Review: Graduation Day - Joelle Charbonneau

Cia now fully remembers the tragic events of the testing and is plotting to take the process down however she can. Although she has survived through many trials, she needs to be completely certain of who she can trust. Her life, and the lives of countless rebels and future colony students, are at stake. She needs to be careful though, because everything is not quite how it seems.

I was expecting a straightforward end to this trilogy, with a simple scheme that would set everything right again, that would end the testing. After all, this is YA fiction, and sometimes it's not all that complex. However, our author has a few tricks up her sleeve. The book starts simply enough, with a clear path in which to end the suffering, but then you realise it won't be a easy as it seems, with so many allegiances, secrets and misconceptions. There are a couple of very interesting plot developments, most of which linger in the background and slowly come to their conclusion during the end of the book. This means that you get to work out all the good bits with Cia rather than ahead of her.

We see a  fair bit more of Zeen, Raffe and Tomas here, and it is nice to see them developing slightly. However, the largest differences are now seen outside of the main protagonists, with Will, Dr Barnes and the President way in front in terms of character development. Cia seems to have stopped growing and instead finds the need to now hang on to the girl she was before. Here trusting nature is revealed to be more of a strength than a weakness when she finally learns the correct balance.

A very good read overall and a satisfying conclusion, though slightly drawn out nearing the very end. This epilogue part could easily have been drawn out further into a short but instead has been explained away, which is a great shame.

Exciting and interesting, this series has some great world-building and there is some wonderful storytelling involved. It would definitely hold YA interest throughout, especially those who enjoyed The Hunger Games and Divergent.

Kyra_x

Review: Independent Study - Joelle Charbonneau

The Testing was only the beginning. Cia is once again forced to use all her wits as she enters University. Fist she sits the enttry exams, where the penalty for failing is redirection. Then life gets even harder as she is separated from those she trusts and  put through a horrific hazing system.

Here we see Cia develop all over again as she begins to piece together her testing experiences. Her nightmares and the recording she left herself are enough to give her a good sense of the awful things she has to face. People change during the testing, and she has no idea who to trust and who will be the same person they were before they entered the process. Cia is on her own, and with her memories slowly returning, she come to the conclusion that the testing has to end. This character never disappoints. Her trusting nature still makes her an easy target, but she is working on it. The plot device to allow her to forget her memories actually give an excuse to recap the last book throughout, whilst not giving a boring overview at the beginning.  This was great as too many books do this, and when you are reading one after the other, this can be really aggravating.

In this second book of the testing trilogy, we meet more characters, and more about the Government and the rebellion is revealed throughout. This has developed the plot very well, but unfortunately once again the supporting character have not been given the same treatment. While a few key classmates stick out in terms of the fact that they may have ulterior motives and that they have different beliefs to Cia, they do not come to the fore, and Cia remains the only character who truly has a lot of depth given to her.

However, I really enjoyed this book. The pace was as good as the first, and the plot is full of action, with no dull moments. The story definitely pulls you in straight away, and the idea has now taken a further step away from other YA dystopian fiction that may be similar. A great read.

Kyra_x

Review: The Testing - Joelle Charbonneau

Cia is a determined girl and a hard worker. Her goal is to be chosen for the testing and  to go to University like her father. She soon learns to be careful what you wish for when the testing takes a sinister turn, with failure meaning almost certain death. Cia soon has to use all of her knowledge to ensure her own safety. Her only clue as to how to survive is the advice her father gave before she left home: Trust no-one.

Another YA dystopian trilogy with a skewed Government and a horrific amount of danger involved. This book is similar to The Hunger Games in that young people are pitted against each other in a competition, but this one is far more precise. The playing field is more even and the tests are more sophisticated, the players are cleverer too, with much more room for trickery and tactics. yes, you have to try not to die, but it becomes apparent that the answer is to evaluate the competition carefully and fully utilise your skills.

Cia is a great character that you can really sympathise with. She is very smart, compassionate but slightly too trusting and slow to make decisions. She is emotional and understanding in the worst circumstances, and sometimes this makes you wonder if she will survive the process at all. Her journey is difficult, but seems natural as she slowly learns to be tougher, to listen to her instincts and to become less trusting. However, although Cia is great, there is much less character development in her supporting characters, such as Tomas and Will.

The main theme in the book is trust. Though there is romance involved, even that is affected by the tests and the secrets Cia has to keep. This book really makes you think about what you would do in these situations. Who would you trust? How much would you know? How would you cope with the pressure, the animosity, the danger? Would you even make it to the testing? The book also makes a comment about human nature as some candidates turn to manipulation and murder to succeed in these tests, thereby forcibly eliminating the competition. The question is, would you?

