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The Pledge #1-3
The Pledge Trilogy: The Pledge; The Essence; The Offering
The complete Pledge trilogy, a dark and romantic blend of dystopia and fantasy, is now available in a collectible paperback boxed set.
In The Pledge, seventeen-year-old Charlaina lives in Ludania, a country stratified by a caste system divided by language and ruled by the cruel tyrant Queen Sabara. But Charlie has a secret skill, and as clashes escalate between the totalitarian monarch and the rebel forces, Charlie might be her country’s only chance for freedom. And though Charlie lays claim to the throne in The Essence, the influence of the evil Sabara does not disappear. Faced with the ultimate betrayal, Charlie must turn to an unexpected resource for help—and to an unexpected ally for love. Then when peace negotiations go awry in The Offering, it seems the only option to secure Ludanian freedom is for Charlie to sacrifice herself. But things aren’t always as they seem. Is Charlie walking into a trap?
Full of danger, intrigue, and blood-rushing romance, this gripping trilogy is sure to satisfy and makes an ideal gift.
In The Pledge, seventeen-year-old Charlaina lives in Ludania, a country stratified by a caste system divided by language and ruled by the cruel tyrant Queen Sabara. But Charlie has a secret skill, and as clashes escalate between the totalitarian monarch and the rebel forces, Charlie might be her country’s only chance for freedom. And though Charlie lays claim to the throne in The Essence, the influence of the evil Sabara does not disappear. Faced with the ultimate betrayal, Charlie must turn to an unexpected resource for help—and to an unexpected ally for love. Then when peace negotiations go awry in The Offering, it seems the only option to secure Ludanian freedom is for Charlie to sacrifice herself. But things aren’t always as they seem. Is Charlie walking into a trap?
Full of danger, intrigue, and blood-rushing romance, this gripping trilogy is sure to satisfy and makes an ideal gift.
- GenresFantasy
1024 pages, Paperback
First published October 20, 2015
2 people are currently reading
171 people want to read
About the author
Kimberly Derting
42 books5,023 followersKimberly Derting once wanted to be a “foxy lady trucker” but changed her mind when she took 7th-grade journalism and discovered writing. She hasn’t looked back since.
She’s the author of award-winning young adult novels, including The Body Finder series, The Pledge trilogy, and The Taking trilogy. She’s also co-written many popular picture books, including the Loves Science series, the Farm Friends series, and Penny: The Engineering Tail of The Fourth Little Pig. Her first solo picture book is Baby Steps: A Picture Book For New Siblings.
Her young adult books have been translated into over 15 languages, and both THE BODY FINDER and THE PLEDGE were YALSA's Best Fiction for Young Adults selections. Her picture books have received starred reviews, been Amazon book-of-the-month picks, and were featured in Good Housekeeping.
These days, Kimberly lives in the Pacific Northwest, where she watches WAY too much Netflix, orders 20-pound boxes of Nerds gumballs from Amazon, and loves to complain about the rain even though she lives in Seattle, where it rains ALL of the time! You can find her online at www.kimberlyderting.com
Note: I'm the worst about checking my Goodreads email...I apologize if I don't get back to you! If you need to reach me, try emailing me at kim(at)kimberlyderting(dot)com
She’s the author of award-winning young adult novels, including The Body Finder series, The Pledge trilogy, and The Taking trilogy. She’s also co-written many popular picture books, including the Loves Science series, the Farm Friends series, and Penny: The Engineering Tail of The Fourth Little Pig. Her first solo picture book is Baby Steps: A Picture Book For New Siblings.
Her young adult books have been translated into over 15 languages, and both THE BODY FINDER and THE PLEDGE were YALSA's Best Fiction for Young Adults selections. Her picture books have received starred reviews, been Amazon book-of-the-month picks, and were featured in Good Housekeeping.
These days, Kimberly lives in the Pacific Northwest, where she watches WAY too much Netflix, orders 20-pound boxes of Nerds gumballs from Amazon, and loves to complain about the rain even though she lives in Seattle, where it rains ALL of the time! You can find her online at www.kimberlyderting.com
Note: I'm the worst about checking my Goodreads email...I apologize if I don't get back to you! If you need to reach me, try emailing me at kim(at)kimberlyderting(dot)com
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 16, 2016
Originally posted on Books & Bottles.
The Pledge trilogy – overall – I found it to be pretty meh. The more I actually think about the plot of this series, the more I find wrong with it... I was really looking forward to reading these, the covers are absolutely gorgeous (this may or may not have been the reason that they were purchased – shhhh don’t judge), the concept sounded promising, and they’ve been sitting on my shelves forever. When I read book one, I was underwhelmed and if I hadn’t already owned book two, this may have been a one book review. The writing was okay, the story was okay, and the characters were okay. If I had to sum up The Pledge in one word, you can probably guess what it would be… Okay. The only thing that was more than okay was the concept – that was amazing. The world was well developed, and the rules of the society were well defined and explained, but I can’t help feeling that Derting just kind of dropped the ball on everything else. To my surprise and gratitude, the writing did improve in books two and three, thank god. Though you can still look forward to sentences like this gem right here:
“The air on the docks was filled with the smell of fish and body odor and wet dog and dirty snow, none of which Brook cared for.”
