4 stars 
 Initial Impressions:The Testing wasn't quite The Hunger Games for me (although I couldn't get the comparison out of my head). The ending definitely got me and totally hooked me into book two. I enjoyed the action and liked Cia as a main character, but with all the build-up, it just wasn't the mind-exploding book I hoped it to be. Definitely still worth the read! 
 Review originally posted on The Book Addict's Guide:There has been so much buzz about THE TESTING so I'm excited that I was able to receive an ARC to review and share my opinion with everyone before the book comes out on June 4th! If you're a long-time reader of my blog, you probably know that the whole reason I even got into YA was because I was dying for more dystopians. I was in a huge dystopian kick with books like The Hunger Games, Matched, and Delirium so you can image how excited I was when I heard several comparisons that THE TESTING was the next Hunger Games! 
 I will say that I can't deny the similarities I noticed between THE TESTING and THG. Yes, it is dystopian so, okay, there will be elements in there that the "classic dystopian" will most likely contain, but I'm not talking about those. The thing that stood out to me most was watching Cia, our main character, be taken away from her family to participate in "The Testing" which if you're not familiar with the summary is a series of rigorous mental and physical tests/situations to determine if the United Commonwealth's smartest teens are worthy enough to move onto the University and be groomed as the nation's next group of leaders. Where I saw the similarity and just couldn't shake it was seeing a sort of "first half" where Cia is figuring out secrets about The Testing and getting to know her fellow candidates and a "second half" where they are all out in the "field" so-to-speak (which I likened to the arena in THG) and the students decided whether to work together or battle against each other. I can't really say whether it was good or bad that it reminded me of THG. On the one hand, it was a book that I truly loved (still do) and both books had great female heroines and exciting action! On the other hand, I couldn't get that comparison out of my mind and it made me feel like the story was a tiny bit unoriginal. Hard to say since so many dystopians will seem similar just because they share genres! 
 I really did enjoy all of the action in this book. There were some extremely tense moments, although I wish some were drawn out longer, and some shocking twist of events. The Testing is designed to truly put these kids through the wringer so it brings out the best in some and the worst in others and at times I was truly surprised to see people's true colors! 
 Honestly, my favorite aspect of the book was the mind games between the Testing officials and Cia. Cia's intelligence level is probably the highest out of all of the kids based on her assessments of the officials as well as her fellow Testing candidates. Those little twists and turns in the plot were really the most exciting part for me! No spoilers of course, but the ending totally hooked me in and has me anxiously awaiting book two! Upon finishing, I was actually really glad it ended the way it did. The ending could have gone two different ways, and in the first, I think it would have closed the book off and made for a more wrapped-up ending. The way the book actually ended definitely kept me on the edge of my seat and in anticipation of the rest of the series! I truly have no idea what is to come! 
 I think dystopian fans will enjoy this one! If you're looking for a comparison, I totally saw it as a mix of the feels from The Hunger Games and Divergent. Strong stuff, right!?