book notes

title: Independent Study
author: Joelle Charbonneau
series: The Testing #2
published: 1.7.2014
publisher: Clarion Publishing
source: Kindle Unlimited
genre(s): dystopian
pages: 310
format: eBook
buy/shelve it: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | BookBub | BookHype | StoryGraph | Goodreads
rating: | series rating:

the 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.

a few notes

POV: 1st person
setting: United Commonwealth
keywords/phrases: trust, survival, corruption
tropes: dystopian world, new world order
spice: 0/5
language: 0/5

my review

While I loved The Testing, Independent Study just didn’t live up to it, for a couple reasons.

#1

The focus of the plot was supposed to be the fight against government corruption. But somehow that took a backseat to the entire story becoming a backdrop to the main show: Cia and her unerring perfection and brilliance. It really felt as if the story was contrived around just that, the rebellion superfluous. From the very beginning, she is set apart, and above, the other student candidates. They are tested to determine their class load, with everyone getting roughly the same number. All but Cia, who not only is given an unprecedented number, she excels at all of them. She succeeds over and over again in tasks that most, if not all, of the other students fail. She has knowledge that no other student has, allowing her to be The One to save the day. And honestly, she even succeeds at failing. Multiple times she’s put in situations by instructors where the intended result is failure, and she’s the only that figures that aspect out. It became predictable.

Of course, all this perfection means she’s the natural leader among the students. It felt like a weird take as her fellow students wouldn’t even be at the university if it weren’t for the fact that they were all highly intelligent, immensely capable, adaptable students, any one of which might be a better leader for a given situation due to their basis of knowledge. But no.

#2

The other thing that bothered me was the weird dynamic between Cia and just about every other female. Almost all but Cia are viewed through a lens of distrust with a hint of hatred, and almost all but Cia are portrayed in roughly the same way. Cold, even heartless, intensely focused. For example, Stacia and Cia are very much alike when it comes down to it, but while those qualities are negatives for Stacia, readers are expected to view them positively in Cia. They are always described with negative asides. At times, it almost feels like inherent misogyny, as she obviously views the males in much more positive ways, forgiving them for most anything while condemning the other females for lesser evils.

Honestly, I hate the idea that there can only be one strong, intelligent female in a book. There is room, should be room for more.

Rating Report
the story
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Overall:

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• 2026 Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge
• 2026 Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge
• 2026 Linz the Bookworm & Logophile Reading Challenge

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