the betrothed by kiera cass

title: The Betrothed | Goodreads | Storygraph
author: Kiera Cass
trying ordering from…your local indie bookstore OR my bookshop
publishing: May 5th 2020 by HarperTeen
format: hardcover
source: library
genre: YA; fantasy; romance
date read: June 2020

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.

thoughts

At the beginning of June I binged through Cass’ The Selection series. I had read the original trilogy back in its hay-day but had never gotten around to the newer sequels. I was in the mood for something light and romantic–Cass certainly delivers on that. I’ve always categorized The Selection novels as very light YA, the sort of books you would hand to a middle schooler who is ready to make the jump from true Middle Grade novels. I think that The Betrothed is a step up in terms of writing quality, but would still be categorized as light YA.

The premise of The Betrothed was a little difficult to gather at the beginning. It’s unclear what sort of future Hollis would have had if the young King had not shown interest in her. It was also strange that Hollis very explicitly gives off “I’m not like other girls vibes”, when to all observable knowledge from the novel, Hollis is very much like the other young women living in the castle. If anything, she’s a bit bland. This fed into my issues with the female friendships Hollis has, which are a large focus of the beginning of the novel. These friendships didn’t feel like genuine connections, but rather felt very surface level. Perhaps that was Cass’ intention, but I find it difficult to believe (or feel extremely sad!) that Hollis doesn’t have true companionship in the castle.

It’s clear from Cass’ history (and the title of the book) that The Betrothed is intended to be a romance. It’s also clear from the blurb that Cass has included a love triangle. However, despite Cass’ track record, I was really disappointed with the romance story lines in The Betrothed. In both cases, the romances that catch Hollis’ interest felt extremely rushed and like the the type of “insta-love” The Selection era was famous for (but that I would argue the original trilogy was lacking). It felt like Hollis’ feelings for both suitors was contrived and thus the love triangle (which is the main plot point) did nothing for the story.

The end of The Betrothed felt (somehow) even more rushed than earlier parts of the novel. Luckily the novel didn’t end on a cliff-hanger…but it was extremely open-ended. I’ve read that Cass intends The Betrothed to lead into a duology (though she has a history of returning to worlds of the past). However, it’s unclear what the future of this duology holds. Honestly, The Betrothed did not motivate me to read further.

I would be remise to not point out that I was extremely frustrated and disappointed to see that Cass used the slur g*sy in her fictional world. It was featured several times and ruined my reading experience immensely. If you are unfamiliar with why the slur should be removed from your vocabulary, you should read more here.

This title had a lot of potential, but ultimately fell flat for me. I’m disappointed to have not enjoy Cass’ latest work but am glad I borrowed this from the library rather than have purchased it.

other opinions

Cait’s Books – Review
World’s Unlike Our Own – Review
HeyIt’sCarlyRae! – Review
Shades of Paper – Review