Can an act of betrayal ever be forgiven? In the dystopian world in which this novel is set, the Party rules over all - and when culture minister Leo Martin dares to disagree with the prime minister over the banning of books, he is banished to Montverre, the school where talented boys are sent to learn the "grand jeux"- games of poetry, maths and motion which are considered the national game. An alumni of the school, and one-time gold medal winner, Leo is reluctant to go back there, for his time at the school holds unpleasant memories, which are gradually revealed through the diary he kept at the time. His brittle relationship with aloof genius Carfax de Courcey ended in tragedy - and now Carfax's sister Claire is Magister Ludi at the school, she does not seem inclined to forgive and forget Leo's betrayal of her brother. But as they reach a new understanding it looks as if history might repeat itself - will Leo now betray Claire to save his own skin?
It took me some time to get into this story, mainly because I was trying too hard to understand just what a grand jeu is - I found it impossible, and my tip to fellow readers would be don't worry about it. Just concentrate on the characters, who grow in strength and stature as the book progresses, and on the plot, which unfolds in a narrative of past and present events that segue together seamlessly in a breathtaking finale. - with a few surprises along the way! Though the story really is about the relationship between Leo and Claire, the background lends a real air of suspense to the whole narrative. Just what did happen between Carfax and Leo? When will the party pounce? Who is the elusive "rat" girl who inhabits the very fabric of the school - is she a person or a ghost, or a metaphor for the underlying menace that stalks the somewhat privileged pupils of this establishment. The prose and pacing of this story is perfect - and though the author says she owes her inspiration to Herman Hesse's The Glass Bead, the plot and writing reminded me of Donna Tartt's Secret History, one of my favourite books.
At first I thought I wouldn't finish this book, but I'm so glad I stuck with it because within a few chapters I was sucked in by its mysterious, erotic almost magical quality and found myself caring deeply for the characters and the situation that they find themselves in as the Party tightens its grips. Will their quest for the truth end in tragedy once more.

I loved The Binding but I have to admit I struggled to get into The Betrayals initially but once I did all I can say is wow! The writing was beautiful, the plot was very clever and well thought out.

I spent the majority of the first half of the book trying to figure out what the Grand Jeu was and arguing with myself whether I should give up on it or not. I am pleased I persevered because what followed was an incredible book. Many nights I stayed up later than I should have because I wanted to know how it ended.

The Betrayals was one of those books where the central characters are completely abhorrent. They are not designed for the reader to like them. Somehow this didn’t matter though because dislike is better than indifference.

In some ways The Betrayals reminded me of 1984, in particular when ‘The Party’ was mentioned. The way you can’t be totally sure you trust any of the characters and also the shadowy motivations of all the characters. Who is willing to betray one another? Is any of the romance real?

I can’t explain how much I both loved and hated this book during the course of reading it. However, in the end I am firmly in the ‘loved it’ category.

The Betrayals was well constructed and immersive, and the quality of writing is superb.

“The empty benches wait. If ever the hall was ready for the first move of a grand jeu, it’s now: midnight, silence, this geometry of light. Someone else would know how to play, how to begin.”

After reading The Binding, I was really looking forward to reading this book.

I will admit, it took me a while to get into this book, its definitely a slow burner. It is full of mystery, some mysteries we never fully understand, and very unlikeable characters. What surprised me and I praise the author for this; even though I didn't like the characters, by the end of the book I was actually rooting for them. How she acheived this astounds me and I still don't know what made me change my perspective.

I really enjoyed this book and I hope there is a sequel!

Just like The Binding, Bridget Collins' second adult novel, The Betrayals is nothing like I expected. At first I wasn't sure how I felt about it, but by the end I was desperately in love with the story. This is largely due to the writing, which is as lush and beautiful and involving as in The Binding.

The characters are realised with such depth and conflict, none of them are easy to like, and some are harder than others, but even despite this by the end I was rooting deeply for them. It's one thing to write likeable characters and get the audience on their side but it's another to give those characters true nuance, make them difficult and deceptive and show their weaknesses and their worst, and still have the audience so deeply engaged that it's impossible not to feel emotionally connected to them.

In terms of plot, this is a book of mystery, based on a game that is never fully explained or demonstrated, in a world similar to ours but with some notable differences. It's an acknowledgement of how evil oppressive regimes can appear reasonable and a joyous celebration of art, creativity and academia. It's also a powerful love story.

Overall, my main quibble is that I'd have liked it to go on longer, to reveal more about the characters and spend more time with them. I'd love to read a sequel, if that were ever to happen.

This book was beautifully written but I must admit that it didn't really grab me. I had read Collins' stunning The Binding and somehow didn't expect the dystopia I discovered here.
We are swept into a rather eery world where the grand jeu is taking place. A somehow disgraced politician returns to his former school Montverre in the snowy mountains of a fictional country. Things are changing and all is not as it seems.
I cannot fault Collins' writing style but I'm afraid this was just a little too unusual for me. I would have given it a 3.5 if I could.

