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De beminde
(The Betrothed #1)
by
Hollis Brite is opgegroeid in Keresken Castle, samen met de andere dochters van adel, in de hoop de aandacht van de toekomstige koning te trekken. De jonge koning Jameson van Coroa is eigenlijk nooit op zoek geweest naar een echtgenote, totdat hij Hollis ontmoet. Als Jameson haar de liefde verklaart, is Hollis dolblij. Maar terwijl hij haar het hof maakt, realiseert Hollis
...more
Paperback, 266 pages
Published
May 4th 2020
by Best of YA
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Showing 1-30

Start your review of De beminde (The Betrothed, #1)

Oct 20, 2019
Nenia ✨️ I yeet my books back and forth ✨️ Campbell
marked it as will-read-if-cheap-or-freebie
·
review of another edition
They spelled THE SELECTION wrong
Also, the author could have named the heroine EUROPE and she didn't. Fail. ...more
Also, the author could have named the heroine EUROPE and she didn't. Fail. ...more

Probably closer to a 1.5*

I don't know what I was expecting... But it wasn't this.
What I liked:
*awkward silence* *crickets chirping* *tumble weed blows by*
What I disliked:
• the main character was annoying from the very first chapter. Thought she'd improve but big nope
• characters lacked personality
• this book was falsely being pitched as ‘steamy YA’. Well that was complete lies. There was probably only 5 very basic kissing scenes. But that's it. It's not that I'm upset about the lack of steam, I just don't like when thi ...more
What I liked:
*awkward silence* *crickets chirping* *tumble weed blows by*
What I disliked:
• the main character was annoying from the very first chapter. Thought she'd improve but big nope
• characters lacked personality
• this book was falsely being pitched as ‘steamy YA’. Well that was complete lies. There was probably only 5 very basic kissing scenes. But that's it. It's not that I'm upset about the lack of steam, I just don't like when thi ...more

Feb 09, 2020
Lindsay
rated it
did not like it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
arcs,
dissapointed
I'm not quite sure where to begin because this book was a mess. It's not that I hated it but that it was ridiculous.
Imagery - I hate too much detail and not enough dialogue, but this book did the opposite. The rooms in the castle were sometimes minimally described and 95% of the characters had zero description. Delia Grace? Not sure what she looks like. Nora? No clue. Hollis's parents? Can't tell you. The only characters that were described were Hollis, Jameson, Silas, and Silas's family. Silas ...more
Imagery - I hate too much detail and not enough dialogue, but this book did the opposite. The rooms in the castle were sometimes minimally described and 95% of the characters had zero description. Delia Grace? Not sure what she looks like. Nora? No clue. Hollis's parents? Can't tell you. The only characters that were described were Hollis, Jameson, Silas, and Silas's family. Silas ...more

i literally had zero expectations for this and somehow im still the slightest bit disappointed.
and its not that i hated it - i dont have any negative feelings about this story. im just left feeling a massive amount of indifference towards it, so much so that i feel guilty giving it the three stars i would usually give to books i find average.
theres just nothing about this that makes me want to pick up the next book. the characters are bland, there is no plot, and the ending just doesnt make an ...more
and its not that i hated it - i dont have any negative feelings about this story. im just left feeling a massive amount of indifference towards it, so much so that i feel guilty giving it the three stars i would usually give to books i find average.
theres just nothing about this that makes me want to pick up the next book. the characters are bland, there is no plot, and the ending just doesnt make an ...more

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.

dnf 27%
i wasn’t even expecting anything and yet i still got let down.
***
The king has chosen her.
Her heart belongs to another.

Uhm, isn't this The Selection with another cast? ...more
i wasn’t even expecting anything and yet i still got let down.
***
The king has chosen her.
Her heart belongs to another.

