Graduation Day by Joelle Charbonneau | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Publisher/Year: HMH Books for Young Readers | June 17, 2014
Pages: 304
Series: The Testing Series Book 3 of 3
Genre: Young Adult Dystopian
Format: E-Book
Source: Overdrive Media
Summary (From Goodreads)
In a scarred and brutal future, The United Commonwealth teeters on the brink of all-out civil war. The rebel resistance plots against a government that rules with cruelty and cunning. Gifted student and Testing survivor Cia Vale vows to fight. But she can’t do it alone. This is the chance to lead that Cia has trained for – but who will follow? Plunging through layers of danger and deception, Cia must risk the lives of those she loves – and gamble on the loyalty of her lethal classmates.
Shannan’s Summary
Picking up right where Independent Study ended, Cia is now faced with the choice of fight or flight. Fighting is the right thing to do, but she can’t do it alone, and she still isn’t sure who she can trust. Making a list and coming up with her own tests, Cia realizes the line of fighting the people who keep the testing running and becoming like them is a fine line, one she struggles to navigate. And as she continues to plunge forward to find the answers to an ever growing list of questions, she wonders which side of the line she’ll wind up on.
First off…
I flew into this book from the second one. I didn’t even try to switch gears. I was a little worried I wasn’t going to get a copy because Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited didn’t have this one available yet. However my overdrive subscription had it ready and waiting to borrow so that was a huge relief, since I already new I’d want to own a physical copy and didn’t want have to buy it twice.
Thoughts
This story! I struggled through this book. Not in the pacing, reading wise I made it to the end quickly. I’m not even sure if I actually read every word. I had to know what was going on. So many characters are called into question, can you trust them or not. And I honestly had no clue. And characters you thought were on your side turn out to not quiet, or be straddling the fence. I really don’t want to give anything away, because the twists and turns of this story are so good. I do hurt for Cia because I can’t imagine having to make some of the decisions she has to make. There are so many grey zones in this book. For as bad as the other two books are, this one is the worse, and I think it’s worse than any of the hunger games books, because with Cia, you don’t really know if you agree with her decisions. But you can’t really judge her either because you don’t know what you would do in her shoes either.
Honestly, I’m still processing this series. It’s so good, but you really need someone you can talk with about some of the hard hitting themes. And if you struggled with The Hunger Games Trilogy, you may want to steer clear of this one, or just be prepared The Testing Trilogy has a finer moral razor.
10 second summary
- I really liked the tension in this book: What I mean by this is you know what you want the characters to do, but you’re never really sure what they will choose in the end. This book was the biggest mystery out of the three as to what was going to happen. I never was sure who I could trust or how a character would react.
- This book goes fast: I couldn’t put it down till I was done and I knew all the secrets.
- I like the ending: I’m not going to give it away, but I thought the ending was satisfying and appropriate to the story.
These will be a hardback purchase for me. I”m glad I borrowed the e-books so I don’t have to rebuy.