The Pledge (YA)

The Pledge. Kimberly Derting. 2011. Simon & Schuster. 336 pages.

From the prologue: The air crackled like a gathering thunderstorm the moment the girl entered the chamber. She was just a child, but her presence changed everything.

From chapter one: I gritted my teeth as Mr. Grayson's voice grew louder and louder, until there was no mistaking that he meant for the people in the congested street to hear him, despite the fact that he knew full well they couldn't understand a single word he spoke.

I just LOVED The Pledge. I did. From the very start, this one had me hooked. The prologue was great at setting the tone and atmosphere of this one. And once the novel started, it just kept getting better and better!!!

The heroine of The Pledge, Charlaina, (Charlie) has a secret, a BIG, BIG secret that only her closest family members know. For if her secret was revealed, she could be killed. Her secret? Well, she understands all the languages--both spoken and written--no matter what the class. In her world, in her society, EACH class has their own language. The classes communicate together using Englaise, but each class has their own language that is their own. It keeps everyone in place, in line. You're never to make eye contact with someone in a higher class, you're supposed to show the most formal respect at all times. And that includes NEVER looking up when someone is speaking in a different language than you're own. So Charlie has grown up having to be super-careful. She can't let on that she understands every single word uttered in her presence. But her secret is becoming trickier to hide--perhaps she's grown a little too confident? Regardless Charlie's secret becomes known to one or two others...and what they do with that knowledge, well, it changes everything...

So I don't want to say too much about this one. It's such a great book. The world created by Kimberly Derting is oh-so-fascinating. And the storytelling was quite good too. I found myself caring about these characters so much. It was almost impossible to put this one down!!!

Read The Pledge

• If you're a fan of science fiction, dystopia
• If you want action, adventure, mystery, drama, and a little romance in your dystopia
• If you are looking for an intense read

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews