Showing posts with label Kimberly Derting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kimberly Derting. Show all posts

Review: The Offering (The Pledge #3) by Kimberly Derting





My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Published December 31st 2013 by Margaret K. McElderry Books

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Synopsis:

 True love—and world war—is at stake in the conclusion to The Pledge trilogy, a dark and romantic blend of dystopia and fantasy.
Charlie, otherwise known as Queen Charlaina of Ludania, has become comfortable as a leader and a ruler. She’s done admirable work to restore Ludania’s broken communications systems with other Queendoms, and she’s mastered the art of ignoring Sabara, the evil former queen whose Essence is alive within Charlie. Or so she thinks.

When the negotiation of a peace agreement with the Queendom of Astonia goes awry, Charlie receives a brutal message that threatens Ludania, and it seems her only option is to sacrifice herself in exchange for Ludanian freedom.

But things aren’t always as they seem. Charlie is walking into a trap—one set by Sabara, who is determined to reclaim the Queendoms at any cost.

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 Review:

It's always sad to reach the end of a great series with wonderful characters. I almost feel like I'm saying goodbye to them. The exceptional writing and story shows what a gifted writer Derting is. Of the three books, this one is the weakest. It holds such character development and most of them come out better than before. Sadly Charlie didn't live up to my estimation but that is only because she's still a new queen and understanding what exactly that title means. POV's are from nearly all the characters with Charlie's still being the only 1st person.

Pro's
While the last two based themselves on saving people or the city, this one is to save Charlie's country of Ludania. From the outset, we're launched into the adventure and its sad news in the beginning for Max and Charlie when they receive an unexpected message and gift. From here on in, Charlie is focused on one thing and thats to free Max's brother from Astonia. I applauded her dedication to her friend.

Great advancements in technology are slowly bringing Ludania into the new century. This was a nice twist in an otherwise odd-medieval-modern dystopian land.

Insight into Eden's past when we meet her little brother. There's definitely a feeling of foreboding when the girls reach the work camps. Charlie realises how hard life really was for the unwanted kids.

At last, Charlie finds a way of getting rid of Sabara.

Con's
After Charlie becomes Queen and builds into her role from The Essence, she slips up in this instalment. I didn't like the way she thought she could singlehandedly take on Elena. Especially after receiving the message and the parting gift. Other characters including Max built Charlie up to be selfless, determined and brave. But when she takes Eden and Brook on her secret mission she only shows how selfish she's being. Not only does she leave her family vulnerable but also her country.

Not so many twists and turns in this one. The episode with Deirdre seemed almost as a filler.


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Review: The Essence (The Pledge #2) by Kimberly Derting





My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Published: January 1st 2013 by Margaret K. McElderry

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 Synopsis.

At the luminous conclusion of The Pledge, Charlaina defeated the tyrant Sabara and took her place as Queen of Ludania. But Charlie knows that Sabara has not disappeared: The evil queen’s Essence is fused to Charlie’s psyche, ready to arise at the first sign of weakness.

Charlie is not weak, but she’s being pushed to the brink. In addition to suppressing the ever-present influence of Sabara, she’s busy being queen—and battling a growing resistance determined to return Ludania to its discriminatory caste system. Charlie wants to be the same girl Max loves, who Brook trusts, but she’s Your Majesty now, and she feels torn in two.

As Charlie journeys to an annual summit to meet with leaders of nearby Queendoms—an event where her ability to understand all languages will be the utmost asset—she is faced with the ultimate betrayal. And the only person she can turn to for help is the evil soul residing within

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Review: 

The Essence is every bit as good as The Pledge, if not better. This sequel focuses more on Charlie, or Queen Charlaina as she now is, and her role as ruler of a kingdom. We get inside the heads of more key characters. This is a story of love, espionage, mystery and a little murder too.

Pro's
Charlie, Brook, Aron, and Max all have POV's in this one although Charlie is the only 1st person. And there's romance and lots of it! *swoon!*

Rather than base the book around keeping Angelina safe, as the Pledge was, the Essence delves into the history behind Sabara and her Essence which now lives inside Charlie. Sometimes this is spooky, sometimes I wondered how Charlie was still sane. She's a tough girl.

Max *swoon!* and Charlie! As a couple they really come out of the pages with this wonderful love affair. There may be a few hiccups on the way, it isn't all plain sailing by any means, but they really do have a beautiful love.

Lots of mystery, a kidnapping, a mysterious assassin, Florence (who's a man), Avonlea who is named by Charlie, and the Scablands. Many new characters to get your teeth into to love or detest. A great backdrop of dystopian nastiness.

The Queens! Got to love them. All so quirky but full of character and frivolity!


Con's
Not really much to Con about. Maybe wish it was longer?

Note: The ending all pulls to the next book. Not so much of a cliffhanger, more of a 'and in the next episode...'


