By: Joelle Charbonneau
“Take my time. Never second-guess myself. Almost always my first instinct will be the correct one.”
Joelle Charbonneau, The Testing
*This post contains spoilers
Overview
In the United Commonwealth, those chosen to lead must first pass the testing. A series of challenges designed to examine who a person is under any circumstance.
Cia Vale has been waiting for this her whole life. An opportunity to serve her government and better the lives of all citizens. But what she doesn’t know is just how high the stakes are. For those that are deemed unworthy of a passing grade, it could be a matter of life or death.
Cia must decide if anyone can be trusted and how far she is willing to go to achieve everything she has worked for.
My thoughts:
I have several problems with the actual testing structure.
I guess I still don’t understand the whole point of the testing. You can not get picked and still have a very similar job to those who evade several murder attempts. Cia’s brother, who did not take part in the testing, works with their father, who went through the entire process. What’s really the point of all of it when you can seemingly live the same life regardless of you proving your worth in the traditional sense?
Also, people make mistakes. I would think that they would rather have someone lead society that is willing to fail and go over things multiple times to make it the best it could possibly be than someone using luck to get through. Some of these tasks you could have guessed or given up and made it to the end. That doesn’t normally translate into someone you would consider a good leader.
I also have a hard time getting past the fact that parents and families are ok with their children never being seen again and not questioning it. There are ways of communication across the country. They really just think that their child would never try to contact them again? And what is the reasoning behind that? Those that pass the testing can have families and live seemingly normal lives so it’s not like they are giving up that for service. It makes no sense. You can have your own family but never see your parents again? They’re not in some bunker plugging away at life’s great mysteries, they just live in communities with everyone else.
Finally, I keep questioning he logistic of the final task.
As they are collecting things and altering the environment, I wondered if those running the program replenish stuff every couple of years? After a while, wouldn’t the resources deplenish so much that there would be nothing left to use? They find nuts and bolts and bits of wire but what happens when all that runs out?
Also, what was the first testing like? They must have had access to so much stuff. If the city was abandoned, the population was dramatically reduced and the government took over quick enough, there might have been entire stores still having usable products on the shelves. Maybe the fact that it gets harder and harder each year is the point because the leaders need to be better and better and they can’t go backwards with progress.
On a grim note, what do they do with the bodies of the previous participants? They must clear out the bodies. If not then they would run across hundreds of bodies in various levels of decomposition frequently. They only mention bodies when it is those of their current fellow test takers.
Now that I have completely ripped apart the structure of the testing, I did like that as the reader you are given the opportunity to solve the tests along with Cia. Once the solution is revealed, I found myself going back and looking for clues that led to the right conclusion. More often then not, I would come to the incorrect conclusion and would absolutely be one of the first to be eliminated.
I have a theory about the history portion. I think that what everyone is taught is actually government propaganda that is altered dramatically. The Testing would weed out those that know things they shouldn’t. The written tests don’t seem to leave room for interpretation. I think you would need to answer it exactly how they intend or face the consequences.
The Testing really shows who everyone is as a person. Even when trying to figure out what the Testers want you to do, some are like “oh they want us to be ruthless”, “they want us to manipulate as much as possible” “withhold information” and others are like “they want us to work cooperatively”, “share and show compassion”, “ingenuity and creativity is the most important thing”. These conclusions are neither right nor wrong. They can be equally as beneficial when trying to lead a group of people through rebuilding and preventing another horrible tragedy.
I don’t love the relationship between Cia and Tomas. If there was some big twist that he is using her to further himself, I would find that a better resolution. The idea that they randomly began a relationship while they barely talked to one another back home seems forced. I get that they are both in a traumatic situation and this brings them together but she was so focused on school her whole life. Why choose the most important time to stay focused as the time you let your guard down and trust someone that you don’t even speak to regularly?
The more interesting relationship is that of WIll and Cia. His betrayal just absolutely breaks your heart. She did everything she could to help him and he used that to his benefit. There relationship is dynamic and hold much higher stakes than that of Cia and Tomas.
Overall:
I think it follows a familiar pattern with dystopian books but still an interesting read. It deffinatly skratches the dystopian itch if you are looking for a different story than the usual titles that are more broadly known.
It is very clearly relying on the success of books like the Hunger Games to propel it forward but you can’t say anything negative about that because it is what people want.
Not amazing but it is good and it keeps your attention.
Rating: 3/5 stars
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