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samwlabb's review
3.0
Natalie, Nat, Tal -- originally from the "wrong side" of town, had finally arrived. It was her senior year, she had the perfect boyfriend and destined to be Palmetto Princess. All it took was one bad decision and a prank gone awry to cause her whole world to crumble.
I liked this book. I liked the beginning better than the ending, but overall, it was a good read.
I liked this book. I liked the beginning better than the ending, but overall, it was a good read.
sammeehicks's review
3.0
3.5 Stars
The story centers around Natalie and her obsession to be crowned the next Palmetto Princess, with her boyfriend Mike being crown Prince. But when a prank they play goes horribly wrong and Justin Balmer is found dead , Natalie is forced to do everything in her power to keep their involvement under wraps. Otherwise she'll lose everything she has worked so hard for...
I was surprised at how quickly I read this one - I finished the whole book in a couple of hours. I thought it was skillfully plotted with the story unfolding slowly and building momentum. The author held my interest by not revealing everything about Natalie and her past straight away. Instead, we get snippets that explain why Natalie is the way she is but I'm not sure they really justify her actions. I found it hard to identify with her and understand why being the next Palmetto Princess was that important. Mike was likeable enough though and I did rather liked J.B. I think I found him intriguing and really wanted to know why Natalie disliked him so much.
As the story progresses, the more Natalie and Mike unravel. I loved their relationship in the beginning and found it really interesting watching the repercussions to what they had done. While the prank they played on J.B could be deemed a horrible accident it is their later decisions and actions that seal their own fate so to speak. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't get a guilty pleasure out of watching them get their just deserves!
Described as 'Cruel Intentions meets Macbeth' I thought the idea behind the book was clever and I really liked Lauren Kate's writing - it made this one quick and easy to read. However, I just could not bring myself to like Natalie, and despite the suspicion that I wasn't supposed to, I wanted to. I was hoping the ending would redeem her in some way but, for me at least, it did not. I think this is a personal preference on my part and many readers will enjoy having the story narrated by a character they 'love to hate'.
Fun to read and had more than enough drama to hold my interest. The writing makes this one worth reading and I'll definitely be trying more of Lauren Kate's work.
The story centers around Natalie and her obsession to be crowned the next Palmetto Princess, with her boyfriend Mike being crown Prince. But when a prank they play goes horribly wrong and Justin Balmer is found dead , Natalie is forced to do everything in her power to keep their involvement under wraps. Otherwise she'll lose everything she has worked so hard for...
I was surprised at how quickly I read this one - I finished the whole book in a couple of hours. I thought it was skillfully plotted with the story unfolding slowly and building momentum. The author held my interest by not revealing everything about Natalie and her past straight away. Instead, we get snippets that explain why Natalie is the way she is but I'm not sure they really justify her actions. I found it hard to identify with her and understand why being the next Palmetto Princess was that important. Mike was likeable enough though and I did rather liked J.B. I think I found him intriguing and really wanted to know why Natalie disliked him so much.
As the story progresses, the more Natalie and Mike unravel. I loved their relationship in the beginning and found it really interesting watching the repercussions to what they had done. While the prank they played on J.B could be deemed a horrible accident it is their later decisions and actions that seal their own fate so to speak. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't get a guilty pleasure out of watching them get their just deserves!
Described as 'Cruel Intentions meets Macbeth' I thought the idea behind the book was clever and I really liked Lauren Kate's writing - it made this one quick and easy to read. However, I just could not bring myself to like Natalie, and despite the suspicion that I wasn't supposed to, I wanted to. I was hoping the ending would redeem her in some way but, for me at least, it did not. I think this is a personal preference on my part and many readers will enjoy having the story narrated by a character they 'love to hate'.
Fun to read and had more than enough drama to hold my interest. The writing makes this one worth reading and I'll definitely be trying more of Lauren Kate's work.
jasmineshollow's review
2.0
This book... meh. I picked it up because I really like the Fallen series and it seemed interesting. And it could've been interesting honestly. But I just couldn't. There is just a lot of under explained things going on in this book.
danaherrmann's review
1.0
This book made me so frustrated through most of it, however the ending wasn't too bad but seemed like a bit of a cop out.
shutupnread's review
4.0
The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove is like a twisted version of Gossip Girl. There's the scandals, the lies, the secrets that's all very similar. The only difference between Gossip Girl and The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove is a mistake that will easily cause Natalie severe grief and despair.
Natalie was an interesting character, however, she did not illicit much emotion from me. Why? Because I didn't like her. She's extremely shallow, always looking for a better social status, and she's very centered around her appearance and how others look at her. I mean, she makes a mistake and besides the mild guilt that she occassionally feels, she doesn't care much about it and just basically forgets about it. It's ridiculous really. I was shocked really when I keep reading about how she keeps lying to everyone and even convinces her boyfriend, Mike, to not dwell in it too much even when he's obviously suffering from grief.
