REVIEW: THE PLEDGE BY KIMBERLY DERTING

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.

Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry (Simon & Schuster)
Expected Publication: November 15th 2011
URL: http://www.kimberlyderting.com

First off, tell me the this cover is not gorgeous!! I love it :)

Second, I need to tell you how cool I think this story idea is! The plot revolves around this world where humans have been forced to speak only one language - the language of their class. The servants speak one language, while the vendors speak another, and royalty another, and so on. The point being, that if you can't speak another language, you are stuck in your class forever, and more importantly, humans will never be able to unite together to band against the Queen. The rules in this society are beyond strict: you must carry your passport at all times, pledge allegiance to the Queen every morning, and if someone speaks to you in another language, you'd better not understand them, or even look at them while they're talking - or else immediate death.

Have I grabbed you yet?

Now, here's our main character, Charlie (short for Charlaina) and her biggest problem: she can hear and understand all languages. Only she, her sister, and her parents know the truth about what she can do, and if she wants to survive, she needs to keep it that way. But of course, in comes our male protagonist, Max, who speaks a language that Charlie's never even heard before. Who is he? And why does he seem to have an interest in her?

It's after their second or third meeting in the book, that Max writes Charlie a letter. Just one letter with one sentence, and when you read it, you will be just as in love with him as I am. The note actually gave me chills! I'm just weird like that, though, lol.

The Pledge is unique, exciting and so ridiculously good that I finished it in only a few hours. It comes out this fall and I will be dying to know what you think, so make sure you come back and LET ME KNOW!!!!

5 out of 5 stars