Plot - no spoilers
The Betrayals primarily focuses on three characters; Léo Martin, Magister Dryden and Carfax de Courcey. Léo is a washed-up ex-politician, set to return in exile to the elitist academy of his youth, Montverre. Montverre is tucked away somewhere in the mountains, location undisclosed, where students are able to learn the ways of The Grand Jeu, led by the Magister Ludi; Claire Dryden. Through deviousness, Claire is hired as the academy's first female Magister, let alone the Magister Ludi, and is set to change the course of The Grand Jeu forever. Whilst the present-day story follows the narrative of Léo and Claire, we gain insights into Léo's youth through reading the diary he kept as a student. It is here that we see the rivalry between Léo and Carfax, both boys desperate to be the best, play the greatest Grand Jeu and receive the prestigious gold medal.

The stories, both past and present, are built upon lies and betrayal, doused in allusion and blurred lines. Both Léo and Claire have built their lives upon lies, so much so it is second nature. Yet at the Midsummer Game, the final Grand Jeu of the year, the pair find themselves asking the same question "if everything in your life was based on a lie, would you risk it all to tell the truth?"


Pros
What is The Grand Jeu? I must have asked myself this question over a hundred times whilst reading this novel and still I don't know. We are never truly told the nature of the game, only that it encompasses maths, music, philosophy, religion, and performance. Collins is purposefully abstract with her descriptions of The Grand Jeu, leaving the reader to structure their own ideas and thoughts, much like that of the students. I particularly liked this writing tactic as it allowed me to develop my own thoughts of how a Grand Jeu was played, specifically the importance and relevance it has to society. I understand that a lot of readers prefer closure, in some cases I also believe that it is needed. However, I feel that something as vast as The Grand Jeu can't possibly have one specific meaning set in stone. Each element of the game will resonate differently with each reader, thus the importance and significance of each Grand Jeu will change reader to reader. I feel that Collins was wise to let readers create their own ideas of what The Grand Jeu is; allowing for a multitude of reading experiences.

Secondly, I would say the character development between the two periods was one of my favourite parts of this narrative. Whilst we see glimpses into Léo's childhood, we predominantly focus on his adult life as an exile, shadowed by his youth at Montverre. Collins is extremely clever in how she writes the two versions of Léo, as she places thoughts and statements within the diary that are reused in Léo's dialogue as an adult, symbolising that certain views are embedded whilst others may have developed with maturity. Although the characters aren't likeable all of the time, there is an abundance of deceit and manipulation to keep readers on their toes. It brings into question the integrity and level trust you can put in each character, as toward the end of the novel I found myself questioning everything that was being said and wholeheartedly couldn't decipher what was truth and what was fuelled by underlying motives. As above, some readers may hate this but I found it very enjoyable and it kept me turning the pages all the way to end.


Cons
From reading Collins' previous novel The Binding, which didn't live up to the ideas I had, I didn't set any exceptions for The Betrayals. I am glad that I didn't, as I could not find any faults with this novel. Perhaps I am currently too mystified or wearing rose coloured glasses to pick holes at it, but nothing significant stands out as a major flaw.


Final Thoughts
I am truly honoured to have had the opportunity to read this ARC, as I know there is so much anticipation for its release. Although there is mystery entwined with the novel, I feel this comes from the cleverly written betrayals of the characters that Collins has so magnificently penned. If you are a fan of building your own thoughts, opinions and generally delving into the unknown then The Betrayals is certainly the book for you. Thank you again to Harper Collins and Bridget Collins for allowing me to preview such a wonderful piece of work.

Spellbinding, mesmerizing, enchanting, spectacular, superb...there really aren’t enough adjectives to do this book justice. The prose is breathtakingly beautiful so much so that I forgot I was reading a book as I dived into the world of Montverre and Leo Martin’s story that unfolded. The grand jeu, Carfax, Claire, Leo, the Rat, all played a part in making this a spectacular read that I won’t forget for a very long time.

Having read Ms. Collin’s first adult novel The Binding, clicking pre-order on the Betrayals was a no brainer and whilst I tried to hold out for the release of the hardback, I succumbed to the excitement and buildup of surrounding this novel and requested and advanced copy from the publishers through Netgalley which I was thrilled to receive.

From the very first sentence I knew I was in for a treat and trying to do this story justice in a review is so difficult. The stunning prose swept me away to a world of mystery and intrigue. A world of solitude, scholars, the grand jeu - which like all religions maintained an heir of mystery right to the end - and Montverre where it all unfolded. The characters jumped off the pages to pull me into their world and Leo’s story was one of both heartbreak, growth, and understanding. In his world of politics he has given little thought to Montverre and tried to bury the past it holds, but when he disagrees with a forthcoming bill, his punishment is to be sent back to where it all began. So beings this breathtaking story and a world that unfolds as the pages turn.

