Review: The Pledge

The Pledge by Kimberly Derting

Published by Margaret K. McElderry

Genre: YA dystopian

$16.99 (US hardback)

323 pages

What it's about (from Goodreads):

In the violent country of Ludania, the classes are strictly divided by the language they speak. The smallest transgression, like looking a member of a higher class in the eye while they are speaking their native tongue, results in immediate execution. Seventeen-year-old Charlaina has always been able to understand the languages of all classes, and she's spent her life trying to hide her secret. The only place she can really be free is the drug-fueled underground clubs where people go to shake off the oppressive rules of the world they live in. It's there that she meets a beautiful and mysterious boy named Max who speaks a language she's never heard before . . . and her secret is almost exposed.

Charlie is intensely attracted to Max, even though she can't be sure where his real loyalties lie. As the emergency drills give way to real crisis and the violence escalates, it becomes clear that Charlie is the key to something much bigger: her country's only chance for freedom from the terrible power of a deadly regime.


My thoughts:
While I love Kimberly Derting's writing, this book was just a little...eh for me.

The reason I say it was a little "eh" is that not a whole lot happens for most of the book. Most of it is Charlie describing what her world is like and all the languages and classes involved. There isn't really any action in this book, it's mostly a "we're gonna hide instead of fight" kinda book. I would really have liked to see more action throughout the whole book and not just in the last 40 pages. I would have liked to see some of the horrible things the Queen has done instead of just being told about them.

Another complain I have is the characters. I loved them and I thought they were interesting, but I wish I could have seen more of them. I would have liked to have been in their heads a little more than just seeing their actions.

So what I'm really trying to say about this book is that it was a really cool idea. The writing was really well done, but I would have liked to see more of everything in it, more action, more of the characters, just more. I didn't want to be told about everything that happens in this world, I wanted to see it, to feel how horrible it is.

My rating: 8/10