The Betrayals: A Novel

Written by Bridget Collins

Narrated by Bridget Collins, Sam Woolf and Sarah Ovens

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: May 18, 2021
• ISBN: 9780063096592

Bridget Collins

Bridget Collins is the international bestselling author of The Binding and The Betrayals. She is also the author of seven acclaimed books for young adults and has had two plays produced, one at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Bridget trained as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art after reading English at King’s College, Cambridge. She lives in Kent, United Kingdom.

Reviews for The Betrayals

[sparemethecensor · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I liked her other novel so much that this was a disappointment. The writing style is so engaging and intellectual and satisfying. The world building is too....except for the reason this novel doesn't work which is we as readers never actually get to know what the sport/game actually is. That is frankly rude. It makes the story feel utterly incomplete. Not recommended.

[Aija Tuffentsamer · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Yikes, just yikes all around. Slow, dull, and some very odd choices were made with the side plot.

[Lily Katherine Bommarito · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Bridget Collins is a master of her craft ? highly recommend!

[iudita_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book had great bones but it needed more fleshing out. Collins created this great setting and she could have done so much with it, but there were many aspects of the story that are never fully developed. I was enjoying my time at Montverre and was hungry for more details. The story lags just a bit through the middle which really wasn't a problem for me but she could have used that space to embellish the story. There is a twist in the plot that I didn't see coming and an ending that I didn't expect, so that was interesting. I also enjoyed the way the book was structured. This is my second book by Bridget Collins and I think she has wonderful story ideas. I'll always look forward to whatever she puts out next despite being a bit critical of this one.

[passion4reading_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In an unnamed country with fascist undertones, disgraced politician Léonard Martin is sent back to Montverre, a monastery-like school in the mountains where they teach the grand jeu. There he meets Claire Dryden, the magister responsible for teaching the game, and the only woman ever to cross the school's threshold. Torn between resentment and a growing attraction, the two perform a delicate dance, while the school suddenly becomes the focus of the government's cultural policy changes.The plot – whatever there is of it – is very difficult to describe, as the reader seems to spend a great deal of time inside the two main protagonists' heads, with excursions into Léo's diary entries during his training at Montverre, and the enigmatic character of the Rat. While this isn't exactly a page turner, the internal dialogue of Léo and Claire gets under your skin, and I couldn't stop thinking about the two of them. And while the book can't be called a whole-hearted success because there were sections where the novel definitely dragged – the passages about the intricacies of the grand jeu, for example, maybe because the novel thought itself too clever? – Bridget Collins' prose is once again worth savouring.

[nicx27 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was a big fan of Bridget Collins' first book, The Binding, so I jumped at the chance to read The Betrayals. I'm not a fan of the fantasy genre and probably wouldn't have picked up The Betrayals had it not been for enjoying the earlier book so much, but I would say that Collins writes enchanted stories that aren't completely fantastical.The story is set almost entirely at Montverre, a mysterious school where the students (who are exclusively male) prepare for the grand jeu, a game which seems to consist of various elements which only really become clear as the story progresses. Léo is forced to return there, ten years after leaving, and he meets Claire who holds the highest position of Magister Ludi and is the only woman allowed to be there. He feels there is something between them, but what?We are thrust between Léo and Claire in the current time, Léo's diary from his previous stint at Montverre and brief intersections from The Rat. This device works well to tell the story of what happened in the past and how it is affecting the present.I struggled a little with the grand jeu sections, probably I needed to understand better what it actually was a little earlier. But I enjoyed the overall story of friendship, rivalry, love, and competitiveness. There were events in the story that I just never saw coming and the author did an amazing job at letting it unfold organically without giving anything away.The Betrayals is a beautifully written book, focusing on study and those difficult formative years in an unusual and enigmatic learning establishment. Collins seems to excel at writing historical fantasy with a toe in reality. I will admit I didn't always 'get' this book and that certain parts didn't completely work for me, but I'm glad I read it and the last 100 pages or so had me turning them as fast as I could to find out what would happen to Léo and Claire.