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The Essence

(The Pledge #2)

Kimberly Derting (Goodreads Author)

3.73 · Rating details · 7,912 ratings · 589 reviews

“Danger, dread, mystery, and romance” (Booklist) continue in the second book of The Pledge trilogy, as Charlie’s reign is under siege from the most unusual of enemies.

At the luminous conclusion of The Pledge, Charlaina defeated the tyrant Sabara and took her place as Queen of Ludania. But Charlie knows that Sabara has not disappeared: The evil queen’s Essence is fused to C ...more

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Hardcover, 341 pages

Published January 1st 2013 by Margaret K. McElderry

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Feb 16, 2012 Hannah (jellicoereads) rated it it was ok

Shelves: dystopia

They get on the train. They get off the train. They get on a horse. They get off the horse. They get on the boat. They get off the boat. They arrive at the castle. They leave the castle. They get back on the boat. They get back on the horse. They get back on the train.

Somebody tries to kill her repeatedly, but they're not very good.

Nothing else happens.

Seriously. I really wanted to enjoy this one, since I liked The Pledge, but I just couldn't do it. The romance was lacking, there was too much ...more

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Feb 05, 2012 Hannah-Linn rated it did not like it

Shelves: dystopian-sci-fi

I don't know....just didn't like it? ...more

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May 24, 2018 Alaina rated it it was ok

Shelves: dystopia, paranormal, fiction, young-adult, romance, sci-fi, fantasy, may-challenge-2018, supernatural

The Essence was boring to me. I definitely wanted to just skim through everything because nothing was really holding my attention. Since it's the second book in this series, it definitely fell into the dreaded second book syndrome. I wish it didn't but I didn't really like it.

Charlie, the MC, just rubbed me the wrong way sometimes. Yeah, she wanted to be this strong and independent woman.. but she should've asked for help when she needed it. Her not asking frustrated the heck out of me. I get th ...more

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Mar 27, 2018 Jenn rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, dystopian, read-in-2018, fantasy, annoying-protagonist, bored-now, 2-star-reads

Sooo...this book was kinda boring, yeah? I feel like this is going to be one of those series that could have been told in 2 books instead of 3. Nothing really happened here except a whole lot of Charlie being naive and stupid.

Ladies, you can be a strong female and still ask for help when you need it! Strong does not mean ignoring everyone else because "I can do this on my own". No, strength comes in recognizing your weakness and let me tell you, Charlie was not strong.

Following the events of th ...more

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Dec 30, 2012 Najla Madwar rated it it was ok

Shelves: dystopian, read-in-english, reviewed

If you need some kind of proof that having an inexperienced eighteen-year old girl as a QUEEN with yet another eighteen-year old girl as The Commander of The Armed Forces is such a bad BAD idea then read The Essence, it's proof enough. ...more

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Jan 10, 2013 Heidi rated it liked it

Three Stars: A good middle book, but not much plot advancement.
Charlie is struggling to come to terms with her new duties as Queen of Ludania. She tires of everyone, even her best friends, referring to her as "Your Majesty". She longs sometimes for the return to the simplicity of her old life. Yet, she has risen to the occasion and taken a firm hold on the throne. With her rein, she intends to bring peace, prosperity and equality to her kingdom. No longer are the citizens divided by class and la ...more

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Jun 29, 2018 Kayla rated it liked it

It was definitely a good read but lacked a bit of what I loved from the first book.

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Mar 20, 2012 Anjali marked it as to-read

The cover is so gorgeous...I can't wait to read The Essence but 2013? such a long wait. I hope they change the date. ...more

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Apr 26, 2012 Jessica (The Psychotic Nerd) rated it liked it

Shelves: read-in-2015, pov-girl, i-read-a-book-and-i-liked-it-3-star, school-year-2014-2015, book-series-that-are-over-with, fantasy, dystopian-and-post-apocalyptic, series-books, books-i-own, trilogies

This and other reviews can be found on The Psychotic Nerd

MY THOUGHTS
This book was very different than the first book! I didn't like this as much as the first book, but this is still a very great read!

