It’s taken me a few weeks to write this review, because Christ I didn’t know what to make of this book. In short, I loved it, I hated it. It gripped me, it bored me. I couldn’t put it down, I could t pick it up.

Firstly, Collins is one hell of a writer. Her prose is beautiful and captivating. She paints this wonderfully stark world of an alter I’ve 1930s so well. The characters are interesting, and the way the story meanders back and forth through the years is brilliantly done. But for some reason, i was just bored senseless most of the time. I can’t put my finger on why. Maybe it was the ‘grand jou’ itself. This mystical game/subject/music that plays such an important role in the book. I love things being kept secret in a book, but eventually I expect to understand what’s happening. With the grand jou we don’t get this. It remains an extremely frustrating mystery. To such an extent it ruins the book, because why should I care about something that doesn’t actually exist?

Yet following this, the twist at the end of the book is one of the best I’ve read. I actually applauded it was so well done. But 5 pages later I’d put the book down because I was bored again.....

Bottom line, read it yourself and make your own mind up.

Having enjoyed the author’s first adult novel The Binding, I was keen to read The Betrayals. I was delighted to discover that The Betrayals is even better than The Binding. It’s a school story, but squarely aimed at adults due to the complex emotions and relationships between the characters.

Two of the major elements of the novel, the historical-geographical setting and the Grand Jeu, were never fully explained, but the story gave a very good flavour and atmosphere of both. The world is very like ours, but also magical and mysterious. There’s a threatening authoritarian government and sexism for the characters to deal with, but also transcendent joy to be obtained from practicing the Grand Jeu.

Since finishing the book, I have been thinking about the characters for days. Definitely a five star read for me and I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.

I thought that Bridget Collins' first book for adults, The Binding, was an excellent example of how to do intelligent yet accessible historical/fantasty fiction: complex and gripping, with great characters who the reader immediately cared about, and brilliant world building. So I was excited to be given the opportunity to read The Betrayals by the publisher and NetGalley and was sure I'd be in for a treat.

Sadly, I was disappointed. The Betrayals was needlessly dense and wore its learning oh so heavily (when I read in the afterword that Collins was inspired by The Glass Bead Game by Herman Hesse, the pretentious philosophising of the 'grand jeu' fell into place for me). More importantly, the characters ran a gamut from so deeply unpleasant I wanted to push them off the battlements of the school, to 'merely' miserable and irritating. Reviews for The Betrayals seem to be split between people who felt very similarly to me, and those who loved it, so it's obviously very much a marmite book. Sadly, it was not for me.

This is my second attempt at reading this book. I'm afraid once again it is going over my head and I just cannot get interested in it. I loved The Binding, one of my favourite books so I'm disappointed in myself that I just cannot get on with The Betrayals!

This is a first of Bridgets books I have read, although I have had my eye on one of her previous books.. I found it a little slow paced to start with, making the character building a little difficult to keep my attention, however once the story picked up it was hard to put down. Would recommend.

I loved The Binding and had very high hopes for her next novel and was not disappointed. The wiring and plot was beautifully constructed and I really enjoyed the character development. It was fascinating and really held my interested and left me wanting more after each chapter.

I really tried with this book but I struggled to finish it and still don't know what really happened and what it was all about.

Overall I loved this book but felt it had flaws that put me off a little. I found it very slow to get into the book, the story of Rat to me, whilst being heartbreakingly sad, wasn't all that compelling, especially at the start.

As soon as Leo showed up the book came to life, and his story was so fascinating, so layered and nuanced that I was hooked right in. Following his downfall from political life, subtle references to his lower-class upbringing and how much the school of Montverre meant to him, opened up a wealth of emotions and situations that are fully explored.

I loved the shaded references to a political situation that is never quite clear and so carries more threat, and the fact that Leo remains unaware of his complicity in the system. Revisiting a school where he had felt the extreme emotions of youth and reflecting on this in his later years makes for some genuine moments of retrospection, and also reveals much about his character that he himself seems unaware of.

As the book builds to its end you are given glimpses of what's to come and confirmation of what you have discovered before Leo does, which again keeps you tied to the book until its conclusion.

A remarkable follow up to The Binding, well worth reading if you stick with it past the slightly diversionary but then important part that the Rat story adds to the book.

I really loved The Binding, but I struggled with this book. The biggest stumbling block for me was the lack of clarity about what was going on - especially the constant references to the grand jeu, which was never really made clear. The writing is as excellent as you would expect, but I couldn’t relate to the characters or their world.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Not really the sort of book that I generally read but saying that I actually enjoyed this, great storyline and great characters. Well worth a read.

thank you to net galley, harper collins uk, waterstones and of course Bridget Collins.

