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A review by screamdogreads
The Pledge by Cale Dietrich
3.0
"His expression doesn't change now that his identity has come into the light. His features are emotionless, totally plain, like he doesn't have his hands around my neck and is trying to squeeze the life out of me. His eyes are dead, totally dull. Unlike his mask, he isn't smiling. There's no humanity there. Just true evil, to his core."
First and foremost, the Pledge is a YA horror/slasher novel. And, I think, it's fair to say that while it does read in a quite typical manner for a YA novel, there's still something so fresh and enjoyable about it. Really, it's a blend of a horror and a thriller novel, although it's a very traditional kind of slasher with a decently high body count, there's little to nothing in the way of blood or gore, in fact, the kills are almost over as quickly as they start. It absolutely lands on the softer side of horror, opting more for heart-racing action than blood drenched kills, perhaps it even lands more within the realm of a murder mystery. The parts of the novel that were slasher focused could have absolutely been fleshed out a little bit more, but this was still a super fun, enjoyable and lightning quick read.
What makes The Pledge so wonderful is that being queer is so normalized within the story, it's not something that requires delicacy and tons of explaining, it just... Happens to be. It's truly a novel that one can fly through, it can be devoured in an entire afternoon, in a single sitting. It's intense without ever being too intense. The Pledge is the sort of book that will keep you on edge, glancing over your shoulder to make sure you're not being followed, but it won't stop you from sleeping at night either. It's all built around a very simple premise, a queer college campus slasher, and it delivers on this, so well.
First and foremost, the Pledge is a YA horror/slasher novel. And, I think, it's fair to say that while it does read in a quite typical manner for a YA novel, there's still something so fresh and enjoyable about it. Really, it's a blend of a horror and a thriller novel, although it's a very traditional kind of slasher with a decently high body count, there's little to nothing in the way of blood or gore, in fact, the kills are almost over as quickly as they start. It absolutely lands on the softer side of horror, opting more for heart-racing action than blood drenched kills, perhaps it even lands more within the realm of a murder mystery. The parts of the novel that were slasher focused could have absolutely been fleshed out a little bit more, but this was still a super fun, enjoyable and lightning quick read.
What makes The Pledge so wonderful is that being queer is so normalized within the story, it's not something that requires delicacy and tons of explaining, it just... Happens to be. It's truly a novel that one can fly through, it can be devoured in an entire afternoon, in a single sitting. It's intense without ever being too intense. The Pledge is the sort of book that will keep you on edge, glancing over your shoulder to make sure you're not being followed, but it won't stop you from sleeping at night either. It's all built around a very simple premise, a queer college campus slasher, and it delivers on this, so well.
"There's a big neon sign at the top, and the entire building is drenched in light, from the green of the wineglass - or maybe it's an ice cream sundae - sticking out the front, to the strips of blue and red running along the walls. We're one of the only two cars in the lot. The road is greasy, slicks of oil reflecting light. "
An integral part of the slasher genre is satisfying deaths, and while it may be that the actual gore is light, and the deaths are rather quick, they were still executed in an enjoyable and fun way. In keeping with slasher tradition, this is a very stabby sort of book, it's a fratboy murderparty novel, and it's super, super fun. The Pledge delivers the most perfect of summer horror vibes, and sure, it does border upon the ridiculous, and you'll have to suspend your disbelief a little, but the slasher genre itself heavily relies upon this. It's not the kind of story you need to question, it's designed to entertain, to thrill, it comes with this early slasher, almost 80s sort of feel to it, the kind of novel you can imagine was inspired by Scream.
"The intruder stops and tilts his head to the side. His mask is horrific: shiny hard plastic the color of faded bone, save for the dark slashes of the eyes, and then a huge, curved grin for a mouth. There are no other features, giving the mask a sort of alien, inhuman quality, like a mannequin come to life."