The Testing (The Testing, 1) Hardcover – June 4, 2013

*I received a free ARC of The Testing from Houghton Mifflin Books for Children via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review*The Testing starts with Cia’s graduation, and the hope that she will be selected for the testing in the Commonwealth’s capital Tosu City. Several of Cia’s friens think she’ll be chosen, even if it has been a long time since any student from Five Lakes has been chosen. When no government official shows up, Cia tries her best not to show her disappointment, her oldest brother Zeen understands exactly how she feels, though. The next day, a government official arrives, though, and he wants to see Cia and three other graduates from her class. Cia is elated when she realizes she has been chosen for the testing, her dad, however, seems troubled more than anything else.The one advice Cia’s father gives her the last evening she is home is to trust noone. Not even the other kids form her class. And he tells her the few things he remembers from his own testing. It gives Cia chills, and she suddenly understands that maybe the testing isn’t the thing she has hoped for during her whole childhood. Before leaving the very next morning, Cia can pack very few things, and one of the things she chooses is a communication device her father and her brother have modified a little.What I liked the most about The Testing is Cia, and her resourcefulness! She is the kind of young woman who is looking for solutions, not for problems. And when the going gets tough, Cia is actually even tougher! At the same time, she really cares about her friends, and helps out other people she encounters during the testing in the classroom. Even in the capital, the testing is truly unforgiving, though, and what Cia and the other characters go through is really gruesome. Yes, they are fed, and they have beds to sleep in – but really, the pressure they are under, and the way failing is treated is chilling to say the least! The final part of the testing is even worse, as all the candidates who are still being tested are left far from the capital, and they only have the few items they brought from home, plus three items they could choose before leaving the capital.The adventure and the action start for real once the candidates are in the wilderness, and I was so invested in Cia, Thomas and their success it was really hard to read about some of the things they had to got through. The government in this society gets no points from me! Cia has a very good explanation for why things are the way they are – and it is that they now need a leader who is strong enough to strike back when s/he has to, but also smart enough to know when to retreat.The world building is really well done! The was the readers learn more about why things have become so difficult through the way candidates talk to each other, or the interactions Cia has with her family at the beginning of the Testing made the world accessible in a very natural way. It made sense that there would be less water, dry lands and difficulties to grow enough food.I loved Cia, and her character development followed the same direction during the whole testing. She always tried to find the best solution, even when she was in untenable situations, she would only go to drastic measures if it was the only way to save herself. Her friendship with Tomas from her hometown is what saves both her and him, I think. They can lean on each other, both to move forward, and to stay safe in this extremely aggressive environment, where there is not way to know who is friend and who is foe. And where friends end up not being friends at all!The pacing is quite slow at the beginning of The Testing, but as the characters move away from the city, the pacing is faster, until it reaches a peak where anything is possible! I was always kept at the edge of my seat, and I could never guess what would happen next. The only constant is Cia’s resourcefulness, and her caring. And I think both of these things are what will keep her together in the future books of The Testing series. The writing is really good, the ‘next page’ button on my kindle practically made itself move forward, not much effort was demanded of me at all!Towards the end, Cia and Thomas know they will have their memories wiped, and they are trying to find ways to hold on to those memories anyway, because amid all the horrible things that happened during the testing, they lived through their first kiss, and started to have real feelings towards each other. And there were some things they wanted to make sure to remember too – like who to trust, and who to stay very far away from.The very end broke my heart! But in a really good way, and now, I’m even more impatient to read book two in this series! As I said – Cia’s resourcefulness really is something else! Now, I have seen that some people who compare The Testing to Hunger Games, and although I love the Hunger Games, I can’t really say I agree. The Testing is not something that seems ominous to those who are chosen, they think they will be able to take some theoretical tests, then go on to university. This is pretty far from what happens, and not only their intellectual skills are tested, their survival skills as well as their ability to judge the character of other people is at least – if not more – important. And there is no victors in The Testing, only a bunch of kids who don’t remember the last month of their lives…

