Name: Jasmine Yang's review of Graduation Day by Joelle Charbonneau
Item: Graduation Day
Rating: 4
Author: Jasmine Yang

Joelle Charbonneau

In book three of The Testing series, the United Commonwealth wants to eliminate the rebel alliance fighting to destroy The Testing for good, and though Cia is ready to lead the charge, will her lethal classmates follow her into battle? 75,000 first printing.

Graduation Day

Jasmine Yang

Hannah Yang

Ugh. I was very disappointed with Graduation Day.

Graduation Day is the continuation of Cia's story. Decisions must be made, loyalties must be tested, and all must come to an end "in this electrifying conclusion to Joelle Charbonneau's epic Testing trilogy." With the help of some new friends, and some old ones, Cia must finally put an end to the Testing. But when the time comes, can she really pull the trigger on everything that has caused her to suffer?

I did like the more philosophical aspects of this book. Graduation Day uses a lot more of Cia's inner voice, and the discussions she has with some people question leadership, what makes a good leader, etc. Those are intriguing topics that are well-explored throughout the book due to the many decisions Cia has to make and questions she must answer.

However, the story is so jumbled and confusing - I think this is supposed to be "action packed" but all I see is the overuse of plot twists, and some don't even reach a satisfactory conclusion. Not to mention, lots of supposed-to-be-dramatic points that were just... not.

Dr. Barnes hinted that President Collindar could be the real enemy, but at the end of the book there's a rushed happily ever after that answers none of the questions that Dr. Barnes raised. I think the book would be a lot more interesting if President Collindar's motives weren't entirely pure and she didn't set everything right the way she promised, because that too shows the lengths leaders may go to preserve their positions / questions the nature of humans and whatnot.

I don't even know what to say about the whole Decatur Colony, which didn't add to the plot and seemed much like THG's District Thirteen. I liked the idea that the Redirected and failed Testing candidates didn't all have to be killed, but that sort of blurred the lines between who was right and who was wrong in this fight. If the Testing candidates that failed weren't killed, and were actually being used to augment scientific progress, that isn't so bad. (I sound like Stacia, which is a bit disheartening.) 

The story just didn't feel right to me, like there was some important piece of information I missed or skipped over. At the end, Cia just goes home and lives a happy, albeit different life? There's no war, no nothing? Forgive me for sounding like I was hoping for a bit more death, but I feel like the case was closed before it even began. The ending raised a lot of new questions, thanks to Dr. Barnes, but these questions seem to be dismissed super easily with his death.

Speaking of her, I completely lost my connection with Cia. In the first book I loved her - and most importantly, I could follow her train of thought. Here, I felt myself struggling to like her as a character due to her indecisiveness and constant doubting (which really does cloud the storyline a bit) and yet, I felt her drawing conclusions that didn't make sense to me. Maybe I'm just dumber than when I read The Testing?

The other characters disappointed me as well. 
- There were so many hints that Raffe would end up a bad guy, but he helps until the end. I just found him intense and boring at the same time, which is an awkward combination. 
- Stacia could have been interesting, but at the end she is diminished to the point where she is remembered by Cia as "a girl who wanted more than anything to be important". 
- Will's cockiness and the fact that he was never all that trustworthy made him stand out, and kept things compelling. But no, he apologizes and turns out to be a friend as well. 
Pfft, way to kill off everything that made characters remotely fascinating.

Don't get me started on Tomas. I swear, he's only there to be kissed and to be the Ultimate Understanding and Perfect In All Ways Boyfriend. Does he have any faults? Whenever it seems like he and Cia are going to disagree, they end up in agreement and usually an abundance of kisses and "I love you"s. There's always the hanging regret for killing Zandri, but does Tomas ever do anything drastic or dangerous or awful in any way? Nope.

I can't even comment on Dr. Barnes and President Collindar because I'm confused about both of their motives and I don't know what to say about them, other than wasted potential. Also, I have no clue what's the deal with Symon. 

In short: Graduation Day ruined all the characters. Sad truth.

Not to mention, the book was a bore. It was almost a chore to read through the pages of Cia's inner conflicts and stagnant not-story-progression. Although I usually love getting inside the head of a character, especially a complex one, it turns out that Cia's head is a confusing mess. 

I felt like the book was trying really hard to be something, but it went in way too many different directions. There were plenty of parts where I believed the story was picking up, only to be disappointed. The writing was tired, the story dragged on, and it kind of felt like Joelle Charbonneau gave up on making Graduation Day a thrilling end to the trilogy.

This trilogy has disappointed me because there was such a strong start, and every new book just dragged it down. Personally, I would not recommend Graduation Day, but if you really love The Testing series, it is another chance to re-immerse yourself into Cia's world. 

PS: This is a great review of the book that I think addresses some of its other flaws.

ciazeen 😭❤️‍🩹 oh i’m so sad… 

emily

"The United Commonwealth wants to eliminate the rebel alliance fighting to destroy The Testing for good. Cia is ready to lead the charge, but will her lethal classmates follow her into battle?"--

henrique

This book was a very fitting continuation and ending to the series, and served as both a satisfying conclusion and an open ending, from which the writer could easily, in my opinion, take over in a new book.

