Betrayals by Lili St. Crow

3.5 stars -- It's ok, but I don't know if I like it :)

The sequel to Strange Angels, Betrayals picks up exactly where the first book left off and does plenty of flashbacks, in italics, to bring you up to speed if you don't quite remember what the first book was about. Surprisingly enough, I did. Usually I don't. I read so many books that details tend to fade and blend together. That Strange Angels didn't should show that it's a worthwhile book. I rated Strange Angels 4 stars on Amazon. I remember being slightly put-off by the whole "She's a unique and special girl with a werewolf for a best friend and a potential vampire crush," but I liked the story line enough that I was looking forward to the sequel.

I thought that this book had a lot of potential, but in reading it, I realized that it didn't quite hit the target. On the other hand, it's possible that it could redeemed by further books in the series... of course, it could continue going downhill.

The majority of Betrayals flies by in a blur... literally for the main character. Dru spends the book--which covers, I believe, about a total of two or three weeks--in constant pain, frequently unconscious, and always completely unsure of what's going on and whom she can trust. She gets in battles every day, and she never comes out on top. That's not to say she doesn't win any, but there's always some caveat--she starts bleeding so the other character wants to eat her; the other character starts bleeding so suddenly she wants to eat him, etc.

I was a bit disappointed in the battle scenes. At one point, Dru runs away from the school she's been at for about a week and winds up entangled in a thorn bush. She hears screaming and sees a werewolf, and at one point (after running from the bush and slamming into a tree) sees the wolf tear apart a vampire. I left the scene believing Dru had been outside for, at the most, an hour, and that she had seen what was going on. But in the next chapter, it turns out that she had been outside most of the night, and there were three dead vampires, not just the one. Dru is described as shuddering and in shock and practically catatonic, though she had seemed fine in the descriptions of the actual battle. This left me saying, "Wait... what??"

Overall, this book wasn't as strong as the first book. Dru seems weak and stupid, whereas in the first book, she was the one who knew what was going on. She didn't necessarily know all of the pieces, but she was still able to defend and protect herself. Now she has to be protected by both of her "guardian angels" time and time again. In the climax, she is literally carried and dragged through the battle while she fades in and out of consciousness by one "angel," while the other is kicking ass for her.

I'm not going to say I didn't like it, but I can't really say that I did either. I guess I'm just waiting for third book to see if this is series is worth following any further.