story so make sure you have time to get settled into it.

It may have been me again but it made me think of the atmosphere of the Harry Potter stories based at a school, without magic of course. I was confused on a couple of things like what is a Grand Jeu. Music/play/art all in one. Aime is Claire. Claire is Aime. Women aren't allowed in this school so as Claire wants to be a teacher here she disguises herself as a man.

At the end of the day this book is beautifully bizarre. I much preferred The Binding. Once again a stunning cover.

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At Montverre, a monasterial academy in an alternate version of 1930s Europe, young men study and train for one purpose: perfection in the grand jeu, a mysterious game that combines maths, music, performance, philosophy, and religious worship. Leo Martin, a former student of Montverre and now a politician in disgrace, has returned as an exile. Back in his old school, he encounters Magister Claire Dryden, Montverre's first woman in a professorial role, and long-hidden truths begin to reveal themselves.

If you loved Bridget Collins's first adult novel, The Binding, chances are you'll love this one as well. Though they're fairly different in plot and genre (don't come in expecting a fantasy novel with magic of the sort used in The Binding), they're stylistically similar, with Collins's ghostly, dreamy, haunting writing working to great effect in this tale of an obscure worship/game/academic form, dark secrets, and the inexorable ruthlessness of looming fascism.

The story has a slow build for the first half of the book, but it's a rich slowness, a slowness to be savoured; it's slow but inevitable, slow but precise, like an avalanche building up from just a little fall of snow. By the time revelations have started to unknot themselves and plot lines begin to come together, like tangled threads unraveling and then being rewoven into a smoothly perfect whole, an exquisite tapestry of despair, the avalanche is devastating and undeniable. This isn't a fast-paced, adventurous, action-oriented book, but rather the compelling, absorbing sketch of characters and world. There is in Collins's writing an inexorable revelatoriness, like the slow untangling of a deep, breathtaking secret, like stars hanging against the black sky on a sharply cold winter night. It's a beautiful and mesmerizing novel, and a deeply moving successor to one of my favorite reads of last year.


CW: Suicide, mental illness, fascism.

Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for the advance review copy!

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I was a huge fan of The Binding, so I was very excited to get stuck into Bridget Collins’ latest offering. In fact, I requested it without even reading a summary and therefore had no idea what I was getting into.

Montverre is an exclusive academy that only takes on the brightest minds to write and perfect the grand jeu, a complex, enigmatic competition. Fallen politician Léo Martin is a Montverre alumnus but he finds himself back behind its walls, rediscovering his passion for the game. For the first time ever, a woman holds the highest post as Magister Ludi. Claire Dryden bears a striking resemblance to someone from Léo’s past. He’s sure they’ve never met before but something is pulling him closer to her.

Montverre itself is a looming, spectacular sight and almost a character of its own. I could feel all of its history seeping through the walls and I strongly suspect that it holds multiple secrets that weren’t even touched upon in the novel. It’s an institution that has seen generations of triumph, failure, illicit connections and betrayal. You could spend years living there and still not know everything about it and that makes it a truly fascinating entity.

One of its deepest, best kept secrets is the existence of The Rat. I spent such a long time not really knowing who or even what she was and I was in awe of the way that Collins wrote her scenes. Her story is so dark and as more of it came to light, the pieces slowly started to slot together in my mind to create a bleak, shocking picture.

This world is run by an elite patriarchy, so a successful woman is viewed with a lot of suspicion and disdain. Claire has smashed through every single barrier to get to where she is, so that goes some way to ascertaining how talented she is. She has a copy of Léo’s teenage diary and at first, I couldn’t work out why she was so interested in getting into his past other than the possibility that she was feeling some type of way for him. However, her backstory has a huge twist in it and I was completely floored when it was revealed. Everything made sense in the best way and I have to congratulate Collins for slowly revealing it.

The passion and tension between Léo and his rival Aimé Carfax de Courcy is electric. In the diary extracts, we watch them form this intense relationship edged with competitive energy that inevitably morphs into something so sizzlingly sexual. Then we go through again, when Léo realises his connection to Claire. The pace of the writing reflects the racing thoughts and heartbeat and I couldn’t help but be thoroughly Léo, experiencing all of his physiological processes.

We never really find out exactly what the grand jeu is. We can only gingerly place certain pieces of information together and try to figure out what it is. Perhaps it’s different things to different people. Perhaps the grand jeu is a celebration and amalgamation of the finest human creations. Perhaps it’s simply whatever you want it to be. If you can’t stand ambiguity about a vital part of a book’s plot, this book probably isn’t for you because you may find yourself tearing your hair out, trying to work out exactly what this precious ‘game’ actually is!

The author’s note at the end of the book mentions that The Betrayals is inspired by Hermann Hesse’s The Glass Bead Game. I have neither read nor heard of this novel, so of course I didn’t pick up on any of the source material in the book. However, interestingly I did pick up on a couple of Shakespeare parallels. The Tempest is referenced and I couldn’t shake the similarities between The Rat and the story of Caliban. Banished to living a small, squalid existence and hidden from the world, developing animalistic tendencies -this has to be deliberate, right? There is also another Twelfth Night parallel that I won’t talk about here due to spoilers but when you see it, you’ll be shook!

The Betrayals is an intricate, clever book with a vast world that barely gets a look in on the narrative. I’ll admit that I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as The Binding and I’m not entirely sure why that is. The characterisations are just as rich, the plot is just as unique but the world wasn’t quite as absorbing. However, the writing is wonderful, so I’d certainly recommend it if you’re looking for a crazy ride fuelled by a multitude of extraordinary stories.

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