Thank you to NetGalley and Publishers for this AAC 

I was so excited to read/listen to this book and was delighted when my request was approved. I adored The Binding and recommend ot to at least one customer a day. Unfortunately this one was no where near as good, although it was a hard act to follow. 

The progression was dry slow for me and was just somewhat tedious.

I really loved The Binding and whilst a very different story in some respects this second novel did not disappoint. In particular I enjoyed the dual narratives it contained flipping between the past & future, and the world created and brought to life within these pages/through this audiobook was simultaneously very different and yet all too familiar

I had read and loved their authors previous book The Binding.  So when I,had the opportunity to listen to this book I was delighted.  Unfortunately though this book just didn’t hit the mark for me. I found it a very slow read/listen and felt the story wasn’t going anywhere.  I enjoyed the narrator however but the story I’m sorry to say just fell flat .  2.5  ⭐️

The grand jeu is an inexplicable and indescribable game and the students of Montverre Academy are tasked with creating it.

Leo is in his second year and has been given a second chance at creation but the game, for him, is already tinged with grief and guilt. Can the glory and greatness it also promises surpass these feelings? Claire is the only female tutor in this male, academic world and has to prove that despite her gender and tragic family history she is worthy of a place in this elite world. Can she compete against the privileged males she mentors? And will these two individuals become allies or enemies, in their ambitious quests?

This entire novel was an evocative infusion of gothic atmosphere and dark academia vibes. I adored the exploration of this mysterious setting and only wished the reader was able to garner more of an understanding of the academy and the games its students were tasked with creating.

That being said, part of this book's charm was also its peculiar and ineffable qualities. Consistent intrigue and forever feeling a step removed from a true understanding of everything that occurred had me tearing through the pages to this novel's close.

The characters too played their part in disallowing the reader to ever feel close to an understanding of their nature or their motives. Mysteries abounded and every figure that featured here was cloaked in their own share of them.

I had a great time immersed in this dark mystery and can now confidently say that Collins is an author I can rely upon for a chilling and thrilling historical tale.

I was delighted to have the opportunity to listen to this story as I had loved 'The Binding'. The narrator was fine (slightly irritating at times in pronunciation - a regional dialect didn't seem necessary to the story) - but there was a change of voice (male/female) which helped at times. However, this is a convoluted story and I had no idea what the 'grand jeu' was all about - even by the end it was a little obscure. I think it  would have been a better read as a physical book so that I could skip back and remind myself of facts. If you get slightly distracted when listening to this audio book you will absolutely lost the plot!

Interesting story, beautifully written but read the book, don;t try to listen to it! I was interested in the characters but the changing narrators and time zones (past v present) made it difficult to follow at times.

The only criticism I have is that I WANT MORE! Such a beautifully written story. Love, drama, mystery, intrigue, this story has it all. Loved every minute.

Thank you Netgalley and Harper Collins UK for the ARC of the audiobook in exchange for a review.

This was a beautifully written book, but for me the plot was severely lacking in content. I liked the characters, and the plot had a lot of promise initially, but when I got to 52% and realised barely anything had happened, and what had happened could have been said in a few chapters, I decided this book wasn't for me. It seems that i definitely prefer a book that is driven by a strong plot!

I loved "The Binding" so was really looking forward to Bridget Collins' second novel for adults, "The Betrayals". I listened to the audiobook version and had to abandon my first attempt because I just couldn't follow the bizarre story. I made it to the end on the second attempt but still feel that the majority of the plot either went over my head or was too abstract in the first place. I *think* it's about religious persecution, sexism, art, friendship and love. I still have no idea what a grand jeu is or what the situation is with The Rat. Unfortunately "The Betrayals" wasn't for me.

I enjoyed this book Although I felt was abit slow. It is about a man called Leo, a woman called The Rat and a woman called Claire, who come together in a school setting, to compete for a contest called 'The Grand Jeu'.  The story is good and there was a bit of secretive mystery to it, which I liked, but I found it all a bit confusing and it was a bit hard for me to understand everything that was happening.  However, the author is a very good writer, who creates really beautiful sentences and the audio narrators are also very good.  The cover of the book is beautiful too and that is what drew me to the book.  I am sure other readers would enjoy this book.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was really looking forward to reading this book, despite not having read Bridget Collins' previous book, but sadly this just wasn't my cup of tea. The premise sounded so intriguing but Collins' writing style really didn't click and I'm not sure listening to the audiobook helped with that.