Charlie is now Queen of Ludania, after defeating Sabara, but Sabara isn't dead. Sabara is living inside Charlie's mind and Charlie has to fight her for control. Not only is it hard for her to fight Sabara and kept it a secret. Apparently, some of her people are very unhappy with her erasing the This and other reviews can be found on The Psychotic Nerd

MY THOUGHTS
This book was very different than the first book! I didn't like this as much as the first book, but this is still a very great read!

Charlie is now Queen of Ludania, after defeating Sabara, but Sabara isn't dead. Sabara is living inside Charlie's mind and Charlie has to fight her for control. Not only is it hard for her to fight Sabara and kept it a secret. Apparently, some of her people are very unhappy with her erasing the class system. A resistance has appeared and they want Charlie dead and they don't care who goes down with her.

The first book in this series had a dystopian feel to it, but this book was more fantasy oriented. Of course, this book takes place in an entirely different world and it has a few magical elements, but the fact that Charlie is Queen now and there's no longer a tyrant rule only brings the fantasy aspect up. What I liked about this book was that Charlie's new status allowed us to see more of her kingdom and the other kingdoms. Also, it slowed realistically that when you erase laws that people have grown up with, there will be anger. Yeah, the laws were extremely controlling and cruel, but these people were used to this life. Not that I agree with their methods at all.

Also, I was fully expecting Sabara to still be alive, but I did like how the battle between them in Charlie's mind was incorporated. It was very interesting. Though, Charlie really upset me. She wouldn't tell anyone this and it was really important! Yeah, I kind of understand where she was coming from, but she should have at least told her friends or Max.

Now, I hate saying this, but there were a lot of things that I bothered me about this book. The plot was a mess for one, I felt like a lot of things were happening at once, but by the end of the book I was really questing what the point of all these ways. There was Sabara, the resistance, assassins, and a bunch of other side plots, but they felt so scattered that I really didn't see the point.

As for romance, there wasn't much. Charlie and Max love each other, obviously, but they are separated for half the book and the other half is focused on the numerous plots. If it weren't for the plots being so scattered, I would probably like that, but it was just okay. There was a random romance side-plot with some of Charlie's friends, though, that I could deal without.

IN CONCLUSION
I had issues with this sequel, but it wasn't a bad sequel. It was a bit of a mess of a middle-book with it's scattered plots, but the fantasy elements were interesting and I loved seeing more about this world. I did like this book, though not as much as the first, but I plan on reading the next book. ...more

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Oct 02, 2017 Danielle (The Blonde Likes Books) rated it liked it

Shelves: ya

I definitely didn't like this one as much as I liked the first book. This one felt like it didn't need to be it's own book, and that it could have been combined with the final book. Ultimately, that made this one feel a little more dragged out than it needed to be. That said, it did have it's good moments, and I liked it overall. ...more

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Apr 06, 2013 Christina (A Reader of Fictions) rated it it was ok

Recommended to Christina (A Reader of Fictions) by: B

Shelves: series-not-finishing

As anyone who has read my review of The Pledge knows, I was not a big fan. I had absolutely no intention of reading the sequel, but such are the joys of the Sadie Hawkins feature. Blythe wanted me to read this, so here we are. On the plus side, I didn't dislike The Essence the way I did The Pledge, largely due to the decrease in romance, but I still don't think this series is particularly impressive.

One part of The Essence is super cool, and that is Charlie's relationship to the queen she displa As anyone who has read my review of The Pledge knows, I was not a big fan. I had absolutely no intention of reading the sequel, but such are the joys of the Sadie Hawkins feature. Blythe wanted me to read this, so here we are. On the plus side, I didn't dislike The Essence the way I did The Pledge, largely due to the decrease in romance, but I still don't think this series is particularly impressive.

One part of The Essence is super cool, and that is Charlie's relationship to the queen she displaced. At the end of The Pledge, Charlie took over from Sabara, but, in so doing, Sabara's essence became part of Charlie. Now, Charlie can here Sabara's voice in her head, and dreams Sabara's memories. In moments of weakness, Sabara can even assume control of Charlie's body for brief periods of time and sway Charlie's emotions.

