First off, can I just get a round of applause for the hauntingly atmospheric fantasy writing that is a Bridget Collins novel? Please, Bridget, from me, don’t ever let an editor chop your prose from a book. My word loving soul couldn’t take it. And my shipper heart was just so, so satisfied 😍 It’s been a while since I shipped anyone as much as I did Léo and Carfax. I loved the way their relationship developed, how Léo went from envious hatred to defending “him” from Felix and all his other “friends”. I loved how they could talk about academics for hours and hours. How they understood one another despite their rivalry. The honest conversations they had on the astronomy tower and above the roof of the Great Hall. The underlying tension that was there the whole time. I mean, I was basically in seventh heaven when Léo walked in on Carfax playing the cello 🥰🎼

The story unfolds at a measured pace – this is the kind of book that creeps in under your guard and grabs hold of your attention, and it’s truly worth the wait. The main characters, and the complicated dynamic between them, are absolutely fascinating, and I was thoroughly invested in their narratives. At the end of the day, this is a very human story about people and all the curious and often heartbreaking ways they can get tangled up in deceptions, misunderstandings and betrayals. 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… this is an extremely atmospheric novel. with the abstract concept of the grand jeu, a tragic death, a nefarious government party, and elusive characters, theres a mysterious feel to everything. and i think its because the primary focus seems to be on the characters, which im not quite sure was the best decision, as that leave the multiple outside forces not really fully explored, and i feel like the story was hindered because of it. The Betrayals is a book that sneaks up on you. The first couple of chapters, you will probably be hopelessly confused as to what is going on, who these characters are, and when the events that are being narrated are taking place. In fact, after having read the entire book, I still can’t tell you exactly where and when this is set, although I do have my suspicions. In a way, it’s kind of like a short story: There is a lot hidden beneath that tip of the iceberg, numerous questions that will forever go unanswered. All you plot-driven readers who detest open endings and need explanations for everything – this book is not for you. You’d probably end up hating it with a passion, if you even managed to get through it without boring yourself into DNFing it 😅Putting that aside ... the writing is good, really good. Even through my confusion I was being drawn in and wanted to keep going. Some chapters are from Léo's perspective when he was a student; I enjoyed the changing relationship between he and another student, Carafax, although I didn't really like Léo himself. In the current timeline I appreciated the difficulties experienced by Claire being the only female there who was clearly resented by others in this male dominated field. Going to be honest here, this one was a struggle to get through. The Betrayals is the second novel I’ve read by Bridget Collins, and it was more disappointing than The Binding. All in all, The Betrayals is compelling to a point but is also an interesting failure. It needed to be more precise to be more of a success. I’m not sure why Collins needed to smear the reality of the period in which the book was set, and it would have been just as — if not more — potent if the villains of the piece were actually Nazis and the grand jeu really was a form of magic incantation that they were afraid of. You may feel free to agree or disagree with John Wayne’s perception of ambiguity, but one thing remains: The Betrayals is an unclear read. And that’s a bit of a problem when you’re trying to make a point, which I think is what Bridget Collins tries and fails to do here. If this were not an ARC, this would have been a DNF for me. It is not well-written, the world and plot is inscrutable, the changing POV chapters provide nothing of note, the characters are not fleshed out nor likeable, the grand jeu is completely incomprehensible, and the weird parallels to Nazi Germany are super uncomfortable and just weird. I really wanted to give this a chance, but it was not good at all. It seems that some fans of dark academia are enjoying this, but for me it failed on all levels. It read like a draft rather than a completed book. The most frustrating part was that some plot points showed slivers of promise, but it failed on every front for me. The novel tells the tale of elitism and a growing dystopian government prosecuting certain factions of society that aren’t the wealthy, Catholics or men. It’s infecting infrastructure, such as Montverre, with their conservative views and threatening the essence of the fantastical world within its walls.

The story is narrated through four points of view and I did appreciate it, even though at times some of them were just confusing. In terms of themes, I believe this book wanted to do too many things all at once. For example I was interested in Simon's storyline and what the government was doing, but in the end it wasn't given much space. It's so hard to write this review without any spoilers. One of the many reasons the synopsis is so confusing if it had even the tiniest bit more detail you would be spoiled.The Betrayals tells the tale of the ongoings at the all male school Montverre, that practices the beloved grand jeu, meanwhile exploring outside impact on the school from an increasingly hostile society. However, the bit we’ve all been waiting for - the grand jeu. The grand jeu - at the heart of the plot - is undefined throughout the entire book. even though this book has the enchanting quality i have come to associate with BC thanks to her debut novel, ‘the binding,’ im still trying to figure out why i didnt love this as much. At the end of the novel, Bridget Collins notes that the story, and particularly her Grand Jeu, was influenced by Hermann Hesse's The Glass Bead Game. Now if I'd remembered my university reading of that book, this one would have made a hell of a lot more sense. My Latin did, finally, come in handy when deciphering 'Magister Ludi' (Master/Teacher of the Game), but that's where my sense of accomplishment ended. The 'grand game' is a complex mix of music and math, philosophy, religion, and life itself, understood by the reader only in the abstract. Unlike us, the students and teachers at Montverre feel the power of the game, working to create the most intricate or clever version in competition with each other. So central is this process of creation that the game becomes more important than any character in the novel. And while I was a bit mad that the grand jeu is never explained explicitly, it does add to the whole mystery of this. Same with a lot of other aspects; the not knowing, and slow uncovering of details and plot lines, inevitably leading a really satisfactory 'Aha! I should have known all along' moments was really the most enjoyable part of this.