Teaser Tuesday: The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson.

The Heart of Betrayal –
Henry Holt and Company

“As you command, Komizar. I will sleep well tonight if I must slit my own throat to do it.”
He smiled. “I think we’re beginning to understand each other at last.”
— Chapter 36

“The rules of reason build towers that reach past the treetops. The rules of trust build towers that reach past the stars.”
— Chapter 47

How little and how much can you say about the second book in an extremely close-knit trilogy with a staggering number of layers and secrets that on the one hand conveys the art of this kind of story telling while also preserving the secrets and twists? Because it makes a very big difference if you read the first book with too much knowledge. (I know this because I had to skim through Kiss of Deception before starting this one to jog my memory a bit and just knowing who is who in terms of two central characters changed my perspective quite a bit. It’s so much fun just to speculate about their identities.)
This second book opens up the world quite a bit to a whole new part of the continent and also further introduces political intrigues on top of personal ones. Add to that the history of this fictional world and the layers and possible ramifications go through the roof. If you’ve read the novella as well and realise the misunderstandings due to time, distance, and perspective, you gain another layer ... add the personal deceptions and lies and the times you want to throw these characters into a cell and only let them out when they’ve talked it out become immeasurable.
A wonderful second book that not only lives up to the first but also lays a great foundation for a high-heart-rate finale.

Sometimes the narrator of a book is unreliable, but sometimes it’s just the narration itself that adds to the mystery through its information management. Which book has stayed on your mind because of its narrative style recently? Share your thoughts and teasers in the comments!