Back again in Lili St. Crow's vampire and wulfen populated world, Betrayals is the second in a series of (so far) five novels centered around young female svetocha, Dru Anderson. As the extremely rare, intensely-sought-after female djamphir (usually male offspring of a vampiric father and a human mother), Dru is both isolated and coveted - by both sides in a good/evil paranormal struggle. The author doesn't miss a beat with her second offering of the weird and strange in Dru's monsterified life - the same easy tone, and fluid pace that made Strange Angels such an enjoyable and fast read are both present here as well. By no means a heavy or difficult read, this series is shaping up to be a pretty basic, fun, supernatural young-adult series with excellent writing, interesting mythology and a decent protagonist. With a complete change of setting and a brand-new plotline, Betrayals doesn't rely on the actions of its predecessor novel to determine the story: it charts a new path of uncertainty for Dru to walk. Now ensconced within The Order, within a "Schola", the one place she is supposed to be safe and valued above all - Dru is snared in a web of lies, half-truths, deceptions. . . and you got it: betrayal.Dru herself irritated me a fair bit more than she did in the first novel. Several times, within the first four chapters of the book, I wanted to shake her/slap her/tell her to get a grip. Specifically, her repeated refusal to accept that maybe she doesn't know it all, Dru's attitudes with her knowledgeable djamphir teachers wore on my nerves. While the majority of Dru's character is still consistent with the hard-nosed tomboy of the first novel, she seems to spend half the novel sulking in her bedroom. I'm also slightly put-off by the blooming process in store for Dru that is repeatedly, annoyingly mysteriously mentioned. I don't understand why the male djamphir are just granted with super-speed/strength/healing from birth but the females are (comparatively) unbelievably weak until the ick-inducing blooming process renders them toxic to vampires. Added in with Dru being the "first" svetocha rescued in 30 years, and it hardly makes sense. Why are the svetocha so limited in the scope of their abilities and so rare? Details and information on this apparently endangered supernatural species has been parsed out pretty rarely thus far in both novels, and hopefully the author plans to enlighten her readers quite a bit more in the future - and as Dru is the main character, details about her/her heritage are essential. Dru is also QUITE profane: her language is abysmal and venal but it doesn't bother me. I can tell that some readers will definitely be put-off by her blue streaks, but it feels natural, how Dru really expresses herself.To read the full review, just click here.
