Assessment: The writing is clean. Chabonneau doesn’t waste a lot of time with repetition or with a character who ‘just can’t believe you know that OMG- you mean (insert terrible thing) is really happening’ despite obvious evidence of disaster. I loathe a Main Character who still aggressively disbelieves until 50 pages of exhaustive discussion and exposition and then it’s “hmmmm… I think something funny is going on here did anybody else notice – (insert terrible thing)?” But I digress…
Some plot points in The Testing seem a little too convenient. (This is IMHO one of the aspects – besides a 16 yr narrator- that marks this book a firmly YA). For example, when Cia so easily notices the cameras.
“[Michal’s] head never turned. So how did he know [that Tomas grabbed the crackers]? There. In the corner of the cabin is a round glint of glass.” (52)
On the other hand, it shows Cia is observant – and also helps prevent unrealistic twists in the future. We can trust the narrator because its been established early on that she’s observant and a hard worker – even if she’s keen to trust ever flea bitten candidate who arrives for the testing.