**No spoilers in first half:While this book has some Hunger Games/Divergent-type elements, the story carries itself in a way that still makes it unique. The pacing was a little slow for me in the beginning but picks up once the MC is selected for the testing (book blurb reveals this), and really takes off about 40% in. The characters are believable, with real flaws, concerns, hopes, etc. I like that the main character questions the way things are done, even if she isn’t in a position to change it right now. Knowing who you can and cannot trust is a major theme. The book doesn’t necessarily end on a typical cliffhanger, but it’s enough to leave readers needing to know what comes next. Overall, great read.Content Rating:Age- 12-13+Language- minimal language. Some uses of a** and d***.Violence- **mild spoilers, but no specifics**there are questions of what happens to candidates who fail, talk of some candidates committing suicide including a current student who is found hanging in their room, talk of candidates using poison or other forms of sabotage to eliminate competition, a student impaled in the eye with a nail, mutated animals/people, bombs, shootings, stabbings, betrayals, cleaning infected wounds, PTSD type emotions, etc.Drugs/Alcohol- The MC sips alcohol on one or two occasions, but not enough to be inebriated. Pain pills are consumed for injuries, injections/serums for truth telling and forgettingSex- no sex scenes. Any kissing scenes are non-graphic, mainly descriptions of butterflies and soft lips. A character receives a wound on their backside and teases the other character a couple times about having to take off their pants, but no description of the backside itself—just the wound.**Spoilers below**As far as similarities to other popular books like H.G. And Divergent, the country is in disrepair trying to recover. Students are selected for testing where failing means death—but they don’t know this at the time. The MC receives some help and advice from an official who probably sticks his neck out more than he should. Candidates must survive various tests, including a 700 mile trek where anything goes (including killing) and there are boobe traps, mutations, etc.Once I got into the book, I really liked the MC Cia. She’s intelligent, resourceful, and has good morals, even if she is a bit naïve in the beginning. She isn’t perfect and has to face unpleasant truths about herself and how far she will go to survive. There were some characters who I thought would play bigger roles, but they were offed fairly quickly. It did throw me off a little when practicality the first time Tomas is around, he’s holding her hand so much. Later we learn they danced last year and had potential sparks as Cia thinks back on it, but at that point in the book, I didn’t have enough information about his character to know that. If one of my guy friends started holding my hand after years of not doing so, I’d have been weirded out. Just sayin’.I did like Tomas’ character though and that there was some strain in their relationship later in the book but not enough to derail everything—though I’m super curious to know what really happened when Cia left Will and Tomas alone. I’m also curious if Tomas was able to lie his way through the final interview. I was a little confused with the two pills he had stashed— he didn’t know Cia had the vial, so why didn’t he offer her one, even if she’d have to come clean about the man across the fence? Or if they were for the memory wipe, again, why didn’t he give her one? My curiosity is pulling me in different directions: did he want them both to forget? Or did he have the chance to take his and actually remembers everything and is pretending he doesn’t? Though that would make it much harder to be nicer to Will when you know he tried to kill you and your girlfriend, so I guess we’ll see in book two.I was also a little bummed when her memory was actually wiped, but it made for a great way to set the tension high for the next book.

This is a typical YA hunger games style story. In a future where war has destroyed the earth small groups of people struggle to grow crops, purify water, build basic tools and learn to thrive . Once a year the best students are sent to be tested at the only surviving city to see if they have the skills to be future leaders. Cia is one amongst 4 sent from her colony to be tested but all is not as it seems and quickly the testing turns deadly and the survival part begins. A nice easy fast paced read that has me looking for the next book in the series.

Cia is a clever girl, making good honest decisons, or is she? what is the right choice in the eyes of the testers? How will she know? By staying alive thats how.Whisked off the the capitol after doing very well in school she is very proud to be selected for testing for a university place. Even though she knows she will never see her family again, as she will be placed ina new area afterwards, but thats not her primary concern right now, feeling eyes on her, she finds that the other graduates are a bit more determined to win a coveted place. Will her good nature hurt or harm her chances of being chosen?The Hunger Games is set in a post apocalyptic world where people live in a numbered district, and only have one 'task/role/job' in that place, like mining. Divergnet people pick the class they want and wear the same clothing forever. The Testing is much more realistic, there are different areas, and while they are often specialist, they do have other jobs too.Other than that, its brilliant.

