By: Joelle Charbonneau
“What can the United Commonwealth Government do for you, citizen?”
Joelle Charbonneau, Independent Study
*This post contains spoilers for Independent Study and The Testing Series
Independent Study is the second book in The Testing Series. For a refresher on what happened in the first book, my discussion on the book can be found in the linked post.
Overview:
The testing was just the beginning…
Trying to navigate her way through a brutal academic course load at the University in Tosu City, Cia Vale must also tread carefully.
Her teachers are recruiting other students to follow her.
The President is showing a vested interest in her studies.
And she’s starting to remember that some of her friends may want her dead.
Once again, Cia is going to be tested and this time the stakes are even higher. If she makes the wrong decision and puts her faith in the wrong people, the entire Commonwealth could suffer the consequences.
My thoughts:
I wish they didn’t just breeze over their first 6 months of Cia’s studies before getting to the University. It would have been interesting to see them acclimate to the new environment with these new characters and build the tension leading up to their placement examinations. Cia, being the only one who knows what happened in their original testing would fear greatly while everyone else was blissfully preparing.
Yet again, right after their exams students are purged from the program. I will never be able to get over the fact that people are such a valuable resource. Why allow for students to die who you have put tremendous time and effort into? Economically it doesn’t make any sense. The return on investment is minimal because of all the talented citizens who die just to test their worth.
The government seems to be pinching pennies everywhere. You think they would make some budget cuts to a program that requires so many resources for a minimal return.
Getting into the actual tests:
I love that everything is a puzzle to be solved. A way to be evaluated on who you are. No one can keep up a charade all the time and eventually their true self will shine through. I mentioned this in my previous discussion on The Testing but I think the main purpose of these challenges is not the right answer but how they break you down to who you really are.
I wish the first part of the induction was more involved. The task was to get through a locked door within a certain amount of time. It would have been much more interesting if it were more like an escape room that you would have to find clues and problem solve to get out of.
“Creating a light source isn’t the point. Escape is. To escape I need to open the door. To open the door I need… what?”
Joelle Charbonneau, Independent Study
However, it is always interesting to see how people solve the same problem in very different ways. There may be a “right” answer or one that was intended to be the solution but someone will always find another way of doing things that no one had thought of or physically could not achieve. Cia could not have physically broken that door down within the allotted time so she had to solve it the “correct” way. Another student just used their brute strength and broke through. Hopefully, they replace their doors because that student would have a hard school year without one. Maybe that would be the consequence of breaking it down?
But in the end, you have to use your strengths or fail the test. Problem solving creatively is the sign of a good leader because circumstances change and you can’t always rely on the same solution.
The second portion of the induction is similar to the final test in the first book, where students are dropped off somewhere unrevitalized and have to find their way back to the University.
I’m a big logistic person (if you haven’t noticed already) so I have some questions as to how this portion of the induction was set up.
Are the older students allowed to leave campus? They must be if they have time to set up an elaborate maze miles away from the University complete with booby traps and tasks to complete. If this isn’t a sanctioned University event then why do they all have so many resources to make it happen. I know that many of the Tosu City students are heavily connected but you would think that their parents wouldn’t want them messing around and risking their spot at the University.
During this scavenger hunt like induction, the students must find markers that lead them to different locations .
The first place they end up is an abandoned zoLove that they ended up in a zoo something they have very little concept of. Just the sheer size on it to them is overwhelming.
There’s no way that i would have gotten in that box. But lets be honest solving a complex equaltion would not have been a strength of mine either.
“Everything goes black. I hear the snap of a lock that tells me there is no going back. Until my team comes up with the correct solution, I am trapped.”
The third location is the Central Government Building where one person must recite to the President of the Commonwealth a phrase to be granted an audience in front of the entire debate chamber.
Cia’s group finished the task just before the debate chamber closes for the day meaning that every other team will have to wait for it to re-open in the morning before making their attempts. Having everyone else stacked up on top of each other must be frustrating. Once one team does it correctly everyone else will just follow suit and arrive one right after the other at the finish line.
The final stop is back at their dorm where the bridge, expanded over a cavernous ravine, has been pulled back. The teams are instructed to “Come Home” but no other clues. After sometime, Cia realizes that the task is impossible and gives up, thus actually completing the task correctly.
Once teams figure out the solution, the bridge is reassembled, allowing the teams to cross. I wonder what their plan would have been if multiple teams had been working on the problem at the same time. Arguably, all teams except Cia’s would have caught up with one another at the Central Government Building so it would be very possible for them to arrive at the University around the same time. How do you put the bridge back for one team when they figure it out but not the others who are there actively working on the problem? Wouldn’t that just give away the solution?
Now that we went through all of the actual testing portion of Cia’s induction, let’s discuss my least favorite character, Tomas.
I’ve said it before. I don’t much care for that Tomas boy. Gaslighting your girlfriend and saying that she is the reason you “accidentally” killed someone? Come on man, take responsibility for your actions and don’t blame your super awesome girlfriend who is great at everything and trying to change the world.
Honestly, Cia would be better off without Tomas as a distraction. He is really not helping her and doesn’t bring anything to the table in terms of helping or supporting her with everything she is trying to take on.
Going into the final chapters of the book. It looks as if Cia is finally making headway and she has in her hands proof that should end The Testing for ever. The twist happens when Michal, who has been aiding her throughout the entire series is murdered by the leader of the rebellion Symon.
It is revealed that Symon was the man that helped Cia in the final test of the first book. He is supposed to be the leader of the rebellion but is actually on the side of the bad guys making sure that the rebellion will ultimately fail.
Good twist but basically negates the entire arch of Cia so far. All the work she has done has been for nothing because the people she thought could help and the mysterious man who helped her during the testing, are actually her enemies. She gave the testing recordings to the one person who would make sure no one would ever hear them.
This book does a good job of being frustrating. Just when you think they are going to gain some ground or that Cia has found someone to have faith in, she finds out that once again she has been betrayed.
Poor Cia can’t catch a break. Just when she thinks that everything is figured out another layer of the onion is revealed. It is harder and harder for her to succeed.
Overall,
Not as good as the first book in the series but builds on the world well and provides both more questions and answers as to where the story is leading to.
The twist puts our character back to square one but at least she knows who her enemies are and where to focus her energy in the next book.
I would have liked to give it more starts but her relationship with Tomas really drags down the story and stalls the momentum.
Rating: 3/5 stars
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