October 20, 2011

REVIEW! The Pledge.





THE PLEDGE by Kimberly Derting
In the violent country of Ludania, the language you speak determines what class you are, and there are harsh punishments if you forget your place—looking a member of a higher class in the eye can result in immediate execution. Seventeen-year-old Charlaina (Charlie for short) can understand all languages, a dangerous ability she’s been hiding her whole life. Her only place of release is the drug-filled underground club scene, where people go to shake off the oppressive rules of the world they live in. There, she meets a beautiful and mysterious boy who speaks a language she’s never heard, and her secret is almost exposed. Through a series of violent upheavals, it becomes clear that Charlie herself is the key to forcing out the oppressive power structure of her kingdom….

My rating: 4 stars.

MY THOUGHTS:

I went out on a limb here, reading The Pledge. It's admittedly not in my genre of choice - contemporary. BUT. It was mostly everything I could've asked for.

Most notably - the awesome sense of plot and descriptions. Hellooooo, you two! Where have you been in my YA novels? So glad you've returned. That's basically the conversation I had going on in my head. Derting's world just packs this live punch that's great; it's gritty, urban, magical.  And the characters have distinct personalities! It's easy to form connections to them, which helps guide the story. Truth be told, some are cliche, and a bit predictable. But the more developed characters make up for their lacking.

There's some slow build-up, which leads to confusion about just what kind of world they're living in, and why, but everything is resolved in the end.  However, that's where things seem to get a bit screwy.  Characters suddenly do a 180 and show other sides of themselves, causing me to feel detached from them after finally feeling like I knew their purposes within the story. It's a bit offputting and annoying. The way everything - and everyone - ties together seems illogical at times, or presents Oh c'mon, really now? moments/reactions.

But trust me: The Pledge is an awesome thriller. The world is fleshed out, the descriptions spot-on, and the characters more or less come together seamlessly. It's a mingling of all things good. Read it!

8 comments:

  1. Sounds awesome :D I can't wait to read this!

    Thanks for the awesome review~

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  2. OMG! I've been dying to read this book! I've read her Body Finder series and loved the first one, felt meh about the second and am patiently awaiting the conclusion to the trilogy. But I am SO wanting to read this! I love when a book outside my normal realm of books surprises me in a good way! That fact that you enjoyed this as something you don't often read makes me super excited to read this!

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  3. Hmm... So it sounds like a little bit of a mixed bag, but overall a good read? We can handle that. :P We've been wanting to read this one for a while -- gorgeous cover, great concept -- so we appreciate your review!

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  4. I've read a lot of mixed reviews about this book. I have it on my Nook, and will hopefully be starting it soon. I love Kimberly Derting, and I'm really curious about the book! Thanks for sharing!

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  5. The whole language bit has me interested. Though I suppose that comes as no surprise.

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  6. Characters with distinct personalities! I love it when you can form a connection with all the individual characters :). Glad you enjoyed this one overall (despite the odd character u-turns at the end) - great review! :)

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  7. Gah, I'm so torn. While this sounds really really interesting, the Body Finder series just rubbed me the wrong way. I don't know if I should pick this up but there are so many great reviews!!! :/

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  8. @Cialina: I could never get into the Body Finder series, but I did enjoy this.

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