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CB Note to readers: This is a new type of review I'm starting aimed to get to the point and exclude waffle. Points are easier to read. If you prefer this than the usual review please let me know!
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Latest Blogs from our Favourite YA Authors - 12th May 2013



Here's a round up of blogs from our favourite YA authors:

Is there an author you'd like to see updates from?
Just let us know and we'll add them to our list!
-CB xx
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Latest Blogs from our Favourite YA Authors - 27th February 2013




Here's a round up of blogs from our favourite YA authors:
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Is there an author you'd like to see updates from?
Just let us know and we'll add them to our list!
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Latest Blogs from our Favourite Authors - 1st May



Here's a weekly round up of blogs from our favourite authors:





Is there an author you'd like to see updates from?
Just let us know and we'll add them to our list!
-CB xx
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Review: The Pledge by Kimberly Derting

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Synopsis:
In the violent country of Ludania, the classes are strictly divided by the language they speak. The smallest transgression, like looking a member of a higher class in the eye while they are speaking their native tongue, results in immediate execution. Seventeen-year-old Charlaina has always been able to understand the languages of all classes, and she's spent her life trying to hide her secret. The only place she can really be free is the drug-fueled underground clubs where people go to shake off the oppressive rules of the world they live in. It's there that she meets a beautiful and mysterious boy named Max who speaks a language she's never heard before . . . and her secret is almost exposed.

Charlie is intensely attracted to Max, even though she can't be sure where his real loyalties lie. As the emergency drills give way to real crisis and the violence escalates, it becomes clear that Charlie is the key to something much bigger: her country's only chance for freedom from the terrible power of a deadly regime
Review:
So after reading the last two of her books I decided to give Dertings new dystopian adventure a try. The problem when switching from present day to fantasy is that it highlights writing flaws and there were a few here.

The story is told from 1st and 3rd point of views. The 1st is always Charlie's. But then, randomly, we have other 3rds that don't really gel or really help with the story except to fill in a story gap that the author couldn't tell from another direction. I didn't like this aspect and think its particularly lazy on the authors part. Creative writing could have helped here.

And then there's the premise of the story. We're told that there's a big war on, that refugees are entering the city for food and shelter because Queen Elena's armies are getting nearer but then its almost fogotten when we find out the truth between the attacks on the city and who's behind them. Also this 'essence' that the queen is holding in, this creep factor doesn't really come into the story either except at the end when Charlie understands the history of the Queen. But thats it! I was hoping for some backstory here but nothing came of it.

In the end its really about two sides of war trying to use Charlie for their own means and too much of that overshadows what could have been a great war epic.

Characterwise, Aron gets almost forgotten around a third of the way in. Brook is horrid as a friend and if she was mine then I'd dump her so quickly. Max is a little one dimensional and has little personality, plus his insistence on following Charlie and just saying lines that call her beautiful get a bit old fairly quickly, although I admit that he is swoonworthy, he actually had me disliking him in the beginning.

I'm hoping that the second book opens up a little more because this could have been a great book but sadly gets lost in the filler of the story midway. So this is more of a 3.5 because I did like it aside from the gripes and I liked Dertings writing immensly.

You can reach Kimberly Derting here:
 Facebook: The Pledge Trilogy
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Review: Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Synopsis:
The missing dead call to Violet. They want to be found.

Violet can sense the echoes of those who've been murdered—and the matching imprint that clings to their killers. Only those closest to her know what she is capable of, but when she discovers the body of a young boy she also draws the attention of the FBI, threatening her entire way of life.

As Violet works to keep her morbid ability a secret, she unwittingly becomes the object of a dangerous obsession. Normally she'd turn to her best friend, Jay, except now that they are officially a couple, the rules of their relationship seem to have changed. And with Jay spending more and more time with his new friend Mike, Violet is left with too much time on her hands as she wonders where things went wrong. But when she fills the void by digging into Mike's tragic family history, she stumbles upon a dark truth that could put everyone in danger.

Review:
I didn't enjoy this as much as 'The Body Finder', I still enjoyed the relationship between Vi and Jay, and all the school antics but I just didn't enjoy the story.

Firstly Mike and Megan are both really good sub characters although the author tries to take us down the wrong alley more than once, it was easy to see through.
Also the initial 'find' in Seattle sounds like it could have been a better story than dead cats by cars and anonymous phone calls and letters. This one isn't as dark as the first book but there is still a whole lot of teenage angst going on that any YA reader will enjoy.

The premise is still captivating and Derting has a great writing style and I'm really excited to know that there's a third book on its way.


Here's the book trailer! Enjoy!


You can reach Kimberly Derting here:


View all my reviews
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Review: The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Synopsis:
Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes that the dead leave behind in the world... and the imprints that attach to their killers.

Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find the dead birds her cat had tired of playing with. But now that a serial killer has begun terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, she realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet on her quest to find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved to find herself hoping that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer... and becoming his prey herself

Review:
From the start I had a hard time trying to figure out if this was actually a YA book. The writing is beautiful, full and complex at times. Much more so than the recent YA books I've read. Almost like an adult novel but with teen protags.

Violet is inspiring. I loved her character, the author doesn't hold back on her depth of emotions. Jay is also wonderful as lead man and you never really have doubts about him, even when him and Vi have their fair share of spats. But being best friends since childhood you almost know why they feel and act as they do.

Half of the novel is really about Vi and Jay, their friends and the usual school antics. The other half is a murder mystery which Violet is fully part of due to her ability to sense echoes of dead people and animals. Not only that, the echoes remain imprinted on the perpetrators meaning Violet can possibly find the killer. With a whole length of misleads and dead ends, Violet is brought in by her Uncle to find the killer at her own risk. And even though she has a full posse of people behind her making sure she stays out of danger it just takes that one moment and then....

Well I won't tell you the rest. This book is a romance, murder mystery, YA, action packed book that will hold you in right until the end.

This is my first Derting novel and I can't wait to read the next one!

Here's the book trailer! Enjoy!


You can reach Kimberly Derting here:



View all my reviews
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