Uhm, isn't this The Selection with another cast? ...more

I’m not happy right now😫 so I wanted to express my feelings by a book review with lots of emojis to cheer myself up!👩🏻💻
I heard the warning choo choos sound of disappointment train! I should have listened!🚞🚞🚞
I yawned too much, I took nap breaks at least 10 times, I tried to skip chapters. 😴😴😴🥱🥱
But nothing has changed because THERE IS NOTHING HAPPENING IN THIS BOOK! 🙇🏻♀️No action, no thrill, no tension , no cliffhanger! Nada. 🤷🏻♀️
And THAT FREAKING ENDING 😤😡😡, oh please, I need a ice cold drink ...more
I heard the warning choo choos sound of disappointment train! I should have listened!🚞🚞🚞
I yawned too much, I took nap breaks at least 10 times, I tried to skip chapters. 😴😴😴🥱🥱
But nothing has changed because THERE IS NOTHING HAPPENING IN THIS BOOK! 🙇🏻♀️No action, no thrill, no tension , no cliffhanger! Nada. 🤷🏻♀️
And THAT FREAKING ENDING 😤😡😡, oh please, I need a ice cold drink ...more

I believe I read like five chapters from Selection, neither the characters nor the story was interesting to me, and I just did not continue the book, sort of forgot that I was even reading it. I then when the rest of the series was published, I always just enjoyed the pretty covers but never felt like giving it another chance. (Which is surprising when you consider my obsession pretty dresses).
So, why do I keep going back to this book and I'm considering reading it? ...more
So, why do I keep going back to this book and I'm considering reading it? ...more

This book is proof that Kiera Cass never left 2012.
Look, I didn't expect this book to be good. The Selection wasn't good. But to this day, The Selection trilogy remains one of my favorite guilty pleasure reads because of how entertaining it is. It's trashy and I love it. So that's about where my expectations for The Betrothed were - garbage but entertaining - and somehow it managed to be worse.
While I'll concede that Kiera Cass's world-building seems to have a bit more thought behind it than her ...more
Look, I didn't expect this book to be good. The Selection wasn't good. But to this day, The Selection trilogy remains one of my favorite guilty pleasure reads because of how entertaining it is. It's trashy and I love it. So that's about where my expectations for The Betrothed were - garbage but entertaining - and somehow it managed to be worse.
While I'll concede that Kiera Cass's world-building seems to have a bit more thought behind it than her ...more

I am not sure what I just read
--------------------------
I so badly wanted to love this one. I always love a good historical drama and this one was posed to be positively titillating - a girl that is betothed to the king but falls in love with someone else once she finally manages to catch his eye? It is set up to be positively juicy. However, it was just so.........boring. There was no romantic tension in either of the pairings. The characters were all so.....flat. I really wish I could have lik ...more
--------------------------
I so badly wanted to love this one. I always love a good historical drama and this one was posed to be positively titillating - a girl that is betothed to the king but falls in love with someone else once she finally manages to catch his eye? It is set up to be positively juicy. However, it was just so.........boring. There was no romantic tension in either of the pairings. The characters were all so.....flat. I really wish I could have lik ...more

Holy cow this is going to be a hard review to write.
The Selection is one of my favorite series. So, understandably, I was very much looking forward to this. And it truly does have one of the most beautiful covers I've ever seen. Unfortunately, the book was so bad (IN MY OPINION) that it may have knocked Kiera Cass off my list of favorite authors.
My spoiler-free explanation: Through most of the book, NOTHING HAPPENED. It was so boring and all the characters were flat and uninteresting. I read the ...more
The Selection is one of my favorite series. So, understandably, I was very much looking forward to this. And it truly does have one of the most beautiful covers I've ever seen. Unfortunately, the book was so bad (IN MY OPINION) that it may have knocked Kiera Cass off my list of favorite authors.
My spoiler-free explanation: Through most of the book, NOTHING HAPPENED. It was so boring and all the characters were flat and uninteresting. I read the ...more

dear god, that was the blandest thing i have ever read in my entire life
➸ Trigger warnings for (view spoiler) .
Blog • Trigger Warning Database • Twitter • Instagram
...more
➸ Trigger warnings for (view spoiler) .
Blog • Trigger Warning Database • Twitter • Instagram
...more

