The Pledge by Sarah Yarwood-Lovett
Billionaires, climate guilt, and a private island where philanthropy turns into something far more dangerous.
Pre-Reading Thoughts
A private island, a room full of billionaires, and a mysterious host demanding they give away half their fortunes to fight climate change? That’s an irresistible setup. It has the bones of a classic closed-circle mystery, with the added spice of environmental politics and the ever-reliable “rich people behaving terribly” energy.
Post-Reading
As I thought… The early chapters do the classic locked-room-thriller thing where there are simply too many people to comfortably track at once. Fortunately, the cast narrows quickly, and once the story settles, the mystery becomes much easier to follow.
The central premise is genuinely clever. A gathering of ultra-wealthy guests forced to confront the moral implications of their fortunes creates a tense, suspicious atmosphere right from the start. Once the first death occurs, the stakes escalate nicely, and the island setting keeps the pressure firmly locked in place.
It surprised me by… How ambitious the themes were. The novel clearly wants to explore both the ethics of extreme wealth and the urgency of environmental collapse, which are fascinating ideas for a thriller to tackle.
At times, though, it felt as though the story wasn’t entirely sure which direction it wanted to lean into. By splitting its focus between critiquing billionaire privilege and confronting climate responsibility, neither thread quite landed as sharply as it might have on its own. That said, the mystery itself remains engaging, and the twists keep things moving briskly.
Readers familiar with the wider series featuring Thea may catch additional context, but this works perfectly well as a standalone mystery. I never felt lost, which is always a relief when dropping into an established character’s world.
🎵 Music Pairing
Featured Song: Everybody Wants to Rule the World – Tears for Fears Power, ambition, and the uneasy sense that the people running things might not actually know what they’re doing.
Vibe Album: Random Access Memories – Daft Punk Glossy, expensive, and just a little bit hollow beneath the surface.
Artist Recommendation: St. Vincent Sharp, stylish, and perfectly suited to stories about power and performance.
Vibe Check
Colour Palette: Tropical turquoise, blazing sun gold, billionaire white, storm-cloud grey
Soundtrack: Waves against rocks, ice clinking in expensive glasses, a sudden scream
Season: Peak summer, when paradise feels slightly too bright
Mood: Suspicious luxury
Scent: Salt air and expensive sunscreen
Tarot Pull: Justice
Justice is the card of accountability, consequences, and moral reckoning. In a story where vast wealth meets global responsibility, the question becomes simple: who deserves to be judged, and who gets to decide the verdict? As secrets surface and tensions rise, the scales never quite feel balanced.
For Fans Of
Book: The Guest List
TV Show: The White Lotus
One-Sentence Verdict
A clever closed-circle thriller that mixes billionaire excess with moral reckoning, even if its big themes occasionally compete for the spotlight.