It’s so very hard to review a book as great as this and all I will say, is that if stunning prose and real life characters are what you are looking for then The Betrayals is a story you won’t want to miss. Absolutely brilliant and I can’t wait to read it again.

I was a big fan of the debut novel by Bridget Collins, and that is what made this stand out to me.

But I think I had erased from my memory just how much of a challenge it had been to get INTO the Binding, taking me nearly 150 pages before I was hooked, before I cared.

The Betrayals was, sadly, quite a bit worse. Set in an unspecified dystopian, almost 1984 style, universe, Leo has been unceremoniously turfed out of the Party and asked to return to his alma meter, Montverre to study the Grand Jeu. Montverre seems to be resistant to the Party, and has, by some miracle, grown with the times and hired its first woman into a senior position, that of Magister Ludi.

Following? Exactly.

Certain parts of the novel are fascinating: the flashbacks to Leo’s time as a student at Montverre with Carfax de Courcy were, without doubt, my favourite bit. Sadly, not enough of it is. There is too much shrouded in mystery for me to have enjoyed it. I get that that is stylistic, and other readers may be more forgiving - in a dystopian government, shrouded in secrecy is to be expected, no? - but I just couldn’t get on board. It made it difficult for me to enjoy the story or the characters who were all pretty awful people really. When there is nothing to hang your interest on, your interest wanes.

It’s an extremely ambitious project and Ms Collins should be proud of her efforts but I think she needs to rein it in for book three. She has style and some truly fantastic ideas but they lack substance. To really develop, these stories need depth and grounding. I know she’s got it in her, I can feel it.

I loved Bridget Collins adult debut The Binding so I was very excited to get my hands on this. This book is set at an exclusive academy called Montverre in an imaginary county in Europe. Pupils go there to compete in something called The Grand Jeu which is based on Herman Hesse’s The Glass Bead Game. The story is centred around this mysterious game and the scholars who study it. I loved the characters, some of whom weren’t particularly likeable. The book is beautifully written and very immersive. I would recommend it.. Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

A weird and strangely wonderful book! I was glad that Bridget Collins acknowledged Herman Hesse’s ‘The Glass Bead Game’ at the end, as I had been wondering all the way through why ‘The Betrayals’ was resonating so strongly with me. The book centres on a school teaching the arcane and highly politically significant ‘grand jeu’ and its teachers and players - the national game of an unnamed country. The narrative centres on Leo Martin and his nemesis/beloved, Carfax, along with the ‘Magister Ludi’ (overall director) of the school. It had numerous less prominent characters, still beautifully realised and important to the story, along with the extraordinary school of Montverre itself. The writing often has a dreamlike quality which suits this haunting and mysterious book. I loved it, even if I did occasionally get a little lost and have to go back a few pages to remind myself what was going on.

How can an author follow up the incredible The Binding? Simply by taking the reader on another incredible surreal magical mystery tour. The Betrayals.. how to describe this novel is not simple .. in many ways reflecting the Grand Jeu that is the pivotal focus of the tale. Ambition, greed, power and imagination are woven together in what feels like a gothic fantasy in a time that isn’t distinguishable. The prose is poetic and magical with that dark under current that drew so many of us into The Binding. But that’s about as far as comparisons go. A tale set within a mountain top school and the machinations of power and creativity. Tightly plotted; the key characters younger and older lives are woven together to pull the reader deeper into the final stages. The ‘rat’ was an intriguing plot addition and twist . This book is perfect for a winter’s evening . The story isn’t as accessible as The Binding but will certainly find a huge following . For myself ,I felt I’d reentered the world of Susanna Clarke and Jonathan Strange. An hypnotically beguiling novel.

I was sent a copy of The Betrayals by Bridget Collins to read and review by NetGalley. Following on from her first outstanding adult novel, The Binding, this new work is a totally different kettle of fish on many levels. Still beautifully written and very much character based, the atmosphere of the book is somewhat less magical and more political. Having said that the passages concerning the Grand Jeu, an arcane and mysterious game that founds the school at the centre of the story, are thought provoking and quite transcendental. An exploration of relationships, what we think of ourselves and what we project to others – all in all a great read!

I thought this was a great book, really atmospheric - and I thought the relationship between Leo, Magister Ludi and Carfax was particularly good.

It reminded me in places of John Boyne's writing. I loved The Binding - and while this doesn't quite match up to it - it's still very good!

I really don't know how to review this. I was confused most of the way through, I never quite understood the 'game' and the reason for it. The characters were ok. I kept reading hoping it would all make senses at some point, but for me it never really did. The writing style was good and that why I gave it 3.