So the Selection books (first three) are part of my all-time favorite books! I was pretty ecstatic, to say the least, when I saw that Mrs. Cass would be having a new book out! And another lovely cover with a beautiful dress!
In the Betrothed, I feel as though the author’s writing has gotten even better with lush descriptions! The setting was a fun one too!
Now the bad news for me was that I couldn’t connect with these characters. I knew this story wouldn’t be the Selection, and I didn’t want anoth ...more
In the Betrothed, I feel as though the author’s writing has gotten even better with lush descriptions! The setting was a fun one too!
Now the bad news for me was that I couldn’t connect with these characters. I knew this story wouldn’t be the Selection, and I didn’t want anoth ...more

Oct 27, 2017
Sophie_The_Jedi_Knight
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
i-need-more-than-air,
owned
10/15/19:
A COVER AND TITLE AND SYNOPSIS
I'm so excited. I mean, I'm disappointed that the cover doesn't match her other ones, but it's still gorgeous and I am SO pumped to get my hands on this! And it's a series!!!!
Count. Me. In.
6/15/19:
Soooo..... is this ever happening? This is just strange. Did she say offhandedly at some point that she might write another book and this Goodreads page happened but she has no plans? What is Kiera Cass even doing right now? Her last two updates on her website are ...more
A COVER AND TITLE AND SYNOPSIS
I'm so excited. I mean, I'm disappointed that the cover doesn't match her other ones, but it's still gorgeous and I am SO pumped to get my hands on this! And it's a series!!!!
Count. Me. In.
6/15/19:
Soooo..... is this ever happening? This is just strange. Did she say offhandedly at some point that she might write another book and this Goodreads page happened but she has no plans? What is Kiera Cass even doing right now? Her last two updates on her website are ...more

The first part of this review will be spoiler free, I will write when the spoilers begin
Let me introduce you to the main character. Her name is Hollis and she is the most annoying and stupid person ever. If you thought Tris from Divergent was annoying then boy you got a big storm coming. Reading about Hollis making stupid decisions made me lose my last three brain cells.
this book is just as shitty as everyone says it is, spare yourself the torture and just don’t read this
I can’t really tell yo ...more
Let me introduce you to the main character. Her name is Hollis and she is the most annoying and stupid person ever. If you thought Tris from Divergent was annoying then boy you got a big storm coming. Reading about Hollis making stupid decisions made me lose my last three brain cells.
this book is just as shitty as everyone says it is, spare yourself the torture and just don’t read this
I can’t really tell yo ...more

Definite Instalove. I felt no connection to the romance. I will read the sequel but this didn't capture the same feelings that The Selection did for me.
...more

This book made even the worst Barbie movie look good.

(no, The Princess and the Pauper isn't the worse movie. yes, I love Barbie movies with all their predictable plots, sparkly new outfit reveals, and fluffy plots bc they're still GOOD and HEARTWARMING and FUN)
I had no expectations when I started this because I knew, oh I knew, this was going to be nothing but mindless fluff to whittle away a few hours with. But then . . . BUT THEN it couldn't just be silly, happy fluff, no, it had to be STUP ...more

(no, The Princess and the Pauper isn't the worse movie. yes, I love Barbie movies with all their predictable plots, sparkly new outfit reveals, and fluffy plots bc they're still GOOD and HEARTWARMING and FUN)
I had no expectations when I started this because I knew, oh I knew, this was going to be nothing but mindless fluff to whittle away a few hours with. But then . . . BUT THEN it couldn't just be silly, happy fluff, no, it had to be STUP ...more