The interplay between Charlie and Sabara is fascinating, and it's the sort of mindfuckery that I appreciate greatly. Charlie can never be entirely trusted, and her feelings can be hard to separate from Sabara's. I like, too, that Sabara becomes a bit more complex and sympathetic here than she was before, as Charlie dives into her memories. Similarly, Charlie becomes more interesting as Sabara's presence in her mind starts pushing her into a crazy, evil direction. Charlie's character arc reminds me of Anakin slowly sliding into Darth Vader, which is awesome.

What made me dislike The Pledge so was the pathetic, illogical world building (which is still weak) and the romance, which is nauseating. Thankfully, Sabara messes with some of the fairy tale perfection of Charlie's relationship with Max. Even better, they're hardly together during the course of the book. The few romance scenes that do transpire are pretty cheesy and eyeroll-inducing, but are kept to a minimum.

For the most part, though, the awesome mind stuff aside, there's really not a whole lot that happens in this book, other than Charlie being an utterly crap queen. Though I admire Charlie's goal of removing the punishing social hierarchy, she does so in a really stupid way: all at once. Nor does she have the infrastructure prepared to deal with backlash. Surprise, things don't go well. She spends the whole book ineffectually running from an assassin and trying to avoid having to go to her queen lessons. Despite skipping her lessons and remembering the few she attended, she is praised by everyone, except the ones who want to kill her, for her marvelous queenship. She's just speshul that way.

The perspective largely follows Charlie in first person, but does switch to a couple of other characters in third person limited. I'm rarely a fan of this technique, and this is no exception. The reason she's done this is because Brooklynn, Charlie's friend and the head of her guard, split up for much of the novel. Still, I find some of the perspective-hopping entirely needless. For example, there was one scene from the perspective of the mole in the guard, intended to add tension, but that could have been conveyed just as effectively by someone finding the body. I'm a firm believer in not hopping into a perspective just once, and, if she needed both Brooklyn's and Charlie's, going with first person on both would seem a wiser choice.

All told, I wouldn't say this was a terrible book, but I still really can't personally recommend this series, because there's so much better out there to be read. A resounding meh to The Essence. ...more

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Jun 09, 2012 Tracey rated it it was ok

Shelves: science-fiction, young-adult-fiction, goodreads-giveaway

an advance copy of this book was provided by Simon and Schuster through Goodreads

THIS REVIEW WILL ONLY MAKE SENSE IF YOU'VE READ The Pledge

I vaguely remember reading the first book The Pledge. I looked back on what I said about it and my memory was jogged about how I didn't love it or hate it. I liked it enough to read the second one. I wish I didn't. I found myself screaming at this book all day. It's a shame that I had to bring in the new year reading this, it was exhausting.

The first book end an advance copy of this book was provided by Simon and Schuster through Goodreads

THIS REVIEW WILL ONLY MAKE SENSE IF YOU'VE READ The Pledge

I vaguely remember reading the first book The Pledge. I looked back on what I said about it and my memory was jogged about how I didn't love it or hate it. I liked it enough to read the second one. I wish I didn't. I found myself screaming at this book all day. It's a shame that I had to bring in the new year reading this, it was exhausting.

The first book ended with Charlie defeating the evil queen Sabara and taking the throne. This book starts with a prologue about a queen plotting Charlie's death. Then you're reunited with all the oldies but goodies. Charlie is dealing with a dark secret while Brooklyn, Charlie's best friend, is dealing with her traitorous father who wants the old caste system back. And that's the only two things that are interesting. Charlie's secret is that ~~Sabara's essence is still alive inside Charlie~~ .

I can't remember if that was hinted at in the end of the first book but this particular conflict for the heroine is what made me dislike this book. It's not Sabara that I have a problem with, it's Charlie. She is so fucking annoying. All of the decisions she makes about her secret are stupid. They only make more bullshit for her to deal with and it was unnecessary. Most of the issues Charlie and everyone around her deal with are Charlie's fault. What good has ever come from keeping a secret in a young adult book? Nothing, that's what. I just can't stand that Charlie lets herself be victimized BY HERSELF.