Audio arc provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I'm not sure what I expected when I went into this book, but I quickly found myself captivated. It's fantasy in the sense that it's set in a different world - but don't expect dragon or magic - and it's alternate history in that it borrows heavily for mores and manners from a sort of quasi regency/ Victorian/ Edwardian time period. There are cars and trains but not the sleek muscle machines and diesel run engines of today. The status for women and men and the roles assigned are largely pre- WWI. In short it feels like speculative fiction even though you can't point to any specific element and say 'aha!'

Audio review first - this is told in 4 POVs - Claire Dryden, now Magister Ludy (head mistress or head magister of the strange school). Leo Martin in the present and Leo Martin in diarised past form and the Rat. The three narrators did an excellent job of bringing the characters to life and making them distinct. It was a pleasure to listen to.

Review of the book - Montverre is a strange and exclusive school where the best and brightest (male only) minds study for the Grand Jeu - the great game. The Grand Jeu is a historic institution surrounded by theatrical tradition and fierce competition. It's never fully defined in the story but it reads as a combination of maths, music, science, literature and natural philosophy creating something that is part art, part science and part magic. I wanted to know more about it but also didn't feel disappointed that the mystery was never solved. The main characters, Leo and Claire, have both achieved great success built upon a scaffolding of lies. When Leo is disgraced by the ministry and sent into exile at Montverre, he is the last person Claire wants to see. Already beset by the challenges of being Magister Ludy in a discipline that does not allow women to become scholars, trying to resist increasingly disturbing political movements such as purity laws, Claire has no time for an ego centric arrogant man who left Montverre many years before without completing his term. Meanwhile the Rat prowls the dark corridors like a secret waiting to come to fruition...

This was exquisitely written. I can see it being a Marmite book for readers because it isn't action packed and the focus is very much on character interaction and the themes of classism, injustice and gender politics. Leo is going to annoy some people too because he starts off very sexist - not misogynist, he doesn't actively hate women - and he only improves slightly by the end of the book. Personally I found this minor change more profound. If you are benefitting from a system set up for you and everything in your upbringing endorses you and rejects women as inferior, then teaches you not to see the inequality, you're not going to have a Demascan conversion in the space of less than a year. But Leo is questioning the way things are, quietly. He rejects the purity laws and acts on this doubt. He's forced to acknowledge that Claire is a superior Grand Jeu player. And that's usually the tipping point for someone absolutely blinkered by prejudice - seeing one superior example opens the door to questioning the entire institution. However, this will not be quick enough for people who think that a complete one-eighty on ingrained childhood and adulthood beliefs are more realistic. In addition, Leo is bi-sexual and has clearly come to terms with that so he's obviously capable of questioning. His worst trait in my opinion, is the fact that he is lazy in his thinking. Do not assume Claire exists to teach him to be a better person. She very much has her own agenda and is often at odds or crossed purposes with Leo. She is just as flawed despite being the far less privileged person. And the story is not about this directly either, but looks far more about how truth and lies and competition in friendship can both lock the parties involved in as well as tear them apart. I don't want to veer into spoiler territory but I'll round up by saying I found this book stunning, exquisite and very satisfying.

I really enjoyed the story of The Betrayals, it was very interesting. My favorite thing however was the character of Leo. I mean I didn't like him and would probably have thumped him a number of times he was really and in the room with me but the fact that I got that attached to the book that a character aggravated me was amazing!

I received this as an audiobook and I think that if I were to recommend the book to a friend (which I would do) I would say read it, don't listen to it. I found the changing of voices rather jarring. I would recommend it though!

I received a complimentary audio ARC of The Betrayals by Bridget Collins from HarperCollins UK Audio in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley. This has not swayed my opinion. My thoughts are my own and my review is honest. 

The Betrayals is a UK setting historical fiction with an alternate history vibe that takes place mostly at a prestigious boys school called Montverre, where the worthy youth of society dedicate their lives to studying the grand jeu. The story is told by flipping back and forth between two points in time and three points of view: Léo Martin as a student at Montverre, Léo now as a disgraced politician banished back to Montverre, Claire Dryden as the first female Magister Ludi (present timeline,) and an otherwise nameless girl who calls herself "the Rat" and lives in the shadows at Montverre in the present. Everything keeps coming back to the grande jeus of Léo's school days, his relationship with classmate Aimé Carfax de Courcey (Carfax) and how much Claire reminds him of his late friend. 

The political party Léo is affiliated with is trying to pass cultural reform laws that outlaw Christianity, imported literature, and other things from the world beyond their borders that would progress and change the status quo. Montverre very much reflects that oppressive stuck in the past nature while pretending it isn't involved in politics at all. The only women who are seen on campus (besides Claire, whose sex was not known until after her election) are servants. Students aren't permitted to read newspapers or (oddly enough) use mirrors. 

