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jst1morechapter's review against another edition
4.0
This second instalment in The Pledge trilogy is a complicated book to review… this will most probably contain spoilers, which is something I don’t usually like doing but I’m afraid I can’t explain my thoughts and feelings about the book in any other way…
First of all - I didn’t ‘love’ The Pledge… I gave it 3.5 stars as I found it lacking in a lot of places, but the storyline was good so I thought I’d give this one a shot and see if it improved any, and yes it did in some ways, but in others it was still sorta mediocre…
Most of this book is spent travelling… on horseback, train and boat, through the Scablands where we meet new, likeable and not so likeable characters. Charlie and her crew end up at The Summit, where she meets a host of Queens from other countries who are all rather odd, she discovers that one of her men is a traitor, internally battles the Essence of Sabara for control over her body, tries to resist Sabara’s lover Niko and ends up in a bad situation with Brook’s father which doesn’t end well!
Charlie and Max’s relationship doesn’t really develop much from the first book as they spend an awful lot of it apart and, unfortunately we didn’t get much character growth from Max either… there’s also something stiff in their interactions, maybe it’s the way the scenes are written but I don’t feel much connection with them from a readers POV.
Charlie vs Sabara – I liked this element of the story a lot… I found Charlie’s struggle for power over her mind and body to be well written… the dreams/memories that Charlie experienced gave us good insight into what Sabara’s life was like and I found myself empathising with her… I also felt the passion in her and Niko’s relationship and I’m actually hoping that they get a HEA of their own, without Charlie’s body present obviously!
I knew I was gonna like Aron… we get to know him a little better in this and I’m looking forward to more from him in the next book, along with Brook of course who is probably my favourite female character, I’m also hoping her and Charlie mend their relationship as it seemed a bit bleak when I finished this…
Unfortunately there was a distinct lack of Xander in this book but I’m hoping to get more in the next one. Also, the Assassin… I guessed who it was from their chapter and was a bit disappointed with how that situation ended… hopefully it will be resolved on the final one (fingers crossed)
Anyhoo… like I said, the storyline and writing were good but, there were a lot of inconsistencies and it was only the last 70% of the book where I couldn’t put my kindle down… it’s a nice Young Adult, Fantasy Romance and I will be reading the next one shortly to see how it ends…
First of all - I didn’t ‘love’ The Pledge… I gave it 3.5 stars as I found it lacking in a lot of places, but the storyline was good so I thought I’d give this one a shot and see if it improved any, and yes it did in some ways, but in others it was still sorta mediocre…
Most of this book is spent travelling… on horseback, train and boat, through the Scablands where we meet new, likeable and not so likeable characters. Charlie and her crew end up at The Summit, where she meets a host of Queens from other countries who are all rather odd, she discovers that one of her men is a traitor, internally battles the Essence of Sabara for control over her body, tries to resist Sabara’s lover Niko and ends up in a bad situation with Brook’s father which doesn’t end well!
Charlie and Max’s relationship doesn’t really develop much from the first book as they spend an awful lot of it apart and, unfortunately we didn’t get much character growth from Max either… there’s also something stiff in their interactions, maybe it’s the way the scenes are written but I don’t feel much connection with them from a readers POV.
Charlie vs Sabara – I liked this element of the story a lot… I found Charlie’s struggle for power over her mind and body to be well written… the dreams/memories that Charlie experienced gave us good insight into what Sabara’s life was like and I found myself empathising with her… I also felt the passion in her and Niko’s relationship and I’m actually hoping that they get a HEA of their own, without Charlie’s body present obviously!