The Testing is very fast paced, with no boring parts and lots of interest. This is a great start to the trilogy and I am very intrigued as to what happens next, especially with the ending that has taken place.

Kyra_x

The Reading Pile #8

So some of you may have noticed that I have been not accepting review requests recently. This is because I have been focusing on the books I already have to review. I am happy to say that I have only just finished that pile and will now be focusing on getting through the monstrous pile of books that I currently have sitting on my bookshelves (and in my kindle) that I have actually bought!

Things are looking up for me in general life. The other half has just rented out his flat and has managed to get himself a new job so we can start saving properly for our own place! I've already begun thinking about how we're going to have our library.

Anyway.. on to the books!

Bought:
Shift -Em Bailey
I may have gone to a boot sale and found this along with the next few beauties. This book sounds awesome. It's about a girl who has gone a bit mad, and she watches as a new girl comes in and slowly begins to imitate her best friend. Then her best friend dies. Apparently there a romance involved in this YA thriller too!

How I Live Now - Meg Rosoff
You may have seen the film, and if so hold all comments because I haven't! I just saw the trailer and though how awesome it would be in book form, so when I saw this, I needed to buy it.

The Little Old Lady Who Broke All The Rules- Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg
In the same vein as a few similarly titled recent books, only this one caught my eye because A; The League of Pensioners really tickled me, and B: The little old lady is totally awesome wanting to protest about her quality of life. However funny it may sound, this book will probably make me think a lot.

Rules of Civility - Amer Towles
A piece of historical fiction about two ambitious and funny girls in the 30s, who plan on taking New York by storm. It sounds cool and I've never read anything set in that period before!

Ten Tiny Breaths - K.A. Tucker
This was a Kindle Daily Deal, as were the next two, so I snapped them up!

Angelbound - Christina Bauer
This one had been flying around on my radar and I kind of had to have it when it was on offer.

The Testing - Joelle Charbonneau
I couldn't believe it when I spied this one cheap (cheap being for less than a pound) so again, I had to have it.

Won:
Wallbanger - Alive Clayton (Signed)
This book was a mystery to me but when I opened the packaging I was not disappointed. it sounds funny and a lot lighter than most of my reading. Ohh, and did I mention it's signed?

Recieved:
Desperate Reflections - Shay West
The last in the series that started with Dangerous Reflections.

Thankyou's this month go to:
Booktrope: Pamela Labbe and Shay West
Have Book Will Read Book Blog and Alice Clayton

Kyra_x

Cover Reveal: Qualify - Vera Nazarian

Cover Reveal Time! This book sounds really intriguing, and not unlike The Testing, which admittedly I haven't read yet. However, this has got a bit of sci-fi thrown in and is therefore right up my street! Without further ado, here's the cover:

Qualify by Vera Nazarian 

(The Atlantis Grail #1)
Publication date: May 25th 2014
Genres: Dystopia, Science Fiction, Young Adult

Synopsis:

The year is 2047. An extinction-level asteroid is hurtling toward earth, and the descendants of ancient Atlantis have returned from the stars in their silver ships to offer humanity help.

But there’s a catch.

They can only take a tiny percent of the Earth’s population back to the colony planet Atlantis. And in order to be chosen, you must be a teen, you must be bright, talented, and athletic, and you must Qualify.

Sixteen-year-old Gwenevere Lark is determined not only to Qualify but to rescue her entire family.

Because there’s a loophole.

If you are good enough to Qualify, you are eligible to compete in the brutal games of the Atlantis Grail, which grants all winners the laurels, high tech luxuries, and full privileges of Atlantis Citizenship. And if you are in the Top Ten, then all your wildest wishes are granted… Such as curing your mother’s cancer.

There is only one problem.

Gwen Lark is known as a klutz and a nerd. While she’s a hotshot in classics, history, science, and languages, the closest she’s come to sports is a backyard pool and a skateboard.

This time she is in over her head, and in for a fight of her life, against impossible odds and world-class competition—including Logan Sangre, the most amazing guy in her class, the one she’s been crushing on, and who doesn't seem to know she exists.

Because every other teen on Earth has the same idea.

You Qualify or you die.


Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21845122-qualify

AUTHOR BIO:

VERA NAZARIAN is a two-time Nebula Award Nominee, award-winning artist, and member of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, a writer and reader with a penchant for moral fables and stories of intense wonder, true love, and intricacy. After many years in Los Angeles, Vera lives in a small town in Vermont, and uses her Armenian sense of humor and her Russian sense of suffering to bake conflicted pirozhki and make art.

Her official author website is www.veranazarian.com

Author links: 

http://www.veranazarian.com/

https://twitter.com/Norilana

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/186145.Vera_Nazarian