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The Pledge

(The Pledge #1)

Kimberly Derting (Goodreads Author)

3.79 · Rating details · 28,536 ratings · 2,515 reviews

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 tryi ...more

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Hardcover, 323 pages

Published November 15th 2011 by Margaret K. McElderry (first published October 1st 2011)

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Oct 07, 2011 Giselle rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, ebook

In Kimberly Derting's The pledge, we embark on a fairy-tale like story set in a dystopian future where language dictates your class standing. I was first attracted to this book by it's intriguing premise and original setting. Unfortunately, I found myself unable to connect to the characters nor was I very invested in the story.

As a reader, I'm very character oriented. I feel the need to be able to relate to the characters. Feel their emotions, understand their decisions and connect with their pe In Kimberly Derting's The pledge, we embark on a fairy-tale like story set in a dystopian future where language dictates your class standing. I was first attracted to this book by it's intriguing premise and original setting. Unfortunately, I found myself unable to connect to the characters nor was I very invested in the story.

As a reader, I'm very character oriented. I feel the need to be able to relate to the characters. Feel their emotions, understand their decisions and connect with their personalities. I didn't feel any of this with Charlie, the protagonist in The Pledge. I felt very detached from her. She didn't have any distinct traits or strengths. I also never felt the connection between her and Max - the love interest. It was never clear why Max was so infatuated with her. She simply "intrigued him", whatever that means. The one part I did enjoy was Charlie's relationship with her sister. She was deeply devoted to saving her sister and making sure she was ok. I was also happy about the presence of the parents in the book.

Charlie has a big secret, she can understand all languages. In this world, if you even look at a person while they are speaking a language of a higher class, that is punishable by death. I did find this to be a bit harsh, but not necessarily unrealistic. If we take the present, there are already a lot of problematic prejudices caused by language, so I could see, in a dystopian future, that it could come to this. The part about the world building that I had a problem with was that I couldn't fathom how society would put a full worldwide matriarchy in place of a democracy. It wasn't very well explained, how it came about. World building is especially important in a dystopic setting, and The Pledge did not have me convinced.

I was never surprised by the events that occurred during the story. It was as expected and went in a fairly straight route. The pacing was pretty decent, but the action was mild and the excitement was short lived. I never felt especially alarmed during the book, neither did I feel intimidated by the Queen. It was over fairly quickly without much aftershock, and we barely got any details regarding the magic. Why was Angelina not speaking? What's the point of Charlie's abilities? She never really took advantage of them which was pretty disappointing. I guess a sequel may cover it, but It felt strongly like a stand-alone novel. I'm not sure if a sequel is planned, but I can't see where the plot would go from here. ...more

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Apr 16, 2012 B rated it liked it

Shelves: judge-a-book-by-the-cover, read-reviewed, take-your-insta-love-and-leave, caught-in-a-bad-romance, 2012-reads, exceeded-my-expectations, i-totally-saw-that-coming, surprised-i-didn-t-hate-it, didn-t-see-that-coming, gimme-the-next-book

Kimberly Derting's The Pledge has a lot going for it: it has an interesting and original concept, fascinating (albeit mostly lacking) world-building, great writing that allows the novel to flow easily and makes for a quick read, some interesting relationship dynamics, and an explosive ending making way for an interesting sequel. However, that being said, The Pledge also has a lot that is not going for it, most prominently the characterization, the predictability of the plot, and, last but certai ...more

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Mar 12, 2011 Jennifer Armentrout rated it it was amazing

Man, only 30 some pages in, and it's so good. Have agent edits to do, but I wanna read! ...more

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Aug 15, 2011 April rated it did not like it

Shelves: ereader, ya, for-review, dystopian

The Pledge is Kimberly Derting’s latest book. It’s a dystopia. Democracy has fallen. Nations are ruled by matrilineal queens. In Charlaina’s society citizens are divided and stratified by language. Englaise is the common language spoken by all classes. Each class has their own language as well, so for example the vendor class speaks Pashon. Charlaina, Charlie for short, can understand every language, even though it is against the law. One is not supposed to acknowledge or look up when another sp ...more

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Apr 13, 2012 Bern rated it it was ok

Recommends it for: People that like monotonous stuff.