And because I couldn't stand this book enough, a weird love triangle is thrown into the story. Yay!!! That's exactly what I didn't need. It was random and poorly put together. I didn't understand why Charlie needed another love interest. She has enough problems with someone trying to kill her and the uprising that's happening inside her kingdom. That would have been enough to keep me reading. I didn't need this teenage melodramatic bullshit.

To end the review, I just want to say that I will be reading the third book. I'm two books in. I might as well finish the series. Here's hoping the Charlie dies in the next book! ...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Jacqueline's Reads rated it it was ok

2 Stars

One word to describe The Essence would be BORING or maybe ANNOYING. Book 2 picks up where book 1, The Pledge left off. Note, if you haven’t read book 1, I would suggest NOT reading this review. I remember liking The Pledge until the ending. When I found out Sabara was stuck in Carlaina (Charlie) in The Pledge I was 100% grossed out, regardless I still liked the characters and decided to continue with book 2, The Essence.

I don’t even know if there is a summary to The Essence, I would just ...more

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Oct 06, 2012 B rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-reviewed, almost-fell-asleep, gimme-the-next-book, judge-a-book-by-the-cover, i-totally-saw-that-coming, 2013-reads, blog-tour

Warning: This review contains spoilers for The Pledge

And the streak of sequels that outshine their predecessors continues!

This time the streak is continued with, obviously, The Essence, sequel to The Pledge which, while I enjoyed overall, left me with mixed feelings. However, despite The Pledge leaving me with mixed feelings, I went into The Essence with high expectations after the conclusion of The Pledge, and I am thrilled to say that most if not all of those high expectations were met by the ...more

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Jan 06, 2012 Vaishnavee rated it it was ok

Picking up a few months after The Pledge, we find that Charlie - I mean, Queen Charlaina - has settled in quite nicely into her new life, her transition from Charlie, the Vendor's daughter to Queen Charlaina going smoothly except for a few tiny bumps. But, is the road to a happy kingdom smooth? Or does a certain Queen and her past catch up with Charlie?

Starting, for a change, with the negatives.....Charlie had yet to become Queen Charlaina de Heyse. I've seen zero character development throughou ...more

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Jul 15, 2016 Avy ❄️ rated it really liked it

Shelves: my-books, all-time-favorites

All right. Again, just like The Pledge, The Essence started off slow and a little frustrating. It took me a while to finish this one, but I did keep going (albeit slowly) because I really did want to see how it ended.

Charlie really pissed me off a few times, to be honest, and I felt like screaming at her too many times to count throughout this book. I mean, all she kept doing was digging a bigger hole for herself every few chapters.

The ending may have made me scream like a banshee, read chapte ...more

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Jan 11, 2015 Charlie rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult, scribd

I really enjoyed this. I'm not compleetly obsessed but it was a ncie fun read. The last 25% was actually pretty great.

Is it wrong that I'm liking Sabara more and more? I know she's the villain here but I just really like her. She's very determined and more than a little crazy. I Kinda like her more than Charlie.

I enjoyed book 1 more than this book but I'll probably still finish the series as it was an enjoyable read. ...more

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Jan 22, 2012 Kari marked it as to-read

I can't believe I have to wait a year for this book!!! If Charlie and Max aren't together when it's all over I'll be very disappointed. ...more

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Mar 10, 2012 Nicole marked it as to-read

I'm not sure whether I actually want to READ this or not, since I thought The Pledge would've been amazing as a standalone novel. Oh well, I dunno. I'll probably give it a shot anyway. ...more

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Mar 29, 2013 Ashley rated it did not like it

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

The first book was okay, I'm in the middle of the third one and it is so far also okay. This one...skip it. You won't miss much. Find some spoilers. Or don't.

