Posts Tagged: ARC

Tuesday, November 08, 2011

Review: The Pledge by Kimberly Derting

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The Pledge
Kimberly Derting
Release Date: November 15th, 2011
by Margaret K. McElderry Books

Goodreads / Purchase

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.

*A copy was provided by Simon & Schuster for review purposes*

In Kimberly Derting’s The pledge, we embark on a fairy-tale like story set in a dystopian future where language dictates your class standing. I was first attracted to this book by it’s intriguing premise and original setting. Unfortunately, I found myself unable to connect to the characters nor was I very invested in the story.

As a reader, I’m very character oriented. I feel the need to be able to relate to the characters. Feel their emotions, understand their decisions and connect with their personalities. I didn’t feel any of this with Charlie, the protagonist in The Pledge. I felt very detached from her. She didn’t have any distinct traits or strengths. I also never felt the connection between her and Max – the love interest. It was never clear why Max was so infatuated with her. She simply “intrigued him”, whatever that means. The one part I did enjoy was Charlie’s relationship with her sister. She was deeply devoted to saving her sister and making sure she was ok. I was also happy about the presence of the parents in the book.

Charlie has a big secret, she can understand all languages. In this world, if you even look at a person while they are speaking a language of a higher class, that is punishable by death. I did find this to be a bit harsh, but not necessarily unrealistic. If we take the present, there are already a lot of problematic prejudices caused by language, so I could see, in a dystopian future, that it could come to this. The part about the world building I had a problem with was that I couldn’t fathom how society would put a full worldwide matriarchy in place of a democracy. It wasn’t very well explained, how it came about. World building is especially important in a dystopic setting, and The Pledge did not have me convinced.

I was never surprised by the events that occurred during the story. It was as expected and went in a fairly straight route. The pacing was pretty decent, but the action was mild and the excitement was short lived. I never felt especially alarmed during the book, neither did I feel intimidated by the Queen. It was over fairly quickly without much aftershock, and we barely got any details regarding the magic. Why was Angelina not speaking? What’s the point of Charlie’s abilities? She never really took advantage of them which was pretty disappointing. I guess a sequel may cover it, but it feels strongly like a stand-alone novel. I’m not sure if a sequel is planned, but I can’t see where the plot would go from here.

2 Hot Espressos

Review & Giveaway: Become by Ali Cross

Posted by on 11/07/2011 • 27 Comments

BecomeAli CrossRelease date: November 11th, 2011

Goodreads / Purchase

Sixteen-year old Desolation Black wants nothing more than to stay in Hell where it’s cold and lonely and totally predictable. Instead, she’s sent back to Earth where she must face the evil she despises and the good she always feared.

When Desi is forced to embrace her inner demon, she assumes her choice has been made—that she has no hope of being anything other than what her father, Lucifer, has created her to be. What she doesn’t count on, is finding a reason to change—something she’s never had before—a friend.

*A copy was provided by Ali Cross for review purposes*

 Become is not your average YA paranormal. We’re thrown into an intense novel about the battle between angels…

Review: Pyxis by K.C. Neal

Posted by on 11/04/2011 • 21 Comments

PyxisK.C. NealRelease date: November 4th, 2011by Stonehouse Ink

Goodreads / Purchase

Two worlds… one 16-year-old girl must learn to protect them both.

The nightmares haunting Corinne and her friend Mason hint at a universe that exists beyond the one they know. Her destiny is to protect a weakness between the two worlds, but her mentor is dead. As Corinne and Mason search for answers, she tries to ignore the sparks igniting between them, but can’t deny she feels safe only when he’s nearby. Will they find help before their nightmares break free?

*A copy was provided by K.C. Neal for review purposes*

With quite the original premise, Pyxis takes you on a fun and mysterious ride with Corinne and her best friend Mason. All throughout the book, you’re…

Review: Dark Eden by Partick Carman

Posted by on 10/29/2011 • 12 Comments

Dark EdenPatrick CarmanRelease date: November 1st, 2011by HarperCollins Publishers

Fifteen-year-old Will Besting is sent by his doctor to Fort Eden, an institution meant to help patients suffering from crippling phobias. Once there, Will and six other teenagers take turns in mysterious fear chambers and confront their worst nightmares—with the help of the group facilitator, Rainsford, an enigmatic guide. When the patients emerge from the chamber, they feel emboldened by the previous night’s experiences. But each person soon discovers strange, unexplained aches and pains. . . . What is really happening to the seven teens trapped in this dark Eden?

*A copy was provided by HarperCollins Publishers for review purposes*

Holy freaking cow! Now this is a thriller! I often go into books believing them to be thrillers, when they…

Review: Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Posted by on 10/28/2011 • 31 Comments

ObsidianJennifer L. ArmentroutRelease date: December 6th, 2011by Entangled Publishing

Starting over sucks. When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I’d pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring…. until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something…unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon’s touch has me lit…

Review: Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel

Posted by on 10/14/2011 • 31 Comments

Dearly, DepartedLia HabelRelease date: October 18thby Random House Publishing GroupFormat: Ebook

Love conquers all, so they say. But can Cupid’s arrow pierce the hearts of the living and the dead—or rather, the undead? Can a proper young Victorian lady find true love in the arms of a dashing zombie?

The year is 2195. The place is New Victoria—a high-tech nation modeled on the manners, mores, and fashions of an antique era. A teenager in high society, Nora Dearly is far more interested in military history and her country’s political unrest than in tea parties and debutante balls. But after her beloved parents die, Nora is left at the mercy of her domineering aunt, a social-climbing spendthrift who has squandered the family fortune and now plans to marry her niece…

Review: Ashfall by Mike Mullin

Posted by on 10/10/2011 • 17 Comments

Ashfall Mike Mullin Published September 27th, 2011 by Tanglewood Press Format: Ebook

Under the bubbling hot springs and geysers of Yellowstone National Park is a supervolcano. Most people don’t know it’s there. The caldera is so large that it can only be seen from a plane or satellite. It just could be overdue for an eruption, which would change the landscape and climate of our planet.

Ashfall is the story of Alex, a teenage boy left alone for the weekend while his parents visit relatives. When the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts unexpectedly, Alex is determined to reach his parents. He must travel over a hundred miles in a landscape transformed by a foot of ash and the destruction of every modern convenience that he has ever known, and through a new…

Review: Touch by Jus Accardo

Posted by on 10/04/2011 • 16 Comments

Touch Jus Accardo Release date: November 1st, 2011 by Entangled PublishingFormat: Paperback/Ebook

When a strange boy tumbles down a river embankment and lands at her feet, seventeen-year-old adrenaline junkie Deznee Cross snatches the opportunity to piss off her father by bringing the mysterious hottie with ice blue eyes home.

Except there’s something off with Kale. He wears her shoes in the shower, is overly fascinated with things like DVDs and vases, and acts like she’ll turn to dust if he touches her. It’s not until Dez’s father shows up, wielding a gun and knowing more about Kale than he should, that Dez realizes there’s more to this boy—and her father’s “law firm”—than she realized.

Kale has been a prisoner of Denazen Corporation—an organization devoted to collecting “special” kids…