The Offering by Kimberly DertingTrue love—and world war—is at stake in the conclusion to The Pledge trilogy, a dark and romantic blend of dystopia and fantasy.
Charlie, otherwise known as Queen Charlaina of Ludania, has become comfortable as a leader and a ruler. She’s done admirable work to restore Ludania’s broken communications systems with other Queendoms, and she’s mastered the art of ignoring Sabara, the evil former queen whose Essence is alive within Charlie. Or so she thinks.
When the negotiation of a peace agreement with the Queendom of Astonia goes awry, Charlie receives a brutal message that threatens Ludania, and it seems her only option is to sacrifice herself in exchange for Ludanian freedom.
But things aren’t always as they seem. Charlie is walking into a trap—one set by Sabara, who is determined to reclaim the Queendoms at any cost.
Praise for The Offering
"This was a truly epic ending to the series." --Crystal Perkins, Goodreads Review
"The final book in Kimberly Derting’s Pledge trilogy is a thrilling conclusion. I was immediately swept up into it and powered right through. It was pretty much what I wanted with a few surprises along the way." --Krys at Bibliopunkk Reads
This is book 3 in the series so I will avoid spoilers for this book but there will be some if you haven’t read book 1 and 2. Beware.
It’s amazing to me how much Charlie has grown from The Pledge to now The Offering. In The Essence we saw her being a lot more timid and reserved as she was trying to navigate through being a new Queen and dealing with Sabara/Layla’s essence inside of her. I felt like in this book she really comes into her own. Where she was barely riding a horse and falling face first into the mud during Zafir’s combat lessons, she now is...well she still has trouble with horses but she is more able to defend herself. She still can make rash impulsive decisions but she learns from them and by the ending of the book it’s like she blooms. I loved how her character developed.
I did miss some characters like Zafir who had a smaller role in this book but we get to know other characters better like Eden. I can’t say I became her super fan or anything but it nice to get to see some other sides of her. I also love Brooklyn and getting in her head is always fun. She is such a tough cookie. Max takes on his usual subtle role which just shows Charlie doesn’t need a guy to protect her. I really liked that we got to see more of Sage. It totally changed my view of her. There are many characters in this series but I never felt like they were fighting for your attention or underdeveloped. I felt like I got to know each character enough and of course I wouldn’t mind some novellas on a few, like Sage. Even though Charlie is obviously the main focus I felt like the story was shared among the characters and made it feel well rounded.
I love the world that has been built with the kingdoms. We once again venture out from the palace and get to experience more parts of Ludania. We saw a lot of the Scablands in book 2 and now we are seeing a lot of the coastal region. I thought it was cool how that Charlie gets to venture out into these areas rather than having them just refered to as she holes up in her palace. I want to know more though!! I want to visit the other kingdoms!! More spinoffs, more novellas, more writing….well I guess I shouldn’t walking around making demands. Ha ha.
There were plenty of intense moments. Like I said the prologue had me dropping the book on the ground but there were other parts where I felt like I couldn’t slow down my eyes. I was going to give myself whiplash flying through the pages like I was. Especially the last 100 there is no way I could have taken a break from that.
So yes this was an excellent 3rd installment of the series and I was very happy with it. My inner fantasy girl really enjoyed these books. Magic, Queendoms, Murder and cutie pie guys, you can’t go wrong with that.
The two guards dragged Xander toward a small, round opening in the stone floor, a hole through which blood could easily drain away to the sewers. They, along with two others who’d appeared, pinned him to the ground while he continued to writhe and scream. They waited until he was too weary to fight any longer. Until he had no other option but to accept this fate he’d been handed.
Then the executioner raised his blade.
Niko would have closed his eyes, if Elena wasn’t observing him so keenly. Unlike Niko, she had no interest in turning away. She seemed to relish the moment.
When the axe fell and the sharp crack of metal struck stone beneath, he felt the slightest jerk from beside him. But when he turned his gaze on her, he saw that she was frowning at the hem of her gown, rather than at the grisly view at her feet.
“Will you look at that,” she clucked, craning her neck to get a better look, and ignoring everything else going on around her. “He got blood on my new dress.”
Author Kimberly DertingKimberly Derting is the author of the BODY FINDER series, THE PLEDGE trilogy, and THE TAKING (coming April 2014 from HarperTeen). She lives in the Seattle area, with her husband and three children, who often find the outrageous things they say either in the pages of her books or posted on Twitter or Facebook for the entire world to see.
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