I knew I was gonna like Aron… we get to know him a little better in this and I’m looking forward to more from him in the next book, along with Brook of course who is probably my favourite female character, I’m also hoping her and Charlie mend their relationship as it seemed a bit bleak when I finished this…
Unfortunately there was a distinct lack of Xander in this book but I’m hoping to get more in the next one. Also, the Assassin… I guessed who it was from their chapter and was a bit disappointed with how that situation ended… hopefully it will be resolved on the final one (fingers crossed)
Anyhoo… like I said, the storyline and writing were good but, there were a lot of inconsistencies and it was only the last 70% of the book where I couldn’t put my kindle down… it’s a nice Young Adult, Fantasy Romance and I will be reading the next one shortly to see how it ends…
merlin_reads's review against another edition
2.0
Sooo...this book was kinda boring, yeah? I feel like this is going to be one of those series that could have been told in 2 books instead of 3. Nothing really happened here except a whole lot of Charlie being naive and stupid.
Ladies, you can be a strong female and still ask for help when you need it! Strong does not mean ignoring everyone else because "I can do this on my own". No, strength comes in recognizing your weakness and let me tell you, Charlie was not strong.
Following the events of the previous book, Charlie is now Queen. She's overwhelmed, to say the least, and unfortunately has the essence of the previous Queen, Sabara, inside of her. But instead of talking to people about this so that they can come up with some plan, she just decides to deal with it. It's the whole, if I ignore it then it will go away. Well, guess what, it doesn't. And it leads to chaos obviously because the old Queens long lost love makes an appearance and knows Sabara's essence is within Charlie. So of course, he pursues her. And of course, Charlie falls under his spell - forget about the man she loves back at home. She can handle this remember?
There are really no likable characters in this series. I only like Max and Xander because their history makes them interesting. At this point, I hope Sabara takes over Charlie completely because then maybe something would happen.
On to the final book! Yay...?
Ladies, you can be a strong female and still ask for help when you need it! Strong does not mean ignoring everyone else because "I can do this on my own". No, strength comes in recognizing your weakness and let me tell you, Charlie was not strong.
Following the events of the previous book, Charlie is now Queen. She's overwhelmed, to say the least, and unfortunately has the essence of the previous Queen, Sabara, inside of her. But instead of talking to people about this so that they can come up with some plan, she just decides to deal with it. It's the whole, if I ignore it then it will go away. Well, guess what, it doesn't. And it leads to chaos obviously because the old Queens long lost love makes an appearance and knows Sabara's essence is within Charlie. So of course, he pursues her. And of course, Charlie falls under his spell - forget about the man she loves back at home. She can handle this remember?
There are really no likable characters in this series. I only like Max and Xander because their history makes them interesting. At this point, I hope Sabara takes over Charlie completely because then maybe something would happen.
On to the final book! Yay...?
pollyroth's review against another edition
2.0
The Pledge was good. I liked it enough to read The Essence. But The Essence didn't do it for me. It got too witchy and spelly, and less weird society where languages rule. And in all honesty, palace life is freaking boring to read about. And I lost interest in the romance too. So really, I just lost interest in everything this book was about.
siobhan27's review against another edition
4.0
In this sequel to The Pledge we find Charlie is a very difficult position. Not only does she have to keep Queen Sabara in check, but she also has to deal with an uprising in defense of her new rules.
I absolutely loved this sequel because it had everything in it, action, adventure and love that is pushed to the brink. Charlie is a very flawed character and that is she ois relatable, even if the situation is something we as readers can not comprehend. She is young and asked to do things that are not meant of a teenager. She has the wishes of a Nation on her shoulders and the safety of her Family to think about.
What i found really interesting was the relationship that was being built between Charlie and Sabara. It is a complicated one but an interesting one one the less. It allows for readers to see a different side of Charlie, one that isn't so strong and isn't as sure about everything. And I really liked that.
Charlies relationship with Max was one of my favorite things about The Pledge. Not because in my head Max was smoking hot (which he was) but because it felt real. It did not happen right away and it started as a distrust more than love at first sight. And in The Essence I loved that their relationship grew. As things became more complicated for Charlie, their relationship was tested. Realism is an aspect of YA that I think gets put on the back burner in exchange for great sexual tension but we should never forget that if two characters feel real, them we are more likely to relate and therefore feel for them as they grow. And I thought that Kimberly Derting did an amazing job with that, and I cannot wait for the third installment.
