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becs_l's review
1.0
*This review is only of the first 30% of the book. If you do not want to read a review of a book that was unfinished, do not read this review*
Also available at: www.areadersdevotion.blogspot.co.uk
I would like to thank the publisher for inviting me to read and review Pledged but unfortunately it wasn’t for me.
Pledged started off well. It was interesting and I was eager to find out what happens next. The story is based in South Africa, a country in which I am completely unfamiliar, and I couldn’t wait to find out more about it. Erin and Seth seemed really great as characters too as we slowly learned bits and pieces about them and their childhood.
And then we find out about their secret past and the magical goings on. Unfortunately, this is where I stopped enjoying the book.
The main problem I had was that I became confused. After the first few chapters, so much information started to be thrown at me; characters, background and the magic system. It was all dumped on the characters at once and therefore on me. With Erin accepting it straight away, magically realising it is the truth, I didn’t get time to discover it. I also didn’t have time to process it. Next thing I know they are off on their adventure and I still didn’t really understand what was going on. I was entering a state of reading but the words go right over my head.
There were way too many characters introduced all at once. I couldn’t keep up with who was who. I forgot too easily who did what job and who was saying what point. Along with all the background information as well, I became lost. Even the man who was introduced as an antagonist, or who I assume is an antagonist, came into the scene and there was no reaction. Well not a reaction I would expect from a guy, who is their enemy, turning up in the room. Nothing was making any sense.
Even though this is a style of storytelling that I do not like, I can put up with it. But I need to understand everything that is going on in a particularly important scene like that. The adventure continued on leaving me none the wiser. I know that I could go back and try to work it out, but if I did not understand it the first time round I don’t really want to bother. Call it lazy if you will but I am reading a book for fun not as part of my English comprehension homework.
This book in the end of the day wasn’t going to work for me, as I was left confused and, sorry to say, uninterested by about a third of the way through.
Also available at: www.areadersdevotion.blogspot.co.uk
I would like to thank the publisher for inviting me to read and review Pledged but unfortunately it wasn’t for me.
Pledged started off well. It was interesting and I was eager to find out what happens next. The story is based in South Africa, a country in which I am completely unfamiliar, and I couldn’t wait to find out more about it. Erin and Seth seemed really great as characters too as we slowly learned bits and pieces about them and their childhood.
And then we find out about their secret past and the magical goings on. Unfortunately, this is where I stopped enjoying the book.
The main problem I had was that I became confused. After the first few chapters, so much information started to be thrown at me; characters, background and the magic system. It was all dumped on the characters at once and therefore on me. With Erin accepting it straight away, magically realising it is the truth, I didn’t get time to discover it. I also didn’t have time to process it. Next thing I know they are off on their adventure and I still didn’t really understand what was going on. I was entering a state of reading but the words go right over my head.
There were way too many characters introduced all at once. I couldn’t keep up with who was who. I forgot too easily who did what job and who was saying what point. Along with all the background information as well, I became lost. Even the man who was introduced as an antagonist, or who I assume is an antagonist, came into the scene and there was no reaction. Well not a reaction I would expect from a guy, who is their enemy, turning up in the room. Nothing was making any sense.
Even though this is a style of storytelling that I do not like, I can put up with it. But I need to understand everything that is going on in a particularly important scene like that. The adventure continued on leaving me none the wiser. I know that I could go back and try to work it out, but if I did not understand it the first time round I don’t really want to bother. Call it lazy if you will but I am reading a book for fun not as part of my English comprehension homework.
This book in the end of the day wasn’t going to work for me, as I was left confused and, sorry to say, uninterested by about a third of the way through.
its_tara's review
4.0
Review:
Before the author contacted me, I seem to remember receiving some promotional material for this book, and I actually turned it down. Why? It just really didn’t do the book justice – and didn’t explain anything about what the book was about, just that the two main characters seemed to enjoy arguing.
When I received an email directly from the author, and having seen the book in various blogs I follow, I thought I’d give it a go. I’m actually glad I did, because whilst this wasn’t my favourite book of the year, it was certainly enjoyable, and I’m looking forward to the next one in the series to see where this goes.