I'm certainly not Léo's biggest fan, but I don't think we're supposed to be. He's selfish, obtuse, naive, and although only occasionally impulsive, always at the worst possible time. Despite this, Bridget Collins has done a wonderful job of still ensuring that we empathize with him. We feel bad whenever things don't go his way through no intentional fault of his own. We root for him when he realizes he's in love. We're devastated for him when misunderstandings and manipulation lead to Léo losing the people and things most important to him. 

Although Claire is frustratingly narrow-minded at times, I really enjoyed reading her. She's proud to be the only woman instructor at this school, let alone Magister Ludi, and she isn't going to accept one single iota of disrespect. Her hate-filled obsession with Léo and his past due to her sibling status with schooldays friend and classmate Carfax is a major plot driver, and I appreciate the fact that we the audience are let in on the brother-sister relation long before Léo figures it out because I don't think it would have worked otherwise. All the same, it's a little bit weird that she starts reading Léo's stolen second-year diary the moment he appears at Montverre.  Presumably, she's had access to it ever since it was taken from him all those years ago, but it's unclear if she's reading it for the first time. Either she has held onto it for over a decade and is only now reading it because his presence reminded her, or she's re-reading it now that he's here, possibly to ensure the rage fire is well stoked. 

I adored Carfax the whole way through! He's a fairly typical misunderstood tortured soul character but in the most charming way, and the way he handles the pranks and jibes from his classmates with detached disappointment is so perfect. We know from all the POVs in the present that Carfax dies, that's not a spoiler or a shock, but knowing doesn't dampen the sting of his death when it comes. 

Léo's school friends turned political colleagues are perfectly deplorable. 

"The rat" is a very interesting POV to read but I didn't feel that all of her parts were necessary. She and a character named Simon have most definitely been set up for an interesting plotline in a potential sequel, but I really feel like her parts in The Betrayals could have been presented as a past timeline jump in said potential sequel. Without spoiling the thing she does one important thing near the end and it felt to me that all of her parts leading up to that event were an attempt to make her more than a convenient plot device, but it didn't really work. If this book is to get a sequel then including her story from this book's chunk of the timeline in that future book could serve to answer the audience's questions about said event as a little easter egg. The event is perfectly fine presented from Claire's and Léo's POVs without the Rat's as well. 

This book makes a lot of cautionary comments on xenophobia, sexism, classism, religious discrimination, and homophobia, and I loved that aspect. There is so much social commentary here that I could easily re-read it several times over and find new things to consider each time. My one complaint is that there is a victory of sorts against one of those things in the student Léo sections that is marred (in my opinion) by something in the present-day timeline POVs that sheds a different light on that aspect of the past. I really wish I could be more specific, but there are huge spoilers tangled up in that, so I can't. Feel free to find me on my blog (westveilpublishing.com) and use my contact email or linked socials if you want to have a spoiler-filled discussion of this point or any other aspect of this book! 

I was granted access to the audio ARC, not an eARC, so I do want to comment on the narration before I close this off. The audiobook is narrated by an ensemble cast including Bridget Collins, Sam Woolf, and Sarah Ovens.  They all did an excellent job of performing clearly and with appropriate energy for each changing scene. I was never confused about which character was speaking or, in Léo's case, whether we were in the past or the present. I comfortably listened at my usual 1.25-1.5x speed. 5 stars for performance! 

Content warning: off-page suicide, on-page non-gory murder, frank discussion of depression and mental decline.

The Binding is one of my favourite reads ever so as you can imagine I was very excited to receive The Betrayals. Collins style of writing takes you on a magical journey and you feel like you are in the story with her. This book is beautifully written and so very descriptive however I always felt something was missing story wise. A great mix of characters. Some you will like others you may not! The narrators did a wonderful job of being the book to life. 

I very much enjoyed listening. Thank you for giving me the opportunity.

The Betrayals - Bridget Collins

I was a huge fan of The Binding and had such high expectations when I was lucky enough to be approved the audiobook of The Betrayals. The writing was just beautiful, and I felt the ambience of the book was incredible, however I must admit that I felt rather confused throughout. 

Reading others reviews I have noticed that there do seem to be two different camps - the people who adored it and then others that were a little baffled. I understand that the mystery surrounding the 'grand jeu' is exactly for that purpose - mystery, but personally I would have loved a little more explanation and did find it a little distracting. 

Many thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK Audio for allowing me the opportunity to listen to and review!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an audio-arc of the title, in exchange for an honest review.

The historical-fantasy genre truly is perfect for Collins, who's writing fits perfectly and who's slow-build world creation fully encapsulates the readers or, in this case, listeners. But while it may be typical of the genre, the slow build nature is not for everyone and, at times, The Betrayals can feel quite monotonous, with little to no action at points. 

