I wish I could have had strong feelings one way or the other about this book, but there were many things I enjoyed but also many that left me either scratching my head or having to put the book down to recover before I could continue reading. Because of this, it sits pretty solidly in the middle of the road, maybe leaning just slightly more positive because I thought the plot twist and very end were actually pretty well executed.

Audiolibro

Much better than the first one. Still not great, just better

I don't even know the words to describe how absolutely ridiculous this book was.

At first, I had hopes that this would be better than the first book, The Betrothed. The book started out with a bang; Hollis, the main character, was actually doing something for once by plotting and scheming against the king of Isolte. I thought, Maybe this won't be so bad. I might enjoy this.

I was terribly wrong.

*puts on my best teaching voice* Let's explore what went wrong in this book, category by category, shall we? (Disclaimer: spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk!)

Plot & Worldbuilding

Kiera Cass is notoriously bad at worldbuilding. The first book in this duology did a terrible job at describing the world. There are supposed to be two enemy countries, Coroa and Isolte. However, we know virtually nothing about either of these country's customs, people, geography, etc. All we know is that Hollis is from Coroa and the family she married into, the Eastoffes, is from Isolte. Because of this, I wasn't expecting much from the worldbuilding in this book.

But the plot. Oh, the plot.

For the first 200 pages of this boo, Hollis and her family are plotting to dethrone the king of Isolte, King Quentin. Their plan is to have Etan, Hollis's cousin-in-law, replace Quentin. This was generally bearable because they were actually doing something. The family puts on a good face at the king's son's wedding, they scheme, they try to win people over, they steal documents, the whole bit.

And how, in the end, does the king get dethroned?

Hollis and the rest of the Eastoffes walk into the king's office. They tell the king he is dethroned.

The king:



Hollis and the Eastoffes:



What an absolutely beautiful plot. That was so climactic. *slow clapping*

But that's not it! Of course, we need to unite the enemy countries to make for a perfect ending! So how did it happen?

They simply combined the countries.

That's right! This is the master solution author Kiera Cass came up with! Aren't you slapping your knee, chuckling at how you didn't think of this earlier?



This is what the author thought readers wanted. There was no battle, no nothing. The countries simply became one. No more borders. No more discord. Just two peoples as one.

I am not one to ever damage a book, but I was seriously tempted to chuck the book across the room when I finished it.



Romance

deep breath The romance.

This book starts off with Hollis grieving over her husband Silas, who died in the previous book. Okay. Understandable. The crying did get unbearable later on, as I'll touch upon, but at this point, she's a widow sorrowful about her beloved's death. I can't attack her.

That's when Etan, Silas's cousin, steps into the story. (Yes, he's the guy who overthrew the king.) And all of a sudden, Hollis turns around??? And falls in love with?? Her literal family member Etan??? ON SILAS'S SIDE OF THE FAMILY????

This was so dumb to me. Hollis knows Etan for a grand total of three days and, oh, she's conveniently forgotten about the guy who was supposed to be her love until the end. Why does no one question this? Although granted, Hollis isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. Seeing as she knew both Silas and Etan for a week, max, before claiming she had fallen in love with them, I guess we just can't expect Hollis to make any sensible romantic decisions or proclamations.

Crying & Crutch Words

Hollis. Cried. So. Much. In. This. Book.

Our brave and compelling protagonist cried or was near tears a grand total of 25 times in this book. Yes, I kept count. This averages out to crying about every 10 pages.

If the constant tears weren't enough to drive me bonkers, Kiera Cass has a problem with crutch words--basically, words that she favors. Specifically, words like "comment," "pleased," "squinted" were used too many times to go unnoticed. In fact, the word "swallow" came up 33 times in the book. These characters need to see a doctor because they've got to have a problem with their esophagus by now.

Final Thoughts

I thought this was going to be better than The Betrothed; I was wrong. Maybe it was better by 0.2 stars. If you like a lot of crying, a lot of swallowing, frail worldbuilding, and a load of unbelievable romance, then I don't know what to say. This stands as one of the most foolish and downright terrible novels I have read to date.

Find this review and more on my blog at Worlds Unlike Our Own.

Thank you to the publisher, HarperTeen, and Edelweiss for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Having fled Coroa following the devastating attack on her wedding day, Hollis tries to adjust to life in Isolte with the help of the Eastoffes her new, and only remaining family, though their cousin Etan is less than welcoming. Things are tense in Coroa, but there is no peace to be found in Isolte either, as unrest in the kingdom is high. The Eastoffes and their cousins, the Northcotts may have the power to dethrone the tyrannical King Quentin – if they can find proof that he was the one who ordered the massacre of the Eastoffes. Hollis finds herself in a foreign court not particularly friendly to Coroans, and she must navigate this dangerous situation to find the information that will help gain justice for Silas and her family.

I cannot wrap my head around the thought that something like this book could come from an experienced author like Kiera Cass. If you’ve read my review for The Betrothed, you might remember that I was less than impressed with it. Cass redeemed herself a little with this book, but in my opinion, it wasn’t by much. The positives first though – it was nice to see another piece of this world in the royal court of Isolte and the political tensions that the Eastoffes had to maneuver through. Hollis as a character grew by leaps and bounds from the vapid girl we first met and she was so much more mature which also helped make the dialogue more engaging. However, the strong sisterly relationship that has developed between Hollis and Scarlet was my favorite thing about this book.

Here’s the thing though. The timelines of this story are way too quick and as a result, the characters, mostly Hollis, don’t appear to be having appropriate reactions to what is happening. When Hollis and the Eastoffes arrive in Isolte, it is about a week since the events of the wedding, and it’s like Hollis just remembers to be sad from time to time about Silas, and yet she’s bickering back and forth – and falling in love – with Etan and the whole situation is ridiculous. I half suspected and feared that this was the direction the romance subplot would take and I’m not happy to be proven right. I had hoped for a Hollis in search of the truth, wanting to avenge Silas’ murder and not getting entangled in yet another relationship, but no luck there. That said, Kiera Cass writes really good romances, and despite it not making much sense in other aspects, I did enjoy seeing the relationship between Hollis and Etan grow. It didn’t feel as insta-lovey as it did with Silas which was a relief.

The Coroan court is barely present, and becomes central to the plot only towards the end, which was a bit disappointing since I was hoping to see more of what was going on with Jameson during all of this and also Delia Grace who was such an interesting character in the first book. The Eastoffes and the Northcotts were great, and I thought it was lovely how supportive of Hollis they were. The one thing that would have been really good to have was an additional POV, either for Etan or someone in the Coroan court as seeing everything through only Hollis’ perspective leaves the reader lacking a lot of information this time.

There was a major twist towards the end, but it was pretty heavily foreshadowed, and even without it, I’d already predicted it at the end of book one. It was revealed at the perfect moment in the story though, so if you weren’t paying attention to the smaller details, it would be quite a shock. The way this twist was resolved however, was…I don’t know whether to call it comical or convenient, but it should have been a bigger deal and taken more effort to fix than that!

And as for the ending of the book itself, it’s quite obvious very early on that Hollis is going to end up with Etan somehow, and while I’m all for happily ever after stories, I felt like this one was overly optimistic. In any real situation, the solution Hollis comes up with would never work, and besides, I would have respected this ending a lot more had Hollis stuck to her original plan. Overall, this was better than The Betrothed, though still not up to the mark. The Betrayed was a fast-paced and easy read, entertaining in its own way, but definitely not one I’m going to be rereading any time soon.

Kiera se redimió.