The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau
Rating: **** Suggested Age: 13
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 and 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.” (Summary found on Goodreads).
Every time I walked into Barnes and Noble The Testing caught my eye. Maybe it was the fact it seemed similar to Divergent or the mere fact that it’s dystopian and I am currently obsessed with futuristic novels. Finally, I decided to purchase the book and I was surprised that it resembled The Hunger Games more than Divergent as I expected. I didn’t like The Hunger Games very much, so it would be expected that I wouldn’t like Joelle Carbonneau’s similar novel, but I did. In fact, I enjoyed it more than The Hunger Games. Another plus of this series is that all of its books have been published, so instead of waiting a year for the sequel, I have to wait a few weeks until I can go to a bookstore. While I liked the main idea of this book, there were still parts I didn’t like. I wish it was less violent and I also wish it wasn’t as slow and boring in parts. Though, overall I liked the book and I recommend it to fans of The Hunger Games or if you’re someone like me and just really like dystopias.
-Book Hugger
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