You can find this review on my blog Shades of Paper.
Ever since I heard Kiera Cass was coming out with a new book I knew I had to pick up as soon as possible, because even though The Selection series isn’t the best crafted piece of literature, it was such a fun and fast paced book to read, full of drama and romance, so after reading the synopsis of The Betrothed I was expecting something like that. However, I ended up really hating this book, sadly.
Though it had some similar features, like the ro ...more
Ever since I heard Kiera Cass was coming out with a new book I knew I had to pick up as soon as possible, because even though The Selection series isn’t the best crafted piece of literature, it was such a fun and fast paced book to read, full of drama and romance, so after reading the synopsis of The Betrothed I was expecting something like that. However, I ended up really hating this book, sadly.
Though it had some similar features, like the ro ...more

*All quotes are taken from the ARC and are subject to change*
Check out this review (and more) over on my blog!
Quick Stats:
Overall: 2/5 Stars
Characters: 2/5
Setting: 2/5
Writing: 2/5
Plot and Themes: 3/5
Awesomeness Factor: 2/5
Review in a Nutshell: This was… disappointing. Maybe my hopes were too high, maybe I wanted too much from it, but all I know is that I really wish it was better.
“If you wish to stand next to the first, by all means. You’re the one who’ll be burned.”
// Content Warning: Violence, ...more
Check out this review (and more) over on my blog!
Quick Stats:
Overall: 2/5 Stars
Characters: 2/5
Setting: 2/5
Writing: 2/5
Plot and Themes: 3/5
Awesomeness Factor: 2/5
Review in a Nutshell: This was… disappointing. Maybe my hopes were too high, maybe I wanted too much from it, but all I know is that I really wish it was better.
“If you wish to stand next to the first, by all means. You’re the one who’ll be burned.”
// Content Warning: Violence, ...more

A new Kiera Cass book has finally been announced!!!!!
...more


The Betrothed is the first book in a new Young Adult duology. It is a royal romance.
I really liked The Selection series so I was very excited to read a new book by this author.
The narrator is Hollis (1st person POV). It's not stated how old she is. But I'd guess maybe 18, since this is supposed to be a YA series.
I am honestly not sure what genre to classify this book as. In the author's note at the beginning it says that the story takes place in the 1500s. But that was not mentioned in the actua ...more
I really liked The Selection series so I was very excited to read a new book by this author.
The narrator is Hollis (1st person POV). It's not stated how old she is. But I'd guess maybe 18, since this is supposed to be a YA series.
I am honestly not sure what genre to classify this book as. In the author's note at the beginning it says that the story takes place in the 1500s. But that was not mentioned in the actua ...more

The only reason I liked The Selection (well, the first three books) was because it was
a) fun
b) the characters were adorable
c) shit actually happened.
This book had none of the above. I was bored, bored to tears, bored out of my mind while reading this.
The characters were flat, boring, and basic. All the MC does during the entirety of this book is either laugh or giggle, mention how much of a disappointment she is but was still able to get the attention of the king, or fall in love with some fOrEi ...more
a) fun
b) the characters were adorable
c) shit actually happened.
This book had none of the above. I was bored, bored to tears, bored out of my mind while reading this.
The characters were flat, boring, and basic. All the MC does during the entirety of this book is either laugh or giggle, mention how much of a disappointment she is but was still able to get the attention of the king, or fall in love with some fOrEi ...more

1 star
I'm going to use my last three brain cells to try and write a cohesive review for The Betrothed. Which is hard because there's nothing cohesive about this story, the characters, or anything in it. If you looked at the rating, it's not well-liked and now after reading it, I can share in their sentiments. Keep in mind I'm not angry with hate. I'm more disappointed with Kiera Cass' attempt at writing a believable romance. If you could even call it a romance.
Before I begin my review, let me te ...more
I'm going to use my last three brain cells to try and write a cohesive review for The Betrothed. Which is hard because there's nothing cohesive about this story, the characters, or anything in it. If you looked at the rating, it's not well-liked and now after reading it, I can share in their sentiments. Keep in mind I'm not angry with hate. I'm more disappointed with Kiera Cass' attempt at writing a believable romance. If you could even call it a romance.
Before I begin my review, let me te ...more

