Author: Joelle Charbonneau
Published: June 2013
Pages: 336
Summary
Keep your friends close
and your enemies closer. Isn’t that what they say? But how close is too
close when they may be one in the same?
The Seven Stages War left much of the planet a charred wasteland. The future belongs to the next generation’s chosen few who must rebuild it. But to enter this elite group, candidates must first pass The Testing—their one chance at a college education and a rewarding career.
Cia Vale is honored to be chosen as a Testing candidate; eager to prove her worthiness as a University student and future leader of the United Commonwealth. But on the eve of her departure, her father’s advice hints at a darker side to her upcoming studies--trust no one.
But surely she can trust Tomas, her handsome childhood friend who offers an alliance? Tomas, who seems to care more about her with the passing of every grueling (and deadly) day of the Testing. To survive, Cia must choose: love without truth or life without trust.
The Seven Stages War left much of the planet a charred wasteland. The future belongs to the next generation’s chosen few who must rebuild it. But to enter this elite group, candidates must first pass The Testing—their one chance at a college education and a rewarding career.
Cia Vale is honored to be chosen as a Testing candidate; eager to prove her worthiness as a University student and future leader of the United Commonwealth. But on the eve of her departure, her father’s advice hints at a darker side to her upcoming studies--trust no one.
But surely she can trust Tomas, her handsome childhood friend who offers an alliance? Tomas, who seems to care more about her with the passing of every grueling (and deadly) day of the Testing. To survive, Cia must choose: love without truth or life without trust.
Rating & Review
A dear friend recommended this book to me. Now, Lauren and I have swapped book recommendations back and forth for a while and she's never steered me wrong. Well, the Sookie Stackhouse debacle would have been a disaster if those damn books weren't so addictive. So when she said that I had to read The Testing, I knew that it would be awesome. And then I went to go purchase it on Amazon. Holy, Lord. It was $10! I know that makes me sound cheap ... the authors work so hard and should be paid accordingly but I haven't paid that much for a book since pre-e-book times. And that was a long time ago. But I bit the bullet and purchased the book. We may have to live in a van down by the river, but I have the damn book.
Dude. Best decision I've made in a long time.
When I review a book, I take notes like crazy. If it's on my Kindle, there are tons of highlights and notes everywhere and same goes with an actual book but it's post-its. I keep track of great passages or kick ass quotes and don't forget the critiques that I may have. But while reading The Testing, I only had one and I'll get to that later but the point is that I didn't have time to make notes. I had to force myself to slow down in order to enjoy this book. My mind really wanted to skim page after page just so that I could see how it ended.
The only note that I had about this book was "Hunger Games meets Divergent meets I Am Legend". And thinking back, I don't know for sure that this combo is correct. It's similar to Hunger Games because it involves our youth and the shaping of a new nation while crippling our country at the same time. And it's like Divergent because of the dystopian landscape ... can you imagine a war and weather ravaged earth? Well, you could if you read this book because the author described it perfectly. And lastly it's like the Will Smith movie, I Am Legend because ... well ... you'll have to find out that one on your own. As much as I want to tell you, you really need to read it for yourself! But I will tell you the similarities are not because of those creepy creatures in the movie ... no creepy creatures in this.
And that's it. That's all I have for you. I won't go on a long diatribe about the character development or descriptions. I don't have things that rubbed me the wrong way. And I don't have any weirdo descriptions for the book that I usually like using. The book is awesome. I actually read this about a month ago and I was waiting for those final feelings to set in about the book before I reviewed it ... but that never happened. I read The Testing then immediately read the next book in the series and I feel like I have one foot hanging off of a cliff and I don't know whether to take that step forward or to back up. I'm just hanging. I'm assuming that it will be that way until the third and final installment comes out this year.
I did love this book ... dare I say ... better than Divergent?!? I don't know. Some days I think that I liked it more than The Hunger Games and some days I don't ... same goes with Divergent. While they are so similar, they are vastly different. If you enjoyed The Hunger Games and Divergent, you'll enjoy this series. Hell, I think that just about everyone will enjoy this series. Even if it is $10 a book. It's worth it. I promise.
lol I knew you'd like it! I've thought at times it's better than Divergent and Hunger Games too. I think it's because the main character is sure of herself and knows what she wants. She's comfortable in her skin. I love that in a character.
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