Independant Study

Independent Study by Joelle Charbonneau




Synopsis

In the series debut The Testing, sixteen-year-old Cia Vale was chosen by the United Commonwealth government as one of the best and brightest graduates of all the colonies . . . a promising leader in the effort to revitalize postwar civilization. In Independent Study, Cia is a freshman at the University in Tosu City with her hometown sweetheart, Tomas—and though the government has tried to erase her memory of the brutal horrors of The Testing, Cia remembers. Her attempts to expose the ugly truth behind the government’s murderous programs put her—and her loved ones—in a world of danger. But the future of the Commonwealth depends on her.  



Lisa's Review - 5 out 5 stars

It has been over a year and a half since I read the first book in this series, and I finally managed to find time to fit in book number two. I worried that it had been so long since I read The Testing that I would have forgotten everything that happened, but it didn't take very long for me to fall back into the story and the characters.

After The Testing, Cia graduates and is at the University, with the government trying to find the next leaders of the Commonwealth. To an outsider, and most of her fellow students, everything looks fine. But even after the government tried to erase all the horrific memories of The Testing, Cia knows the truth, about the murder and death, and the real corruption going on inside the Government.

As well as trying to deal with all that she remembers, Cia also has to deal with finding out there is a rebel group going, people who like her remember and are trying to end the way the government deals with the Testing process. And then theres her initiation into her University group. Being put through their paces once again, the students are whittled down even more and those that fail are Redirected, and it doesn't take Cia long to figure out what that really means.

As with the first book in the series, I found myself really enjoying Independent Studies. I remember when reading The Testing that a lot of people compared it to The Hunger Games, and I hope anyone who did read it continued the series and read this book, because if there were similarities, they definitely disappeared. There is a lot more depth to this book and the characters are fantastic and I adore Joelle's writing style. Even when you think you have a character pegged she manages to flip it round and leaves you surprised by their actions. The way she describes everything has created some vivid imagery in my head that really want me to see these books adapted for the big screen! I am actually enjoying these books much more than The Hunger Games and as soon I read the last page of this I straight away dived into the third book.

Links

Goodreads                       Joelle Charbonneau

Purchase Links

Amazon UK                  Amazon.com                B&N