Review: Betrayals

Book: Betrayal (Lili St. Crow)
Stand-Alone or Series:  Series, Strange Angels #2

Pages: 296
Genre: Young Adult

Preview at Amazon
Description (From Goodreads):

Poor Dru Anderson. Her parents are long gone, her best friend is a werewolf, and she’s just learned that the blood flowing through her veins isn’t entirely human. (So what else is new?)
Now Dru is stuck at a secret New England School for other teens like her, and there’s a big problem— she’s the only girl in the place. A school full of cute boys wouldn’t be so bad, but Dru’s killer instinct says that one of them wants her dead. And with all eyes on her, discovering a traitor within the Order could mean a lot more than social suicide. . .
Can Dru survive long enough to find out who has betrayed her trust—and maybe even her heart?

Betrayals was the perfect follow up to the Supernatural novel, Strange Angels. Once again, Dru finds herself in danger of being hunted. Evil vampires are gunning for her death and she does not know who to trust. Christophe dropped her and her best friend, Graves off at a school, where she is suppose to be safe. The only problem is that there is a traitor among the students and teachers. There are also those at her new school who want her to believe that Christophe betrayed her mother; but who can Drew really believe?

Betrayals starts off with a bang and never lets up. The plot is filled with action, suspense and humor. Dru once again has her trademark dry, witty humor; and is sarcastic as ever. You spend more time getting to know Dru as a character in this book, which was a real treat. In the first book, I felt like the plot was rushed in an attempt to be exciting - which unfortunately did not leave a lot of time for learning about and bonding to the main character. This was not a problem with Betrayals. Dru spends a lot of time struggling with relationships with the two main boys in her life; Christophe and Graves. She does not know if she can trust Christophe and like I said earlier; some people try and sway her trust in him. Trust isn't the problem with Graves; it's jealousy. He fits in beautifully with his peers and Dru feels left out. She is under house arrest, for "safety" and gets left behind a lot. But, she still trusts him with her life and he always comes through. There are a number of great moments between Graves and Dru. I have always loved their relationship and I really hope she ends up with him. 

There are also a unique assortment of new characters introduced in this book. There are so teenage wulfens that start to hang around Dru and Graves; Shanks and Dibs. Shanks is a tough guy who often butts heads with Dru, because of her vampire heritage. Dibs on the other hand, quickly warms to Dru. He is ridiculously shy and submissive. Dru often stands up for him and as a result, he bonds with her. Then there is Dylan, who acts as sort of the principle of the school. He is a djamphir; one that claims loyalty to Christophe. Whether that is true or not, I still don't know. Lastly, there is Anna - who is another svetocha. She is straight up shady. I don't trust that woman as far as I could throw her.

Like I said before, pacing in the first book was a bit of a problem. Things moved too fast and as a result, I was often left wondering what exactly happened. Thankfully, this issue was resolved in Betrayals. The plot was still quick  moving, but not as haphazardly developed and explained. 

The writing itself was superb. Once again, St. Crow's descriptions are pure magic. Everything is described in such wonderful detail. Every sentence is dripping with a dark and gritty vibe that compliments Dru's world perfectly. The tone is perfect for the "Real World" - its a dangerous place and nothing that St. Crow writes is sugarcoated.

The ending is one of those brilliant yet extremely irritating cliffhangers that writers just love. However; Dru's gang does get out of danger momentarily, so the ending is a satisfying one. 

I enjoyed this book, I thought it was better executed that Strange Angels. There was plenty of excitement and character development to keep you turning the page.