Shelves: 2012, tedious, cliched, coverlust, keyword-eh, paranormality, ya, pacing-problems, needs-to-meet-a-flaming-pyre, mixed-feelings

This had so much potential. Kimberly Derting had the right idea, came up with some nice details to her dystopian society, she had everything she needed to make a great story. And then it all went downhill in this jumble of cliches and boring storytelling that came together in one snooze festival in which you're left as that one bored person wondering what the hell are you going to eat for dinner tonight since you haven't gone grocery shopping ever since Jesus died the second time.

So the story ...more

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May 21, 2011 ♥Rachel♥ rated it really liked it

I think this was a great start to a promising series. I really enjoyed it!

Seventeen-year old Charlaina, Charlie, lives in the kingdom of Ludania ruled by cruel and ancient Queen Sabara. Her subjects are divided by classes, languages, and strict rules that govern them. A person can be put to death for small infractions, so all must be careful. The country is currently in turmoil because there is a war going on. There are revolutionaries that have risen up to change the oppressive conditions. Char I think this was a great start to a promising series. I really enjoyed it!

Seventeen-year old Charlaina, Charlie, lives in the kingdom of Ludania ruled by cruel and ancient Queen Sabara. Her subjects are divided by classes, languages, and strict rules that govern them. A person can be put to death for small infractions, so all must be careful. The country is currently in turmoil because there is a war going on. There are revolutionaries that have risen up to change the oppressive conditions. Charlie can speak and understand all languages, and that is strictly forbidden. Charlie must never let on that she understands any but the languages of a daughter of a Vendor.

Charlie however, starts to attract the attention of a newcomer to her city, Max. She hears him speaking in a language that she's never heard before, and this fascinates her. Somehow, Charlie senses that Max knows she can understand his language. She wants to stay away from him because this frightens her. Max for his part, knows that Charlie has some secrets, but he has a few of his own. But the chemistry between the two is undeniable, and they can't seem to stay apart. I loved this quote:

He disarmed me by smiling. Then, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, his voice rumbled low, caressing my heart. "I would have found a way for us to be together even if you'd been a servant's daughter, Charlie. You do intrigue me, but not for any reasons you suspect." He leaned in then and kissed me again, sweet and soft and tender, silencing my arguments and stealing my breath, making me wonder how one simple gesture could be so tragically lovely.

I know this book was labeled as a dystopian novel but I felt it had a fairy-tale quality to it with the evil queen, and the magic element. I enjoyed Charlies's relationship and devotion to her friends and family. My favorite was the shared affection and love between Charlie and her sister, Angelina. It really touched my heart. I also liked her best friend Aron and his loyalty. Brooklyn, I'm still on the fence about her. I liked that there was no love triangle in sight, those have really been grating on my nerves lately! I also loved that this didn't end on a cliffhanger (thank you Kimberly!). It did however, leave you with the threat of something sinister to come. I guess we'll find out in the next book.
...more

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Jun 25, 2011 hayden rated it really liked it

Shelves: history-with-author, mega-awesome-cover, ending-rocked, thank-god-it-s-a-stand-alone, own-it, arc

I wasn't all that impressed with THE BODY FINDER, and I was pretty hesitant when THE PLEDGE showed up on my doorstep. I wasn't sure Kimberly Derting deserved another chance. If I didn't like her first novel, what were the odds I'd like the first book in a totally different genre? How big were the chances I'd find the experience of reading her third novel like I did her first and give up on her in general? Thankfully, that wasn't the case. I'm glad I did end up giving it a chance, because it wasn ...more

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Jun 06, 2011 Maria rated it it was amazing

First off, tell me the this cover is not gorgeous!! I love it :)

Second, I need to tell you how cool I think this story idea is! The plot revolves around this world (in the future) where humans have been forced to speak only one language - the language of their class. The servants speak one language, while the vendors speak another, and royalty another, and so on. The point being, that if you can't speak another language, you are stuck in your class forever, and more importantly, humans will neve ...more

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Oct 07, 2011 Ceilidh rated it it was ok

The more YA books I see being released amidst the continuing dystopia trend (a fad that seems to have a lot more mileage than I originally anticipated, although the sales figures are a more mixed bag), the more I find myself questioning what makes a book dystopian. With “The Body Finder” author Kimberly Derting's latest, the first in a planned trilogy, I hesitate to call it, for lack of a better term, pure dystopian since it mixes more fantastical elements into the story. This discussion aside, The more YA books I see being released amidst the continuing dystopia trend (a fad that seems to have a lot more mileage than I originally anticipated, although the sales figures are a more mixed bag), the more I find myself questioning what makes a book dystopian. With “The Body Finder” author Kimberly Derting's latest, the first in a planned trilogy, I hesitate to call it, for lack of a better term, pure dystopian since it mixes more fantastical elements into the story. This discussion aside, what elements that the book uses that are clearly in a dystopian vein are unsuccessful.

