Annotation:
Now
the queen of Ludania, Charlie is coping with her newfound rule over her troubled
kingdom where her demolishing of the caste system isn’t as accepted as she’d
hoped. To make matters worse, Sabara’s essence which, unbeknownst to anyone
else, was transferred when the evil queen was killed is lurking deep inside
Charlie, threatening to take control at any moment.
Personal
thoughts: I seem to keep being disappointed by sequels to novels that I
really loved and, unfortunately, The
Essence is yet another sophomore slump for me. The Pledge was a really interesting and entertaining story, with
the language-based caste system, Charlie uncovering her role as heir to the
throne of Ludania and her relationship with Max. In The Essence, Charlie is now a bit of a brat, whining constantly
about all of the issues she has to deal with as queen. The plot is also slow
and never seems to pick up a lot of speed at any point in the novel. I hope
that the author can turn the series around with an excellent third novel, but I’m
sorry to say that my hopes aren’t very high.
Plot
summary: Now that she is settling into her newfound role as the queen of
Ludania, Charlie is struggling to cope with unrest in her troubled kingdom. The
caste system that used to strictly divide the country by language has been
abolished, and Charlie, Max and Brooklynn are trying to ensure that the
transition to equality goes smoothly. Unfortunately, not everyone in Ludania is
thrilled about what Charlie has done. Threats against the queen are uncovered
on a daily basis, making Charlie fear for the safety of her family, especially
her younger sister, Angelina. Charlie’s biggest threat, however, is not
something outside the castle walls, but lives deep inside of her: the essence
of the evil queen Sabara, the one Charlie supposedly killed to become queen, is
trapped in Charlie and wants nothing more than to get out. The longer Sabara’s
spirit lives within Charlie, the more their thoughts and memories become
linked, and Charlie soon realizes that there is much she didn’t know about the
former queen of Ludania. What do the dreams of Sabara’s previous lives mean?
Why does Charlie find herself drawn to a mysterious strange, Niko Bartolo, from
a neighboring kingdom? Can Charlie keep the presence of Sabara’s essence within
her a secret from the people she loves?
Review: Following
the popular first installment in The
Pledge trilogy, veteran author Kimberly Derting continues her latest series
with The Essence. Beginning shortly
after the events of the previous novel, Charlie, the vendor’s daughter turned
queen of the kingdom of Ludania, finds herself in a series of increasingly
dangerous situations. Her people aren’t as crazy about her as she’d hoped they
be, it seems like someone is trying very hard to kill her, she’s not that into
being treated like royalty, and the spirit of the evil queen Sabara, who also
happens to be her boyfriend’s grandmother, is living inside of her. A lot of
Charlie’s spunk that was present in the first novel is absent in the wake of
all of these challenges, turning her from a likable leading lady to a bit of a
whiner. Things go from bad to worse when Charlie is sent to a summit where the
queens of neighboring kingdoms meet to discuss official business and try to out
shine one another. Charlie doesn’t know the etiquette that the other queens
have had years to learn, plus her trip is especially rocky considering that
someone really wants her dead. Much of what was enjoyable about the first
novel, the dystopian nature of Ludania, the caste system, Charlie’s budding
romance with Max, is completely absent in the sequel. While The Essence isn’t necessarily a poorly
written or “bad” story, it’s drastically different from its predecessor, making
it unclear if fans of The Pledge will
like it. For readers who don’t mind the story veering off from a mix of
adventure and dystopia into full on fantasy territory, The Essence will prove to be an entertaining read. For those who
aren’t into battles, commanders, armies, and dead queens, however, the
likelihood of enjoying the novel enough to pick up the third and final installment
is slim.
Genre: Fantasy
Reading
level: Grade 8+
Similar
titles: The Pledge
by
Kimberly Derting, Chemical Garden trilogy
by Lauren DeStefano, Divergent trilogy
by Veronica Roth, Cinder trilogy by
Marissa Meyer.
Themes: Royalty, war, queens, magic, danger,
assassins.
Awards/Reviews:
Positive review from Kirkus.
Series
Information: Second installment in The
Pledge trilogy. First installment, The
Pledge, released in 2012. Third installment announced, but no release date
yet.
Discussion
questions:
- How has Charlie changed since assuming her new
role as Queen of Ludania? How have Brookylnn and Aron changed?
- How would you explain the relationship between
Charlie and Sabara’s “essence”?
- Why is Charlie so drawn to Niko? How does this
attraction threaten her relationship with Max?
- Why do you think some people in Ludania are
not in favor of Charlie’s “New Equality”? Do you think social or political change
is hard for people to accept in the real world?
- Why was it so important to Avonlea when
Charlie gave her a name?
- Which of the queens at the summit did you like
the most? The least?
- What would you like to see happen in the third
installment of this trilogy?
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