The Essence by Kimberly Derting
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
3.5 stars!
I really enjoyed the second book in The Pledge series. Definitely not as much as the first, but I still enjoyed it.
The Essence picks up shortly after Charlie takes over the throne, replacing Sabara as Queen. But all isn’t peaceful. Charlie has started making changes, implementing one common language and getting rid of the caste system that was in place and this is angering a group of resistors who are determined to remove her from the throne.
She’s also hiding a secret. Sabara isn’t really gone… her Essence has become a part of Charlie, waiting for her chance to take over and the mental fight is weakening her.
After a failed attempt on her life, Charlie must attend an annual summit of Queens without Max or her family by her side. He’s to stay home and try to find those responsible for the attack while Brook and others make the trek with her and her family heads to another place all together.
The big question is will Charlie be strong enough to fight against both Sabara and the people who are trying to kill her? And will she ever be safe?
I was really looking forward to this book to see where the series would go. The Pledge was a fast paced, excellent read so I snatched this up as soon as I could!
I will admit I was a little bit disappointed.
There was wonderful writing and lots of action and a great story… but I missed Max. A lot. One of the things I ended up loving about the Pledge was the romantic aspect of it, the relationship that Charlie and Max had created and how they interacted.
I totally understand why he wasn’t as big a part of this book, but he was sorely missed in it no less. I often found myself wondering what exactly was going on because even when they were together it wasn’t quite what I was expecting.
Especially with the addition of Niko. The only thing I’m going to say is it’s not really a love triangle if that scares you. His history was interesting and added an element to the book that I wasn’t expecting. I am really very curious as to where it’s going to go.
Like I said earlier, there was a lot of action in this book… So while the romance is lacking (don’t get me wrong we get some romance, just not what I was expecting!) we get some mystery and suspense to keep us captivated and turning pages. From the very beginning we know there is a queen who wants Charlie dead… it’s just a matter of figuring out who it is and why. I was incredibly surprised when I found out who.
I am a big fan of Derting’s writing – I love her Bodyfinder series and she does an incredible job of creating characters that are three dimensional and jump off the page at you. This book’s characters are the same way… excellently developed and written.
I’ll for sure be waiting for the next book in this series wondering where Ms. Derting is going to take us! If you’re looking for a book with some romance, some intrigue and a wonderful story, than this might just be the series for you!
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