The Pledge by Kimberly Derting

The Blurb On The Back:

Seventeen-year-old Charlaina knows she has exceptional but perilous powers.

In the far future, in a land controlled by an aged and ruthless queen, the classes are strictly divided by the language they speak. Even acknowledging a member of the ruling class while they are speaking their native tongue is punishable by death. Charlie can understand all languages, a secret she must protect to stay alive.

When she meets the alluringly handsome Max, who speaks in a language she hasn’t heard before, she is intensely attracted to him. Max believes that Charlie is the key to something bigger and he pledges to protect her. But as war descends, can she trust him?

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Kimberly Derting’s YA dystopian novel (the first in a trilogy) has some great ideas – particularly those about language and communication and how it can both bring people together and keep them apart – but the romance element is shallow (essentially based on love at first sight) and the rebellion plot doesn’t have enough time to develop, relying on a number of plot jumps and reveals that didn’t really satisfy me. This is a shame because there is some good writing – notably the relationship between Charlaina and her younger sister, Angelina and Charlaina’s friendship with Brook. Unfortunately I found Max to be an underdeveloped character – there’s no real basis shown for his feelings for Charlaina or his motivation in protecting her. Similarly, I found the resistance underdeveloped and I wasn’t completely sure what they planned to achieve after overthrowing the Queen (who I found two-dimensional). I have to admit to also being a little bored the idea that only a queen could rule the country and wished that there had been more exploration of ways to make democracy work (although this may come in later books). I’m not sure whether I’d continue with this trilogy but I will check out Derting’s other work.

Silenced by Kristina Ohlsson

The Blurb On The Back:

Fifteen years ago a young girl was brutally attacked as she picked flowers in a meadow near her parents’ Swedish country home. The crime went unreported; the victim silenced.

Cut to the present. It is a bleak February morning in Stockholm, when Alex Recht’s federal investigation unit is assigned to two new cases.

A man has been killed in a hit and run. He has no identification on him, he is not reported missing nor wanted by the police. Investigative Analyst Fredrika Bergman has the task of finding out who he is.

At the same time, a priest and his wife are found dead in their apartment. All evidence suggests that the priest shot his wife and then committed suicide. But is that all there is to it?

Two different cases, seemingly unrelated. But it is not long before the investigations begin to converge and the police are following a trail that leads all the way back to the ‘90s, to a crime that was hushed-up, but whose consequences will reach further and deeper than anyone ever expected.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

The second in Kristina Ohlsson’s BERGMAN & RECHT SERIES (translated by Sarah Death) is a slick crime thriller that nevertheless didn’t quite pull together the threads enough to provide a satisfying ending. I hadn’t read the first in the series, but Ohlsson provides enough information so that it isn’t necessary to do so (although it would perhaps help in explaining some of the relationships – notably Fredrika’s role within the team and the tensions it’s created). Ohlsson’s got an easy style and I enjoyed the first two-thirds of the book and the way she ties the different plot lines together, utilising different points of view to provide information but leave enough mystery to keep the reader interested. Unfortunately, I didn’t think that there was enough of a pay-off to the different mysteries – in particular the revelation of the antagonist and their motivation was somewhat vague and I wasn’t completely convinced by the explanation for how it was all pulled together or why. I also felt that the storyline involving Alex’s relationship with his wife and his growing concern that his wife is keeping secret wasn’t developed enough on page to have the impact it was clearly intended to have, which is a shame because there was a lot of potential there. All in all, while this book didn’t quite come good for me, there was enough here to make me interested in checking out the rest of this series and Ohlsson’s other work.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster for the review copy of this book.

Six Of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

The Blurb On The Back:

Criminal prodigy KAZ BREKKER has been offered wealth beyond his wildest dreams. But to clam it, he’ll have to pull off a seemingly impossible heist:

Break into the notorious Ice Court
(a military stronghold that has never been breached)

Retrieve a hostage
(who could unleash magical havoc on the world)

Survive long enough to collect his reward)
(and spend it)

Kaz needs a crew desperate enough to take on this suicide mission and dangerous enough to get the job done – and he knows exactly who: six of the deadliest outcasts the city has to offer. Together they just might be unstoppable – if they don’t kill each other first.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Leigh Bardugo’s YA fantasy heist novel is an exhilarating and exuberant read set in the same world as her bestselling GRISHA TRILOGY – think OCEANS’S ELEVEN with a fantasy twist. The plot unfurls at a rollicking pace and the fun lies in how Bardugo puts obstacles in the path of her gang of thieves and shows them overcoming them. Although the gang themselves are taken from stock stereotypes, Bardugo invests enough in their backstory and relationships with each other to make you care about what happens to them – especially the apparently heartless Kaz, who I found fascinating both because of what happened to make him as he is and because of his fractious relationship with Inej and his ambitions for his future. I also enjoyed the expansion of the Grisha world and the hints of what is happening in Ravka following the dreadful civil war – this book draws more from Dutch, Chinese and Scandinavian influences in its world building and I enjoyed how Bardugo twists and makes them her own. The pace is relentless with Bardugo switching points of view to keep the action coming and seamlessly reveal backstory and as a result, I was gripped from beginning to end. The book ends with a set-up for a sequel, which I will most definitely be checking out.