The plot for this, I think, was fairly ambitious, touching on ancient curses, ancient civilizations, family relations, time travel, and star-crossed lovers, and I think this all actually mixed rather well. It certainly created something different – I’ve not read anything like this before. The only thing was that somewhere near the 30% mark, I did find myself getting a little confused. Because of the time travel aspect, I felt like the story was jumping around everywhere, but I carried on, and thankfully found it was relatively easy to pick up again.
The characters in this book were pretty good. It would have been easy for them to be ridiculously cute and in love, but they weren’t, despite the fact they were supposed to be soul mates. I was glad of that – it made it more realistic, because soul mates or no, I don’t think I know anyone who’d tell someone they love them having only known them weeks! I liked Erin a lot, and whilst I didn’t always understand Seth, he was quite a nice male lead. I have a soft spot for brooding, troubled men in books, so it definitely worked for me! I also liked the backstory of their families, and the fact that despite being American/South African characters, Seth and Erin’s ties to the prophecies were actually well explained, not glossed over.
I really did enjoy this, and it made my train journeys over the weekend go by a lot faster! I’m looking forward to the next one, and I’d like to thank the author very much for contacting me – I’m glad I gave it that second chance!
Overall rating: 3.5/5
Writing: 4/5
Originality: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
My Enjoyment: 3/5
Before the author contacted me, I seem to remember receiving some promotional material for this book, and I actually turned it down. Why? It just really didn’t do the book justice – and didn’t explain anything about what the book was about, just that the two main characters seemed to enjoy arguing.
When I received an email directly from the author, and having seen the book in various blogs I follow, I thought I’d give it a go. I’m actually glad I did, because whilst this wasn’t my favourite book of the year, it was certainly enjoyable, and I’m looking forward to the next one in the series to see where this goes.
The plot for this, I think, was fairly ambitious, touching on ancient curses, ancient civilizations, family relations, time travel, and star-crossed lovers, and I think this all actually mixed rather well. It certainly created something different – I’ve not read anything like this before. The only thing was that somewhere near the 30% mark, I did find myself getting a little confused. Because of the time travel aspect, I felt like the story was jumping around everywhere, but I carried on, and thankfully found it was relatively easy to pick up again.
The characters in this book were pretty good. It would have been easy for them to be ridiculously cute and in love, but they weren’t, despite the fact they were supposed to be soul mates. I was glad of that – it made it more realistic, because soul mates or no, I don’t think I know anyone who’d tell someone they love them having only known them weeks! I liked Erin a lot, and whilst I didn’t always understand Seth, he was quite a nice male lead. I have a soft spot for brooding, troubled men in books, so it definitely worked for me! I also liked the backstory of their families, and the fact that despite being American/South African characters, Seth and Erin’s ties to the prophecies were actually well explained, not glossed over.
I really did enjoy this, and it made my train journeys over the weekend go by a lot faster! I’m looking forward to the next one, and I’d like to thank the author very much for contacting me – I’m glad I gave it that second chance!
Overall rating: 3.5/5
Writing: 4/5
Originality: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
My Enjoyment: 3/5
meganmreads's review
3.0
I received a copy of this book from the publisher for participation in a blog tour in exchange for an honest review.
This story begins with Seth and Erin meeting for the first time. Seth’s brother Kyle and Erin’s sister married. Seth and Erin meet up at an aiport and start traveling to the camp to meet up with their family. Along the way, they encounter a few problems and somehow find this weird diamond in the dirt. With that, they discover there is much more to their simple quest and encounter spirits and demons and a long legend. They also discover they are each other’s soul mates. They are transported back in time with the help of the Seer Stone diamond. They are told they must work together. They witness events and have to end a curse that has been around for thousands of years.
The story is incredibly descriptive and interesting, but it all happens really quickly. They begin witnessing events unfold and discover more about the curse that has been affecting their families for a long time. They have help from the Guardians, who told them both about the whole thing and frequently pop in and out. The Guardians also help the people in the past by giving them advice in their minds. Seth and Erin struggle to figure out how to break the curse while watching the people in front of them utterly fail to do so themselves. They both just met, barely know each other, yet are told they are soul mates and must work together. Seth has some conflicts regarding the whole thing and doesn’t know who or what he can trust. Through all this, powerful demons are influencing Seth and Erin and also the people in the past.