I would highly recommend this to fantasy fans, beautifully written, amazing detail, magical, exciting and a sure hit for 2020, well done Bridget Collins you have done it again.

Bridget Collins's first novel for adults, The Binding, was one of my favourite reads of 2019. Its structure worked so perfectly with its themes, and it combined YA energy with quieter, more reflective prose. Her follow-up, The Betrayals, is both more uneven and more ambitious. Inspired by Hermann Hesse's The Glass Bead Game, it imagines an isolated school, Montverre, where young men train in the mysterious art of the 'grand jeu', a combination of mathematics, music and philosophy, writing their own games and observing others. (The precise nature of the 'grand jeu' is, cleverly, never fully revealed to the reader, and we're allowed to imagine what exactly it looks like). The narrative is principally divided into three alternating voices: that of Claire, the 'Magister Ludi' or 'Master of the Game', who is the first woman to oversee Montverre; ex-politician Léo Martin, who has been exiled to Montverre for (weakly) opposing an increasingly totalitarian government; and ten-year-old diary entries from the time when Léo was a student at the school.

Structurally, The Betrayals doesn't work nearly as well as The Binding. The only chapters I found truly captivating before the midpoint were Léo's diary entries - told in first-person, they had a charm and immediacy that the other narratives lacked. About halfway through, the diary entries start to interweave more closely with Claire and Léo's present-day narratives, and the plot becomes totally gripping. However, I was still baffled by the other stray narrative voice in this book, that of the Rat, a girl who secretly lives within the walls of Montverre after her illegitimate birth. I skimmed her chapters, which I found cliched, and felt they could be entirely excised from the novel without really affecting it, even though she does start to have more impact on the plot near the end.

Nevertheless, I think Collins has, once again, pulled off something special here, even if The Betrayals isn't quite as good as her adult debut. The way she writes about the grand jeu is really memorable, and I loved how Claire and Léo's story was pulled together in the final pages. This book reminded me quite strongly of Elisabeth Thomas's Catherine House - which I know has been quite divisive but which I personally liked a lot - with its arcane rites and obsessive scholars. It's a beautifully atmospheric and original read, and I'm looking forward to whatever Collins writes next.

What an amazing read, is it fantasy, political satire or an historical mystery? It is up to you to decide. There is a love story hiding there as Leo and Claire may one day meet again. Will the school that is devoted to exploring the philosophy of the grand jeu. With Christianity, communism and political factions vie for power the outcome will never be clear.
This story has its root in Herman Hessle’s novel the glass bead game but we do not need that knowledge to enjoy this story

It’s the 1930’s Leo Martin has worked his way up. Born a son of a scrap yard owner he became the Minister of Culture after graduating from the prestigious academy Montverre, where the scholars play a game called the Grand jeu. Honing the skills of Mathematics, philosophy, music and religion. But after disagreeing some polices; he is exiled back to Montverre. The story delves back into past when he first became a student at the academy and built his reputation and passed with flying colours. Earning a gold medal for his work. And the difference of his present days at the academy.
Thank you, Harper Collins, and NetGalley fer a copy of The Betrayals by Bridget Collins. I love The Binding, so I was looking forward to reading this. Unfortunately, though I could not finish this book. Don’t get me wrong this is is not a bad book. It is beautifully written, and others liked it But, I found it slow and I don’t think I was the target audience for this book. I did not find this subject of this book interesting. Three stars from me.

The Betrayals is set in a sort of alt 1930’s where a vaguely Nazish political party is on the rise and Lèo Martin their former poster boy and minister for culture has been sent away in disgrace for objecting to policies that ‘go too far’. He is banished back to his old school where as a brilliant student he studied ‘the game’ earning his reputation and where the events that took place there set him on the path to the ‘party’.
The strength of the Betrayals lies in the two main characters Martin and Carfax. Both of them are flawed: Martin is charming but vain, self absorbed and cowardly, Carfax is arrogant, insular and angry both of them are talented and ambitious. Forced to work together to create something brilliant they make up for what the other lacks they find a sort of friendship and try to trust one another. Their friendship is told through flash backs in Martin’s stolen diary and Collins does a good job of conveying the spark and friction of this prickly partnership and how it develops from only Martin’s point of view. Carfax becomes clearer later in the book but for much of it the reader only has Lèo to rely on and I ended up liking him despite his flaws.
This book is less about betrayals and more about trust; not trusting the right people and trusting the wrong people this is highlighted in the character of the Rat. She doesn’t trust anybody, her life depends on it, but she is forced to when a young Christian student is thrust into her world.
The main thrust of this story is solid but there were a few points that I felt could have been developed more. ‘The game’, which the whole sanctum Of the school is centred on is vague and nebulous. The authors note explains that it is based on something Herman Melville wrote, I haven’t read that so I only had what Collins gave me which wasn’t much and I felt this undermined the endeavours of Carfax and Martin, I had no investment in the game and in the end there isn’t even a full description of one complete game.
The Rat’s storyline also felt a bit superfluous I kept waiting for it to tie in with the main plot but it never really did.
The ending also felt slightly wishy washy and I remember thinking that about The Binding as well. It felt a bit throwaway. However I did enjoy the Betrayals better than The Binding and that’s due to Martin/Carfax/Clare relationship. I did think Clare got away with some pretty shoddy behaviour throughout and she got away with it because Lèo was a bit of lovable shit but it sort of comes to a satisfying conclusion even though I would have preferred a harder line at the end one way or another.

