The Pledge by Kimberly Derting
Apr. 18th, 2016 03:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe 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?
17-year-old Charlaina Hart lives in the far future in a totalitarian state ruthlessly controlled by Queen Sabara and which is rigidly divided into classes, each class being assigned its own language. It is forbidden for a member of a lower class to look at or acknowledge someone from a higher class when they’re speaking their class’s language and anyone who breaks the law is executed. Charlaina is able to understand every language spoken in the city but she has to keep it secret, even from her closest friends, Brooklyn and Aaron.
Then Charlaina meets Max, an army officer who seems strangely drawn to her and who speaks a language that Charlaina has never heard before (and yet one that she understands perfectly). Max tells Charlaina that he wants to protect her but that he thinks she can be the key to making the changes that their society so badly needs. Charlaina doesn’t want to trust him – she knows that he’s keeping secrets – but she can’t stop thinking about him and as events begin to spiral out of her control, she needs allies if she’s to protect her own life and those of the people she loves …
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.
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.
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?
17-year-old Charlaina Hart lives in the far future in a totalitarian state ruthlessly controlled by Queen Sabara and which is rigidly divided into classes, each class being assigned its own language. It is forbidden for a member of a lower class to look at or acknowledge someone from a higher class when they’re speaking their class’s language and anyone who breaks the law is executed. Charlaina is able to understand every language spoken in the city but she has to keep it secret, even from her closest friends, Brooklyn and Aaron.
Then Charlaina meets Max, an army officer who seems strangely drawn to her and who speaks a language that Charlaina has never heard before (and yet one that she understands perfectly). Max tells Charlaina that he wants to protect her but that he thinks she can be the key to making the changes that their society so badly needs. Charlaina doesn’t want to trust him – she knows that he’s keeping secrets – but she can’t stop thinking about him and as events begin to spiral out of her control, she needs allies if she’s to protect her own life and those of the people she loves …
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.
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.