The novel lacks real grit and the characters are difficult to connect with, though this may have something to do with Collins' focusing overly much on a forced mystery which never truly manages to pull the reader in. The constant reference to the 'grand jeu' is done in an effort to pique the readers interests, yet it simply feels like an irritation as there is little clarity surrounding it.

Truthfully, there seems to be little clarity surrounding much - including the many plot points which simply fall flat and unresolved. 

The writing truly is beautiful, but that cannot make up for a lacklustre story.

The male voice is slightly annoying but yet again this author has written an amazing book which may start off slow but drags you deep within to it pages

My thanks to HarperCollins Audio U.K. for an unabridged audiobook via NetGalley of the highly anticipated ‘The Betrayals’ by Bridget Collins in exchange for an honest review. The audiobook is narrated by Bridget Collins, Sam Woolf, and Sarah Ovens and has a running time of 14 hours, 35 minutes at 1x running speed.

‘The grand jeu is worship, isn’t it? One way for humans to approach the divine. Trying to embody truth and beauty. A testament to the grace of God in the minds of men.’ - Carfax de Courcy, ‘The Betrayals. 

‘The Betrayals’ is set in the late 1930s primarily at Montverre, a remote university in an unnamed European country, that is dedicated to the study of the grand jeu, an arcane game that brings together elements of music and mathematics.  

Léo Martin is a former scholar, who had gone on to be appointed Minister of Culture. However, in his opening chapter he is forced to resign from this position for voicing dissent at the Government’s policies. They ‘suggest’ he return to Montverre to continue to study the national game further.

So Léo is not a happy bunny. On arriving at Montverre he is further disturbed to find that despite it being an all-male institution that a woman, Claire Dryden, has been appointed to serve in the grand jeu’s highest office of Magister Ludi. 
When Léo first sees Claire he senses an odd connection with her, though he’s sure they have never met before.

The narrative moves between a number of points of view: there is Léo and Claire, entries from Léo’s 
diary from his original time at Montverre, and the occasional chapter by the enigmatic Rat. This last is an odd one though it eventually pays off.

Given that the novel’s Epigraph is a quote from the ‘Glass Bead Game’ by Hermann Hesse, the descriptions of the grand jeu, and the title of Magister Ludi it was obvious that Hesse’s novel had been an important inspiration for ‘The Betrayals’. For many years ‘The Glass Bead Game’ has been a novel that I have wanted to read but felt intimidated by.

Like its inspiration this is a novel rich in ideas and as with her debut adult novel, ‘The Binding’, Collins’ world building is excellent. Collins also confidently combines genres including elements of Gothic mystery, romance, campus novel, fantasy, political dystopia, and literary fiction. 

In terms of its audiobook, I found having two narrators worked well. Both actors have read a number of audiobook titles and I certainly felt that their rich voices enhanced my experience of the novel as I combined listening and reading for an immersive experience.

Overall, given its intellectual focus on the elusive grand jeu, and musical and mathematical theory, I found this a somewhat more challenging reading experience than ‘The Binding’, though it was very rewarding and beautifully written. It is a novel that I likely will reread in order to appreciate its multiple layers and subtleties.

Happy pub day to The Betrayals by Bridget Collins, the most aesthetically pleasing beb on the planet. While I unfortunately didn’t love this one, there have been so many smashing reviews so I’m definitely in the minority.

The long and short of it, is that it was just too slow and too long for my personal taste. I was confused for large parts of the book and I’m not entirely sure what I read.  I did really enjoy the audiobook. It’s beautifully performed by its multiple narrators. This is a great version of the story and how I would recommend it to friends who want to read the book. While the story didn’t work for me, the audio definitely helped me slog through it.

Thank you so much to netgalley, The Borough Press, Harper Collins and the author for both the advanced ecopy and the listening copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! So sorry for requesting it twice and then not liking it, haha!

A fan of Collins’ adult debut (The Binding) I had high hopes for her new book. In The Betrayals, she’s created a world rich in its history, politics, mysticism, religion and intrigue. The breadth of her imagination is simply astounding! This had me gripped and I had no idea where this journey was going to take me.  The main leads give you their unique perspectives and Collins ably keeps you engaged as the events unfold, and you learn more and more about them and a past secret that connects them as the passion, tension and intrigue envelopes them. I totally did not guess where it was taking me. But there’s also a unique perspective included in the mix - that of the “rat” - which is steeped in mystery. A brilliant read and the narrators do a cracking job!

⚠️ Reader caution: includes references to suicide and the after effects ⚠️