Review: The Pledge

Title: The Pledge
Author: Kimberly Derting
Series: The Pledge #1
Release Date: November 15th, 2011
Number of Pages: 323
Publisher: Margareth K. McElderry
Source: Bought

In the violent country of Ludania, the classes are strictly divided by the language they speak. The smallest transgression, like looking a member of a higher class in the eye while they are speaking their native tongue, results in immediate execution. Seventeen-year-old Charlaina has always been able to understand the languages of all classes, and she's spent her life trying to hide her secret. The only place she can really be free is the drug-fueled underground clubs where people go to shake off the oppressive rules of the world they live in. It's there that she meets a beautiful and mysterious boy named Max who speaks a language she's never heard before . . . and her secret is almost exposed.

Charlie is intensely attracted to Max, even though she can't be sure where his real loyalties lie. As the emergency drills give way to real crisis and the violence escalates, it becomes clear that Charlie is the key to something much bigger: her country's only chance for freedom from the terrible power of a deadly regime.

The premises for this book really got me intrigued. A world where the classes are delimited by language? Seriously? I thought it was a really great idea. Okay, I may be slightly biased, as I’m taking linguistic classes and I love languages, but still, I just had to read it. Plus, I love dystopian!

I was really excited at first to read it, but I have to say that it took me some times to really get into the story. There are so many things to set to make the world believable that it made the first few chapters a little slow, but one it got really started; I simply couldn’t put it down. The only downside to that is that the story ended being a little too short for me. I want more, I still want more (can’t wait to read the sequel). The ending was a little rushed for me, but I still love it. I just wished it could have a few more chapters to satisfy my thirst for this world.

The characters in this book all seems to have hundred of secrets. They all seem to be much more than what they may appear like. I really like following Charlie. I love her devotion to her family, especially to her little sister. She showed so much strength to protect it. I liked her two friends, Aron and Brook, but I have to say that I preferred Aaron at first, but Brook got more interesting as the novel went on. Max really got me curious, as he was such a mystery to me. I didn’t really guess the truth about who he is.

I really enjoyed this book. This is the kind of book that will please most dystopian lovers, as it is a great new idea of a dystopia. It was addicting for me, and I think that once you are past the first few chapters, you won’t be able to put it down.