I first learned about this author through her novel need. This book is the first novel in the testing trilogy and represents another port that I have plundered. Arrrr! I have to say that the start to this story is one of the best young adult dystopian novels that I have read. I liked it better than the start to both the hunger games and divergent series, both of which I enjoyed.

Cia is a wonderful main character – smart, loyal, compassionate, honorable, and everything you want your young heroine to be. The book is seemingly uncomplicated in its style of writing and was super easy to read. Time flew by. But the underlying questioning of how the society works and the darker side of the world make the story anything but simple. Cia must question everything, everyone, and every fact she thought she knew.

Overall, I loved the majority of the secondary characters. The use of the secondary characters to further the tension in the plot and the growth of Cia made them an integral part of the story. I loved the dichotomy between Will and Tomas. The love story was not a triangle (what a relief!) and did not get in the way of the story. There are a couple of excellent twists in the plot and enough mysteries that still remain to be resolved in later books.

This novel also ends in spectacular fashion (which I won’t spoil) but makes me impatient to get to book two.

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