Issues:
I hate books where teenagers are all of a sudden in power. Not even going to try some sort of regency? Maybe not let her change things she's clueless about for a bit? Charlie is never queenly or smart, she's basically a pouty idiot the whole book. And who makes their BFF the head of the army with zero experience? Brooklyn w Wamp wamp.

The first book was okay, I'm in the middle of the third one and it is so far also okay. This one...skip it. You won't miss much. Find some spoilers. Or don't.

Issues:
I hate books where teenagers are all of a sudden in power. Not even going to try some sort of regency? Maybe not let her change things she's clueless about for a bit? Charlie is never queenly or smart, she's basically a pouty idiot the whole book. And who makes their BFF the head of the army with zero experience? Brooklyn worked with the resistance for a while. Big deal. They weren't doing military drills or whatever. Pretty obvious that is a mistake when Brooklyn doesn't even know how to make a search party to find Charlie.

Charlie's parents- first off, does her mother ever speak? In the last book she's the one who did the baking and smelled like bread. Now all of a sudden it's the father? Why exactly? I know that only queens are supposed to rule, but her father is in line for the throne, maybe he needs to be helping his daughter instead of making everybody eat more bread?

If you're looking for Max, he's not here. At the end of the first book they're sharing a bed. Now, they barely share a scene. But don't worry, there's a love triangle.

Why is the author so obsessed with Eden's moods? Every time we here how Eden's moods affect a room. okaaay. Is that a power or something? What's the point except that it seems she'd make a pretty terrible body guard since you could always 'feel' her.

Sydney-Knew Sydney was doomed as soon as Charlie says they hadn't seen each other since the takeover but they were acting like long lost pals. They spent like a day trying not to die together. Haven't tried to see each other since, but they're so close!! Seems like a strange move politically as well. Wouldn't having friends from each of the classes be a wise political move? Which is why she is dead. And come on, Charlie keeps the picture of herself looking dazed sitting by Sydney's body because it's the only picture she has of the two of them? Well that's...different.

In the end we realize that Sebastian is the traitor. No way! You mean pretty much the only new character in the castle? And seriously, how stupid was he for using the flag of the queen he served as a bandanna. That's both the epitome of stupid, and disrespectful of the flag. Really, now that I think about it, he really didn't do too much bad. He killed a guard I guess. That's pretty much all.

The journey they obviously had to take, because it's a second book and all, was lame. They're supposed to be going to this grand summit to talk about queenly things...eight weirdo's had a ball. And if they were all so strange, why did Charlie have to learn anything at all. None of them seemed inclined to follow any rules of etiquette. And really, shouldn't Sabara remember it all? The attempt to introduce a gay character is also pretty lame. Ohh, that queen is wearing a bedazzled pantsuit! Scandalous.

Brooklyn- She was a terrible friend in the last book. A point Charlie finally realized. We're told Aron specifically ignored her because he could see through her. Little bit of revisionist history happening now. Now he's always there for her and they like each other? Brooklyn as a commander is ridiculous. She's more concerned with whatever Aron is doing and even drinks on the job. And speaking of...Aron withstood torture for Charlie but he has no official title? He did a lot more than Brooklyn ever did.

Floss- redneck risks his life to save his queen, but is apparently too calloused to name a young girl that's lived with his family for years?

And in the end, everyone is mad at Charlie. And for what? She finally did something. Four men were trying to kill her baby sister. As she took them down one at a time the next would reach for her sister. But how dare she kill them? What was she supposed to do? Maybe instead of Brooklyn being mad that her father was killed she should be grateful that with a traitor for a father she still has a job at court and be glad to be rid of the man who tried to kill a four year old. ...more

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Nov 10, 2013 Marie rated it really liked it

