The Betrayals - like The Binding - is beautifully written, and I don't think I will ever get enough of the author's prose, and the book outside of the 'grand jeu' was wonderful, and I enjoyed the setting and characters. What, did lose me a little, and made me debate whether to round up to 4 stars or not, is that the 'grand jeu' itself left me feeling as though I was flailing around in the dark parts of the book, and even when the answers were reveled towards the end, I felt as though there was something beyond my grasp. However, I did enjoy the book and it was a engrossing read, albeit confusing in places, and in the end it was the writing that pushed this to a four stars for me.