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The Betrayals is a beautiful dystopian romance about coming of age as an artist and the love affair artistic collaboration can be, while also being an acute political novel about the fate of spiritual values in a totalitarian system. A rich delight' Sandra Newman
A lot is going on with this novel, no doubt, and I’m trying to be as vague as possible to not leave any spoilers. The ending is a bit surprising, even if it is not wholly original (shades of M. Butterfly), and is only successful because it exists in a book. All in all, The Betrayals is a frustrating read to a certain extent because it is so vague and ambiguous — and would be the type of ambiguity that would lead to perversion in John Wayne’s mind, though I seek to make no judgments myself. Again, the setting is not specified, though Collins references France and England as fellow countries in her text. The period of the novel’s setting is similarly vague at best, as mentioned, so we’re never too sure if the fascists are a mirror of the German Nazi party— simply because it is not clear if the story takes place in Germany or not. You have to read a good portion of this novel before it becomes clear that Collins is merely taking liberties with retelling the story of the rise of Nazism in Germany during the ’30s at all — so the book can be rather confusing to say the least. When a car pulls up to deliver some baggage to Montverre early on, you don’t know how the car should look like: modern, or something from another era? I suppose this vagueness is Collins’ way of saying that the story could happen at any time, but the details do matter as they do gradually (sort of) emerge as the story is being told. Ultimately, I've barely any idea what this book was about. Go read the description. There's a school, yes. And a love, or loves, sort of? There's a game that is never explained but is entirely central to the book. There's a totalitarian government coming into power, but is never explored. I had to have lots of orthodontic work because I have several adult teeth that never materialised. The orthodontist (presumably trying to make the 14-year-old me feel better) told me it was because I was ‘further evolved than everyone else’. I’m currently writing my next book, which has a working title of The Silence Factory. It’s about a factory in Victorian England which spins spider silk to produce a fabric that creates silence on one side and crazy-making echoes on the other – it’s about silence, obviously, but also about seduction, moral ambiguity, grief and courage. And last but not least, do you have any must read recommendations for our readers? What’s the last book that kept you up all night?More of an experience than a book, written with such grace and wisdom. Utterly brilliant' - Joanna Cannon It's just beautiful - written with such elegance and poise. What I love about Bridget's books is her ability to write the most magical worlds of escapism and yet anchor those worlds very much in today' Joanna Cannon And I think that’s just about everything I can say about this book without spoiling it. This is the type of story that I think it’s best to go into blind, or at least knowing as little as possible. Figuring out what is going on is part of what makes The Betrayals so addicting in the first place! There’s just nothing quite as satisfying as slowly unravelling a mystery… Leo meets the current Magister Ludi. The first ever woman to be given the position. But Leo can’t help feeling something drawing him to her.
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.This book inspired by “The Glass Bead Game” by Hermann Hesse so maybe I can enjoy this book if I already read that book, but since I haven’t read it.. the concept about “Grand Jeu’ felt so murky! Pure magic. The kind of immersive storytelling that makes you forget your own name. I wish I had written it' - Erin Kelly From the author of the divinely dark The Binding and several acclaimed novels for young adults, Bridget Collins’s The Betrayals murmurs with menace and the mystery of the grand jeu, an arcane intellectual game that melds music, maths, poetry and philosophy. The novel’s world - at once familiar and strange - is conjured with crystalline clarity and populated by a cast of distinctly charismatic characters. Set in an unnamed disintegrating European country in the 1930s, the story begins when thirty-two-year-old Leo is removed from his post as Minister for Culture and exiled to his former academy, the exclusive Montverre. Here the nation’s cleverest are schooled in the art of the grand jeu, and here Leo is forced to face tragedy from his past as he forms an unsettling connection with the academy’s new female Magister Ludi. Part homage to Hermann Hesse’s The Glass Bead Game, this boasts a compellingly jolting plot that will keep readers on their toes, and a delicious dénouement - it’s a delight for lovers of literary conundrums. 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. And gosh, that scene in the library, after Léo had finally realized who Claire was? My heart was about to burst! No matter how flawed they are, I love the two of them so much, and it was a relief to finally have them open up to each other!
While other readers may find this to be a genuinely intriguing read, I'm not all that taken by the novel's forced air of mystery. The writing too left something to be desired (with phrases such as "her heart trembled in her bones as if they're hollow" and "her heart is beating so hard the rest of her feels unreal: she could be floating in space, a ghost with a thundering pulse").The first line in the description for The Betrayals inspires all sorts of intrigue so naturally, we’ve got to know… “If your life was based on a lie, would you risk it all to tell the truth?” Why or why not? 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 grandiose, 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. Both Leo and Claire have built their lives on lies. And as the legendary Midsummer Game, the climax of the year, draws closer, secrets are whispering in the walls... About This Edition ISBN: And I’m actually rather proud of myself for suspecting that Carfax and Claire were one and the same person pretty much from the get-go! There was just way too much familiarity and tension from Claire towards Léo to be explained away by her simply having heard of him.
The story is so well written; nothing is obvious, everyone has secrets, and there are so many things at play. There are also two storylines; one storyline is set in the past, nad one set in the sorta present, with three perspectives. I loved the different perspectives, but I would really have liked to see more of the Rat's perspective. Take a Look at Our Summary of November Highlights, Whether You're Looking for the Latest Releases or Gift InspirationRead! Read everything you can. And then try to write the book you want to read and can’t find on the shelves. This is your second adult novel after seven young-adult novels. What brought about the switch in writing for different age groups? What I loved about this book was the writing and worldbuilding. Bridget Collins excels at historical fantasies, those ones that lean more on the fantasy side than quite historical. Think C. L. Polk’s Kingston Cycle. And that was definitely the case here. I loved the world that was created, and the writing that built it was just beautiful. It was a book I wanted to savour, just to read that writing for a little while longer.
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