Review: The Betrothed

Book written by Kiera Cass, published 2020.

Hollis Brite is the current favorite of the king, and she’s having fun with it. She loves all of the special attention, the gifts, the exclusive invitations, and even the jealous looks from the other ladies at court. Hollis is enjoying the diversion while it lasts—King Jameson has flirted with several girls before her, so she isn’t expecting anything different. But much to Hollis’ surprise, Jameson begins hinting that he foresees more of a future in their relationship, something more permanent. At first, Hollis is delighted—who wouldn’t be thrilled by the idea of becoming queen? But when a noble family from the neighboring kingdom of Isolte moves in, Hollis’ heart is turned upside down. The oldest son, Silas, is handsome to be sure, but there is an honest ruggedness to him that sees and accepts Hollis to her core. Suddenly, Hollis is torn between a future everyone expects for her and a dream she never knew she had in the first place.

I’ll be honest, this one didn’t wow me, and I’m not begging any of you to go read it. I am familiar with Cass’ work, and I like her writing style and the casual instant-connections she writes into her romances, but I felt that the conflicts in The Betrothed were unbalanced. There was some conflict in Hollis’ romantic interests, but that conflict did very little to prepare me for how the story ended. I had been expecting to see more storm clouds foreshadowing the end, but I didn’t see anything that directed my worry one way or another. As a result, I didn’t trust anything I read and I was suspicious of all the characters. I just didn’t feel immersed or invested in the book. There is a sequel, but I honestly don’t know if I’m interested in seeing where the rest of Hollis’ story goes.

I will say this: this book is pretty clean. There’s no profanity or steamy romance, but there is some violence including murder.

Here’s your spoiler warning, but if I don’t recommend the book, I suppose I can’t rightly recommend that you stop here.

"I'd said he couldn't burn me. I still believed that. If I was going to go up in flames, it would be my own doing."

As I said, I was expecting more conflict. I had expected the tension between Coroa and Isolte to play a bigger role in the story. Cass established that King Quentin was a controlling, arrogant, bitter, and desperate man. And it was well-established that Quentin did not approve of Hollis as a queen for Jameson (whether that was because Hollis favored peace or because she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, I’m not entirely sure). Quentin knew of Hollis’ special relationship with Jameson before his visit, and I had thought it was suspicious that the Eastoffes’ arrival in Coroa came just before Quentin’s. I kept waiting for someone in the Eastoffe family—perhaps even Silas himself—to reveal themselves as a spy with the mission of destroying Hollis’ betrothal. Instead, we were focused on Hollis trying to prove she’d make a good queen while pining for Silas.

In the end, I wasn’t disappointed by Hollis and Silas’ relationship; the Eastoffes were all so compassionate and accepting of Hollis, and I do believe they were the family she needed. I was viciously surprised when the Darkest Knights seemingly slaughtered everyone. (Again, I don’t trust hardly anything about the book, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Silas and the others were actually alive.) That was an ending I never would have guessed, but it felt unbelievable rather than mind-blowing. The Darkest Knights were mentioned by Valentina and Silas, but I never would have guessed they had any reason to come after the Eastoffes. With the revelation of the Eastoffes’ royal heritage and their threat to Quentin’s line, it makes more sense, but even that discovery felt a bit out of left field. I guess my point is that all of the climactic revelations felt random because most of the story was focused on Hollis and whom she would ultimately choose to marry.

Even now, I’m not sure where Hollis’ road will go. She’s headed to Isolte with what family she has left, but to do what? She said she wanted to confront Quentin about murdering her parents and Silas, but what will that accomplish? My first guess is that Hollis will find some way to overthrow/kill Quentin, but even that seems unlikely given her character. Not to say that characters can’t change, but I don’t see what the endgame is, so I’m not sure it will be worth it for me to continue reading. What do you guys think? If anyone has read the sequel and would be willing to tell me if the book is worth reading, I’m all ears!