The Pledge (The Pledge, #1)

The Pledge by Kimberly Derting
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Pff, I have no idea what to say about this one. It's just one of those books that's.. just a book. I don't really have an opinion on this. I didn't take any notes, which means I didn't hate it but also didn't think it was amazing. So, middle of the road three stars.

I liked the concept of the different languages for different ranks and a girl who understands them all. I don't really know what to think of Charlaina (a.k.a. Charlie). She seems nice, but I can't really see growth in her. I couldn't tell you what the changes in her are, except that she now knows a couple of (pretty big) secrets.

The reason why Charlaina could understand all languages was very obvious, but there were also a few plot twists that I didn't see coming.

The writing is nice. Not oh-my-freaking-god-this-is-so-beautiful nice, but also not awful. It makes the story flow easily and can be pretty at times, so bonus points there.

One thing I feel a little torn about is the romance. The romance isn't the lead of the story, which I liked. All to often there are novels hinting at a plot, but said plot is suddenly gone when the love interest appears. But there are also quotes like this one in the book:

He frightened me just as much as he intrigued me.

This isn't a good sign. if someone frightens you, get the heel away. If someone frightens you, you do not love him. This is NOT a good message to send out to all the teenagers who read this. Dear everyone who reads this, if someone frightens you, stay away from him/her. It's not love. Seriously.


I liked the ending. It was predictable what would happen, of course, but still nicely done. The novel could be a stand-alone, but there is also hinted at a series (which it is). But I really like novels that are stand-alones within a series, instead of three blubbery no-plot books because the author or the publisher or whoever demanded a trilogy, resulting in crappy books.

So, not sure what to think about this one, but it's a nice read.