The setting, the country of Ludania, is frequently described in terms of its oppressiveness and constant threat of danger but neither of these things were shown on the page. For a supposedly highly guarded society, there was a lot of freedom allotted to its residents. There seemed to be no real adult supervision of the secret club visiting teenagers, except for a few guards now and then, but when one of the characters is described as using heavily guarded security check-points as an opportunity to practice her flirting techniques, it sort of detracts from the sense of fear and urgency. This is an issue I've had with a few dystopian YA novels in recent times. We're frequently told of the dangers and need for constant vigilance but what we are presented with is a series of plot convenient instances and loopholes that detract from the atmosphere needed to create a truly tense story. A strong sense of urgency and fear is a must for dystopian set stories, in my opinion. On top of all this, Derting includes a more fantasy oriented element that is the driving force behind the central premise of the story. Charlie can understand every language, a dangerous skill in a world where social groups are broken up by which language they speak. As a student of semi-dead languages, this premise was a potential gold-mine for me, and I think there is a genuinely interesting world to be built from the idea of using language as a device of socio-political matters. Unfortunately, this book isn't it. The strong idea is never fully built upon, a matter made all the more frustrating thanks to the complete lack of detail given when it is used. The book was a step away from saying “It's magic, we don't have to explain it”, which is never a good answer.

The characters are as shallow as the plot, in particular the heroine Charlie and the first designated love interest Max (there are at least 3 men in the story who I thought could be potential love interests because they are constantly described by way of their handsome looks and enticing aura by Charlie. She may have claimed that her friend Brooklynn was the boy crazy one but she seemed just as single-minded). Neither rises beyond the stock YA romance traits, with Charlie's passiveness being extremely grating but not as much as Max's frequently rude, condescending and smug behaviour being written off as okay because he's so enamoured with a girl he's known for barely a few weeks – the book has a very short time-line – and makes her so weak at the knees I'm surprised she could perform basic human functions. It's yet another YA where the breeding pair fall into the typical gender roles. Maybe it's because I'm jaded and I've been reviewing these sorts of books for what feels like an era, but when the romantic hero, who has only personally known the heroine for a couple of weeks (there are references that he's had his 'protective' eye on her for longer), and he says “All I want is to keep you safe... it's all I've ever wanted”, alarm bells go off in my head. His case isn't helped by his frequent grabbing of Charlie as if he's allowed to do this because we all know they're going to end up together.

“The Pledge” is a slow, mediocre book that shows a glimmer of promise for the rest of the series in the final few pages, but it's not enough for me to feign further interest. To see such potential wasted is a disappointment, made all the worse by the continuing trend for the sort of romances that make me want to pull my hair out. While the prose itself is serviceable, the constant switching of narratives from Charlie's 1st person to several characters's 3rd person points-of-view felt unnecessary given the lack of distinguishing features given to them. My biggest issue with the book is that it's so shallow. Nothing is given the depth required to make the story fully engaging – the world building is slack, the characters are stock, the romance is tired and predictable and the much needed tension is nowhere to be seen.

2/5. ...more

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Feb 14, 2011 Krys rated it it was amazing

Shelves: medium-length-book, fantasy, first-person-narrative, series, young-adult, third-person-narrative, dystopian-post-apocalyptic, series-i-love, read-in-2011, read-in-2013

Well, I read that really fast. I started The Pledge by Kimberly Derting late last night/early this morning and I just finished it. Before you ask, yes I do sleep. Quite well, actually.

The Pledge marks a departure for Derting into the world of Dystopic Fantasy. Having been a fan of her Body Finder series I was very eager to get a look at her newest work. I'm not disappointed, far from it. Derting has cemented a place on my auto buy list of authors.

The aging Queen of Ludania has no heir - no femal
Well, I read that really fast. I started The Pledge by Kimberly Derting late last night/early this morning and I just finished it. Before you ask, yes I do sleep. Quite well, actually.