4/5 Stars
I absolutely loved this sequel because it had everything in it, action, adventure and love that is pushed to the brink. Charlie is a very flawed character and that is she ois relatable, even if the situation is something we as readers can not comprehend. She is young and asked to do things that are not meant of a teenager. She has the wishes of a Nation on her shoulders and the safety of her Family to think about.
What i found really interesting was the relationship that was being built between Charlie and Sabara. It is a complicated one but an interesting one one the less. It allows for readers to see a different side of Charlie, one that isn't so strong and isn't as sure about everything. And I really liked that.
Charlies relationship with Max was one of my favorite things about The Pledge. Not because in my head Max was smoking hot (which he was) but because it felt real. It did not happen right away and it started as a distrust more than love at first sight. And in The Essence I loved that their relationship grew. As things became more complicated for Charlie, their relationship was tested. Realism is an aspect of YA that I think gets put on the back burner in exchange for great sexual tension but we should never forget that if two characters feel real, them we are more likely to relate and therefore feel for them as they grow. And I thought that Kimberly Derting did an amazing job with that, and I cannot wait for the third installment.
4/5 Stars
anedia's review against another edition
3.0
feel like the whole vibe of this book was wayyyy different from the first
vrainh20's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this one better than the first one and now I'm SOOO excited for the third :)
alexandra_0410's review against another edition
3.0
El libro uno me gusto bastante así que decidí darle una oportunidad a este. Al principio tengo que decir que fue bastante aburrido, no me acordaba de muchas cosas del libro 1 (lo cual es una red flag)
Luego de unos capítulos, el libro empezó a mejorar. La historia estuvo un poco dispersa pero se volvió interesante y empezó a existir la necesidad de saber cómo continuaba.
Eso sí me salte cada una de las escenas donde contaban los sueños que había tenido Charlie. Eran demasiado largos y me parecieron aburridos así que los deje y las ignore.
Es un libro bastante regular, no sé si lo recomendaría o no. Parecía un libro de relleno, el cuarto libro de una saga que no es tan bueno. Espero que el último libro sea mejor.
Luego de unos capítulos, el libro empezó a mejorar. La historia estuvo un poco dispersa pero se volvió interesante y empezó a existir la necesidad de saber cómo continuaba.
Eso sí me salte cada una de las escenas donde contaban los sueños que había tenido Charlie. Eran demasiado largos y me parecieron aburridos así que los deje y las ignore.
Es un libro bastante regular, no sé si lo recomendaría o no. Parecía un libro de relleno, el cuarto libro de una saga que no es tan bueno. Espero que el último libro sea mejor.
thenoveloracle's review against another edition
5.0
The Pledge/The Essence Review:
Okay so this review is for both books because when i finished The Pledge I immediately HAD to start The Essence. I really liked these books, I cannot wait for the conclusion.
My Rant:
Stupid Sabara and Niko just need to go away. I need Max and Charlie time. I hate that Angelina won't even look at Charlie now.. If my brother did that I'd cry every day. The Summit was really cool, getting to see all the different queens.
Bottom line, I started reading this book because I liked Derting's series The Body Finder. These books are completely different, and I loved them even more! I'm a sucker for a dystopian love story and adding in unique abilities, I am bound to love it. Seriously, everyone should give this trilogy a try.
Okay so this review is for both books because when i finished The Pledge I immediately HAD to start The Essence. I really liked these books, I cannot wait for the conclusion.
My Rant:
Stupid Sabara and Niko just need to go away. I need Max and Charlie time. I hate that Angelina won't even look at Charlie now.. If my brother did that I'd cry every day. The Summit was really cool, getting to see all the different queens.
Bottom line, I started reading this book because I liked Derting's series The Body Finder. These books are completely different, and I loved them even more! I'm a sucker for a dystopian love story and adding in unique abilities, I am bound to love it. Seriously, everyone should give this trilogy a try.
theskinofa_killer_'s review against another edition
4.0
It was definitely better than the first one!