Title: The Essence
Series: The Pledge #2
Previous book in this series: The Pledge
Author: Kimberly Derting
Genre: YA, dystopian
Publication date: January 2013
Published by: Margaret K. McElderry
Source: Borrowed
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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.
In The Essence, we have the new Queen of Ludania, Charlie, getting ready to go to the Summit to meet the other Queens and maybe establish a relationship with them that will help her country move forward and improve after Sabara's tyrannical rule.
Because meeting the other Royalty of the world wasn't nerve wracking enough for our new Queen in and of itself *sarcasm*, the new rebellion (that is lead by someone close to home, shockingly!) that has risen up against her and the new laws Charlie's created have decided to strike against her... more than once...and they wont stop until she's dead. Dun, dun, DUN! Oh, and to make matters worse, the Essence of the Evil Queen is residing inside Charlie, and slowly growing stronger.
But Charlie, I love her! Even though she's a clumsy Queen, understandably since she is a new Queen, she is just so nice, loyal, and very protective of her family, friends, and country! She is a great person with a great heart. I really admire how strong-willed she is. Another character I loved- Max! That ending with him was totally adorable!! *squeals* He is so sweet and protective and loving and... *swoons* 'Nough said ;) Brook and Aaron... I LOVED them! They are fantastic supporting characters! And then there's Niko... ugh! I detest him! I hate what he does to Charlie and how she makes her feel! I just wanted to strangle him! HATE him!! Well, him AND Sabara... the Evil Queen
-_-
I really liked the story and the adventurous feel to it, especially with all the trouble Charlie found herself in constantly... before, during, and even after the summit! It was non-stop danger for her and her family! Very intense situations that she found herself in! Made for great suspense ;)
Speaking of trouble... what made things so constantly dangerous was that there was a traitor among friends. Unfortunately for me, I figured out who this traitor was way ahead of time. It wasn't hard since I had two main suspects in mind. And when I found out who the traitor was I was just like, "eh" 'cause I never really cared for this person. Again, there was no surprise factor there for me :( But even though we found a traitor, we also found allies in the most unlikely people, which was nice. They SO needed the help!
This world Kimberly Derting in unlike any other I have read... she is just a genius! I cannot wait to see how Charlie deals with the Essence of the Evil Queen because, dude, she has got to go!!
Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a comment! :)
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