The Pledge marks a departure for Derting into the world of Dystopic Fantasy. Having been a fan of her Body Finder series I was very eager to get a look at her newest work. I'm not disappointed, far from it. Derting has cemented a place on my auto buy list of authors.

The aging Queen of Ludania has no heir - no female heir anyway. She seeks a proper replacement for herself even though she is near dying. Throughout Ludania language is a mark of distinction and of separation of the classes. It serves to keep everyone in their place. In the Vendor district a girl named Charlaina (Charlie) has trouble keeping a dangerous ability from being known. She can hear and understand every known language; Serf, Upper class, Military, tactile... you name it. Charlie has difficulty hiding this, particularly when she meets a young man named Max. In Max Charlie hears a language she has never heard and understands it, and he knows she does. Will this charming man be her downfall?

Derting explodes onto the Dystopian field in high style. This book is gorgeous, vivid and imaginative. Derting uses her trademark style of narrative, switching back and forth between pro and antagonist as the story progresses. In this she makes a really smart choice though: not only does she switch narrators but she also plays with First and Third person for represent Charlie and Queen Sabara respectively. This adds a flair to the telling, and renders the two characters with very distinctive, different voices. I adore alternating narrators but some authors don't know how to pull it off. Derting does, and it makes for a superbly dynamic telling.

Beside that this story is gripping. I sat down with it today and could not put it down. This is a tremendous world that Derting has set up. As of yet I am not sure if it is the beginning of a series (everything is a trilogy now it seems) but the ending summed up everything nicely if it doesn't turn into anything. I very much appreciated this tale from Derting. I want more of all of her worlds, but especially so here.

5 out of 5 stars.

- review courtesy of www.bibliopunkkreads.com ...more

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Dec 03, 2011 Jay rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

I have been hesitant to read The Pledge because I have not read that many great reviews, but when I found it in audio, I just had to give it a try, and i am SO GLAD I did because this book was incredible! The light dystopian element, the historical themes, the revolutionary plots. Every single minute of listening to this audio kept me on the edge! I would stay a couple of minutes in the car after I parked because I just didn't want to leave this world. In the end I ended up getting the ebook and ...more

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Oct 24, 2011 Nafiza rated it it was ok

Shelves: read-2011

Another book with a very interesting premise. Language being the boundary that separates one social class from another. I liked the idea and I loved the world building. The thing that spoiled the book for me is the extremely cliched writing. This book could have been so much better had the author chosen not to employ dialogue that reads like it came waltzing straight out of a sappy romance movie. I also saw a lot of Mary Sue-ish development from the main character and well...I like my heroines f ...more

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Apr 02, 2012 Liza rated it did not like it

Shelves: read-in-2012, young-adult, library, reviewed, series-dropped

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 14, 2012 Morgan F rated it liked it

Shelves: 2011, goodreads-author, fantasy, medium-sized, young-adult, pretty-covers, romance, paranormal, dystopian-apocalyptic, series

When I read Derting's The Body Finder, I was not impressed. After reading the start of her second series....I am still not impressed.

The marketing is all there. Gorgeous cover, creative dystopian premise, the promise of romance....All of this is very in right now. Unfortunately.

The weakest part of The Pledge was the world-building. As a dystopian, it was very weak. There is no reason for this world, no how, no why. Supposedly, it was set sometime in the future, as it alludes to current cities, When I read Derting's The Body Finder, I was not impressed. After reading the start of her second series....I am still not impressed.

The marketing is all there. Gorgeous cover, creative dystopian premise, the promise of romance....All of this is very in right now. Unfortunately.

The weakest part of The Pledge was the world-building. As a dystopian, it was very weak. There is no reason for this world, no how, no why. Supposedly, it was set sometime in the future, as it alludes to current cities, but no world I know would end up like this. This world has magic powers, evil queens, lost princesses, and hidden princes. Sounds like a fantasy, right? Perhaps thats what it should have been: a fantasy. As a dystopian, there are too many logic gaps, which Derting doesn't even begin to explain. Where do the powers come from? What's their purpose? Why the matrilineal monarchy? It's possible she'll get around to it later, but I doubt that. I believe she's hoping we'll just close our eyes and go along with it.