Shelves: princes-and-princesses, good, powers

Before I read this I re-read The Pledge and honestly? I didn't like it as much as I remembered. The books are quite short, but the cliffhanger in the first book was good enough to get me to buy this one and to carry on with the series.
I did like this one. I mean there was a little more going on and kept you interested but I didn't get the rush of excitement or that connection with the book. I don't overly love the characters. I have had a complete turn around with this book as I remembered lovi Before I read this I re-read The Pledge and honestly? I didn't like it as much as I remembered. The books are quite short, but the cliffhanger in the first book was good enough to get me to buy this one and to carry on with the series.
I did like this one. I mean there was a little more going on and kept you interested but I didn't get the rush of excitement or that connection with the book. I don't overly love the characters. I have had a complete turn around with this book as I remembered loving The Pledge last year, I gave it five stars, but re-reading it and reading this this year I liked it, but not loved it. My favourite books list is now quite competitive to get on. With series disappointing me on the last book, some favourites being pushed down to 'liked' as better books pushing my expectations and standards up. My favorite book list is now a coveted place for books.

I did like this sequel though, it's been interesting and I will read the next. I just won't be going out of my way to, when I stumble across it and haven't got an interesting book at the ready I will make time for it.

In this book we find out what it means and what implications it has for Charlie that Sabara's essence is still in there deep within her. Is the old Queen all she was made out to be? A cold, heartless, monster or was there a reason that drove her to pass her essence on and on essentially killing her daughters/granddaughters. And if there is does that reason justify her for these killings?
Charlie begins to make changes to the queendom, changes that lead to a new system and a new way of life for all of the kingdoms residents, changes that don't appeal to everyone especially the higher class and those changes lead to a revolt, a revolt surprisingly led by someone to close for comfort and it puts her in danger. I think the question I had burning in me from The Pledge was.. When do Max and everyone else find out about Sabara? And her still being 'alive' within Charlie. Is it just a matter of time before she takes over, will Charlie be stong enough to expel her or will she try and influence Angelina to say those few magic words. ...more

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Jan 12, 2014 Anna Marie rated it did not like it

You know it's bad when you get halfway thru and find yourself asking, "Can't we be done, like, now?"

In this second book in the 'The Pledge' series, Charlie is now queen. But she's not queen by herself - the queen who tried to take over her body is *IN* her body, with her. So the entire book is Charlie whining by day about how lousy she is at queening and how TIRED and BORED she is, and by night she has internal arguments with the ex-queen inside of her. As the ex-queen gets stronger and stronger ...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Sarah rated it liked it

Shelves: owned, dystopian, magic, ghosts, alternating-pov, politics, historical-fiction, 2013, 3-stars, series

The Good

Sabara. I love the internal struggle Charlie has with Sabara. Sabara's past is wildly interesting, but I wish there was more focus on her. I am hoping the final book will give more insight into the evil queen's past.
The terrorists. Equality seems all well and good to most people, but every time huge changes happen in a government you are going to have at least a small group of people who don't want change and like things the way they are. The presence of terrorists in t ...more

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Nov 03, 2011 ajia rated it really liked it

The sequel was okay. It didnt pull me in right away and i was a bit confused about what was going on for the first part as i had forgotten the events of the last book, so it took me a while to get into it.

Charlie is now queen but has the spirit of the old queen imprisoned in her body. The is quite a hard situation for her and i felt sorry for her. She seemed more or less the same to me in this book as the last one with no particular character development.

Max unfortunately who i did really like ...more

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Mar 01, 2012 Giselle rated it liked it

Shelves: genre-romance, genre-dystopia, genre-science-fiction, bought-in-store, 2013, 3-star

Liked this but not as much as the first book, The Pledge. There was still that air of mystery that I enjoyed and the pacing is still on point, but I felt it was still disjointed. There was a bit more of the previous queen's back story which I enjoyed but I still didn't understand why she really wanted to stay. Was it truly for her love or was it for more for a selfish reason?

