Kiera Cass became one of my favorite authors with The Selection series and I’m always pumped to read something new from her. While The Betrothed wasn’t quite to the same level as those five books plus novellas and generally not regarded well, I was still ready for this red beauty, The Betrayed. I mean, THAT COVER! It’s gorgeous.

This duology follows a girl named Hollis in the royal court. In the first book, she’s all but engaged to the king, but falls in love with someone else. If you haven’t read The Betrothed, go grab it and come back to this when you’re finished because there isn’t really a way to talk about the second book without spoiling the first.

One thing I wish I had done was reread the first book before starting the second, even though it was not my favorite read. It took me a little while to remember names and connect them to their respective warring countries, so a refresher would have helped. Instead, the beginning felt slow because I was trying to remember all the relevant details.

Now that all of that is all out of the way, we shall pick up with book two, which is after Kiera’s version of the red wedding from Game of Thrones (aka, the best part). Hollis heads to her enemy’s country with the family of her dead husband. The Betrayed is much better than the first book. It really does redeem the first book.

Painting The Betrayed with a broad brush, it takes the reader through Hollis’ journey toward helping her home country and the country that took her in find peace. She gets a second chance at love that doesn’t feel as rushed as either love interest in the first book. Overall, Hollis is not the vapid girl she was in the first book, but a more mature woman who feels and understands more of the responsibility she carries. That sense of duty leads to some fun twists along the way in the back half.

I give this one four stars, so it’s a full star improvement on the first and definitely worth giving the duology another try.