Just ranting here...hopefully eventually I'll write an adequate review for this book, since it was ok but still not what I was hoping for!... 
 I think The Pledge could have been a stand-alone book, since it didn't really end in any important cliff-hanger. 
 I thought some of the stuff in this book was ridiculous, with the whole getting sent to the gallows for looking at someone while they were speaking because it wasn't your assigned language....ans REALLY?!?! THE GALLOWS!!...isn't this a dytopian novel?...in the future, and we are resorting to hanging people publicly?!?' and don't get me started on the 'Queen.'...this book seemed to me that it should be in the fantasy genre and not dystopian since there was ll this talk about magic essences and magic healing....if this book was supposed to be futuristic from all I had heard what was up with all this royal crap especially that part were only the 'Queen' can rule. Not that that isn't awesome in a way but I just expected so much more to this book and was totally disappointed.More and more seems to be the case of book being all hyped up and not delivering and don't get me started on the cover art.Like always, I'm a sucker for the art, especially since this cover seems to promise mystery and secrets danger.....no wonder I find it difficult to write reviews for these kind of books