Book Shelf: Betrayal (The Descendants, # 1) by Mayandree Michel

At seventeen, Cordelia is an ordinary teen with an extraordinary and frightening secret. A secret that induces vivid dreams which she not only experiences true love, but crippling fear while barely escaping with her life each night.

After a life altering event, Cordelia has an unexpected encounter with Evan, the mysterious boy from her dreams, who reveals who and what she is – a descendant of the Greek gods. At that moment everything she knows of her world is a lie, and she must leave the present and go into the past to assume the role she was put on this earth for – safeguarding her ancient empire amidst evil forces that toil hastily to destroy it.

In a race against time, Cordelia must decide if she is truly a part of this dangerous world, or risk defying the gods, and ultimately lose the boy who has put a claim on her heart.

Blurb thanks to Goodreads....





First, I have to say a big thank-you to Mayandree Michel who gave me the chance to review her book per-launch. I’m very grateful and honoured to have had the opportunity.

I really enjoyed this book. Most of the time I found that I didn’t want to stop reading. I wanted to know what would happen next, all the way up to the end.
The writing itself was beautiful and flawless. It was detailed and interesting, painting a picture of exactly what was happening and the world the story was set in. The writing itself lends a lot to the time in which the book is set; maintaining that proper, correct pronunciation and word use.
I loved the idea of this novel. The story and concept was unique and not something I’d heard of before; it wove Greek Myth and Lore together with the popular supernatural creatures we all love nowadays, vampires, werewolves, ghosts and more.
The story starts out slow, and yet not in a way that leaves you bored. It’s a great setup for a captivating tale and once the story picks up, it gets very good. This book has an odd pace. It’s not exactly fast paced, and yet it’s not slow. The story progresses at a good rate, telling you things from time to time. I was caught from the moment Cordelia experiences her “life altering event” and eager to see just what was going to happen next. Just when I thought I knew where Mayandree was going or what she was going to do next, she threw something in that changed direction! I love books like that....stories where you never know what’s in store next.

I thought the characters were great too. Each one had a sole purpose within the story and was unique. Cordelia, Evan, Bethany, Nikolas, even Victor, Lucas, Sasha, Winston, Gerald and Evan and Bethany’s parents all had their purpose and role within the story.
I really liked Cordelia. She’s the type of heroine I’m always on the lookout for; normal, relatively tough girls, who react realistically and question everything that’s happening. They look at the world with an open mind and don’t just settle for what people are telling them. And yet they don’t go out looking for trouble....although it usually finds them anyway. I liked that she saw herself in a realistic manner. I felt she grew a lot too throughout the course of the novel, and it’s always great to see character building when you read a book.
I liked Evan, although for the most part I felt like I didn’t know too much about him. It was obvious that he was a good, honourable man, although I felt like there was a lot of him that was kept hidden. I hope we get to see this more in future books.

In the beginning I found it really hard to feel the romance between Delia and Evan. Even though it was nice and sweet, no matter how I hard I tried, I never completely felt it. There were times when thought I did, and yet for the better part of the novel I found it hard to get into.
And then heading towards the end of the book.....I felt it! I think I felt it at the exact moment that Cordelia did and you know what—I think the author is brilliant! Her writing made it hard to feel at times and yet that went perfectly with what Cordelia felt. Towards the end of the book the relationship between Cordelia and Evan begins to form in the way that I love--growing gradually and beginning to take shape. There were a few moments between them that I thought were very cute and sweet and a few, “awwww,” moments on Evan’s part in my eyes. He certainly was swoon worthy on occasion.

The ending of this book was very exciting. From the moment the Masquerade Ball began all the way up until the final page, it was fast paced and heart racing. So many things came to light, questions that left me shocked and wondering just what is really going on in this world. Many things came to light and left more questions to be pondered. When Cordelia learned the whole complete truth, I was shocked. I hadn’t been expecting what she discovered, and get it’s all so brilliant. It was so dramatic and the final chapter of this book was breath-taking and heartbreaking—my heart cried for those hurt by the truth.
This book ends perfectly; ready for the next chapter in Cordelia’s journey and I think it’s going to be an exciting one. The one question that’s on my lips is considering everything that’s come to light and happened....just who will the next enemy be....

Can’t wait to find out!


Rating: * * * * * stars
Recommend: Yes!
Did I Buy, Borrow or is it an ARC: Given to me by the lovely author
Recommend Buy or Borrow: Buy
Ebook or Actual Book: Ebook
Cover: Absolutely stunning! I love it!
Read sequel/continue with series: Yes!