THE BETRAYED By Kiera Cass

July 6, 2021 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THE BETRAYED By Kiera CassThe Betrayed by Kiera Cass
Series: The Betrothed #2
Published by HarperTeen on 6/29/21
Genres: Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 304
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Can you follow your heart when it’s already broken?

After fleeing Coroa and leaving the memory of her beloved Silas behind, Hollis is unsteadily adjusting to life in Isolte. The Eastoffe family’s affection is a balm on her weary spirit, though Etan, a surly cousin with a deep distaste for Coroans, threatens to upset the uneasy peace she’s found.

While tensions at home ratchet up, disquiet in the kingdom of Isolte is reaching a fever pitch. The Eastoffes may have the power to unseat a tyrannical king—but only with Hollis’s help.

Can a girl who’s lost it all put the fate of her adopted homeland over the secret longings of her heart?

Short and Sweet Review

The Betrayed picks up right where The Betrothed left off. Hollis is still dealing with the loss of Silas and her parents but she’s coping and knows that she still has the love and support of Silas’s mom and sister Scarlet. The family is on their way to Isolte and they know that the King has been up to no good but the Eastoffe family needs Hollis’s help to prove it.

Life in Isolte is not easy for Hollis especially when Silas’s cousin Etan is making it very clear how much he dislikes Hollis while everyone else is trying to make her feel welcome. The family is invited to the castle for the King’s sons wedding and the family knows that this is their chance to try to find proof that the king has been killing his people and unseat him from the throne. Over the course of the visit Hollis and Etan become closer I feel like this relationship was rushed considering the fact that Silas just died and that Etan is his cousin but I guess it was okay because she got the family’s blessing. Anyway in the castle there’s a lot of maneuvering and trying to get people to back the family and find proof against the King, we also see Valentina again. At the final battle we learn one shocking thing about what happened at Hollis and Sila’s wedding night and then were suddenly back on our way to Coroa, you following me? Anyway king Jameson is basically slime and when you live by the sword you die by the sword, or something like that.

Overall we get a basic Disney ending a happily ever after if you will so strange to have your rebound man be your dead husbands cousin but do you girl. It was a quick book to get through, Hollis was often lead more by her heart than her brain and I’m sure if this as written differently she would have faced some consequences but nonetheless it was an okay book.

Filed Under: Reviews

THE BETROTHED By Kiera Cass

April 22, 2020 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THE BETROTHED By Kiera CassThe Betrothed by Kiera Cass
Series: The Betrothed #1
Published by HarperTeen on 5/5/20
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 320
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

When King Jameson declares his love for Lady Hollis Brite, Hollis is shocked—and thrilled. After all, she’s grown up at Keresken Castle, vying for the king’s attention alongside other daughters of the nobility. Capturing his heart is a dream come true.

But Hollis soon realizes that falling in love with a king and being crowned queen may not be the happily ever after she thought it would be. And when she meets a commoner with the mysterious power to see right into her heart, she finds that the future she really wants is one that she never thought to imagine.

Short and Sweet

Lady Hollis has won King Jameson’s attention and that is a dream come true. But after learning what it would be like to become a queen and live like royalty Hollis wonders if that’s really the life she wants especially when she meets Silas a commoner who seems to truly understand who she is.

Character

Hollis: Hollis is an okay character she isn’t what anyone in the kingdom expects for a future queen, she does what she thinks is right and she does keep other people in mind.

King Jameson: King Jameson seemed sweet at first but in the end his true colors came out he may of been nice but he still thought that everyone should know their place especially Hollis.

Silas: Silas there really wasn’t a lot of him but he came from another kingdom with his family and that’s how he met Hollis. I guess Silas was a good guy he was very talented when it came to working with metals.

Delia Grace: Delia Grace is apparently supposed to be Hollis’s best friend but she is the absolutely the worst friend anyone could have. I don’t understand why Hollis always went to someone who was basically rooting for her downfall.

Romance

Hollis and King Jameson: There was no chemistry at all and I feel like Hollis only tried to win Jameson over because that’s what her parents wanted and the other girls were trying to win his affection but it felt like she won once she was the one he chose. In the end Hollis realized that the “affection” was one sided and that the relationship wouldn’t work.

Hollis and Silas: There is barely any interaction between these two and then they just decided that they were soul mates and had to be together. I guess that this relationship was better than between Hollis and Jameson, but this was rushed and we didn’t really have a developing relationship.

My Thoughts

~ Hollis follows the beat of her own drum which bothers the other people living in the castle but I guess that’s what attracted King Jameson.

~ Silas and his family come to the castle to seek refuge from the kingdom of Isolte, but there’s mysterious circumstances surrounding why this family would be seeking sanctuary.

~ The king and Queen of Isolte come and visit and honestly if this book was about Queen Valentina instead of Hollis this would be 80% better. Queen Valentina had so much to offer she was closed off because of her life in Isolte and she has dealt with a lot. I would be interested in reading more about her life.

~ I think the characters all felt very flat there wasn’t much personality and I didn’t connect with any of them.

~ I feel like Hollis relied on Delia Grace way too much, she was always going to her and asking her opinion and it was just a lot especially knowing how awful Delia Grace really was.

~ Hollis’s parents weren’t that great either. I honestly had a problem with most of the characters in this book which is unfortunate.

~ This book isn’t too long so it didn’t take long to read but I wish there were more interesting things happening in the book most of it was about Hollis winning King Jameson’s affection and then the visit from the Isoltes and then her running off.

Overall

The ending felt rushed and I was not at all happy with what happened it left me with a feeling of wanting more and it wasn’t a cliffhanger it was just a bad ending. I feel like the only reason I would read the next book is to see what will happen.

Filed Under: Reviews