Jared,
I read this trilogy over Thanksgiving and it is really good. Lisa was the one who found it. She read the first book in two days and then found the second and third book and read those in like one day. I had to take a look after that and I then consumed it disturbingly fast.
Title: The Testing
Series: The Testing Trilogy; Book 1
Author: Joelle Charbonneau
Genre: Science Fiction
Audience: Teen
ROTS Setting: CU, Futuristic, Apocalyptic
Synopsis: Cia has been looking forward to attending University all her life, but first she’ll have to pass the Testing. However, as she prepares to finally make her dream a reality she’s told that her dream might actually be a nightmare. Too late to change course, her only option is to survive the Testing.
Recommendation: Infinitely better than the Maze Runner Trilogy, a better premise than the Divergent Trilogy and better over all than the Hunger Games Trilogy. If you liked any of those you’ll likely LOVE this book/trilogy.
Ya, it’s that good! I am actually sad that it has come out so much later than the trilogies I mentioned. I just hope people aren’t too burned or burnt out of the teen apocalyptic survival genre. This book and trilogy are superior to those others. Period.
Cia, the main character, isn’t annoying. I know you probably think I’ve hit my head. She is intelligent, independent, trusting, capable, dependable, and all around a good person but still has weaknesses. She is a real person with all that entails. He relationship with her love interest isn’t annoying. She is both independent and still in love, affectionate, caring and attached. Also he doesn’t defer to her every whim because he’s lost all cognitive function from his overwhelming love. He’s real too and their relationship is what I would consider “healthy” especially when compared to Katniss and Peta/Gale or Bella and Edward.
The world setting is brutal, rugged, and beautiful. There is a fair amount of cryptic “bad things happened” but the tantalizing details paint an intriguing and engaging landscape. By the time I finished the first chapter I had a clear picture of the setting, the main character, and knew that I had found something special. Basically, people were stupid and there was a war. Then the stupid people used weapons that nearly destroyed everything, but before they killed everything they made peace….and then planet had enough and pretty much killed the rest. Cia’s story begins many years later. Society is pretty stable, although survival isn’t always a guarantee. Some places are better than others.
As you can probably sense, the book is well written and the storyline in the first book it spot on. My only issue is that the second and third books can feel anticlimactic after the action packed first book. Not that they don’t fit the storyline or aren’t written as good, they are just focused on a different aspect of the storyline that involved less shooting, violence, death and avoiding dying for prolonged periods of time.
At this point I wonder if the author is planning further books in the same universe. It was hinted many times that things are happening beyond the countries borders and it would be interesting to see a broader view of everything.
Well, there you have it. Definitely read this book or give it a try or whatever. I think you’ll enjoy it. Julia probably will too, maybe more than you.
Later,
Robert
Reading Over The Shoulder 