What originally was an intriguing concept, the idea of languages being barriers, soon got mushed into typical YA tropes. The book was basically set up for a romance, one I didn't particularly enjoy. The main character, Charlie (love that name for girls, btw), is a level-headed enough girl in the beginning but quickly dissolves at the first sign of a hunk. It goes as far as there is bombs going off, and Charlie doesn't know if her parents are alive, but all she can focus on is being jealous of some innocent hand-holding. Really, now. And sure Max is good-looking, but he's borderline stalker, and he always tries to get the narrator to do things she doesn't want to do because he wants it for her. And his only excuse for this is he finds her "beautiful and intriguing." Charlie overall isn't particularly special, sure she's got powers, but she doesn't have much personality besides. Her most admirable trait is how much she cares for her sister. But I feel like whenever authors have a lack-luster character, they just make them caring or self-sacrificing, as if that's going to make up for a lack of personality. Derting's other characters were equally flat. They all had one, maybe two good traits, but they didn't feel like real people. Some characters were practically just names on the page.

The plot and writing was easy to slip into, and this book makes for a quick, absorbing read. The plot, while not entirely predictable from the get-go, had twists that smelled from a mile away. Still, it was satisfying to see my predictions come true. It makes me feel ahead of the game. Now that I look back on it, the book was fast-paced, but it wasn't particularly exciting and didn't have much action. The ending was also rather abrupt. As the pages drew closer to the end of the book, I was like "How is Derting going to finish this? We haven't even reached a climax yet..." Then it was over. And I was like "...that was it?" It just wrapped up rather quickly and safely, but there is more to come, this being a series and all.

And on a side note, I was immensely amused that the Queen, an elderly woman, had Darth Vader choking powers. I just wished she was more intimidating.

description

...more

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May 31, 2011 Donna {Book Passion For Life} rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ya-dystopian-scifi-thriller

Intriguing and suspenseful, The Pledge is a fantastic story woven behind a realistic fantasy/dystopia setting.

Charliana lives in a world that is divided by the language they speak and judged by status – the lower and higher class. If the lower class ever looks a member of the higher class in the eye while speaking their own language, the penalty for this is death. As Charliana and her family try to keep under the radar and work to the best of their ability to help her families restaurant stay af Intriguing and suspenseful, The Pledge is a fantastic story woven behind a realistic fantasy/dystopia setting.

Charliana lives in a world that is divided by the language they speak and judged by status – the lower and higher class. If the lower class ever looks a member of the higher class in the eye while speaking their own language, the penalty for this is death. As Charliana and her family try to keep under the radar and work to the best of their ability to help her families restaurant stay afloat. But Charliana is hiding a secret. Somehow she can decipher any language or text from any other class, when she’s only supposed to know her own class’s language. If anyone finds out her secret, she knows she will be in danger. So when she meets the mysterious Max who talks in a language she’s never heard before, her secret is nearly revealed, but what Charliana doesn’t know is that there is something much bigger going on and she and her family are in more danger than ever.

Why ‘o’ why did I not read The Pledge sooner? I seem to be wishing this more and more lately while I’m trying to tackle some of my own books rather around my review books. I’ve had this book sitting on my shelf since it first released – I remember one of my friends gifting it to me and me being so excited to read it and here I am like 3 years later JUST reading it. If you haven’t already guessed, yes I loved it. It was amazing and that was totally unexpected because I’ve read both of the first books of Kimberly Derting’s other series and yeah they were okay, but nothing like The Pledge. Nothing! I guess this is third times the charm right?

As I mentioned before The Pledge is a very intriguing read. From the moment I started it I didn’t want to put it down. Charlie’s world is dark and brutal and I immediately felt sorry for her. She has this gift that she can’t share with anyone other than family and being able to hear every different language, she had to be careful every minute of the day in case she slipped up. There is a lot of mystery to the story and surrounding Charlie and her family. It was pretty easy to see why the Queen wanted Charlie but then trying to discover how Max fit in to the story and who some of the other characters were and their reasoning’s, weren’t so easy. The story is full of suspense and there are so many good qualities to the story that makes it a truly enjoyable read.

So in all, The Pledge is a totally awesome read and you must read it. ...more

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Aug 09, 2011 Isamlq rated it it was ok

Shelves: arc-galley

I was curious about what type of world Charlie's would be. It started out really good too: with Queen Sabara transferrring her power. It's the same power that got me more curious. Charlie's world is a more different since that it's language that kept the people apart. I wanted to know more of Queen Sabara and her power; I wanted to know how their world worked. Sadly a good deal of THE PLEDGE deals with Charlie and Max' romance~ the same romance that developed too quickly. In fact a lot of this w ...more

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Jan 29, 2019 Kathleen rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Rating: 2.5

The insta-love is strong with this one.