Okay. So, I read the original Selection trilogy, and honestly? I enjoyed them! Were they literary masterpieces? No. Were they relatively entertaining? YES. So I was pretty hyped to hear that Kiera Cass was releasing a new royal romance series! And I do have um…thoughts.
You can definitely tell that Kiera Cass has improved her writing! It’s neither rich and lush nor bland and boring, but beautifully simple. I was able to easily envision the places and people she was describing without paragraphs o ...more
You can definitely tell that Kiera Cass has improved her writing! It’s neither rich and lush nor bland and boring, but beautifully simple. I was able to easily envision the places and people she was describing without paragraphs o ...more

I genuinely feel second hand embarrassment for everyone involved in the creation of this book. It's that bad.
Insta-love is obviously instant. There is no character depth. They are all shallow husks. It's as if someone hired The Selection fanfiction writer to do most of the work. ...more
Insta-love is obviously instant. There is no character depth. They are all shallow husks. It's as if someone hired The Selection fanfiction writer to do most of the work. ...more

Lacklustre characters, setting and writing raises fears that THE SELECTION is a one-hit wonder. THE BETROTHED tries to be so many things: dramatically, romantically, and politically indulgent, and fails on all three accounts.
It's bad, folks.
What I expected? Not perfection, but something lighthearted and addictive and as charming as THE SELECTION.
What I got? A dull TV soap drama set in generic fantasy land with snooze-inducing characters.

I really liked THE SELECTION series even with all its flaw ...more
It's bad, folks.
What I expected? Not perfection, but something lighthearted and addictive and as charming as THE SELECTION.
What I got? A dull TV soap drama set in generic fantasy land with snooze-inducing characters.

I really liked THE SELECTION series even with all its flaw ...more

Jun 15, 2020
Niki Hawkes - The Obsessive Bookseller
rated it
did not like it
·
review of another edition
[1.5/5 stars] A lot of people seem to be aboard the Kiera Cass hate train. I’m not one of them. Her writing is what it is, and that’s okay that it doesn’t work for some, but the projected disgust at a lot of her works seems a little over the top. It almost feels like shaming her books is what it takes to sit at the cool kids’ table. And if that’s the case, I’ll go sit outside by myself and read her books while I eat.
That said, The Betrothed was not a strong installment. I absolutely loved the Si ...more
That said, The Betrothed was not a strong installment. I absolutely loved the Si ...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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BOTM for January 2021: The Betrothed, Kiera Cass | 12 | 27 | Feb 07, 2021 07:30PM | |
Clean Romance Boo...:
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1 | 11 | Jan 25, 2021 06:44PM | |
YA Buddy Readers'...: The Betrothed (The Betrothed #1) by Kiera Cass - Restarting September 6th 2020 | 52 | 63 | Sep 30, 2020 06:14PM | |
Goodreads Librari...: Wrong book title (English instead of Dutch) | 2 | 302 | Jun 30, 2020 02:35PM | |
Challenge Corner: The Betrothed by Kiera Cass --> Starting May 17th 2020 | 31 | 8 | May 30, 2020 01:06PM | |
Books Ever After: Maandboek mei 2020 - De beminde - Kiera Cass | 85 | 75 | May 21, 2020 10:25AM |
100 Things I Love:
Being married. Cake. The smell of Autumn. Motherhood. Books. Elephants. Back rubs. On demand movies. Actually going out to movies. Faith. Cinnamon rolls. My family. Butterflies. When my kitchen is clean. Crayons. Pink. Tote bags. Dancing. Organizing via color coordination. That my wedding dress was tea length, not floor. Baking. My house. Writing utensils. Paper. India. The sound ...more
Being married. Cake. The smell of Autumn. Motherhood. Books. Elephants. Back rubs. On demand movies. Actually going out to movies. Faith. Cinnamon rolls. My family. Butterflies. When my kitchen is clean. Crayons. Pink. Tote bags. Dancing. Organizing via color coordination. That my wedding dress was tea length, not floor. Baking. My house. Writing utensils. Paper. India. The sound ...more
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—
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