– Kimberly Derting, The Essence
Other than the lack of commas where there should be commas, there were two big things that really took away from this series for me. The lack of character development and the plot holes. I won’t go incredibly in depth, because I don’t really feel up to writing another book report like I accidentally ended up doing with my Magonia review… But here’s the gist of my rant:
Charlie was so naïve and weakly written. Somehow, to me, she came across weak even when she was doing something that took strength… I have no idea how Derting managed to accomplish this but bravo. In book one she is utterly oblivious and it is incredibly annoying. The reader should not be able to connect the dots THAT much faster than the main character. By midway through The Offering (book three FYI), it almost seemed as if Charlie had finally grown a bit of a backbone – I had no idea how she managed to stand up straight through everything prior to this.
Most of the other characters in this series are extremely one dimensional and convenient. Take Max for instance, the love interest for our dear Charlie. Throughout the entire series, we learn basically nothing about him other than the fact that he joined the army and loves Charlie for some reason (beware of instant love – just add water). By not developing such a main character, I ended up caring very little about their relationship. When looking at Angelina’s character, Charlie’s little sister who has the power to heal and to tell instantly if someone has a deceptive soul, it felt like the only reason Angelina was given that second power was so that the author didn’t have to actually show through the characters actions whether or not they should be trusted. She didn’t have to waste time developing relationships and trust between the characters, seeing as Charlie could just accept them based on an instant. I could keep going but we’re entering long-winded territory. Sooo moving on…
There were several big plot holes throughout the series that I just couldn’t ignore. It’s one thing when a book asks you to forgive small things, but some of what happens in The Essence literally makes no sense. At one point there is a plot to get Charlie away from her palace and guards in order to assassinate her, but the assassin is already alone with her daily in the palace with no guards present… ? Does this bug no one else? Most of The Essence felt like filler information, a ton of it has no bearing on the actual story of the book at all. Charlie travels to another Queendom to attend a summit with the other queens in hopes that she may be able to negotiate for resources to help establish Ludania. These queens are flimsy and easily forgettable characters, Derting basically chose one characteristic each and that sums up all that they are. The big bad for book three is introduced at this point , and it is completely obvious to everyone, except Charlie of course, who should win the championship for World’s Most Naive Individual.
Basically the whole series was extremely predictable, and so much went unexplained for the sake of convenience and storytelling. But when it comes down to it, if you can hold your tongue and just enjoy the story without questioning it too much, then I’m sure you will enjoy this trilogy. You are a much stronger person than I am.
The Pledge trilogy – overall – I found it to be pretty meh. The more I actually think about the plot of this series, the more I find wrong with it... I was really looking forward to reading these, the covers are absolutely gorgeous (this may or may not have been the reason that they were purchased – shhhh don’t judge), the concept sounded promising, and they’ve been sitting on my shelves forever. When I read book one, I was underwhelmed and if I hadn’t already owned book two, this may have been a one book review. The writing was okay, the story was okay, and the characters were okay. If I had to sum up The Pledge in one word, you can probably guess what it would be… Okay. The only thing that was more than okay was the concept – that was amazing. The world was well developed, and the rules of the society were well defined and explained, but I can’t help feeling that Derting just kind of dropped the ball on everything else. To my surprise and gratitude, the writing did improve in books two and three, thank god. Though you can still look forward to sentences like this gem right here:
“The air on the docks was filled with the smell of fish and body odor and wet dog and dirty snow, none of which Brook cared for.”
– Kimberly Derting, The Essence
Other than the lack of commas where there should be commas, there were two big things that really took away from this series for me. The lack of character development and the plot holes. I won’t go incredibly in depth, because I don’t really feel up to writing another book report like I accidentally ended up doing with my Magonia review… But here’s the gist of my rant:
Charlie was so naïve and weakly written. Somehow, to me, she came across weak even when she was doing something that took strength… I have no idea how Derting managed to accomplish this but bravo. In book one she is utterly oblivious and it is incredibly annoying. The reader should not be able to connect the dots THAT much faster than the main character. By midway through The Offering (book three FYI), it almost seemed as if Charlie had finally grown a bit of a backbone – I had no idea how she managed to stand up straight through everything prior to this.
Most of the other characters in this series are extremely one dimensional and convenient. Take Max for instance, the love interest for our dear Charlie. Throughout the entire series, we learn basically nothing about him other than the fact that he joined the army and loves Charlie for some reason (beware of instant love – just add water). By not developing such a main character, I ended up caring very little about their relationship. When looking at Angelina’s character, Charlie’s little sister who has the power to heal and to tell instantly if someone has a deceptive soul, it felt like the only reason Angelina was given that second power was so that the author didn’t have to actually show through the characters actions whether or not they should be trusted. She didn’t have to waste time developing relationships and trust between the characters, seeing as Charlie could just accept them based on an instant. I could keep going but we’re entering long-winded territory. Sooo moving on…
There were several big plot holes throughout the series that I just couldn’t ignore. It’s one thing when a book asks you to forgive small things, but some of what happens in The Essence literally makes no sense. At one point there is a plot to get Charlie away from her palace and guards in order to assassinate her, but the assassin is already alone with her daily in the palace with no guards present… ? Does this bug no one else? Most of The Essence felt like filler information, a ton of it has no bearing on the actual story of the book at all. Charlie travels to another Queendom to attend a summit with the other queens in hopes that she may be able to negotiate for resources to help establish Ludania. These queens are flimsy and easily forgettable characters, Derting basically chose one characteristic each and that sums up all that they are. The big bad for book three is introduced at this point , and it is completely obvious to everyone, except Charlie of course, who should win the championship for World’s Most Naive Individual.
Basically the whole series was extremely predictable, and so much went unexplained for the sake of convenience and storytelling. But when it comes down to it, if you can hold your tongue and just enjoy the story without questioning it too much, then I’m sure you will enjoy this trilogy. You are a much stronger person than I am.
Displaying 1 of 1 review