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Dec 16, 2015 Avy ❄️ rated it really liked it

Shelves: all-time-favorites, my-books

OKAY, OKAAAAYYY.

Well. To start off on an honest note, I have to admit that this book was a tad slow in the beginning. I persevered though and it totally paid off!! For me, The Pledge was a perfect mix of dystopian and medieval. The fact that it's set in a futuristic setting but also implements other elements, like having queens and not really using technology, really sucked me in. Being obsessed with Medieval times myself (don't ask me why cause I'm not even sure why) I loved the whole queen an ...more

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Nov 18, 2011 Shannon rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, 2011, ya

Charlaina "Charlie" Hart is seventeen and a member of the Vendor class, the class of merchants. Her parents have a restaurant, she attends a school for vendor children, and her friends are the children of other vendors. As a member of this class, she's only allowed to speak two languages: parshon, the language of her class, and Englaise, the universal language and language of the Serving class, the lowest class in Ludania. But Charlie has a unique and very secret gift: she can understand all lan ...more

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Mar 17, 2020 Liza Koppens rated it did not like it · review of another edition

I loved the cover and the discription of the cover. I was looking for some more books for my tbr list and this book kept popping in my mind.

The characters felt a bit flat. I didn't care for the MC, her friends or what she went trough. I had a hard time following the story and more than once i had to stop reading. Turn the page back and read again becouse it felt like I missed a part.
Three pages being vague about what a letter to the MC said (who read it when we where in her head, and only I as I loved the cover and the discription of the cover. I was looking for some more books for my tbr list and this book kept popping in my mind.

The characters felt a bit flat. I didn't care for the MC, her friends or what she went trough. I had a hard time following the story and more than once i had to stop reading. Turn the page back and read again becouse it felt like I missed a part.
Three pages being vague about what a letter to the MC said (who read it when we where in her head, and only I as the reader didnt know what it said) to have it finaly be revield and have the felling that the past pages were a waste to read.

I noticed I kept looking how far I was in the book, knowing if I didn't power trough I would stop reading.

The MC's "super power" if you can call it that was pretty much useless, her sister was way more interesting (power wise).
The story felt like it drag along while dumping plot progression on my head with no explenation, forshadowing or logic.
There was even a point where I joked to myself about something, that was compleetly impossible in my mind to have it happen...
It felt like the writer used plot twist for the sake of shoking you, what yea sometimes it did, most of the time I felt like I missed something and after spending most of my time rereading I just skipped some stuff when I didn't understand.

The world felt weird and I could hardly imagene it beiing lived in.
Things that where explained made no sence to me. And the epilogue trew me for such a loop it left a bad after taste in my mouth. It felt like a waste of 3,5 good hours I could have spent reading an other book.

Everything went so fast, I did not undersatand the story at all. And it was more of a chore to read than becouse I wanted to.

O god and the villan... She was just evil for the sake of beiing evil. And her chapters just took away the little bits of tension there could have been. O yea next chapter I will.... And this happend to the MC, dont forget to use the verry evil queen to tell the reader she now knows more about her, but ssst the mc doesnt know.
And the chapters of the other karakters too. Just no. When I finaly was able to force myself to start looking trough the MC's eyes... We switchesd characters and got told what was happening behind her back, what someone thought of her, why they did what they did.
i dont want to know you like her... Just show it! I dont need you to tell me oh no this unknown person needs to know more about her... I noticed okay. I dont mind some explenations here or there that I might have missed but this was just to much. From no information to I'm telling you what you just read to im telling you what will happen. It was infuriating.

Would not read again, will not be reading book 2 and will not reccomend. ...more

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Jan 05, 2012 Tara rated it it was amazing

Set in a post-apocalyptic society--in what I can only assume used to be the United States--17 year old Charlie has a secret. Unlike everyone else in her class, or in any other class, she understands other languages--a sin punishable by death if discovered. It's a secret so important, she hides it from everyone, including her two closest friends, only to be discovered by someone else who could be more dangerous that she'd like to admit.

