Book Review: Independent Study

Title: Independent Study

Author: Joelle Charbonneau

Genre: YA dystopian

Book Blurb:

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

Review:

Whew! My feelings regarding this book is quite mixed. But this I can say for sure: I enjoyed Independent Study more than The Testing. Okay....just give me a minute to organize my thoughts....

Alright...now my brain's more organized. Let me start with the plot. What a huge improvement! I found the plot of The Testing overbearingly similar to that of The Hunger Game's, so I didn't really enjoy the book. However, Independent Study is nothing like Catching Fire, so it was nice to read something with a unique plot. Cia, the main character, is finally studying at the University and is training with the brightest minds of the country. However, wiped memories are beginning to resurface and Cia begins to remember things that the director of the University and Testing wouldn't want her to know.  With the aid of her Transit Communicator (Cia made a recording of herself documenting what happened during the Testing before having her memories wiped) and Thomas, Cia begins to piece together why the Testing must be stopped.

I also liked the plot twist towards the end. ***Spoiler Alert*** I wasn't really expecting Symon to be a supporter of Dr. Barnes, the head of the Testing. I mean, I suspected that Symon might be more involved with the government than he let on when Cia heard a familiar voice talking to Dr. Barnes one night at the redirection building. But still, I wasn't positive which side Symon was working for until the end.

Cia, Cia, Cia. I feel like I should like her more than I do. I think the problem with Cia is that...she's too perfect. She's a too perfect character. There, I said it. *dodges death glares being thrown at me*

How can a character be too perfect you ask? It's because she has the right ratio of intelligence and niceness that she becomes too predictable. Cia is very smart--so smart that she basically breezes through all of the tests thrown at her. And she's also nice and has solid moral values; she refuses to sabotage other teams even when they tried to kill her/maim her team. The character I think is most similar to Cia would probably be Hermione Granger (minus the fact that, you know, Cia doesn't own a wand and casts spells.)

I feel like Cia needs some kind of flaw-- an Achille's heel, if you will--for her to make a more dynamic character.

It's kind of strange...even though this novel is written from 1st person POV, it feels like I'm reading in 3rd person POV....kind of like I'm observing everything from above, even though Cia has a quite distinct voice in her narration. Okay, I guess this is how I would sum the characters the best: they are generally likable but not very connectable.

Final thoughts: Worth the read, but probably won't reread the book.  I will finish the series though, because I am interested in how the trilogy will conclude.

Rating: