Book Recommendation: The Pledge by Kimberly Derting

It's been more than a year since I first read this book. Been waiting for the sequel all that time. And now The Essence is finally out; although my copy hasn't arrived yet. But hopefully tomorrow. So I decided to re-read The Pledge. Even though I seemed to remember most of the book, it had been a very long time since I first read it, and I wanted to read it again. I'm so glad I did. Because The Pledge is an amazing book. I loved it very much. The Pledge is a book that is easy to fall in love with again and again.

I have always loved a pretty book cover. So the minute I saw this book I knew I needed to read it. And yeah. I wasn't disappointed. This book isn't just a pretty cover. It's so much more. It's about Charlaina, Charlie, and her life. We get to learn a lot about her. She lives with her parents and her little sister, Angelina. I loved them both. Angelina was so sweet, and I loved everything that we learned about her. I don't really like parents, but these were alright. They were very protective of them, which was good.

Charlie is an amazing person. She's kind and sweet. And protective of her family. She works at the family resturant, and goes to school. She's a very kind person. She's also kind of fun as well. She lives in the country of Ludania, where there are strict rules. Where a Queen is ruling. There are laws for everything. Which languages the people speak defines how they'll live. If someone else is speaking their language you are not allowed to look them in the eye, if you do, it's a death sentence. Kind of awesome.

There are a lot of other rules too. I enjoyed reading about them all. Charlie is different, though. People can only speak two languages in this book. Engalise, or their spoken language. But Charlie can speak them all. Well, she understands every spoken language. Which is dangerous, and can get her killed. I loved reading about it. It made Charlie even more special, and I very much loved her. She's unique and all kinds of awesome. I loved her relationship with her family and friends, Aron and Brooklynn.

It might seem like there could have been a romance between Charlie and Aron, but there isn't. They are just very good friends without any romance. Which was good. I also liked her best friend, Brook. She was very sweet and kind of fun. But she was also a bit dumb, and I didn't love her. She annoyed me a few times. And I might have thought that Charlie forgave her a bit early near the end, but I also understood her, cause Brook is her best friend. I liked their friendship a whole lot, which was good :)

Charlie and Brook is at this club. This is where we meet Max. He seems a bit scary to Charlie at first, but she also finds him attractive. She's curious about him. We also get a few pages from his point of view. He's curious about her as well. Max is an amazing person. I loved reading about him. Also realized while re-reading The Pledge that there aren't enough romance. Hoping for a lot more in The Essence :) Anyway. Max is protective and kind and charming. Lies a bit much, but I understood why he did.

This is where the story starts. And I won't say much about the story, I think. I don't won't to spoil anything, since the book is just over 300 pages long :) And I want you to read it. I really, really do. Anyway. This book is kind of about a rebellion against the Queen and the way she's making everyone live. It's an awesome rebellion. Even though I didn't like Xander much at all. It was all so amazing to read about. I also loved reading about the very old Queen. She was kind of awesome. And creepy and evil.

The story in this book is really great. It's about a whole lot of things. There is also a romance there. And Charlie and Max is just so perfect together. And I loved the romance between them. It was so good and sweet and real. And yeah. I might need much more. Even though the next to last sentence in this book is really great ;) The Pledge has it all. Great writing. Amazing characters. Perfect story. So sweet romance. Yeah. You really need to read this book. You must. I'm hoping my copy of The Essence will arrive very, very soon, like tomorrow. Cannot wait to read it. It will be perfect, I think. Cannot wait :)

My old review of The Pledge. Book Depository. Kimberly Derting.