While I turned the pages of this novel fairly quickly and was engrossed in the story, I didn’t like that Seth and Erin are told at the beginning, after just meeting each other, that they are soul mates. Sometimes, insta-love works for me, but this was just weird and awkward to me. It was also glaringly obvious to me that the solution to the entire curse is choose your true love over anything else, which Seth struggles to do and the characters in the past also fail to do. Granted, there are believable complications that are present, making it harder for any of the characters to do it, but it’s so obvious to the reader. It makes it excruciating watching all of these characters continuously screw up. Of course, the conflict of not knowing who to trust and not wanting to engage in conflict and not really knowing what is right is one that I can definitely understand. I just wish that the reader wasn’t so sure that the Guardians are the good guys and that being strong enough to choose your true love is the answer. Instead of feeling like I’m engaged in the adventure, I felt like a bystander, separated from the story while knowing what the right thing is to do. It’s very difficult for books to be able to do this correctly and I wish that it was written so that the reader is more involved and knows less information.
Despite how interesting the concept was, I felt continually frustrated with Seth and Erin for watching the people of past make the same mistakes they make in the present in regards to believing the Guardians, asking for help, ignoring the temptations of the demons, and trusting love. It isn’t until close to the end that I felt the story really roping me in (in terms of feeling less like a bystander). The end was a giant cliffhanger, which irritated me at first, but I realized it was finally the reaction I was going for and I’m glad that it ended leaving me wanting more.
Overall, this is a very unique concept. It was incredibly descriptive. While I don’t necessarily agree with the way it was executed, it wasn’t executed badly. I wished it was different, but it was still good, if that makes sense. Not necessarily the way I wanted it to be, but enjoyable nonetheless. While it earned 3 stars from me because of my pickiness, I have no doubt it will rank higher for many other people. I will definitely check out the second book in the story and continue to be optimistic that it becomes less of something I’m watching and more of something I’m involved and invested in. From the teaser for book two at the end, I think it will definitely be worth my time.
This story begins with Seth and Erin meeting for the first time. Seth’s brother Kyle and Erin’s sister married. Seth and Erin meet up at an aiport and start traveling to the camp to meet up with their family. Along the way, they encounter a few problems and somehow find this weird diamond in the dirt. With that, they discover there is much more to their simple quest and encounter spirits and demons and a long legend. They also discover they are each other’s soul mates. They are transported back in time with the help of the Seer Stone diamond. They are told they must work together. They witness events and have to end a curse that has been around for thousands of years.
The story is incredibly descriptive and interesting, but it all happens really quickly. They begin witnessing events unfold and discover more about the curse that has been affecting their families for a long time. They have help from the Guardians, who told them both about the whole thing and frequently pop in and out. The Guardians also help the people in the past by giving them advice in their minds. Seth and Erin struggle to figure out how to break the curse while watching the people in front of them utterly fail to do so themselves. They both just met, barely know each other, yet are told they are soul mates and must work together. Seth has some conflicts regarding the whole thing and doesn’t know who or what he can trust. Through all this, powerful demons are influencing Seth and Erin and also the people in the past.
While I turned the pages of this novel fairly quickly and was engrossed in the story, I didn’t like that Seth and Erin are told at the beginning, after just meeting each other, that they are soul mates. Sometimes, insta-love works for me, but this was just weird and awkward to me. It was also glaringly obvious to me that the solution to the entire curse is choose your true love over anything else, which Seth struggles to do and the characters in the past also fail to do. Granted, there are believable complications that are present, making it harder for any of the characters to do it, but it’s so obvious to the reader. It makes it excruciating watching all of these characters continuously screw up. Of course, the conflict of not knowing who to trust and not wanting to engage in conflict and not really knowing what is right is one that I can definitely understand. I just wish that the reader wasn’t so sure that the Guardians are the good guys and that being strong enough to choose your true love is the answer. Instead of feeling like I’m engaged in the adventure, I felt like a bystander, separated from the story while knowing what the right thing is to do. It’s very difficult for books to be able to do this correctly and I wish that it was written so that the reader is more involved and knows less information.
