The Betrayals
A Novel
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3.0 • 1 Rating
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
International Bestseller!
“Dizzyingly wonderful . . . a perfectly constructed work of fiction, with audacious twists . . . Collins plays her own game here with perfect skill.” — The Times (UK)
An intricate and utterly spellbinding literary epic brimming with enchantment, mystery, and dark secrets from the highly acclaimed author of the #1 international bestseller The Binding.
If your life was based on a lie, would you risk it all to tell the truth?
At Montverre, an ancient and elite academy hidden high in the mountains, society’s best and brightest are trained for excellence in the grand jeu—the great game—an arcane and mysterious competition that combines music, art, math, poetry, and philosophy. Léo Martin once excelled at Montverre but lost his passion for scholarly pursuits after a violent tragedy. He turned to politics instead and became a rising star in the ruling party, until a small act of conscience cost him his career. Now he has been exiled back to Montverre, his fate uncertain.
But this rarified world of learning Léo once loved is not the same place he remembers. Once the exclusive bastion of men, Montverre’s most prestigious post is now held by a woman: Claire Dryden, also known as the Magister Ludi, the head of the great game. At first, Léo feels an odd attraction to the magister—a mysterious, eerily familiar connection—though he’s sure they’ve never met before.
As the legendary Midsummer Game approaches—the climax of the academy’s year—long-buried secrets rise to the surface and centuries-old traditions are shockingly overturned.
A highly imaginative and intricately crafted literary epic, The Betrayals confirms Bridget Collins as one of the most inventive and exquisite new voices in speculative fiction.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Collins (The Binding) delivers a vague, disappointing historical fantasy about an elite academy in the mountains of an unnamed European nation. The all-boys academy of Montverre teaches the grand jeu, the country's national game, a complex mix of music, math, philosophy, and art that remains hazily defined throughout the novel. Thirty-two-year-old Léo Martin is a Montverre alum who returns to the academy to teach after his political career ends in disgrace when he criticizes the Party for their totalitarian views. Upon his return, Léo learns that the prestigious position of Magister Ludi is held by a woman, Claire Dryden, much to the chagrin of the other Magisters. Claire neither likes nor trusts Léo, believing him to be a government spy—but Léo feels an unnerving connection to Claire, as though they've met before. As the academy's yearly Midsummer Game draws near, the long-standing lies Léo and Claire have both built their lives around unravel and their intertwined backstories come to light, sparking a slow-burning romance. The atmospheric descriptions and a few unexpected twists do little to offset the murky worldbuilding and slow-moving plot. This is an easy one to skip.
