I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
As a fan of both of Cale’s books that I’ve previously read (The Love Interest, and If This Gets Out), I was so excited when I was approved to review The Pledge. While this book is definitely a departure from Cale’s other works, it still contains the heart I’ve come to expect from his works. The back half of this novel is a tightly-paced race to the finish, and the character growth from Sam shown throughout the book but best showcased in the epilogue is immensely satisfying.
I struggled a lot with the beginning of this book, and with the unmarked POV changes in the second half of the book. Jumping from a first-person perspective where everything was limited by Sam’s perspective and awareness, to chapters in a third-person omniscient perspective in an attempt to give more personality to the side characters was jarring. While I found the portion of the book focused on Rush week to be the weaker portion, I also wish we’d gotten to know the rest of the cast a bit better before the action started.
Overall, it was a decently compelling horror novel, even if I didn’t enjoy it as much as I’ve enjoyed Cale’s other works.