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 ⚠️

Another enticing cover! In this beautifully written, atmospheric story, Bridget Collins creates another world where Montverre, a school and a seemingly magical place far from the rest of society, is the heart of this dark tale. Men train and compete there for the ‘grand jeu’. The ‘grand jeu’ remains slightly vague, but is a mix of creating games, mathematics, philosophy, and music, and is highly competitive. We follow the lives of some of these students and I loved the clever twists and turns of the different, and very well drawn, characters and their relationships.
I listened to this as an audio book and really enjoyed the variety in the narration. Thank you to Bridget Collins, Net Galley and Harper Collins for anARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book 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.

*A big thank-you to Bridget Collins, Harper Collins, and NetGalley for arc inexchange for my honest review.*
I do not know how Ms Collins does this but her writing and imagintion take me on a reading journey that is most unique and captivating. The world in The Betrayals can be traced down to the dark times in history, with fascism and it ideas such as purity laws or authocratic rule, and yet, this is not strickly speaking a historical fiction. The tale of Claire, Leo and the Rat is an engaging story of choices they make, of courage, and mother's love. The feeling of uneasiness and looming danger stayed with me throughout the whole novel, and especially the Rat won my heart, the Rat who is lonely and alone, and whose hiding and survival are heart-wrenching.
For me, The Betrayals was a perfect read, absorbing and offering total immersion.

**this is for publisher only. I will not be leaving a review on goodreads or Amazon**

Thank you so much for allowing me to listen to this. Unfortunately I didn't like it.
Listening to the story line between "the boys" was like re-listening to The Binding. It was just far to similar for my liking.
The rest of the story didn't grab me. It felt quite flat and just went no where for the longest time and when the truth was revealed I was no longer invested.

The narrators was amazing! They both had soothing voices and I would gladly listen to more books narrated by them.

I really enjoyed the binding- had never read anything like it before and I’m pleased to say the Betrayals has the same effect on me. I was gripped from start to finish, just couldn’t put this book down. Bridget Collins has a beautiful writing voice, you can step inside her books and be whisked away to another time and place. Detailed descriptions and complex plots all make for happy reading.
Don’t miss out- this is a great book!
I listen to this as an audio book- the narrators are amazing- they truly bring the book to life. I was totally immersed in this book and listened to it in 2 days- I couldn’t stop listening.

The Betrayals follows the lives of Leo, The Rat and Claire. The largest part of the story details the competition between two students at a school for the Grand Jeu. There are two time lines of Leo, his school years and 10 years later.

I was happily given the opportunity to listen to the Audio book, granted by Harper Collins Audio and Netgalley, in exchange for a fair and honest review.

All I can say is wow. I enjoyed every second of this book, Bridget Collins has a marvellous approach to language and her storytelling is excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed how she built the characters, described emotions, and took us on twists and turns through the politics of the school and wider community.
What a thrill!
I enjoyed the voice artists that narrated, appreciating the use of 3 seperate voices to divide the narratives of the main characters.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Sometimes I found myself second guessing what was happening, trying to understand the elusive Grand Jeu, but i had to recognise that it is not for us to understand as a vague concept throughout the book. We, as readers, are more intent on understanding the underlying principles shown by characterisation throughout. I'd be intrigued to see how this plays out visually if someone were to make a film of it... Please?

This was a great story told with an excellent narrator. Really loved the audio version of it.
Thanks so much to NG nad the publisher for this copy.