This book is beautifully written. The language is so descriptive and immersive and for a while you get lost in the beauty of it all, but at some point your emerge from the language into a really great and intricate story. I love the way you feel like you’ve joined this story at a snapshot in time, like a voyeur, looking in all the characters life’s. The characters of Clare, Leo and Carfax are so well written even though you never quite get to know the characters totally you do get to know them enough and to understand them before they go on their way again on their journey. This is the sort of the book that stays with you for a long time having planted lots of subtle thoughts in your mind for you to ruminate on long after the book finishes.

I enjoyed The Binding and I very much enjoyed this book - The Betrayals - too. Inspired by Hesse's Glass Bead Game, this is an unusual story, beautifully told. Characterisation is excellent and the twist later on is truly surprising.

I wasn't sure about the inclusion of the Rat - I'm not sure that aspect added much, but then again, it didn't detract either.

Wonderful storytelling. It gripped me well into the night.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was really excited to be approved for an arc of this book as I really enjoyed reading The Binding so had high hopes for something similar as I love a historical fantasy so it should have been a perfect match, However I just didn't like it as much as I was expecting to.

I think my main issue was how slow it was to start off as I felt like I was reading and was getting more questions than answers, it was a case of going back a few pages to see if you missed anything, it almost seemed like trying to read a sequel with no background knowledge . Not much happens in the first half of the book and I ended up putting it down more times than I would like to admit. HOWEVER I decided to continue and the last 100 pages I was absorbed and when it came to an end I just wish that the first half reflected this so there wasn't such a rushed ending and I felt bad for not enjoying the first half of the book.

I think if you are able to persevere to get to the second half then I would recommend giving this book a read but be prepared to have a lot of questions at first as the Grand Jeu is mention a lot and I still don't fully understand what it meant.

I'm not really sure where to start with my review for this book - perhaps the beginning is the best place...
The story is set in the 1930's (although as I read it my imagination kept setting it much earlier than that) and in a school called Montverre, situated in an unnamed European country. At Montverre the scholars study the art of the "grand jeu" - the author tells the reader that a grand jeu is "an elusive game that combines maths, music and ideas in an atmosphere of meditation"; that it is a vocation - a way of "paying attention to something outside yourself"; that it is almost a form of worship. Are you still with me?.. Or are you still as confused as I am? Having read the book, I still feel none the wiser as to what a grand jeu actually is or, indeed, how it is played. There did not seem to be any solid explanation around how the games are played or what they sound or look like, and as a result I often felt both perplexed, frustrated and disconnected by the long, long descriptions of grands jeux and so often felt my mind wandering off during these sections of the book. It was all a bit too abstract for me.
Having said that, what rescued this story for me was the wonderful characterisations of Leo Martin, Carfax de Courcy, The Rat, and the Magister Ludi (Claire Dryden), and the way their narratives were interwoven throughout the book - they were wholeheartedly absorbing, intriguing and beautifully written.
Several plot twists and a few surprises kept me engaged with this richly complex book whose premise is uniquely original and, ultimately, utterly beguiling.

This book was a sort of trail for me. At first I couldn’t get into it at all, I felt distanced and couldn’t connect to any of the characters.
Then as I got to about 40% in I found myself getting swept away with the story of Carfax. I don’t like suicide and didn’t realise this book would mention it... and part of me hurt to continue reading. Bearing in mind that the narrative was suggesting that this boy had been badly bullied and after a series of events decided to take his own life.
It was distressing for me but I continued, there are parts of this book I did really like. The connection of a few areas and the twists it took.
The fact that nothing is completely rounded off yet you still have a sense of ending. That it is complete without being complete.
It is one of those books that makes you feel different after reading it. You sit there and you feel as if you’ve come out of a dream ... not fully present. Not sure if it was good or bad.. but knowing you read it anyway and in some way don’t regret reading it.

I don’t know how to feel about this book at all.