When Cia first learns of the testing, it is seen as a positive, and something to hope for. What she discovers shatters her view of the entire world.

Similar to most dystopian novels, The Testing dissects modern culture and issues through a metaphoric lens.

The strenuous and life-threatening tasks that define the testing try to weed out the future leaders from a graduating class of 16-year-olds. The current leaders will go to any lengths to ensure that the the seven stages of war, a war that destroyed the Earth and threatened to wipe out the entire human species, does not happen again. This means brutal techniques and little sympathy, much to the dismay of main character, Cia.

The author, Joelle Charbonneau, does a very good job of capitalizing on the bias of certain characters, which really adds to the story. The leaders of the testing are seen through Cia’s eyes as cruel, cold hearted people, who don’t care about anyone. Through the help of supporting characters, readers are able to look past this bias. For example, Michael, a testing agent who is kind to Cia, provides the insights and history of how the testing came to be. His character sees the leaders as fear driven people, and while he recognizes the testing is wrong, he sees why some think it is necessary. The character of Michael is not only helpful to Cia’s surface story, he also aids in the understanding of the foreign world, and a deeper metaphor for society.

The ethical struggles that characters face in this book adds dimension to the story. At the beginning of the book, Cia is strongly against killing other humans, a tactic which many other competitors use. As the book progresses, and Cia faces the final task, she must decide whether to kill another human or let her and Tomas be killed. As Cia develops as a character, she learns that the ethics of a situation are not always clear, and her naive ideas about war quickly vanish.

Strong character development, and relatable themes are the best part of this book. They made me feel as though I was fighting for survival right along Cia and Tomas. I credit this to the metaphors that play a central theme in this book. While I have never decided to trust someone, and then been killed for my choice, I have struggled to decide who to trust throughout my life. Themes like these that run throughout the book are what make it so deathly scary, because they are like scenes from my life, played out to a terrifying extreme.