The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

Title: The Betrayed

Series: The Betrothed #2

Author: Kiera Cass

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Rating: 4.25 stars

Review:

The sequel to THE BETROTHED, a glittering royal romance, from New York Times bestselling author of the Selection series. She gave her heart away. Now she’ll fight to get it back. Can you follow your heart when it’s already broken? After fleeing the court of Coroa and leaving the memory of her beloved, the assassinated Silas Eastoffe, behind, Hollis is unsteadily adjusting to life with his family. The Eastoffe’s affection is a balm on Hollis’s weary spirt, though Etan, a surly cousin with a deep distate for Coroans, threatens to upset the uneasy peace that Hollis has found. While tensions at home are mounting, disquiet in the kingdom of Isolte is reaching fever pitch. The Eastoffes may have the power to unseat the tyrannical King Quinten, but only with Hollis’s help. Can a girl who’s lost it all put the fate of her adopted homeland over the secret longings of her heart? -summary from Goodreads

The Betrayed had me from start to finish and was much better than The Betrothed.

This book started off immediately from the ending of the last book. Emotions are heightened and dangers are everywhere.

I love the emotional moments and scenes in books, and this book had them in spades and they were well done. As a primarily middle grade and YA reader, it’s not too often when you come across a main character whose spouse has died. I think this was dealt with in a really nice way. We got to see Hollis’s grief over losing Silas, her guilt at the thought of moving on, and her fear of losing her remaining family. It was all really well done and there were some great moments where these things were discussed.

I want to dive into the Eastoffe and Northcott families, but especially the Eastoffe’s. With what happened at the end of the last book, they are much changed. However, they had made plans for this their entire lives- what to do if the family was targeted. I want to know more. We got to see the aftereffects on both Lady Eastoffe and Scarlett, but I want to know more about what they were feeling and how they were responding to current situations. I would love a book from their perspective.

I think things were much more settled and developed this book. It made the story that much better. There was more weight, emotion, action, and purpose that kept me reading that was missing from the majority of the first book.

Hollis had a purpose in this book. Prior, I couldn’t tell you what her goal was nor the real purpose of the book. This book it was clear, and it mattered. Kiera Cass does do a good job of writing flawed characters, I will say. Hollis was determined, kind, and she tried, but she still made mistakes, which made me like her more.

The romance in this book was so much more believable than the romance in the previous books. There was no love at first sight (Yes!) and there was an actual development of a relationship. It was a little rushed, but it still had the characters getting to know each other.

I did like how Silas was still part of the story. It’s not like he was completely erased and Hollis just moved on. His family remembered him as did Hollis, and all involved tried to honor him.

Etan was much more of a figure this book, and I liked him even more. He came off as very gruff in the first book, which you learn is just a defense mechanism, and he is actually very kind. He was a solid character with a solid backstory. He was probably my favorite character.

There was more political drama this book, which I enjoyed. Again, this came down to purpose. In The Betrothed there was a little political drama, but there weren’t stakes. The political drama in this book had high stakes attached to it that made it much more enjoyable to read.

Only two massive complaints for me today. One, how the enemy was defeated. It was a complete accident. The person literally tripped and fell on their sword. I understand that that has probably happened, but I wanted something more, I think.

The second issue was the ending. I actually really liked the ending and where the story went, but I was searching for something more. It could have used an epilogue or something showing the main characters a year or so into the future. The lack of this doesn’t detract from the story, it’s just something I wanted.

The Betrayed had a more meaningful storyline with a clear purpose, high stakes, and developed characters. This book had political drama, as well as emotion that kept you interested and turning the page.

Quotes:

“If we were going to fight, then we needed something to fight for. For the freedom of choosing our own dinner or riding as far as we dreamed. For the hope of tomorrow or flowers in our hair. The grand and the small; it all mattered.”

“I was prepared to die, Hollis. I always knew it could come. It’s the living when everyone else has left that makes it so hard.”