Despite how interesting the concept was, I felt continually frustrated with Seth and Erin for watching the people of past make the same mistakes they make in the present in regards to believing the Guardians, asking for help, ignoring the temptations of the demons, and trusting love. It isn’t until close to the end that I felt the story really roping me in (in terms of feeling less like a bystander). The end was a giant cliffhanger, which irritated me at first, but I realized it was finally the reaction I was going for and I’m glad that it ended leaving me wanting more.
Overall, this is a very unique concept. It was incredibly descriptive. While I don’t necessarily agree with the way it was executed, it wasn’t executed badly. I wished it was different, but it was still good, if that makes sense. Not necessarily the way I wanted it to be, but enjoyable nonetheless. While it earned 3 stars from me because of my pickiness, I have no doubt it will rank higher for many other people. I will definitely check out the second book in the story and continue to be optimistic that it becomes less of something I’m watching and more of something I’m involved and invested in. From the teaser for book two at the end, I think it will definitely be worth my time.
gypjet's review
2.0
I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
Pledged is an ambitious story. It is a sweeping multi-generational epic spanning centuries. It is basically the love story of Erin and Seth and their battle to overcome a great evil that has been battling to destroy love and family.
Pros: I was sucked into the story and adored it until Seth and Erin ended up in the first camp in the desert. The first 50 pages were fantastic and I was very excited about the story. It has great themes, was working on a great mystery and had religious elements that really excited me with their unique appearance and mysterious background. I love stories about the battle of good and evil (I'm a lover of Tolkien and Lewis), and I loved that the author wasn't shy about putting in religious themes and allowing what happened on earth to be reflected in heaven in her story.
Cons: Pledged was too ambitious. The premise was great and showed tons of potential. I think the author could, with major revisions, turn this into a blockbuster. The issues were that instead of telling one story, she tried to tell them all in just 300+ pages.
I wanted to follow Seth and Erin. I wanted them to discover what was going on through trial and error, and maybe with some slight inspiration, to fix the issues (they could have a guardian angel, but keep him in the background and unknown). Instead, all the answers were handed to them. Then, they were sent back in time to "witness" what happened with their ancient families and see what went wrong. So instead of having Seth and Erin's story, we have Caleb,Daniel, Jared, Talitha and Sophia's story (plus the story of the angels and demons). And, the bulk of the story is just Seth and Erin following the other characters around and commenting in the background.
The book is swamped with characters and because there are so many, it's hard to find someone to relate too. I would have enjoyed one book for each set of characters and their problems.
I enjoyed the first set of pages so much more when I was discovering the world with the characters (like finding the seer stone, the mysterious shack with the lock, and the mystery woman) that I was severely disappointed when the angels handed out the answers to the mystery.
In short, this was an overly ambitious book. I still enjoyed it, but it has a lot of issues to be fixed. I would recommend it for lovers of religious mystery, and paranormal romance. It would be okay for older YA paranormal romance, but it does contain violence and adult themes.
Pledged is an ambitious story. It is a sweeping multi-generational epic spanning centuries. It is basically the love story of Erin and Seth and their battle to overcome a great evil that has been battling to destroy love and family.
Pros: I was sucked into the story and adored it until Seth and Erin ended up in the first camp in the desert. The first 50 pages were fantastic and I was very excited about the story. It has great themes, was working on a great mystery and had religious elements that really excited me with their unique appearance and mysterious background. I love stories about the battle of good and evil (I'm a lover of Tolkien and Lewis), and I loved that the author wasn't shy about putting in religious themes and allowing what happened on earth to be reflected in heaven in her story.
Cons: Pledged was too ambitious. The premise was great and showed tons of potential. I think the author could, with major revisions, turn this into a blockbuster. The issues were that instead of telling one story, she tried to tell them all in just 300+ pages.
