The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau ★★★ ½

SURVIVAL IS NOW A UNIVERSITY REQUIREMENT

Reviewed by Katelyn (aged 13). Meet Katelyn

After the seven stages of war, Earth is a mess. Most food is inedible, the water undrinkable and the animals mutated until they are unrecognisable. Life is a continuous struggle to survive for all inhabitants. This is the world where Cia Vale lives with her family in the isolated and desolate Five Lakes Colony.

Cia has always longed to be chosen to for the Testing and then, hopefully, University like her father did, but to be Chosen you have to be the best of the best. On her Graduation Day, Cia desperately hopes to be Chosen but sadly she is not, until the day after Graduation when a representative from the University arrives.

Cia is so happy she is one of the Chosen, until her father warns her about what he can vaguely recall of the Testing after his compulsory memory wipe. Cia is then thrown into the Testing where no one can be trusted and a wrong answer can have seriously fatal consequences.

This book is an interesting dystopian book which I quite enjoyed. It is very similar to many of the latest release YA dystopian novels in that we have a lead female character who is placed in a situation of life and death in a bleak, futuristic Earth setting. The character of Cia is one which young teenage girls could easily idolise as she displays leadership qualities and compassion even while she is fighting for her very survival. The story itself is interesting and flows quickly, however the plot is one that you shouldn’t over analyse. I would recommend it for 12 to 17 year olds.

Thank you to the kind people at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for our preview copy of The Testing

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joelle has always loved telling stories and bringing them to life on the stage. Joelle graduated from Milikin University with a Bachelors Degree in Vocal Performance and then continued onto DePaul University to complete her Masters Degree in Opera Performance. From there she went onto perform across the Chicagoland area in a variety of Operas, Operettas and Musicals. She also started teached acting classes and private voice lessons to pass her passion along to the next generation.

Joelle had never planned on writing a novel until one day she had an idea and started to write. She found her passion for creating characters lived on the page as well as the stage.

Visit Joelle's website here