10) The Pledge by Kimberly Derting

The Blurb :

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.

My Thoughts :

I am really enjoyed Kimberly Derting's Body Finder series and when I saw she had another book out I had to give it a go. Although it sounded totally different to her other series I decided that her work had been so good that I had to check this one out too. Some authors just make an impact on you and you just need to read more.

From this start this story caught my attention. It was miles away from the Body Finder books and was on another level completely. The post-apocalyptic aspect of The Pledge made itself know pretty quick and the small details the author kept throwing in to add depth to the world stuck with me and had me grabbing for more. I was pretty much hooked within a few chapters and couldn't wait to see where the author took this Maria V. Snyder/Suzanne Collins mix.

Where as the story started off being interesting, exciting and extremely cool it started losing its appeal towards the middle. Things started to get predictable and certain parts of the story began to annoy me. Then all of a sudden I started to wonder how the author would tie things up. as the audio book was nearly running out. It felt close to an end but I felt like there should be more. Then all of a sudden it was over and I was left feeling unsure about the whole thing.

There were certainly a lot of good things about this book and the unique idea of languages splitting the people and a young girl with the power to understand them all was only the tip of the iceberg. However this lacked the superb writing style that I have enjoyed in the Body Finder series. Also the story always seemed to stay on the same level. It never really reached a wow and hardly managed more than a Ahhh...

All in all this was a very impressive story but it left me slightly disappointed. I have now seen that this is set to be a series and I am curious to how that will proceed because for me this could have been a one off. Everything that could have happened did happen with a nice happy ending. Yes a tiny part was left open but it wasn't enough for me to be hoping for a sequel. Will I bother with the next part? Most likely. I am sure my curiosity will get the better of me but I won't be rushing out to get a copy.

Worth checking out if you like the author and this kind of story. I particularly liked the audio version and thought the narrator did a very good job.