I’m a superfan of The Binding, so I was really excited to get the opportunity to read The Betrayals before publication. There’s something very reassuring about putting yourself in the hands of an author who has looked after you so well before. I love submitting to a story I don’t immediately understand, that I can’t obviously see a way through.
It’s 1936 in an unnamed European country where the state has pushed through a strict new law relating to culture and belief. In its depiction of a world almost like ours but with differences in governance and faith, The Betrayals reminded me of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials. But instead of an all-powerful Magisterium, what if it were Christianity that is outlawed, its adherents persecuted?
When we’re introduced to Léo, the society he inhabits is recognisable but, as with The Binding, there is a feeling that there is something different, some premise lying beneath. In this case, it’s the grand jeu – a combination of maths, music, words, notation, history – which brings with it a whole new vocabulary. It might be called the national game but it is far more serious than that.
Bridget Collins has again created an atmosphere of creeping dread, a world like ours but not, with a sickening terror overhanging everything. Against a backdrop of an oppressive state under which good, reasonable people are brushed aside, exiled, worse, the book made me wonder can you measure betrayal – by its severity, its lasting effects, the thought of what might have been? How many times can you betray someone and in how many different ways? When is it betrayal and when is it simply avoiding self-sacrifice?
I suppose if I’d tried to guess the big reveal I might have figured it out, but I didn’t, caught up as I was in the thin Montverre air, and so it came as it should – a genuine sit-up moment. True to the fair-play rules of The Detection Club, all the information was there if you chose to see it (and I do feel inclined to re-read to test that theory). I rarely read books I don’t enjoy. But I’m stingy in awarding five stars; for that I need to feel that the characters will stay with me, that I might often wonder what they’re up to. On that basis, making The Betrayals a five-star read was an easy choice.
How do you follow up a phenomenon like The Binding? Like this.

Enjoyed reading Collins’s “The Binding” very much, so was looking forward to Collins’s new (hefty) tome.
I had read “Das Glasperlenspiel” by Hermann Hesse (reluctantly) at school and soon recognised “The Betrayals” as some rather blatant fan fiction.
From the start, the reader is confused: Is this pure fantasy, does the story take place in a specific place (Montverre, a rip-off of Hesse’s Monteport) or period - oil lamps and paperbacks happily mixing?
Likewise, the characters seem to shift and flip-change their...characteristics.
Both novels feature an ivory tower of a boarding school in the mountains where students are educated to “play” a game. And as with Hesse, the reader never gets to know what this “grand jeu” is supposed to be - it’s not a game, it’s not just music or math, philosophy or poetry. This fuzziness had already irritated me when I read Hesse.
Now, I do like to be kept in the dark by a book, to be enticed to dig deep and find a thread, but here the guessing went on for too long and I found that I had stopped caring. There were many times when I wanted to stop reading, but I persevered...a hard slog...faaar too long, even after 60,000 words had been culled in the second draft of the manuscript.
Imagine Hogwarts without the magic and add the thought police of an obscure over-arching, all-powerful Ministry of Truth, dot the whole thing with insinuations and hints about what this “grand jeu” is and then go around in circles... It has the whiff of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” about it; describing something at length that is not there in the first place.
The only creature that intrigued me was “The Rat”, a turned-feral girl that lives a hidden life within the school, but even this thread fizzled out.
A rounded up 3* for the atmospheric descriptions of Montverre school.

The Betrayals by Bridget Collins
I give this book 4 stars
In Montverre an exclusive institution tucked away in the mountains,the best and brightest study an arcane and mysterious game The Grand Jeu,as they have for centuries.But times are changing,and traditions being overturned - lf everything in your life was based on a lie,would you risk it all to tell the truth?
With such an exquisite cover l couldn’t wait to start reading what was inside. A beautifully written, imaginative and slightly mystical book. We’re introduced to Leo,Claire,Carfax,Emile,Simon,and the Rat and their somewhat complicated relationships.Involving romance,politics,religion and above all playing The Grand Jeu..The past and present descriptive storytelling is intricately interwoven.The intrigue deepens as the secrets are gradually revealed with one last final twist.
With thanks to Netgalley,Harper Collins and the author Bridget Collins for the opportunity to read and review this book

This novel was atmospheric and it kept me guessing. The secrets kept me on the edge of my seat and the pacing was excellent. I'll be watching for more from Bridget Collins!

Thank you for the advance copy. This book has a slow start yet that isn't necessarily a bad thing. It allows the reader to enjoy the writing rather than just rush. It's a book that you need to take your time with to really appreciate and enjoy the journey the author takes you on

This was an interesting read and not like the usual genre I thought this might be, but I did enjoy it and it kept me wanting to have some more, was sad to see it end and I will now be delving more into this type of genre more.