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A review by em_harring
The Pledge by Cale Dietrich
3.0
[2.5 stars rounded up]
There's the bones of a great story in this book. Unfortunately, the writing pulls it down quite a bit. It's so repetitive and underdeveloped. It kind of read like a first draft. I think with some cutting of extraneous information and more practiced, mature writing, Dietrich could tell some fantastic queer horror stories.
This is very much a story to read if you like cheesy B horror slashers a la I Know What You Did Last Summer or Sorority Row. There's not a whole lot of characterization and it's pretty melodramatic, but that's the nature of this specific type of slasher, so I can't fault it that.
I will give it credit for being way more violent that I thought it would be given that it's YA. It's very stabby, which I loved. I also loved how wholesome the fraternity was; it was honestly very adorable.
Overall, always down to support queer horror, but I do wish the writing had been a bit stronger. A fun way to pass an afternoon, but it's not a story that's going to stick with me.
There's the bones of a great story in this book. Unfortunately, the writing pulls it down quite a bit. It's so repetitive and underdeveloped. It kind of read like a first draft. I think with some cutting of extraneous information and more practiced, mature writing, Dietrich could tell some fantastic queer horror stories.
This is very much a story to read if you like cheesy B horror slashers a la I Know What You Did Last Summer or Sorority Row. There's not a whole lot of characterization and it's pretty melodramatic, but that's the nature of this specific type of slasher, so I can't fault it that.
I will give it credit for being way more violent that I thought it would be given that it's YA. It's very stabby, which I loved. I also loved how wholesome the fraternity was; it was honestly very adorable.
Overall, always down to support queer horror, but I do wish the writing had been a bit stronger. A fun way to pass an afternoon, but it's not a story that's going to stick with me.