Whilst being full of action, both of physical and physiological, and having by far the most unexpected turns of any one of the books in the series, “Graduation Day” also provided us with a lot more information on each of the characters’ personalities and behaviours.

All in all, this is a great way to end the series, and with it the story of young Cia, who captivated my heart and interested all throughout the previous books.

(Possibly deserving of 4.5 starts but there were a good bit if sentences I highlighted for being grammatically wrong or weird)

I was absolutely blown away by how much I enjoyed this book. I thought The Testing was interesting and did not like Independent Study at all but Graduation Day was entertaining from start to finish.

Taking on a different format from the other books, Graduation Day was themed as more of a heist.

My biggest pro for this book is that there was a return of the human variation impacting the main character's decisions. She tired to anticipate and plan for the actions of those both on her team and working against her which was VERY entertaining to see her sort through.

Also, I finally grew to like the side characters (yes, including her boyfriend who I hated for the first two books). While some of them blended together, there were some stand-outs that I found myself rooting for.

There was a specific ending that I hoped for but didn't expect the book to go for. Throughout Graduation Day, Cia starts making decisions that didn't align with her original morals. She began to see the benefit in the testing process (where she trusted those who went through the testing to join her team because she knew how they would act when pushed) and made tests for Tosu City students she was considering for her team. She saw reason in "killing with a cause" questioning at what point the means will justify the ends or if she should not kill at all. Towards the end of the book, Cia began to act tougher on her team to push their mission to completion. She also saw the benefit of the memory erasure at times (even though she's not in full support of it). She even found paperwork from Dr. Barnes showing proof that he minimized the deaths of students where he could AND that he was in support of Cia from the start and pushed for her to move forward against the recommendations of others.

The ending that I was hoping for: Cia kills Dr. Barnes only to take his place in the future. A future where Cia is the head of selecting students to go to the University. A future where there is still a testing (as she began to see the value in it) but the punishments are just less brutal.

Reagan

**SPOILERS MARKED LATER ON**

(Possibly deserving of 4.5 starts but there were a good bit if sentences I highlighted for being grammatically wrong or weird)

I was absolutely blown away by how much I enjoyed this book. I thought The Testing was interesting and did not like Independent Study at all but Graduation Day was entertaining from start to finish.

Taking on a different format from the other books, Graduation Day was themed as more of a heist.

My biggest pro for this book is that there was a return of the human variation impacting the main character's decisions. She tired to anticipate and plan for the actions of those both on her team and working against her which was VERY entertaining to see her sort through.

Also, I finally grew to like the side characters (yes, including her boyfriend who I hated for the first two books). While some of them blended together, there were some stand-outs that I found myself rooting for.

**HERES THE SPOILER PART**

There was a specific ending that I hoped for but didn't expect the book to go for. Throughout Graduation Day, Cia starts making decisions that didn't align with her original morals. She began to see the benefit in the testing process (where she trusted those who went through the testing to join her team because she knew how they would act when pushed) and made tests for Tosu City students she was considering for her team. She saw reason in "killing with a cause" questioning at what point the means will justify the ends or if she should not kill at all. Towards the end of the book, Cia began to act tougher on her team to push their mission to completion. She also saw the benefit of the memory erasure at times (even though she's not in full support of it). She even found paperwork from Dr. Barnes showing proof that he minimized the deaths of students where he could AND that he was in support of Cia from the start and pushed for her to move forward against the recommendations of others.

The ending that I was hoping for: Cia kills Dr. Barnes only to take his place in the future. A future where Cia is the head of selecting students to go to the University. A future where there is still a testing (as she began to see the value in it) but the punishments are just less brutal.

