*** Review*** The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove by Lauren Kate

On the Back of the Book

All it takes is one fatal mistake...

High school beauty Natalie Hargrove has spent years plotting to become prom queen. She’s got just what it takes: popularity, glamour and ruthless ambition. When someone threatens to overturn her perfect plan, Natalie needs to take control. But a critical error plunges her into a sea of secrets, shame and scandal. Because it turns out there’s one thing even Natalie Hargrove can’t command – and that’s fate.

Pre Read Thoughts

I read the Fallen Series by this author and wasn’t a huge fan but I saw this one and knew that it wasn’t one of those Twilight-ish books so I decided to give it a go. I bought it in WHSmith as part of a ‘buy one get one half price’ offer. That means I’m not entirely sure how much I paid for it. The RRp for the book is £6.99 but at the time of writing this it’s £4.49 on the Kindle. The cover is a lovely looking angsty model girl and is really rather dull. The title really does deserve a better cover. The synopsis isn’t very telling either and that’s frustrating. I’m essentially reading a book because I want to see if it’s better than a series I don’t like. That’s not good, as long as I like it though...

Post Read Thoughts

Meh, this book is so average and doesn’t really excite me at all. It never drew me into the story and I failed to enjoy it. There were moments that I felt were taken from other stories and twisted to fit this – only the author didn’t pull it off as well as the original author. I didn’t think that the writing or the actual idea for the story were particularly good and I can see why it got lost until Ms Kate’s Fallen books became so popular. I’m trying to think of something positive to say but I’m really struggling here.

Natalie – on the plus side she isn’t anywhere near as annoying as Lauren Kate’s other leading lady, Luce, but that’s the only positive thing about her. She’s selfish, slutty, self obsessed and a whole host of other stuff that I really can’t be bothered to list. I felt no sympathy for her whatsoever – not even at the end. She’s a thoroughly unlikable character that got what was coming to her.

Mike – Natalie’s boyfriend and another not very likable character. He’s painted out as the perfect boyfriend and that annoys me a bit. He’s also very forgettable. I don’t remember much about him and that’s not a good thing. I wrote my initial draft review 10 minutes after finishing the book.

Overall I’m really unimpressed with this. It’s not very good and at the same time it’s not so bad that I feel the need to rant over every microscopic detail. That leaves me with very little to say about the book. I do hope this was the book I paid half price for though, I’d feel very disappointed and robbed if it isn’t. There are many reasons why I tell people reading is better than TV, this isn’t one of them.

My Rating

2 stars – This is thoroughly average. Not something I’m ever likely to read again. I recommend it to Fallen fans because Lauren Kate books are evidently your cup of tea. It’s becoming apparent to me that they aren’t mine. If you’ve never heard of her or picked up her books before then you should stay away from this one.

A Final Note

There are some sex scenes in this so I wouldn’t recommend giving it to a younger teen or an immature one.