The Essence (Pledge Trilogy)

by Kimberly Derting

[jeannamichel]

In The Pledge, we left off with a victory, or so it seemed, when Charlie defeated the evil Queen. However, the Queen has been growing deep in Charlie’s mind. The evil Queen’s essence has been growing stronger and sometimes it is hard to fight against her and sometimes Charlie doesn’t want to. When an ambassador, Niko, arrives at the castle, the essence is awakened and demands to be solely in control. With the rebellion against Charlie’s rule and the meeting of all the other queens slowly approaching, Charlie must decide whether or not to have the essence take over and let Charlie’s own being become part of the background.

This new series from Kimberly Derting is something that everyone should be reading. It’s dystopian but has elements of steampunk which really makes the series unique. Readers are kept on their toes throughout the entire book. Derting is a fantastic author that keeps surprising you around every turn.

The first few chapters were a bit confusing. The prologue threw me off, and I wasn’t quite ready to jump right into the story. There was a momentary setback, on my part where I had to remember where we were and who Charlie is now. Sequels usually rehash some sort of the previous book and this one did as well but only when we were already a few chapters in already. The story does make sense after having it all come together in the following chapters. From there, it is a roller coaster ride that you will never want to end.

The narrations switched every chapter or so which did not bother me at all this time. Derting kept the story moving forward by having certain character’s perspectives on certain scenes. It was a genius way to tell the story. The only problem was the mystery of the assassin’s identity seemed so obvious as soon as the narration of “The Assassin” was put out there. Besides that small point, the plot and narrations do keep you on your toes, wanting to know what happens next. This book is definitely hard to put down.

Getting more back story on the villains of the story is something unique. It seemed Derting was trying to make us feel something for the villain and I almost began to sympathize. There were quite a few new characters but none of them stood out for me. The different queens all seemed odd and Derting listed them off with character traits around the same chapters. It was a bit difficult to keep them all straight. I didn’t love Niko but Sabara’s back story made me like him a bit more than I would have without it. Max is still my one true love but he didn’t get enough spotlight in the book for me to comment anything more on him. Charlie, the main character, is a strong heroine, even though she was extremely flawed in this one. Flawed characters just show how relatable they are to an audience and Charlie definitely appears to be one of us.

Overall, The Essence is the book you should be reading next. Kimberly Derting stole my breath away with The Pledge and after reading The Essence, I don’t think I’ll ever want my breath back. This new series is definitely something to rave about.