I cannot say enough good things about this book. It's the fir Set in a post-apocalyptic society--in what I can only assume used to be the United States--17 year old Charlie has a secret. Unlike everyone else in her class, or in any other class, she understands other languages--a sin punishable by death if discovered. It's a secret so important, she hides it from everyone, including her two closest friends, only to be discovered by someone else who could be more dangerous that she'd like to admit.

I cannot say enough good things about this book. It's the first book by Kimberly Derting that I've read, and it won't be the last! I happened to come across this book by chance at the library, and picked it up by chance. Boy, am I glad I did. Kimberly trusts that her readers are smart enough to pick up the clues she leaves for them, without explaining everything she writes right away. Her way of describing the scenes she lays out is detailed enough that you can picture the world that Charlie is in, without overdoing it.

Time after time, the plot would twist just enough to catch you by surprise, but after remembering the clues she left for you, it's not entirely unbelievable. In fact, once discovering these truths, the book as a whole is even more enjoyable. I was a little disappointed by the conversation that seemed to happen throughout the book between Charlie and Max. ("What's going on?" "I don't know" "Yes you do") I feel as if she could have showed the readers what she was getting at there more than these blatantly obvious conversations. Other than that, I was pleasantly surprised by the twists and turns in the plot ,rather than expecting the ending as soon as I figured out the plot (I promise you, you'll be surprised at least once).

I would love to give it 5 stars, especially since this is my first book review, but I can't. The ending just seemed to quickly resolved. This is a complaint I have for most YA novels. There is a lot of buildup, figuring out the characters, setting the scene, etc. However, once everything is in a place, it feels like a race to the finish line, and "TA-DA!" The End.

Least Favorite Character: Charlie's Parents.
Why? They weren't really in the story enough for me to form an attachment to them. I feel like the only interaction I had with them was through Charlie's memories, and once instance in the very beginning of the book. Other than that, they were pretty much non-existent until the very end. I don't think I would have disliked them as much if they weren't such a big part at the end, but they were a big part of Charlie's motivation, that I just couldn't go along with. There was also a memory of her father that was never explained. It was just one sentence, and not at all important to the story, but I remember it because she mentioned it in a way that made it seem like she would get back to why that memory was so important..

Favorite Character: Max.
Why? Kimberly kept you guessing. Like most YA books, he's the hot guy who likes the girl no one has noticed before...but he has a reason. It's explained why he shows an interest in her, while keeping his own secrets hidden. There's tension between the characters as they both struggle to figure out the other, and keep their own secrets hidden. It was also a roller coaster ride for me as I tried to figure out his character...could he be trusted or not?

My Blog: http://yamagicpages.blogspot.com/ ...more

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Mar 02, 2011 Mariya rated it it was amazing

Shelves: dropped-series, young-adult, prince-or-king, dystopian

I held the letter, vividly picturing the six words written inside the folds. Six words that I already knew by heart. Six words that meant more to me than they should. I unfolded the top third of the paper, then the bottom, purposely keeping my eyes unfocused for just a moment. My heart stopped.

THE PLEDGE was one of the best dystopian books I have read this year. I didn't expect to fall madly in love with Max, the book. But I was unable to put the book down until I was flipping to the very la ...more

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May 24, 2012 Merary rated it liked it

Shelves: stalkers-creep-me-out, paranormal, fantastic-fantasy, i-was-expecting-better, activate-insta-love, ya, most-anticipated, royalty-and-or-aristocracy, awesome-villains, dystopia

I've never read The Body Finder and I don't have any intention to do it. When I realized that The Pledge was from the same author, that didn't discourage me to read it because the plot premise sounded interesting.

One thing needs to be clear: This is not dystopian and shouldn't be considered as such.

Do I see paranormal powers in a distant future? Eeeh, I don't think so. Division of people by the language they speak? Possibly.
This is plain fantasy, period.

And also, monarchy in the distant future i ...more

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Apr 29, 2014 hal rated it it was ok

Shelves: coulda-been-better, never-reading-again, atrocious, young-adult, books-in-series, so-very-disappointing, summer-of-2014-reading

I was seriously contemplating giving this one star. The Pledge had an interesting premise, but it utterly failed.

The sole reason I didn't give this one star was Xander and Brooklynn. They were definitely the most interesting characters (far more so than Max and Charlie) and if the story was written from one of their perspective, it would have been so much more fun to read.

