YA-11 – REVIEW: The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove by Lauren Kate
The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove by Lauren Kate
Corgi Childrens (Jan 2011) | Paperback, 248 Pages
Romance | Mystery | Young Adult
This is a modern retelling of Macbeth, with Natalie Hargrove obsessed with being crowned the next Palmetto Princess. She has always been popular, and works hard to maintain her position as ‘Queen Bee’ in school. Her handsome boyfriend, Mike is not very interested in becoming Palmetto Prince, but to Natalie he must, and she’ll take care of anyone who stands in his or her way.
This sounded like a really interesting premise to a book, and I was excited to read it. Having read Lauren Kate’s Fallen and not being very impressed I was curious to see how her debut book, now being reissued, would fare.
Natalie is a very unlikeable character, and the reasons behind her actions are totally unjustified. Her boyfriend Mike felt flat and weak, and he was almost being used as a puppet by Natalie. The only character I kind of liked met an early demise! I suppose Natalie is supposed to be disliked anyway, but after reading her backstory I wondered if the author meant for us to feel some sort of sympathy and understanding for her. I felt none at all.
The writing for me was not very good either. It was bland, and felt too safe. Natalie could have been a really multi-dimensional character, the tagline mentions ‘Cruel Intentions’ so I was expecting a Sarah Michelle Gellar type of twisted, nasty and well, cruel character. We get a weak carbon copy.
The reason I kept on reading until the end was so I could properly review this book for Book Chick City. If I wasn’t, then I don’t think I would have even finished. The ending again, it felt like we were supposed to feel sad and I only felt happy I had finally finished. I know this probably sounds mean, and I really don’t mean to! I just could not get on board with any aspect of the book.
VERDICT:
With a tagline promising, ‘Cruel Intentions meets Macbeth’, it was a disappointing read and a struggle to finish and I didn’t really care enough what happened to the characters. I know Lauren Kate has a huge following for her Fallen series but I just cannot seem to like her writing or stories. Perhaps I’ll give them another go.
RATING: 
LAUREN KATE ONLINE
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7 Comments
I remember reading this book last year. It was just hard to get through. I was definitely surprised how well the FALLEN series had done when it first came out. I personally never read it in fear of Kate's writing after reading THE BETRAYAL OF NATALIE HARGROVE. I'm not sure if it was just the publicity (because it was very publicized) or the writing was very different than her debut novel.
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Eeek! That bad. I don't think I want to read this now.
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I didn't even want to pick this up because of how I disliked the fallen series and I don't think I'll ever read it. Thanks for the review.
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I'm so glad to know I am not the only one who disliked The Fallen series!
Thank you for commenting, I'm always nervous posting a review!
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I was never taken with FALLEN either,and am postivie I will never read this one.
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One to miss then?! I did like Fallen but did find it slow moving at times,I've been deliberating about picking up the second one or not.
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I'm not the biggest fan of Lauren's Fallen series. I agree with you, I can't seem to get into her writing style at all. I only read Natalie till about page 50 and I called it quits.
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