So, sounds a bit Hunger Games right? Well yes, and it will suffer the inevitable comparison, and there are some similarities in the premise, but here’s my thing. I don’t care about that if I enjoy a book, find someone to root for, become engaged with the story and at the end am really keen to read more. All of which happened with “The Testing”.We meet Cia, about to leave school and REALLY hoping to be chosen for “The Testing” – a series of exams and tests that are only taken by the brightest and the best from the varying communities, in the hopes of gaining a University place and training to help rebuild a world devastated by war. Wishing to follow in her fathers footsteps, a university graduate himself, she cannot understand his reluctance…but as events unfold she realises that things are not as they first appear.I found this very refreshing actually – a great little take on , lets face it, a done to death dystopian tale – in this instance with some terrific characters and a truly addictive storyline and enough of a unique spin to make it stand out. The world building is clever – some adept and not unbelievable history behind the way things are for Cia and descriptively speaking some wonderful prose which brought the whole thing to life and made it easy to imagine the places she inhabits.Things I REALLY liked – There is a romance angle but it is low key, not detracting from the action and realistically placed. Cia herself has a great depth of character – she has a way of lateral thinking that appealed to me and made me believe that she could overcome all hurdles. Love interest Tomas has an edge to him, a slight sense of danger as if you are not quite sure what he may do even though really he is as nice as pie. The Testing itself is intelligently drawn – with some good mystery angles as to what it is REALLY all for and some truly edge of the seat moments – Ms Charbonneau is not adverse to suddenly pulling the rug out from under your feet when it comes to characters you are fond of so beware!Things I want more of: Zeen. Zeen please. Cia’s brother was perhaps the character that intrigued me the most. He provides a bit of a cameo function in this first novel as Cia leaves him behind at home when she embarks on The Testing – but the author has certainly made the promise with his mini role that there is more and better to come. Likewise with her Father – there is a definite frisson and feeling that there is a lot more to learn about this family and whilst I do not know what is coming next, those items are firmly on my wishlist.Overall then a terrific read. Engaging, sometimes emotional, often thrilling and very very cool. I look forward to Book 2 with great interest – it will be coming up on my reading list soon.Recommended for: Fans of YA Dystopia whatever your age and if you loved The Hunger Games I think this will satisfy.Happy Reading Folks!**Source; Purchased copy**

Only the best and cleverest go to univerity in the post apocalyptic future. 100 or so get chosen every year from various colonies across the frormer USA for the testing, which determines if you have all the qualities to qualify for one of only 20 university places. It is an honour to be chosen for the testing, and everyone works hard at school to prove they should go. No one knows that the testing is a brutal and callous excercise in rooting out weaknesses.I disliked this book at first, and particularly disliked the manners in whcih the children die in the first third of the book. I was going to give up at that point. I am glad I carried on and would encourage anyone else to do the same. The book is gripping, and deserves a read. However, I don't think it should be read by anyone under the age of 13 . In divergent and Hunger Games, often there is no choice in hurting others. It is a game of survival. In this book,the children make conscious choices to eliminate other contestants even though they don't have to. The tests are intelligence tests, not 'fight til you die' like the hunger games. Some of the contestants choose to make their odds better by killing the other contestants instead. I understand how it is an integral part of the suspense, that you can trust no one, but maybe not the right book for advanced 10 - 12 year olds.

The Testing is a gripping, fast paced story with interesting characters who come across as believable. Some YA books use over cliched characters, or too obvious love interests, but the Testing manages these well so it feels less forced and more natural, and the growth of Cia's character through the story is quite engaging.The story is of a similar type to the hunger games, however, the 'world' is a little less deep, the characters a little less rich, and the twists and turns of the plot more like minor bends in an otherwise relatively straight road.I found myself guessing at the outcome before the book reached it.That said, it is a good read. You do want to find out what is around the next corner, and the ending is one of the better endings for a YA trilogy because it feels like natural finishing point in the story, but one that leaves us wanting to read the next book, without feeling disappointed that it has stopped where it has.The descriptions on the world are interesting, and builds a believable dystopian world. The only part I thought it lacked was any explanation as to why the testing really take place or what the purpose of their brutality truly is. I guess that will come out in the future books though.