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The Testing Joelle Charbonneau Books

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The Testing Joelle Charbonneau Books

*** This book review, as well as many more, can also be found on my blog, The Baking Bookworm (www.thebakingbookworm.blogspot.ca).

My Review: Let's just get it out of the way, shall we? There are a LOT of similarities between this book and The Hunger Games. This fact will influence how much people enjoy this book because it's going to bother some readers and it's going to please other readers who are avid fans of the two very popular series.

Personally, I enjoyed reading The Hunger Games but, admittedly, my enjoyment of the series started off strong and quickly went downhill as I finished the trilogy. I'm still a fairly avid fan of the dystopian/YA genre and I eagerly picked up this book because I was in the mood for something fast-paced and light (if teens in lethal and psychological testing can be deemed 'light'). Add to the fact that I'm always on the hunt for new reads for Boy 2 and this book was a no-brainer. {Note: Boy 2 read this book in less than a day and is already reading the second book in the series, Independent Study. That boy reads faster than his Mama!}

Ok, so this book has similarities to The Hunger Games. If you can get over that fact I believe that The Testing holds its own in the YA/Dystopian genre. There were lots of high action scenes, interesting main characters and a lot of secondary characters to round things out. I never felt like I had a hard time remembering the numerous secondary characters either which is saying something because there are quite a lot of them.

I really enjoyed seeing how Charbonneau describes Cia's world. She took the time to give the reader a clear picture of where Cia's coming from and the desolation of it all. The author didn't berate me with endless history lessons on how the earth was destroyed but just enough for me to get a good idea of how and why things happened.

I think one of the things that sets this dystopian/YA read apart is that the characters view this testing differently. No one is forced into The Testing, in fact, it's an honour to be one of the few chosen because it means a much more positive future for the honouree's family. The testing is also kept a secret from the masses so no one really knows what to expect.

I also liked the fact that there were different tests that the teens had to perform. Not just one big survival test but psychological, leadership etc that makes me wonder how the powers that be will use this information in future books. It was also interesting to see how some of the candidates handled the pressures of the testing. It always felt like no one was safe and that makes for a good suspenseful read in my book.

Cia was a good main character and I felt like the reader got a good glimpse into her who she really is. She was strong, intelligent and had her own arsenal of talents to help her get through. Cia was determined, devoted to her friends and stood up for the things that mattered to her. She's a girl that I could totally root for but not without her own weaknesses too.

As I mentioned, there are numerous secondary characters to round out the cast. Tomas was .... ok. There's something about him that I just don't trust but I'll wait until I read more before I firm up my feelings on him. Michel was a much more intriguing character (albeit not in the story much) but I predict he'll be used to make waves in the future books.

Even with its strong similarities to The Hunger Games I really enjoyed this read. There were enough twists, action scenes and interesting characters to keep me riveted to the storyline. There are little teasers given at the end of the book -- enough to make me need to encourage Boy 2 to hurry up with Independent Study so I can continue on in Cia's story. Overall, I'd have to say that I enjoyed this book more than Divergent but just slightly less than The Hunger Games. I look forward to reading the next book in this trilogy, Independent Study, very soon.

My Rating: 4/5 stars


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The Testing Joelle Charbonneau Books Reviews

this is no hunger games or divergent copy, this series truly stands out on its own! i always read reviews before buying books, and some don't measure up to the good reviews, but this one does. i'm really surprised to see it doesn't have higher 5 star ratings. i have found that a lot of cheaper, but lesser quality books, get higher ratings.

cia and her classmates go through brutal testing they are not supposed to remember but somehow they do. they don't find out till its too late that they are being listened to at all times. cia takes a chance and doesn't listen to her fathers advice to not trust anyone and she sometimes trusts the wrong people.

the characters are well rounded and engaging. i found myself rooting for cia and being uneasy when she is uneasy. there is a great love story starting which adds balance to action and suspense.
I cannot believe I let this book sit on my shelf for almost 4 years! I really could have used it to placate my Hunger Games withdrawal. With that being said I did find a lot of similarities between it and the Hunger Games. I am sure the author hates hearing that by now, but there were enough to distract me from the story.

The story itself was interesting and I found myself cheering for the characters but I wasn’t as emotionally attached to them as I normally am to characters. Cia, for example, was to wishy washy for me. Sometimes she was borderline paranoia and other times she shrugged things off too casually. I mean she is practically fighting for her life here!

The connection between the major romance in this story was not there or underdeveloped which lead me to question how quickly the two involved hooked up. It didn’t fit well for me. It seem like the shy girl and the cute popular guy hooking up has been done too often in other works. So you have to get it just right or bring your own unique twist to it in order for a reader to accept it. It wasn’t done well enough for me as a reader.

