The Betrothed - Review

The Betrothed (The Betrothed, # 1)

By: Kiera Cass

Expected Publication: May 5th 2020 by HarperCollins Children's Books

400 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Source: Publisher via Edelweiss (Thank you!!)

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Goodreads description--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.

I enjoyed The Selection series. Sure, it wasn't without faults. But I didn't judge it as harshly as many did. Since I did enjoy the series, I've been curious about reading more by Kiera Cass but didn't get the opportunity to read The Siren. When I saw The Betrothed, I knew I wanted to check it out. Are there similarities to The Selection? Definitely. But there were enough differences to make The Betrothed feel pretty unique.

A male monarch is in need of a wife, but he's spending time with different women instead of doing a contest to find the right one. Unlike America Singer, who came to the Selection due to a broken heart with no intention of developing any feelings for the king, Hollis Brite initially loves the idea of being singled out by the king. Yet again, unlike America who falls in love with the king, Hollis falls in love with a commoner.

I picked up The Betrothed at the time that I did because I was in a slump and hoped it would draw me in. While it was the first book to hold my interest of the four others I'd tried at the time, I also had issues with it almost immediately. I quickly began to feel like I was reading the equivalent of watching a train crash. The idea is that something bad is coming yet you can't stop it and you can't look away. Sometimes this can be a great thing, but that wasn't how I felt reading The Betrothed. I had this sense of dread throughout the whole book. At one point I sought out reviews in hopes that anyone who might have read this before me could tell me if good things were to come or if the train would in fact wreck. What I learned was that readers were highly dissatisfied overall. And I can understand why.

Reviews complained that the characters were flat. This was 100% true. Each and every character felt flat. Maybe this was a show vs tell thing. We were told about the characters but not shown much about them. Especially when it comes to their histories. Hollis flip-flopped so quickly from her entire being pursuing the king and his favor to actively seeking a way out of the future that was closing in on her. Jameson was nice until it was convenient for storytelling purposes for him not to be. I, honestly, didn't like Delia Grace from the very beginning. It was probably due to my aversion to double names initially, but I felt she was constantly putting Hollis down. I could not understand how Hollis could stand her after Delia Grace finally opens up to her at the end of the book.

Silas's family was the closest I felt like I was connecting to any of the characters. Scarlet, his mother, and even Etan felt like stronger characters than Silas himself. The interaction between Hollis and Silas was so weird to me. Initially, they both spoke of very little beyond the understanding that Hollis would become the new queen. Their interaction that didn't revolve around that was minimal so the progression of their relationship felt jarring to me. Hollis continually made decisions that I didn't really understand.

I felt bad for Kiera Cass when I was reading the reviews of this book and I didn't think my review would be as harsh as the ones I'd read on Goodreads at the time of reading the book. Yet I can't in good conscience give this book a rating better than 2.5 Stars. I didn't really like it overall. I found myself interested in reading as quickly as possible, but I didn't enjoy the process. I also didn't connect with the characters, their decisions, their histories, or their potential futures. So I'm sorry Kiera Cass. I wanted to like it. But The Betrothed was just lacking. Have you read The Betrothed? What did you think? Let me know!