Julia Lotz

Inhalt: Sie ist bereit zu kämpfen – aber allein hat sie keine Chance ... Cia Vale hat die gefährliche Auslese überlebt, während sich Chaos und Wut in der Gesellschaft ausbreiten. Ein verheerender Bürgerkrieg steht bevor, und die Rebellen schmieden einen Plan, die grausame Regierung zu stürzen. Auch Cia ist bereit, um das Ende der Auslese zu kämpfen, aber sie kann es nicht alleine tun. Sie hofft auf die Loyalität ihrer Kameraden, doch das kann tödlich für sie enden. Denn Täuschung und Wahrheit liegen nah beieinander. Und der Einsatz ist hoch, denn auf dem Spiel steht das Leben all derer, die sie liebt. Wem kann Cia vertrauen? (Quelle: Verlag)
Meine Meinung: Endlich ist er da: Der finale Teil der Auslese-Trilogie. Sehr lange haben Kücki und ich auf ihn gewartet und endlich konnten wir die Reihe beenden, wie wir sie begonnen haben: Gemeinsam. Anfangs war ich dann doch sehr skeptisch, denn von anderen Bloggerinnen, die das Buch vor uns gelesen haben, habe ich gehört, dass sie es sehr enttäuschend und langweilig fanden. Rückblickend muss ich jetzt allerdings sagen, dass diese Skepsis und Sorge völlig unbegründet war. Ich habe den dritten Teil ebenso sehr geliebt, wie seine Vorgänger und er kann definitiv mit den anderen mithalten. 
Von der Geschichte her ist es schon alles ein bisschen anders. Teil 1 und 2 verliefen in einem recht ähnlichen Schema. Die Auslese in zwei verschieden „Phasen“ stand im Vordergrund und beide Male hatte Cia mit anderen Aufgaben zu kämpfen. Diese blieben im dritten Teil aus aber dennoch gab es andere Thematiken, die mindestens genauso interessant waren. Das hat mir sehr gut gefallen, denn dadurch ging das Buch von seinem Panem-ähnlichen Charakter weg und hat sich zum Ende hin noch einmal zu etwas eigenem entwickelt. Es wurde insgesamt sehr politisch und man fängt an, bestimmte Theorien im Kopf zu durchlaufen und versucht verzweifelt eine Lösung zu finden. Das Credo Cias Vater, vertraue niemandem, verfolgt auch im dritten Teil durchs ganze Buch und treibt mit dem Leser wieder ein Verwirrspiel. Denn obwohl wir manchmal nicht entscheiden können wer es ist, dem wir unser Vertrauen schenken sollen, müssen wir uns manchmal dafür oder dagegen entscheiden und diese Entscheidung ist oftmals nicht so einfach. 
Das macht einen Großteil der Spannung aus, denn groß aufgezogene Actionszenen und einen riesigen Showdown sucht man im finalen Band der Trilogie vergeblich. Stattdessen sind die entscheidenden Szenen politisch spannend und nervenzerreißend, da man sich ständig fragen muss, wer nun die Wahrheit sagt und was der richtige Weg ist. Mit dem Ende war ich jedoch insgesamt sehr zufrieden. Ich mochte vor allen Dingen auch die Art, wie Joelle Charbonneau dieses Mal erneut ihre Charaktere konstruiert hat. Cia bleibt so wie sie ist, der Fels in der Bandung, die Person, der wir als Leser vertrauen können. Innerhalb des Buches entwickelt sie einige interessante Theorien, hat neue Erkenntnisse und entwickelt sich dadurch weiter. Ihre Art zu denken ist sehr scharfsinnig und so ist sie eine große Bereicherung für das Buch. Die anderen Charaktere bleiben in dem Maße im Hintergrund, dass man sich auch an den entscheidenden Stellen, ebenso, wie Cia, nicht entscheiden kann, ob man ihnen traut oder nicht. Es gibt nur wenige, denen sie vertraut und das tut der Leser mit ihr. Und doch bleibt da ein fragender Unterton im Hintergrund und so spielt Joelle Charbonneau nicht durch großartige Actionszenen mit ihrem Leser, sondern auf eine viel gemeinere Art. 
Letztendlich bin ich sehr zufrieden mit dem Abschluss der Trilogie, ich war erst überrascht etwas völlig neues vorzutreffen, dass nicht mit den ersten beiden Bänden gleich läuft aber nach und nach konnte ich feststellen, dass es so, wie es jetzt ist, um einiges besser ist. Ich bin auf der einen Seite sehr traurig, dass ich nicht mehr in Cias Welt abtauchen kann. Auf der anderen Seite bin ich aber froh um den tollen Abschluss, den sie mit Nichts ist, wie es scheint gefunden hat.
Fazit: Entgegen vieler Meinungen bin ich begeistert vom Abschluss dieser Trilogie. Joelle Charbonneau überzeugt nicht mit Actionszenen sondern mit einem spannenden Spiel mit dem Leser bei dem man nicht mehr sagen kann, wem man vertraut oder was das richtige ist. Somit findet Die Auslese hier ihr würdiges Ende und ich kann diese äußerst politische Dystopie vielen von Herzen empfehlen.

Vielen herzlichen Dank an Penhaligon für dieses tolle *Rezensionsexemplar.

Nicole Dykeman

This is definitely one of my favorite trilogies I have read in a while. The action has been nonstop, the plot is interesting and unique, and I loved every single character, even the ones who were kinda evil. This final installment came to a satisfying conclusion, leaving just enough questions unanswered, while also giving closure to the series. Basically, this trilogy is a treasure and I'm so so glad I decided to give it a try. OKAY THERES SOME SPOILERS IN THE LAST THING I HAVE TO SAY SO IM GONNA PUT IT FURTHER DOWN









I really love the fact that this series distinctly lacked a love triangle. There was still an interesting storyline and intense relationships without having Cia torn between two people. The focus was on a real plot and the rebellion and Tomas and Cia were a support system for each other consistently. Two thumbs up for that.

Maggie Gordon

I loved the first two books in this series, and am thus sad to say that book three gave readers a very unsatisfactory conclusion. Review to come, but don't expect a lot of answers or character development in this final volume of The Testing series.

Hope Lenzen

Was kind of disappointed with the ending but I guess a book can't get everything right.

Jasmine Yang &
Graduation Day by Joelle Charbonneau

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