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hyakimth_'s review
dark
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Kidnapping, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail
jesthemess's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Violence and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Cursing, and Cancer
becandbooks's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Blood and Stalking
harveyjoy53's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, Blood, Violence, and Gore
Moderate: Stalking
Minor: Child death, Cancer, and Grief
emily_mh's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I truly do not have a lot of good things to say about this book. The writing style was bad. There was so much telling and not showing, and it was flat, repetitive, and poorly edited. It completely turned me off the story. Apart from the first chapter, the plot is incredibly slow to start - as in, it doesn’t get going until you’re 1/3 of the way through which is an age for a thriller. And the book doesn’t even use that time to build side characters, so that as a reader you aren’t connected to the victims, nor do you see anyone as a compelling suspect, when the plot does get going. To top it off, the reveal was so anticlimactic. Sam just says who the murderer is when building up to a mask reveal would have been way more satisfying and slasher-like. And when his accusation is confirmed, the climax action lasts for two pages and then everything is over. Where was the final thrill?? Also, the killer is someone who is barely fleshed out as a character, and there is zero signposting to foreshadow their involvement.
The romance was dull with no chemistry. I honestly thought the LI was the murderer for a while as I couldn’t comprehend why such a poor romance was included. Also, the dynamic was fresher/RA which is something I personally find weird asf.
We get a kind of epilogue chapter which enraged me. Essentially there’s yet another killer targeting Sam, but instead of Sam being in-character (not to mention REALISTIC) and being frightened by this prospect, he’s cocky and confident to the point where he smiles over getting a death threat. This made zero sense for Sam’s character seeing as he spent the whole novel understandably deeply traumatised from his encounter with a killer. It just felt like a lazy way to write the novel out.
I do have a couple of positives among this sea of negatives. The first is that the book moderately entertained me in the end. The second is that having third person chapters where the killer targets a new victim was a good choice for the book. I could finally get a glimpse into who the victims were as characters, and it added some much needed tension.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking, Blood, Murder, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Alcohol, Cursing, and Sexual content
Minor: Vomit, Cancer, Gore, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Medical content, and Terminal illness
Major: PTSD Minor: divorce, loss of a loved onepey333's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Stalking
Minor: Cancer, Child death, and Sexual content
avidreaderandgeekgirl's review
I just couldn't get into this book. I don't know if this is because I was reading the physical book or not.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder
Moderate: Stalking
danileah07's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Murder, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Alcohol, Torture, and Stalking
Minor: Child death and Cancer
amengels's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC
Sam wants to leave his past of surviving a massacre behind him as he goes off to college. He wants to live a normal live and join a fraternity. But when his soon-to-be fraternity brothers start getting murdered by a masked killer, he knows he can't sit back and watch.
I think that The Pledge is everything you want in a YA horror novel. It was fast paced. It kept me gripped the whole time. And it had an ending that left me wanting more. Now, did the entire novel leave me wanting more, a little. I wish there was a little more development in the characters. I also wish that there were clues leading to the twist ending. Maybe other people were able to see to end, but I don't think there was a way to guess.
Sam wants to leave his past of surviving a massacre behind him as he goes off to college. He wants to live a normal live and join a fraternity. But when his soon-to-be fraternity brothers start getting murdered by a masked killer, he knows he can't sit back and watch.
I think that The Pledge is everything you want in a YA horror novel. It was fast paced. It kept me gripped the whole time. And it had an ending that left me wanting more. Now, did the entire novel leave me wanting more, a little. I wish there was a little more development in the characters. I also wish that there were clues leading to the twist ending. Maybe other people were able to see to end, but I don't think there was a way to guess.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Murder, Gore, Blood, and Body horror
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
jrharris's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder and Stalking
The Pledge is a young adult, slasher thriller with some LGBT themes through it. It focuses on Sam, who is a survivor of the Lake Priest slayings. As he tries to move on with his life by attending college, and joining a well known fraternity, he soon realizes that his past is coming back for him. This is a tough one. The premise definitely had me intrigued which is why I requested an ARC of it. This is marketed with catchphrases like “Scream meets Corn in a Cornfield.” I will say, as an avid horror fan, the horror in this is EXTREMELY tame. Nothing truly scared me. This is really more like a thriller but with the bad guy in a funny mask. I do get the Scream vibes though when it comes to Sam and other male characters that fill stereotypical horror character tropes. I think this book is decent but not revolutionary when it comes to horror or young adult. I find the inclusion of LGBT characters and themes kind of strange. I’ve seen some reviews of this book and how they enjoy that being gay is normalized in this book. There’s happy relationships, blooming romances, and they all have a lot of support for their relationships. I almost find it unrealistic though, especially in the case of being focused on frat boys, which I found had the MOST homophobic men when I was in college. If the world normalized being gay as much as it did in this book, the world would have way less problems. Overall, this is still a fun, very fast paced read. I do think it could have been fleshed out a little bit more. I found the killer reveal came out of nowhere and pretty much ended abruptly. And the epilogue made me roll my eyes a bit cause it definitely leaves it open for a sequel. It’s definitely less gory and more lighthearted than something like Clown in a Cornfield. However, if you like college themed slashers with some positive gay relationships in it, i’d recommend it. Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for the digital ARC of this book.
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