July 8, 2013

The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau



Publisher's summary: 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.
My take: Holy flippin’ crap! This book was downright craziness! I’m having the shakes right now thinking about everything that happened in this book, and I’m having severe separation anxiety because I want Independent Study (book 2) now! If I were put in “The Testing,” I don’t think I could control my temper one bit; I think I’d probably hemorrhage right then and there and start acting like a raving lunatic. In fact, while reading The Testing, in one moment I’d feel like I wanted to jump right through the pages and go on a frenzied rampage, and then in the next moment I’d feel the complete opposite and I wanted to curl up in a ball and have an internal freak out.

In the very beginning of the book I wasn’t fully invested in the story, and it took me a few tries to get drawn into the story, as I’d start and stop reading. Which is really weird because it wasn’t very far into the book before the story takes a turn that really sparked my interest and got my full attention. At that point, there is this one particular thing that happens that actually had me leaping from my seat in shock, and I was stuck.

I can’t really talk too much about the characters in The Testing because I have some really strong feelings about a lot of those characters. This is one of those books that had me changing my original feelings for some of the characters by the stuff that transpires by the end of the story. So, by talking about the characters, I’d be revealing major spoilers, and you know how much I hate to do that! In fact, my feelings for some of the characters were so strong that I’ve gotten into a few heated battles with some blogger friends, particularly Jaime from Two Chicks on Books.

This is a book I would totally recommend! And if you are struggling with the beginning, don’t let that hold you back because the story’s phenomenal!

7 comments:

Fiktshun said...

So curious who you had battles with Jaime about! I have a few strong feelings about a certain character, too. Love your review!

Mary @ BookSwarm said...

I REALLY liked this one (and the second one's great, too!). It's one of the few books that can really say "This book is great for fans of The Hunger Games!"

Sara @ Forever 17 Books said...

So glad you liked this! I thought it was a great read and cannot wait for the sequel. Really curious about this heated argument over a character. :)

Gina @ My Precious said...

Yay! Someone else enjoyed this book as much as I did. Too many reviewers, went blah, this one is so similar to Hunger Games, I just can't like it, its not original. I didn't feel that way at all. I loved this book, the writing enticed, the story intrigued and moved me. I can't wait for the next book either.

Amy said...

I'm so glad that you enjoyed this! I might have to give it another try. I was having a hard time getting into it, so I ended up putting it aside. I see that it wasn't easy for you to get into either though, so I might just have to push through for a little bit. Great review hon!!

The Cover Contessa said...

Well, I'm the odd man out. I liked the story line (although I really thought it mimicked The Hunger Games in many ways) but I was actually bored for much of the book. My main reason for this was that it was almost all narrative. I wanted to see how the characters interacted and it just wasn't there. Drove me nuts. I do have an ARC of the second one and will be starting a buddy read with my friend in a few days. I hope it's better than the first. I met Joelle at BEA she is so nice!

Unknown said...

This is a really good part 1. I love ya dystopian indie books. I'm actually not even positive this is an indie author but I stumbled onto this one while searching for something new to read and really enjoyed it.

Gretta Hewson
Amerisleep Tucson Mattress Store

Post a Comment

Hi *waves* I ♥ me some comments! So comment away...

Dear followers, fans and peeps! Some of the books I review on Magical Urban Fantasy Reads are provided to me for free by either the publisher or author in exchange for my honest review. Please know that I am in NO WAY compensated for my reviews. All opinions are mine and I am not required to give a positive review in exchange for a free book! But some of the purchase links on my blog are monetized through places like Amazon, Book Depository or Barnes & Noble.