Mike, Natalie's boyfriend, is extremely easy to sway. He's easily persuaded by Natalie whenever she starts to turn him on which made me shake my head in disgust. And I found him dumb, to be honest. He's always confused and it seemed like he couldn't think for himself at all. The only thing that really redeemed him was what he did at the end - when he was finally able to make his own decision and do the right thing - to the horror of Natalie. :)
The writing style and plot was not badly written but it definitely could have been better. Especially with the plot. It was pretty engrossing but I kinda wished that some things could have been changed.
The ending was a surprise but the epilogue was not. It just confirmed my suspicions that I was really hoping was true but it also left some unanswered question. I mean, it's was hinted but not mentioned directly.
Overall, The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove was an intense book that talks about what dealing with fate could lead you.
Natalie was an interesting character, however, she did not illicit much emotion from me. Why? Because I didn't like her. She's extremely shallow, always looking for a better social status, and she's very centered around her appearance and how others look at her. I mean, she makes a mistake and besides the mild guilt that she occassionally feels, she doesn't care much about it and just basically forgets about it. It's ridiculous really. I was shocked really when I keep reading about how she keeps lying to everyone and even convinces her boyfriend, Mike, to not dwell in it too much even when he's obviously suffering from grief.
Mike, Natalie's boyfriend, is extremely easy to sway. He's easily persuaded by Natalie whenever she starts to turn him on which made me shake my head in disgust. And I found him dumb, to be honest. He's always confused and it seemed like he couldn't think for himself at all. The only thing that really redeemed him was what he did at the end - when he was finally able to make his own decision and do the right thing - to the horror of Natalie. :)
The writing style and plot was not badly written but it definitely could have been better. Especially with the plot. It was pretty engrossing but I kinda wished that some things could have been changed.
The ending was a surprise but the epilogue was not. It just confirmed my suspicions that I was really hoping was true but it also left some unanswered question. I mean, it's was hinted but not mentioned directly.
Overall, The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove was an intense book that talks about what dealing with fate could lead you.
kellyhager's review
3.0
This has been compared to Heathers and Cruel Intentions, but more than anything else, it reminded me of Macbeth. (Looking at the author's website, it looks like that's intentional.)
Natalie Hargrove wants nothing more than to be named to the Palmetto Court with her boyfriend, Mike. (It's basically prom king and queen but a much bigger deal.) She's got no real competition on the girls' end, but Mike could potentially lose to a guy named Justin who, incidentally, Natalie HATES. So she and Mike play a little prank on Justin except he ends up dead. Oops.
This was a fun book, but not a particularly substantial one. It also took me a long time to get into (as opposed to her Fallen series, which had me from the first sentence). It's definitely possible that I've been out of high school for so long that I've forgotten what it's like to have everything be life and death.
Also, at fewer than 250 pages, it felt like it went faster than it needed to. I didn't feel connected to the characters and I had no sense of suspense or danger. (And there were subplots that seemed to fall off, which made me wonder what their point was in the first place.)
Still, definitely entertaining enough...even if it did make me even more ready for the third book in the Fallen series.
Natalie Hargrove wants nothing more than to be named to the Palmetto Court with her boyfriend, Mike. (It's basically prom king and queen but a much bigger deal.) She's got no real competition on the girls' end, but Mike could potentially lose to a guy named Justin who, incidentally, Natalie HATES. So she and Mike play a little prank on Justin except he ends up dead. Oops.
This was a fun book, but not a particularly substantial one. It also took me a long time to get into (as opposed to her Fallen series, which had me from the first sentence). It's definitely possible that I've been out of high school for so long that I've forgotten what it's like to have everything be life and death.
Also, at fewer than 250 pages, it felt like it went faster than it needed to. I didn't feel connected to the characters and I had no sense of suspense or danger. (And there were subplots that seemed to fall off, which made me wonder what their point was in the first place.)
Still, definitely entertaining enough...even if it did make me even more ready for the third book in the Fallen series.
kashila's review
2.0
Bueno. No es de mis favoritos, el final no me ha gustado ni un pelo, pero me parece que tras todo lo que paso Nat tenÃa motivos, incluso en una parte del libro me enganché... Supongo que 2.5/5
http://somuchmorethanpaper.blogspot.com.es/2012/01/resena-la-traicion-de-natalie-hargrove.html
http://somuchmorethanpaper.blogspot.com.es/2012/01/resena-la-traicion-de-natalie-hargrove.html
erinthevampireslayer's review
1.0
I only have the slightest memory of this book. I remember getting it from the library, struggling to get through the first few boring and poorly written chapters, and then returning it to the library. I rarely ever give up on reading a book, but I gave up on this one, and the amount of other one star reviews for it are making me quite glad that I didn't waste more time on it.
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