Book #3: The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau

Let's get serious for a minute.

I loved this book.

I can tell you that if you like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, you too, will love. this. book.

It is a dystopian novel, set in the United States after the Seven Stages War decimated the world as we know it.  As the novel progresses, you learn more about the war itself and the landscape that it has left behind.  Each year, a group of graduating students are selected to participate in the Testing.  It is a four part exam that takes place in order to find the future leaders of the United Commonwealth.  If you make it through all four parts, you go on to the University.  Only those that pass are able to attend higher education.

Malencia (Cia) Vale is selected with three other students from her colony to take part in the Testing.  They are the first students selected from the Five Lakes colony in ten years.  Just before departing, her father warns her to trust no one (he passed the Testing) and that most isn't what it seems.

The author wrote this book with vivid imagery, allowing you to truly picture what this world of ours looks like.  You can easily visualize the different colonies, the devastation, the emotions...it's wonderfully written.  There is a lot happening in this book and the writing keeps the story taut.

Cia--she's a heroine that I can appreciate.  She's strong, determined, focused, compassionate, curious...all of the character traits you would recognize as a strong role model.  She faces challenges head on and honors her personal convictions.  Cia makes sure that she feels for those around her, forcing herself to remember where others want to ignore or forget.

The book is a slow start.  As I moved through the first few chapters, I was a little nervous that the book wasn't going to captivate me.  Once I got into it, I didn't want to put it down (and basically didn't...)!  I enjoyed this book so much that I picked up the second, Independent Study, today.  Hope that the conclusion is a strong one that doesn't destroy my perceptions of the lead characters.