I wanted to follow Seth and Erin. I wanted them to discover what was going on through trial and error, and maybe with some slight inspiration, to fix the issues (they could have a guardian angel, but keep him in the background and unknown). Instead, all the answers were handed to them. Then, they were sent back in time to "witness" what happened with their ancient families and see what went wrong. So instead of having Seth and Erin's story, we have Caleb,Daniel, Jared, Talitha and Sophia's story (plus the story of the angels and demons). And, the bulk of the story is just Seth and Erin following the other characters around and commenting in the background.
The book is swamped with characters and because there are so many, it's hard to find someone to relate too. I would have enjoyed one book for each set of characters and their problems.
I enjoyed the first set of pages so much more when I was discovering the world with the characters (like finding the seer stone, the mysterious shack with the lock, and the mystery woman) that I was severely disappointed when the angels handed out the answers to the mystery.
In short, this was an overly ambitious book. I still enjoyed it, but it has a lot of issues to be fixed. I would recommend it for lovers of religious mystery, and paranormal romance. It would be okay for older YA paranormal romance, but it does contain violence and adult themes.
farahhananii's review
4.0
Review on blog: Tumbling In Books
To sum up Pledged in a sentence: Time travel, angels/demons, hystorical fiiction and has a modern twist.
Pledged basically revolve around Reuel's Curse and Gideon's Prophecy. Reuel's Curse makes brothers go against brothers and father against son. Gideon's Prophecy is well... a prophecy. This is my second time travel book. This one jumps time back and front. They don't really follow a timeline. Surprisingly, the book's not confusing at all. You can tell Gwynneth White did her research on this book. I mean, I don't know ANY of the animals(except honey badger:P) that Gwynneth wrote in the book. Makes me feel a little bit like Seth ;)
The main character of this book is Seth and Erin. They're the ones from the future and ones who has to lift the curse. But the book doesn't really revolves around them. They're only sideliners. Watching the past happens but they can't change the past.
Admittedly, I don't read books bout soul mates. They make me want to gag. I mean, aren't you bored staying with only one person that you meet when you're like, teenagers and spend the rest of your days with them? Don't get me wrong, I think it's really sweet, but I think I'm taking about immortal books. THEY DON'T DIE. Don't you get bored? (Oh great, I got sidetracked and am missing the point here). Pledged appeals to me somehow, probably it has to do with the 'Everyone has a soul mate. But what do you do when your soul mate would rather give his soul to the demons than be with you?'.
All in all, I think Pledged was a good read. It might not be my favorite. But Pledged wasn't in danger of me putting it down. If you think 'Time travel, angels/demons, hystorical fiiction and has a modern twist.' is your thing, you might like this book :)
To sum up Pledged in a sentence: Time travel, angels/demons, hystorical fiiction and has a modern twist.
Pledged basically revolve around Reuel's Curse and Gideon's Prophecy. Reuel's Curse makes brothers go against brothers and father against son. Gideon's Prophecy is well... a prophecy. This is my second time travel book. This one jumps time back and front. They don't really follow a timeline. Surprisingly, the book's not confusing at all. You can tell Gwynneth White did her research on this book. I mean, I don't know ANY of the animals(except honey badger:P) that Gwynneth wrote in the book. Makes me feel a little bit like Seth ;)
The main character of this book is Seth and Erin. They're the ones from the future and ones who has to lift the curse. But the book doesn't really revolves around them. They're only sideliners. Watching the past happens but they can't change the past.
Admittedly, I don't read books bout soul mates. They make me want to gag. I mean, aren't you bored staying with only one person that you meet when you're like, teenagers and spend the rest of your days with them? Don't get me wrong, I think it's really sweet, but I think I'm taking about immortal books. THEY DON'T DIE. Don't you get bored? (Oh great, I got sidetracked and am missing the point here). Pledged appeals to me somehow, probably it has to do with the 'Everyone has a soul mate. But what do you do when your soul mate would rather give his soul to the demons than be with you?'.
All in all, I think Pledged was a good read. It might not be my favorite. But Pledged wasn't in danger of me putting it down. If you think 'Time travel, angels/demons, hystorical fiiction and has a modern twist.' is your thing, you might like this book :)
readingpenguin's review
2.0
Ooof, okay, done with that. It was interesting. Full review will appear on my blog Sept. 1, if you're curious.
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