I really didn't like Charlie. Something about her rubbed me the wrong way. But I hated Max a hundred times more than Charlie. ...more

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Nov 15, 2012 Andy rated it it was ok

Shelves: trash, 2018-read, reread

WOW I AM SO DISAPPOINTED!

I read this book like 8-10 years ago or something and I freaking adored it so much. It was like the BEST BOOK EVER. HOW WAS I SO WRONG!?

This book really annoyed me. Like the plot was super choppy and the characters were quite ridiculous. Especially Charlaina and Brooklynn. Brooklynn's defining quality was that she was "boy crazy". I'm not even kidding, it says exactly that. She was described this way so many freaking times that I wanted to hit something. Then, to make ma ...more

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May 10, 2012 Jonababez rated it really liked it

Shelves: owned-books, book-boyfriend

Captivating. Moving. Engaging. This is a really good dystopian world. However, I was a bit surprised to know that it has fantasy in it. It reminds me somehow of Cinder by Marissa Meyer, they both have the same heroine, hero and villain qualities.

This book is hard to review without spilling some spoilers. Ugh. It has all a dystopian world can have - war, resistance, ruler, and danger. It's one dangerous world. But I love everything about it. I can't believe how I easily became attached with all t ...more

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Dec 30, 2013 Abby rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Charliana can read, hear and speak other languages. All of them. Including those she shouldn't know. But when a mysterious Max appears, will she be exposed for who she really is?

This book drags on, and on, and on. It's at such a slow pace, it's redonculous. And the plot. Oh geeze, the plot is stupid. I can't believe I gave this book my time. Charliana, why are thou so annoying?

The only thing I liked was that it was dystopia and YA, but I didn't enjoy it. ...more

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Jul 15, 2014 Colleen Houck added it

Shelves: magic, another-world

Another fun and interesting series by Kimberly Derting! The different languages and the rules regarding them was such a new idea. Loved Charlie and Max. As usual the characters are very well developed. I feel like I know them well enough to recognize them on the street if they appeared. =) On to the next book in the series.

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Nov 07, 2011 Heidi rated it liked it

Three Stars The Pledge is a fresh introduction to Kimberly Derting's new, dystopian series.

A cheer squeals from the mob squeezed around the main square of Ludania. A wave of bodies clawing and pushing to peer at the imminent execution. In Ludania, Queen Sabara rules the land with an indomitable, iron fist. The slightest infraction, such as failure to divert your eyes when addressed by someone of a higher class, will earn you a one way trip to the gallows. It is a land organized into a caste syst ...more

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Oct 01, 2017 Danielle (The Blonde Likes Books) rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya

This was a really interesting premise for a dystopian book, and I loved it! Charlie lives in a society separated by languages. Each class has it's own language, and lower classes are not permitted to to speak languages of the higher classes - they aren't even supposed to understand them. Charlie has a secret though...she can understand all languages, and she doesn't know how or why.

As her country is in the midst of an uprising, she meets mysterious Max, who speaks a language she's never heard b ...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
What's the Name o...: SOLVED. YA Fantasy book about girl who's family owns a restaurant and she gets seperated from her family by a war her and her little sister end up with the rebels. [s]	9	27	Mar 09, 2020 07:09AM
What's the Name o...: SOLVED. Fantasy: Dying Queen changing bodies with her young daughter. [s]	4	23	Aug 23, 2019 06:17AM
Challenge Corner: The Pledge by Kimberly Derting -> Starting April 7th, 2018	10	4	Apr 07, 2018 04:06PM
YA Buddy Readers'...: The Pledge (The Pledge #1) by Kimberly Derting - Restarting April 5th 2018	18	145	Apr 07, 2018 03:40PM
SQHS Sci-Fi/Fanta...: The Pledge by Kimberly Derting	3	4	Jun 08, 2017 02:07PM
The Challenge Fac...: Shantal & Jenn - The Pledge	14	12	Jan 10, 2017 07:36AM
YA Rebellion: The Pledge Buddy Reads	1	7	Mar 30, 2015 04:07PM

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About Kimberly Derting

Kimberly Derting

5,040 followers

Kimberly is the author of the award-winning THE BODY FINDER series, THE PLEDGE, and THE TAKING trilogies. She is also the co-author of the popular "Loves Science" picture book series, featuring our favorite science-loving superstars Cece, Libby, and Vivi!

Her books have been translated into 15 languages, and both THE BODY FINDER and THE PLEDGE were YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults selections.

T ...more