The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau

Pages: 325
Intended Audience: Mature Teens
Genre: Science Fiction / Dystopia
Notes for Parents: Contains scenes of violence, at times graphic, and mature themes

The Back Cover

The Seven Stages War left much of the planet a charred wasteland. The future belongs to the next generation’s chosen few, who must rebuild it. But to enter this elite group, candidates must first pass The Testing—their one chance at a college education and a rewarding career.
Cia Vale is honored to be chosen as a Testing candidate, eager to prove her worthiness as a University student and future leader of the United Commonwealth. But on the eve of her departure, her father’s advice hints at a darker side to her upcoming studies.
Surely, though, she can trust Tomas, her handsome childhood friend, who offers an alliance. Tomas, who seems to care more about her with the passing of every grueling (and deadly) day of The Testing. To survive, Cia must choose: love without truth or life without trust.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

This book is the first in a trilogy. The movie rights for The Testing have been optioned and the project is currently in the development stage.

What’s good?

This story is action-packed and filled with suspenseful twists and turns. The pacing gets progressively more intense as the teens fight to survive the testing. The writing is solid and the world-building is well-done. There’s a nice romance that threads through the plot without overpowering the story. The plot itself is fairly simple, with many opportunities for conflict and tension. There’s a great underlying message about how vulnerable our environment is to weapons of war.
Best Part: the science, especially regarding the rejuvenating efforts in a world environmentally devastated by war. (It was by far the most original part!)

What isn’t good?

In a world devastated by war, it seems highly illogical to kill off young people that are clearly intelligent and determined. The degree of violence was unnecessary. Admittedly, a more cerebral story about revitalizing the environment would have been boring, but it would have at least been more original. While many moments were unexpected, the overall story is very predictable. The start was a little slow.
Worst part: The lack of originality is painful.

Recommendation þþþoo

It's impossible not to compare this to The Hunger Games and Divergent. The same elements are all there – the post-apocalyptic setting, the cruel politics aimed at weeding out the weak, and the strong female protagonist who saves her love interest with luck and ingenuity. Had this book come out before The Hunger Games and Divergent, I would have called it brilliant. As it is, it’s just a copy. Well done, but way overdone.

Charbonneau, Joelle. The Testing. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.