The Testing (The Testing, 1)
The opening volume in the New York Times bestselling Testing trilogy. In Cia's dystopian society, it's an honor to be chosen for The Testing. But it’s not enough to pass the Test. Cia will have to survive it.
It’s graduation day for sixteen-year-old Malencia Vale, and the entire Five Lakes Colony (the former Great Lakes) is celebrating. All Cia can think about—hope for—is whether she’ll be chosen for The Testing, a United Commonwealth program that selects the best and brightest new graduates to become possible leaders of the slowly revitalizing post-war civilization.
When Cia is chosen, her father finally tells her about his own nightmarish half-memories of The Testing. Armed with his dire warnings (”Cia, trust no one”), she bravely heads off to Tosu City, far away from friends and family, perhaps forever. Danger, romance—and sheer terror—await.
“The Testing is a chilling and devious dystopian thriller that all fans of The Hunger Games will simply devour. Joelle Charbonneau writes with guts and nerve but also great compassion and heart. Highly recommended.”—Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of Rot & Ruin and Flesh & Bone
The Testing trilogy is:
- The Testing
- Independent Study
- Graduation Day
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Community Reviews
The story was engaging, but began to fall apart at the end. Supplies and help seemed to fall into the protagonist’s hands with little explanation or reasoning. Not only did things come to easily to the protagonist, but she also realized things in an excoriatingly strange pattern. She had almost all the pieces laid out in front of her, or within her grasp, but refused to put them together. The reason that this happened was clearly so that the story could go as the author wished.
See this review and more on my blog, Lilybloombooks
The Testing is not a new-to-me title. I have seen his bad girl floating around Goodreads, blogs and the like for some time, but something kept me from reading. What? Couldn't tell ya. But when I saw it available on audio, I went out on a limb a requested; hoping my hesitations about the book were wrong and I would thoroughly enjoy it.
The jury is still out on that one.
Don't get me wrong -- there are many things to like about The Testing. With any dystopian, it needs to be brutal and harsh, and The Testing was definitely that. But I like to be wowed, on the edge of my seat and suffering from some serious anxiety due to stress and I just didn't have that in The Testing.
For the life of me, I cannot figure out why someone would want to go through the Testing to attend University. If it were a society that overlooked education and didn't find it important, I could see. But it's HUGE in this world. They are testing for their new leaders; those that pass move on to great things and develop and remold society. But with Cia personally knowing someone who went through the Testing, this explanation fell flat. Granted, due to memory swipes and the sheer lack of knowledge for what happens DURING the Testing is there, I just don't understand the logic behind the entire thing.
I can overlook the similarities between The Testing and other fight-to-the-death dystopian's out there -- it's not a wholly original concept but when the similarities are TOO much? When it feels like there was a list with check marks and the author was checking away to make sure certain THINGS were there? That's a large pill to swallow.
Anyway.
Cia was a hard character to like and connect with. Her luck knew no bounds and yes, one could argue that she was very intelligent, but everything felt way too convenient for her. It honestly felt to me like she didn't really have to WORK for anything. Literally everything came easy to her. I didn't care for the romance either. It felt forced -- that is was there for *cough* convenience only.
The ending ended on a perfect note - I will admit that. There were some expletives coming from my mouth once the audio was over. I can't say for sure if I am sold on the second book yet -- but I may pick it up.
The Narrator
Within the first 20 minutes of the book, I knew the narrator was not a right fit for the story. Hate is a strong word -- but there were parts of her narration that I HATED. Her voice for the other characters being the main one. And I felt like she was adding emotion where it didn't fit and fell too flat when the emotion was NEEDED. That's a poor explanation but it's hard to really explain what I mean! A part of me feels like I may have enjoyed this more if I read it -- verses listening to it. But, that's not here or there.
Overall -- The Testing was just OKAY for me.
I received this book for free from The Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Testing is not a new-to-me title. I have seen his bad girl floating around Goodreads, blogs and the like for some time, but something kept me from reading. What? Couldn't tell ya. But when I saw it available on audio, I went out on a limb a requested; hoping my hesitations about the book were wrong and I would thoroughly enjoy it.
The jury is still out on that one.
Don't get me wrong -- there are many things to like about The Testing. With any dystopian, it needs to be brutal and harsh, and The Testing was definitely that. But I like to be wowed, on the edge of my seat and suffering from some serious anxiety due to stress and I just didn't have that in The Testing.
For the life of me, I cannot figure out why someone would want to go through the Testing to attend University. If it were a society that overlooked education and didn't find it important, I could see. But it's HUGE in this world. They are testing for their new leaders; those that pass move on to great things and develop and remold society. But with Cia personally knowing someone who went through the Testing, this explanation fell flat. Granted, due to memory swipes and the sheer lack of knowledge for what happens DURING the Testing is there, I just don't understand the logic behind the entire thing.
I can overlook the similarities between The Testing and other fight-to-the-death dystopian's out there -- it's not a wholly original concept but when the similarities are TOO much? When it feels like there was a list with check marks and the author was checking away to make sure certain THINGS were there? That's a large pill to swallow.
Anyway.
Cia was a hard character to like and connect with. Her luck knew no bounds and yes, one could argue that she was very intelligent, but everything felt way too convenient for her. It honestly felt to me like she didn't really have to WORK for anything. Literally everything came easy to her. I didn't care for the romance either. It felt forced -- that is was there for *cough* convenience only.
The ending ended on a perfect note - I will admit that. There were some expletives coming from my mouth once the audio was over. I can't say for sure if I am sold on the second book yet -- but I may pick it up.
The Narrator
Within the first 20 minutes of the book, I knew the narrator was not a right fit for the story. Hate is a strong word -- but there were parts of her narration that I HATED. Her voice for the other characters being the main one. And I felt like she was adding emotion where it didn't fit and fell too flat when the emotion was NEEDED. That's a poor explanation but it's hard to really explain what I mean! A part of me feels like I may have enjoyed this more if I read it -- verses listening to it. But, that's not here or there.
Overall -- The Testing was just OKAY for me.
I received this book for free from The Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.