I also had a problem with the depth of the characters. For me, most of the characters lacked a deeper level of development and I think that is where the connection was lost. Even with Cia, we only get a surface view of her thoughts and feeling, and she is the one telling the story. Yes, we get her fear for her family and her gushy feelings for that one special boy, but there was no explanation or deeper emotional appeal other than she liked him because they had similar interests and he was popular or cute.

With that being said, I still enjoyed the story itself. I liked the different scenes for the testing and even the brutality amongst the different competitors. I enjoyed the mystery with the different adults that sought to help Cia along and how I questioned everything that happened. Was it all part of the test? Were the adults really trying to help or were they setting her up?

Do I recommend the book? Yes. I still think the story is interesting enough and this is the first in the series. I have already ordered the second book in the trilogy because I need more of this world. Remember that this review is my own honest opinion and should not deter you from the series.
I didn't even think about "Hunger Games" when I began reading this book. Within the first hundred pages I realized that it was a clone of that type of story. I decided I had invested too much time to quit reading, so I read on. This is NO clone. I t is unfortunate that this book came out after "Hunger Games," because it shares a lot of story points. The heroine is a teen who is forced to face a life threatening challenge because of a murderous government. That is where the similarities end, however.
This is a much richer and more complex story. At the end of book one, the trials of Cia and her friends are just beginning. Possibilities are still nearly endless at this point. I won't tell you any more because this is cutting into my reading time and book two awaits.
Read this!
*** This book review, as well as many more, can also be found on my blog, The Baking Bookworm (www.thebakingbookworm.blogspot.ca).

My Review Let's just get it out of the way, shall we? There are a LOT of similarities between this book and The Hunger Games. This fact will influence how much people enjoy this book because it's going to bother some readers and it's going to please other readers who are avid fans of the two very popular series.

Personally, I enjoyed reading The Hunger Games but, admittedly, my enjoyment of the series started off strong and quickly went downhill as I finished the trilogy. I'm still a fairly avid fan of the dystopian/YA genre and I eagerly picked up this book because I was in the mood for something fast-paced and light (if teens in lethal and psychological testing can be deemed 'light'). Add to the fact that I'm always on the hunt for new reads for Boy 2 and this book was a no-brainer. {Note Boy 2 read this book in less than a day and is already reading the second book in the series, Independent Study. That boy reads faster than his Mama!}

Ok, so this book has similarities to The Hunger Games. If you can get over that fact I believe that The Testing holds its own in the YA/Dystopian genre. There were lots of high action scenes, interesting main characters and a lot of secondary characters to round things out. I never felt like I had a hard time remembering the numerous secondary characters either which is saying something because there are quite a lot of them.

I really enjoyed seeing how Charbonneau describes Cia's world. She took the time to give the reader a clear picture of where Cia's coming from and the desolation of it all. The author didn't berate me with endless history lessons on how the earth was destroyed but just enough for me to get a good idea of how and why things happened.

I think one of the things that sets this dystopian/YA read apart is that the characters view this testing differently. No one is forced into The Testing, in fact, it's an honour to be one of the few chosen because it means a much more positive future for the honouree's family. The testing is also kept a secret from the masses so no one really knows what to expect.

I also liked the fact that there were different tests that the teens had to perform. Not just one big survival test but psychological, leadership etc that makes me wonder how the powers that be will use this information in future books. It was also interesting to see how some of the candidates handled the pressures of the testing. It always felt like no one was safe and that makes for a good suspenseful read in my book.

Cia was a good main character and I felt like the reader got a good glimpse into her who she really is. She was strong, intelligent and had her own arsenal of talents to help her get through. Cia was determined, devoted to her friends and stood up for the things that mattered to her. She's a girl that I could totally root for but not without her own weaknesses too.

As I mentioned, there are numerous secondary characters to round out the cast. Tomas was .... ok. There's something about him that I just don't trust but I'll wait until I read more before I firm up my feelings on him. Michel was a much more intriguing character (albeit not in the story much) but I predict he'll be used to make waves in the future books.

Even with its strong similarities to The Hunger Games I really enjoyed this read. There were enough twists, action scenes and interesting characters to keep me riveted to the storyline. There are little teasers given at the end of the book -- enough to make me need to encourage Boy 2 to hurry up with Independent Study so I can continue on in Cia's story. Overall, I'd have to say that I enjoyed this book more than Divergent but just slightly less than The Hunger Games. I look forward to reading the next book in this trilogy, Independent Study, very soon.

My Rating 4/5 stars