"Graduation Day" by Joelle Charbonneau

4 of 5 stars!

I thoroughly enjoyed this last installment of The Testing series. I'm happy the author ended it there instead of trying to drag out the story line. I was reading a few reviews and readers seemed not to enjoy the way in which the story unraveled. I on the other hand enjoyed it and was enraptured from the beginning of the book. I do think the author tries to make Cia more bad-ass than she actually is, but when you have to live up to books like Hunger Games and Divergent, I suppose that's the route you try to take: bad-ass female protagonist. Either way, I like that Cia was so smart and was able to get down to the truth of most of her concerns about the testing. I hate it that her brother died but someone important had to die at the end of the book, if it wasn't Tomas, then I guess it had to be her brother Zeen.

It did not surprise me that the task the President set her to complete was a testing in itself. I am also not surprised that the President knew more than she let on about the Testing and students who are Redirected. Anyway, I'm happy to be done with the series and I'm not surprised that Cia is deciding to go back to Tosu City even after being able to stay in Five Lakes.

~Remember, teachers read fun stuff too!

"Independent Study" by Joelle Charbonneau

4 of 5 stars.

The Basics: Now that Cia has successfully completed the Testing, she has a whole new set of issues to deal with: trying to remember what happened in the Testing, dealing with her feelings toward Tomas, and now trying to handle her Induction into the Government Studies program at the University.

My Thoughts: I enjoyed the book, not more than book 1, but I still enjoyed it. I felt that the Induction was like a mini Testing, but with the Tosu City students. Learning more about the rebellion and Symon was nice, but the ending was surprising. Either way, I'm looking forward to reading the last book in the series.

~Remember, teachers read fun stuff too!

"The Testing" by Joelle Charbonneau

4 of 5 stars.

The Basics: Cia Vale, at the age of 16,  is the youngest graduate of her Five Lakes Colony class. She is hoping to be selected for The Testing but is disappointed when no one from her class is announced as potential University candidates. A day later, not only is she surprised that she has indeed been selected but three other students from her class have been selected as well. Before leaving for Tosu City, Cia's father warns her of the potential dangers that The Testing may bring and warns her not to trust anyone.
As Cia embarks on this journey, she learns that everything isn't what it seems. Her roommate tries to poison her with corncakes and is later found hanging from the bedroom ceiling. A fellow Five Lakes Colony student is killed during a test and no one attempts to help him. And worst of all, the fourth stage of the test brings candidates to murder each other as they deal with harsh terrain, boobie traps set by Testing officials, and mutated humans and animals that are just as hungry and weary as the candidates. Through it all, Cia does learn to trust and partner up with Tomas, who may be hiding his own secrets.

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book. I picked it up one afternoon, after purchasing the book several months ago, and I have not been able to put it down. It is a bit of a copy cat of Hunger Games and Divergent, but it still has its own ID, which I hope will develop much more as the series continues. But yes, as I read, I constantly thought about the other dystopian series that have the same premise: corrupt government, young adults dying in gruesome ways, a female protagonist, a simulated type game or contest, and a stand out who tries to bring justice to show the corrupt government that they can't get away with all they have done.
I am going to continue with the series though because I just seem to like these types of novels right now.

~Remember, teaches read fun stuff too!

"Seventh Grave and No Body" by Darynda Jones

5 of 5 stars.

I finished this book a few days ago but I still felt the need to write about it. It was awesome!!
A few highlights (and spoilers ahead):
~Charlie is pregnant!!
~The hellhounds almost killed Charley and Reyes.
~Ubie almost died (thank God he didn't).
~Reyes has some crazy woman after him who was a jury member in his trial that got him locked up for 10 years. She is now killing all of the other jury members because they thought she was crazy for thinking Reyes was innocent (Reyes ends up killing her when she puts a gun to Charley's head).
~Jessica continues to follow Charley which turns out to be a good thing because Charley learns that she can heal people (she healed Jessica's dying nephew).
~Sadly, we find out that Charley's dad is murdered at the end of the book by some people who have been tracking Charley's every move.
~But happily, Charley and Reyes get married in Ubie's hospital room by the end of the book since they have to run off to a convent to be protected from these seemingly indestructible hounds. 

~Remember, teachers read fun stuff too!

"Unbound" by Neal Shusterman

5 of 5 stars!

The Basics: So, this is a collection of short stories in the Unwind world. The collection includes Lev's short story that chronicles his time on the ChanceFolk reservation. There is also a short story following up with Grace (Argent's sister), a short story on the Burmese Dah Zey, and a few other tantalizing and disturbing stories (including a follow-up on Cam and the Rewinds).

My Thoughts: I loved reading the whole series! I was sooo excited when this book came out. I was a little hesitant though because I wanted a full novel follow-up to Undivided. But, I was shocked that I actually loooved this collection of short stories. I am a bit unhappy that there wasn't a short story about Risa and Connor. They were my favorites and I feel like I want more of them. But, the book was so good that I am still giving it 5 stars.

~Remember, teachers read fun stuff too!