Author Kimberly Derting
Kimberly Derting is the author of the BODY FINDER series, THE PLEDGE trilogy, and THE TAKING (coming April 2014 from HarperTeen). She lives in the Seattle area, with her husband and three children, who often find the outrageous things they say either in the pages of her books or posted on Twitter or Facebook for the entire world to see.
Review: The Pledge
I had never heard of Kimberly Derting before I found this book as a free read on amazon. It sounded different and interesting so I got it for my Kindle. There it sat on my ever growing "to be read" list for a long time. Then I signed up for a blog book tour to review The Offering, the third book in the Pledge trilogy. So of course I brought it up on my kindle and started to read. I didn't stop reading until I was done. If you've ever had a book hangover then you know what I mean when I say I was a walking zombie for half of the next day but it was SO WORTH IT!
The Pledge was a very unique take on a Dystopian world. I really liked the world created in the story. It was so easy to picture everything being described. The story very smooth in it's progression. The book captured me in the very first chapter and held me enthralled until the very last page. Although the characters seemed a little predictable to me at first I soon found out that I was so wrong! As the story progresses the characters become so much more than I thought at the beginning.
The reason I write reviews is because I love the books that I read and I want to share how I feel about a book so that maybe someone will read my review and think "That book sounds great I now I want to read it.". I also write reviews to let the author know that I feel as passionate about reading their stories as much as they do when writing them. It's my way of saying thank you for your time, sweat and tears. Thank you for letting me in to your mind and your imagination.
When I choose to pick up a new to me book I always read a few reviews just to get a feel for what others thought about the story. I read the good reviews as well as not so good then I threw all of that out the window and dove in to find out for myself.
I was really surprised to find so many three star reviews for this book when I had heard so many good things about it. This Pledge in my opinion is a six star book! Hear are a couple of reasons why reasons why:
*this part of my review is going to contain a couple spoilers I usually try to stay away from them if I can but I think this has to be said. So if you haven't read the book yet please feel free to skip the rest of my review*
I love all of the little things about this story. The subtle things that if your not paying attention you miss.
For example when Brook finds out Aron has been taken and tortured by the queen. Right then you realize that the real reason she doesn't want him to go out with her and Charlie at night is because she doesn't want him to see her flirting with other guys to gain info because her feeling for him are much more than she lets on. I really couldn't stand her as a friend until that moment.
I also like the fact that Charlie doesn't fall in love with Max the first time she lays eyes on him. I think the relationship is set at a really good pace for the story to unfold. a lot of YA books I've read lately rush right into love, lust and trust. I believe trust has to be gained for true love to take root and Kimberly has done a great job building the trust between the two characters.
All I can say is this book was AMAZING! I recommend it to anyone looking for some thing new and original. I also recommend you take the off to read it because once you pick it up there's no way you'll put it down until the end.
Review: The Essence
From being born a vendor's daughter to becoming queen and falling in love with the handsome prince sounds like a perfect Cinderella story but for Charlie it's anything but. Especially when the evil queen has become literally her own personal inner demon.
The Essence starts off very soon after The Pledge ends. I'm reading the trilogy back to back and found the transition from book one to book two perfect. I love this series for it's originality. I'm liking the evolution of the characters as well as the new characters introduced in this part of the story.
The Essence has a very different, but equally terrific, vibe to it. I was drawn in to the story right away. I was a little sad that Max wasn't a big part of the story but I understood why that was and how it moved the story in the way it needed to go.
Review: The Offering
I would first like to say received an ARC copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed the girl power that was prominent in this book. I loved the relationship that the three lead girls shared. It's nice to see self-sufficient women fighting battles and going through struggles without the help of a man. Sometimes I get so sick of how needy heroins have become in books so this was a nice switch from needy and dependent to strong and self- reliant.
Charlie faces a lot in The Offering. New foes, allies turned foe, troubles in her own country, and her own inner demon that is Sabara. Not to mention the fact that she is still a very new queen trying to prove herself time and time again.
Although I would have liked more of Max and Charlies' romance back in this book that didn't happen. I would have liked to become more and more attached to Max. I really liked him in the first book. I felt liked his character was kind of put aside to show Charlies' independence and how no matter how much she loved him she had struggle with everything in her life alone.
Like The Pledge and The Essence, The Offering grabs you and sucks you in from chapter one and holds you captive until the end. I loved the flow of the story and I just couldn't put it down.
I do have to say that this book has one downfall that is absolutely the same as every other great ending to a trilogy. It's the end of a trilogy.....There should be a law that states: "There is no such thing as the end for great characters, the author MUST keep writing the story". But of course there is no such law so for all of us crazy fan readers out there sometimes we just have to bow our heads and say good bye.
All joking aside this was a great trilogy and I'm sad it's over.
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