Everyone has felt the pressure around standardized tests. The thought, real or imagined, that how you perform in this one moment will decide the rest of your life. While we may be lending a dramatic flair to our own examinations, that fear is real for Cia. She has been chosen along with 3 other classmates from the 5 Lakes Colony to participate in The Testing. Every year, the best and brightest high school graduates are brought to Tosu City to undergo a series of exams that will decide who goes on to University. Of the 108 students that enter the capital city with Cia, only 20 will be accepted to University and go on to be the future leaders of their country.
The night before Cia leaves for The Testing, her father, who graduated from University 30 years ago, warns her that The Testing is more than what it seems. He can't remember everything, Testing candidates memories are wiped before going on to University, but he feels there is something more sinister going on. He warns her to trust no one. But in her classmate Tomas, Cia thinks she can confide her secrets. But no one is what they seem, and some Testing candidates are willing to take out the competition, permanently, in order to get ahead. Will Cia pass the tests? Or will she pay the ultimate price for failure?
Fans of The Hunger Games will love The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau. Not all your favorite characters will get out of the book alive, but Charbonneau adds the extra allure of mental tests, logic tests and memory wipes to take the book past a rewrite of The Hunger Games plot. The best part is that the sequel, Independent Study, comes out in January, 2014, guaranteeing that fans won't have to wait long to pick up the story. Not to mention that the book has already been optioned for a movie by Paramount Pictures. Get on the bandwagon now!