The Pledge (The Pledge, #1) in And So It Begins Reading Challenge

Mar 27, 2011 Ezmirelda marked it as to-read

Why are all the new dystopian YA bookss coming out in November?

-Legend by Marie Lu

-Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

-Angel Aria by Marrianne de Pierres

And now this one....is November "National Dystopian Novel Month?" :O ...more

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Jan 27, 2012 Paula Phillips rated it really liked it

" My breath is my pledge to worship my queen above all others
My breath is my pledge to obey the laws of my country
My breath is my pledge to respect my superiors
My breath is my pledge to contribute to the progress of my class
My breath is my pledge to report all who would do harm to my queen and country
As I breath, I pledge".
After reading Kimberly Derting's series "The Body Finder" , hence it being a supernatural and all - I didn't know exactly what to expect with the Pledge. Was it to be another " My breath is my pledge to worship my queen above all others
My breath is my pledge to obey the laws of my country
My breath is my pledge to respect my superiors
My breath is my pledge to contribute to the progress of my class
My breath is my pledge to report all who would do harm to my queen and country
As I breath, I pledge".
After reading Kimberly Derting's series "The Body Finder" , hence it being a supernatural and all - I didn't know exactly what to expect with the Pledge. Was it to be another supernatural novel ? No , it turned out to be of the dystopian genre. The Pledge takes us into a world with a wicked Queen , who I'm sorry to say didn't care about anyone but herself . When she discovers a way to live for extended life, she snatches it up but the time has arrived and she is once again on her deathbed and needs to find a new royal and a female at that whose essence she can swallow. Enter Charlie and her sister Angelica , they are both of the Vendor class - they should only be able to understand two languages - Englaise and Parshon. They should not have any other abilities but they do and have to keep them hidden from the world , otherwise they may find themselves next on the gallows list. Charlie can understand any language spoken and Angelica we learn later in the novel can heal people and has the gift of intuition and seeing into a person's soul. Out clubbing one night, Charlie and her friend Brooklyn run into a group of guys - two in particular are attentive to Charlie. Max and Xander - they know what Charlie is and wants to protect her in the only way they can , but Max and Xander are both hiding dark secrets about themselves. Once revealed will Charlie be able to trust them or will it put Charlie and her family in danger ? Who is Charlie and what does her family have to do with the Queen, what secrets have her parents been hiding ? Are they really of the "Vendor" Class or was that a front to stay safe ?
Find out in Book #1 of Kimberly Derting's new series "The Pledge" - who will you be pledging allegiance to ?
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Nov 14, 2011 CrystalBookSnob rated it really liked it

Shelves: reviewd

Kimberly Derting is one of my favorite mystery authors! So when I got wind that she was writing a dystopia novel, I was beyond excited! The synopsis sounded amazing and I could not wait to get my hands on it and dig in! Of course I pre-ordered it; what kind of Kimberly Derting fan would I be if I didn’t!

Even though the book was really good, I felt the story was a bit lacking. I can tell you something was missing until the cows come home but I can’t really tell you what that something is. It’s a Kimberly Derting is one of my favorite mystery authors! So when I got wind that she was writing a dystopia novel, I was beyond excited! The synopsis sounded amazing and I could not wait to get my hands on it and dig in! Of course I pre-ordered it; what kind of Kimberly Derting fan would I be if I didn’t!

Even though the book was really good, I felt the story was a bit lacking. I can tell you something was missing until the cows come home but I can’t really tell you what that something is. It’s a really weird feeling to not be able to identify a missing element. But since I can’t really tell you what is missing, I’m not going to spend any more time on it. I want to tell you what I liked about this book.

I like the languages and the way they separated people in their classes. To me, it had a very “landed gentry” feeling to it (I know, I’m a history geek). Within the town that Charlie lived in, there were the rich and then there were the not so rich who I like to call part-time serfs. But I liked, it worked. Now I wasn’t sure if these specific languages were something they learned to speak as children or if they were born with the ability to speak only certain languages. It is said in the book that, over time, people had lost the ability to lean new languages which is why language classified people. I loved that element of the book.

I liked the relationship dynamic between Charlie and her two best friends. Especially her relationship with Brooklyn. For most of the book, Brooklyn is this care-free, wild spirit, partier type of girl and Charlie is always trying to make sure that she doesn’t take it too far and do something that could get her killed. But then Brooklyn totally blew me out of the water!! She is one of the most dynamic characters of the book!

And of course I loved Max! He’s Charlie’s protector, secret keeper and encourager of her destiny. And he’s tall, dark and handsome! A winning combination! Even though I liked the Body Finder more than The Pledge, it still had me on the edge of my seat so I give it four stars!
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