I found both Charlie and Sabarra's thoughts to be jarring and misplaced. Especially at the end.. Charlie changing or was t ...more

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Jan 28, 2012 Nina {ᴡᴏʀᴅs ᴀɴᴅ ᴡᴀᴛᴇʀ} rated it liked it

Shelves: utopian-dystopian, comfort-zone

This took me a while to read. And while I enjoyed it, I guess, it took me a while to read therefore it didn't feel as good as it could have been. Again, the world building could have been done much better. Also, there was not enough Max in there at all, and too much Niko. Though considering Niko and Sabara's relationship it makes sense. Overall, the plot was interesting. While I liked Charlie, there were moments were I couldn't help but roll my eyes.
I totally wanted more Max and Charlie action. ...more

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Apr 18, 2012 Riya rated it it was ok

Shelves: dystopian, the-pledge-love, january-2013

MMM.. YUMMY COVER. ME LIKEY. Absolutely loved The Pledge #1--- the wait for this is going to be pure torture! ARGH.

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Jan 23, 2022 Brittany rated it it was ok

As much as I like the general idea of the world/world building, this one ABSOLUTELY suffered from second-book-syndrome. Looking at other reviews, it’s clear I’m not alone in this takeaway. There’s a lot of traveling where not much happens, most characters are very one-note and shallow, the queen summit is a simple ball and not much else, and the ‘traitor in their midst’ is projected loudly since the beginning so even the twist is very nothing-burger. I have the third book, so I’ll finish the tri ...more

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Mar 06, 2013 Hylary Locsin rated it it was ok

Originally posted on my blog: http://libraryladyhylary.blogspot.com ! Check it out for more reviews!

Now that she is settling into her newfound role as the queen of Ludania, Charlie is struggling to cope with unrest in her troubled kingdom. The caste system that used to strictly divide the country by language has been abolished, and Charlie, Max and Brooklynn are trying to ensure that the transition to equality goes smoothly. Unfortunately, not everyone in Ludania is thrilled about what Charlie h Originally posted on my blog: http://libraryladyhylary.blogspot.com ! Check it out for more reviews!

Now that she is settling into her newfound role as the queen of Ludania, Charlie is struggling to cope with unrest in her troubled kingdom. The caste system that used to strictly divide the country by language has been abolished, and Charlie, Max and Brooklynn are trying to ensure that the transition to equality goes smoothly. Unfortunately, not everyone in Ludania is thrilled about what Charlie has done. Threats against the queen are uncovered on a daily basis, making Charlie fear for the safety of her family, especially her younger sister, Angelina. Charlie’s biggest threat, however, is not something outside the castle walls, but lives deep inside of her: the essence of the evil queen Sabara, the one Charlie supposedly killed to become queen, is trapped in Charlie and wants nothing more than to get out. The longer Sabara’s spirit lives within Charlie, the more their thoughts and memories become linked, and Charlie soon realizes that there is much she didn’t know about the former queen of Ludania. What do the dreams of Sabara’s previous lives mean? Why does Charlie find herself drawn to a mysterious strange, Niko Bartolo, from a neighboring kingdom? Can Charlie keep the presence of Sabara’s essence within her a secret from the people she loves?

Following the popular first installment in The Pledge trilogy, veteran author Kimberly Derting continues her latest series with The Essence. Beginning shortly after the events of the previous novel, Charlie, the vendor’s daughter turned queen of the kingdom of Ludania, finds herself in a series of increasingly dangerous situations. Her people aren’t as crazy about her as she’d hoped they be, it seems like someone is trying very hard to kill her, she’s not that into being treated like royalty, and the spirit of the evil queen Sabara, who also happens to be her boyfriend’s grandmother, is living inside of her. A lot of Charlie’s spunk that was present in the first novel is absent in the wake of all of these challenges, turning her from a likable leading lady to a bit of a whiner. Things go from bad to worse when Charlie is sent to a summit where the queens of neighboring kingdoms meet to discuss official business and try to out shine one another. Charlie doesn’t know the etiquette that the other queens have had years to learn, plus her trip is especially rocky considering that someone really wants her dead. Much of what was enjoyable about the first novel, the dystopian nature of Ludania, the caste system, Charlie’s budding romance with Max, is completely absent in the sequel. While The Essence isn’t necessarily a poorly written or “bad” story, it’s drastically different from its predecessor, making it unclear if fans of The Pledge will like it. For readers who don’t mind the story veering off from a mix of adventure and dystopia into full on fantasy territory, The Essence will prove to be an entertaining read. For those who aren’t into battles, commanders, armies, and dead queens, however, the likelihood of enjoying the novel enough to pick up the third and final installment is slim.

