Romance with Geopolitics: The Traitor's Circle Series by Erin Beaty

Since I finished this series rather quickly, I thought I'd review them together. I liked The Traitor's Circle series, but it didn't blow me away. My rankings of the books from highest to lowest: The Traitor's Kingdom, The Traitor's Kiss, and The Traitor's Ruin. None of the books left me completely satisfied. The series benefits from Beaty's complex and dedicated worldbuilding; the world of complex alliances that the characters live in is so real you can almost breathe in the whirling sands of Casmun. (The details are so intricate that I wasn't at all surprised when I found out that Erin Beaty served in the U.S. Navy before turning to writing.)

However, that attention to the setting is not matched by attention to the characters. I found myself often feeling frustrated at Sage and Alex's lack of dimension. Both characters have complex backstories and complex goals, but little is done to develop the impact of those backstories or those lofty goals. Nothing they did surprised me; and while that may not necessarily be a negative thing, it was certainly a deterrent to finishing the story.

And, of course, it irks me beyond belief that after reading all three books, I still have no clue why this is called The Traitor's Circle series. Who is the traitor being kissed? Who is the traitor being ruined? What is the traitor's kingdom? (And if they're the traitors I'm thinking of, then what are the kisses and the ruin and the kingdoms about?)

Nevertheless, fans of The Winner's Trilogy by Marie Rutkowski will likely find a kinship with this series and its similar portrayals of clever female protagonists, high stakes, and complex romances.

The Traitor's Kiss  
The plot in the first book is the most balanced and exciting out of the whole series. The arc of the story is helped along by the fact that neither Sage nor the readers know the full scope of what's happening. Sage doesn't know that "Ash" is really Alex, or that there's an ulterior motive for the soldiers' presence. Beaty pulls this off by impressively weaving together multiple third-person POVs to obscure everyone's true motives and identities. 

​Because of the hidden information, the reader is following two parallel storylines: Sage's, as she inserts herself into high society, and Alex's, as he tries to root out treachery. Even when one character is having a somewhat mediocre chapter, the other character steps in and reassures the reader that the book is not ready to slow down. 

And, of course, the climax of the book is undeniably tragic. Alex worries in the wrong direction; he worries after Sage, only to find her alive and well, and he doesn't worry after his little brother until it's too late. The Traitor's Kiss is one of the few books that does not shy away from an unhappy ending. 

The Traitor's Ruin
The second book in the series lacks the finesse of the first book. The problem with the second and third Traitor's books is that there is so much exposition before the action actually ramps up. Plot points are reintroduced. Old characters are reintroduced and new characters are introduced. Discussion occurs between the military and people outside of the military. Some details are necessary—readers might not remember who is who before they pick up the second book—but certainly not all of them. 

The problem with this book's plot specifically is the lack of true stakes and the lack of rational reasons behind the characters' decisions. The whole story (arguably) hinges on a small disagreement between Sage and Alex that spirals out of control. But there was little reason for why their disagreement exploded into such a serious issue, or why the reader should care about the government of a different country. 

I did feel the echo of Alex's imagined death in Sage's actions, but the dramatic irony that Alex was alive offset all sense of sorrow.  

The Traitor's Kingdom
Again, too much exposition in the last installment of the series. Beaty wastes time describing the tranquility of court life and the dilemma over Sage and Alex's marriage (or lack thereof). This trilogy is disjointed because it seems like more of an collection of three distinct journeys in Sage and Alex's lives rather than one, unified story. Each book has a different plot, but there is no real conflict that stretches across all three books. (Unless one counts Sage and Alex's love story, which is not nearly strong enough to overcome the challenges of reading the remaining 90% of the story that doesn't revolve around them.)

​This book has more of a story arc than its predecessor because Beaty returns to what made the first book so intriguing: treachery. Specifically, treachery within Demora. (The lackluster treachery of the minister in the second book doesn't hold a candle to the treachery in the first or third books.) The plot also goes above and beyond with the descriptions of mass graves and a "silent killer" roaming the country, which makes it all the more exciting. I was genuinely shocked when it was revealed that Clare's sister had turned her back on her family and her country. 

More macroscopically, throughout the series, Sage and Alex prove themselves to have complex backstories and complex goals, but their actual actions say nothing about them. They are interesting characters that—curiously—remain rather flat for the entire trilogy. Little is done to develop them beyond the qualities they inherited by virtue of their upbringings and occupations. 

Beaty also doesn't do a good job with her endings. As I said before, The Traitor's Circle trilogy feels like individual episodes rather than one unified story, and that's reflected in how . . . clean the endings of the first two books are. At the end of both books, it doesn't seem as though there are any more problems to solve. And yet there are one (or two) more books left in the series! Readers can stop reading after the first or the second book and they would be no worse for wear.