Publication Date: June 4th, 2013
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books
Source: ARCycling
Overall rating: 2.5 / 5 stars
This dystopian story follows the main character Cia, who lives in a world that was left devastated from the Seven Stages War. In order to find and educate future leaders for the country, the government picks recent graduates to participate in The Testing, in order to select students that will get to move on with their studies in the university. Cia feels honored to be chosen as a candidate, since her father once was as well, but secrets and betrayals are continuously revealed as she fights for a spot.
Overall, this book was just okay for me. Looking back, I definitely don't regret reading it since it was pretty action packed, but I also had enough issues with it that I won't be recommending it to everyone I see. A lot of reviews I have read for 'The Testing' start off by saying that it just felt like 'The Hunger Games' all over again. And I definitely agree with that. The first chapter felt like a rip off of the start of 'Divergent' and from there on it just felt like I was reading 'The Hunger Games,' but not as absorbing and addicting.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE 'The Hunger Games' but this story wasn't nearly as powerful for me. First off, I didn't really feel connected to the main character, Cia, even though the story is told from her point of view. I also didn't enjoy the boring love interest, Tomas. He got very little development and added nothing to the story for me. If I could compare a love interest to watching paint dry, I would pick Tomas. He just wasn't my cup of tea.
There was definitely some elements I really enjoyed about the actual test that candidates were put through though. I really liked a maze element, as well as the team test they were put through. Those two elements really sucked me in and I really wanted to know how they were resolved.
Overall at times I enjoyed the story and what was happening, but the lackluster characters, writing, and predictable plot points, make this one that I will likely forget in time. If you are a dystopian fanatic and want to give this a try, I would say go for it otherwise I wouldn't say it is a must read for me. The ending did leave me curious with how Cia will handle and deal with a new development, but not the point that I am racing out for second book.
[I received an ARC paperback copy of this book for review from ARCycling. Thanks again!]
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