I seem to keep being disappointed by sequels to novels that I really loved and, unfortunately, The Essence is yet another sophomore slump for me. The Pledge was a really interesting and entertaining story, with the language-based caste system, Charlie uncovering her role as heir to the throne of Ludania and her relationship with Max. In The Essence, Charlie is now a bit of a brat, whining constantly about all of the issues she has to deal with as queen. The plot is also slow and never seems to pick up a lot of speed at any point in the novel. I hope that the author can turn the series around with an excellent third novel, but I’m sorry to say that my hopes aren’t very high.
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May 16, 2012 Sarah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2013, books-i-own-print, for-review-read, books-i-own-kindle

I really enjoyed the first book in Kimberly Derting's dystopian fantasy series and I've been looking forward to reading The Essence for a year now. I have to admit that it's been so long since I've read The Pledge that I was a little hazy on the finer details of what happened in the story, I knew I'd enjoyed it and I remembered the main plot but I had trouble remembering who all of the minor characters were and was a little worried that was going to reduce my enjoyment of the next book. That is I really enjoyed the first book in Kimberly Derting's dystopian fantasy series and I've been looking forward to reading The Essence for a year now. I have to admit that it's been so long since I've read The Pledge that I was a little hazy on the finer details of what happened in the story, I knew I'd enjoyed it and I remembered the main plot but I had trouble remembering who all of the minor characters were and was a little worried that was going to reduce my enjoyment of the next book. That is one of the hazards I'm finding now that I'm reading so many different series and having to wait a whole year between each instalment, especially since I, unfortunately, no longer have time to reread series before I start the latest book. Thankfully in this case Kimberly Derting did a great job of jogging my memory about the important things and within a few chapters I was fully sucked back into the world she has created.

Charlie is now the new queen of Ludania (after winning against Sabara at the end of the last book), she has been ruling for several months and is determined to bring about equality for all of her citizens. Where people were previously separated by a class system and not even allowed to speak the same language she has decreed that everyone must speak the common language and people will be allowed to do whatever jobs they would like. While this has gone down well with the people from the lower classes it hasn't been a popular move with those who think they are above the rest of the citizens. There has been a lot of resistance and the protests are becoming more and more troublesome. Charlie isn't only faced with trying to keep the peace within her realm though, she must also face meeting the rulers of the other kingdoms and see if she can gain important allies for herself and her people. It quickly becomes clear that someone is working against her but it is hard to know where to turn or who she can trust. As if that wasn't enough to deal with Charlie is also fighting an internal battle, Sabara wasn't completely destroyed and a part of her is buried within Charlie, fighting to take control.

You have to admire Charlie for the changes that she is trying to make within her country, she wants all of her people to have the same opportunities and she is determined for make that happen. This makes her incredibly popular with half of the citizens but resented by the rest. A change that big isn't going to happen overnight and she has many enemies who want to make sure she doesn't succeed. I enjoyed seeing how she interacts with the people around her and how she struggles with people treating her as the queen. She is used to being a normal girl and hates having people bow down to her but it is something she knows she will have to get used to. It was also interesting to see how she reacted to the rulers of the other realms, she seems to have made some interesting allies but you have to wonder how much of what people are saying to her is really the truth and how much is them just keeping her onside while they work out how they can use her.

One thing I did find a little disappointing was the fact that we don't see that much of Max in this instalment. I understood why that was the case but I missed the budding romance between him and Charlie because I love them as a couple. I was a bit worried that we might be seeing the beginnings of a love triangle with a new character who is introduced but it didn't go as far as I feared it would and I have high hopes for more of Max and Charlie in the last book of the trilogy. The Essence is a great story and a book that fans of The Pledge are sure to love. I'm now going to spend the next year looking forward to the final instalment! ...more

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About Kimberly Derting

Kimberly Derting

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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.

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