"Betrayals" by Lili St. Crow

 
From Goodreads: "She’s no angel . . . 

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?"

In my review of "Strange Angels" I expressed my love for Dru, she is just such a kick-ass character and while I do love her and think that she is super fascinating and intriguing, I think that Ash is hands-down the most intriguing of all of the characters (a werwulf broken by the vampire- nosferat- who is hell-bent on killing Dru). I mean, what is Ash's endgame? Why is he so protective of her? Did he know her mom like Chris and Dylan did? Crazy theory moment! Did he grow up in the Schola like her mom and all of the boys? Was he in love with her too? Was he her mom's best friend like Graves is Dru's best friend? And what technically do these wulfen look like? Clearly they are not your typical run of the mill werwulf that runs on four legs and howls at the moon, "I tried to scream, but the other paw-hand had clamped over my mouth..." (pg.89). I imagine them to look like the lycans from the "Underworld" movie series, wulfen that can run on four legs but can also stand on two legs and battle. 

Now, in all honesty, I must say that this is my least favourite book of the series- but it is still far better than the majority of books that I read and it, of course, is still worth reading. I only think that this is the worst book of the series because I cannot stand it when a character fades in and out of consciousness- they need to be alert so that they can tell me coherently/ accurately everything that is going on around them! ;) And I do feel like Dru does lose a bit of her bad-assness in the beginning of this book because of all the crying (but then I have to make myself remember that the girl has been through hell over such a short period of time, from losing her dad, to discovering that she isn't human, and finding out that lots of people want to kill her), and if I were in her situation I suppose I would be bawling too- but the girl fully regains her bad-assness  towards the end of the book.

Again, I find myself still torn between Graves and Christopher. I keep thinking of what I read in Ally Condie's "Matched", does the girl pick the boy that she is most comfortable with (ie. her best friend who has always been there for her) or the boy that she is passionate about? All things aside, Graves? Yeah, he becomes super bad-ass in this book and sheds his somewhat nerdy/ geeky demeanor... How many guys can make others do what they want just using their mind like he can? Not that many! And there is a slew of great characters introduced into the series in this book and I find myself unable to choose my favourite between all of them- Shanks, Dibs, Dylan? (though I must say that Dibs is by far the cutest character yet in this series).

All in all this is a great follow-up to "Strange Angels" (despite the crying and unconsciousness exhibited by Dru) and I think that everyone should go rush out and buy it... ;) 

Rating: 9/10