When Jade Eby Isn't Writing...

Originally posted at my blog Chasing Empty Pavements

This was my first Kimberly Derting novel even though I’ve seen her books around EVERYWHERE on the blogosphere but I’m super glad this was the first one because I really liked it!

The Good: First of all, I’m always up for a good Dystopian read and The Pledge did not disappoint. I loved that the ruler was a queen and that she was portrayed as ruthless. To me, there seems to be this notion that Kings or Men are the merciless, terrible and violent villains but women can be just as evil if you give them the space to be that way. Queen Sabara is awful in this novel, she is like a parasite that crawls underneath your skin and all you want to do is get rid of it. I loved the characters that Derting brought to life for us. Charlaina aka Charlie reminds me so much of the girl next door. While I love the kick-ass female main characters…she’s not so much like Katniss but more like a normal girl that really wants to protect her family. I like that. I also dug the triangle of men that seemed overly invested in Charlie’s safety. Until the middle-ish of the book, I couldn’t decide if I wanted her to be with Xander, Max or Aron but I’m happy with the way things turned out. I thought they were all great male characters. Even the goons protecting Max are great! I especially loved the characters of Angelina (Charlie’s sister) and Charlie’s best friend Brooklynn. They both were subtle side characters with a lot of meaning to them. They each had an important role in the story and I liked that Derting was able to maintain that importance without having to play them more dominantly in the story. I thought the pacing and action were done very well, and I LOVE the way the novel ending…ambiguously. It left the right questions lingering and I can’t wait for the next book in the series!

The Bad: I really didn’t think there is too much negative to say about this book and this is more of a wish rather than a “bad,” but I really wanted more character development of Max, Xander and Brooklynn. I really loved them, but I think I would have been even more invested in them if I had a little backstory or a little bit more development on them.

Overall, I really liked this novel and I’m lucky that I am actually a Pledge Street Teamer!! I will for sure be going to the local library and schools to tout this book! I give it an A!