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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"Independent Study" is for this series as "New Moon" is for Twilight.
Meh.
Meh.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Felt kinda the same as the first book? I’m not really vibing with it but it’s an easy listen for background stuff. I have to keep reminding myself the FMC is a teenager and that’s why she’s fine with all her friends being kinda evil. I’m gonna finish the trilogy but I don’t think I needed to.
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book was very average. It did not stick out to me, and I didn’t expect it to!
While I thought The Testing was not without flaws(and the actual closet to The Hunger Games from Dystopia books I have read), I enjoyed it immensely, but I’m quite disappointed with Independent Study. It was mostly boring, which contributed to my lack of enjoyment, but by far the biggest flaw I found with Independent Study was the protagonist, Cia Vale.
Cia is the best and brightest girl you could ask for. She is flawless. She has advanced knowledge of things you would never even consider. She knows when to give up. Her intuition guides her and her intuition is never, ever wrong. She is a special snowflake of the highest level. She is perfect and almost personality-less.
She leads a team brilliantly. Everyone else who has made it to the university is selected to take five or six classes, maybe seven if they’re really bright. But not Cia. Oh, no, because Cia is THE brightest. The entire world hinges on her being able to fix everything. So she gets nine classes. She grapples a little emotionally, but as far as intelligence goes? No one else even comes close to her. She gets to intern with the leader of the country, and so on and so on. Cia’s perfection was infuriating. I remember this being a bit of a problem in The Testing, but I certainly don’t remember it being to this extent(or I never would have finished).
Cia, as narrator, also loves to tell us everything about everything. There would be paragraphs of Cia explaining non-relevant information, which made the beginning of Independent Study quite slow. It finally picked up in the middle, but it never got terribly exciting. The most exciting parts were reminiscent of the first book. The university students have to complete a challenge that’s quite similar to what they did in The Testing. Now, this can be okay if done right(see Catching Fire with its games and new arena), but it’s just sort of. . . well, boring in Independent Study. It feels to similar to the first book.
While there’s a new plot development in Independent Study, I don’t feel it was strong enough to carry this book. The idea of rebellion, which we learn about towards the beginning of the story, is the only strength of the book, and it’s just not enough(though it’s probably enough to make me read the final book just to see how it ends, so, you know, it must work on some small level). It’s definitely a perk in the book’s favor. I just wish there were more of those perks.
This review originally appeared on Book.Blog.Bake.
Cia is the best and brightest girl you could ask for. She is flawless. She has advanced knowledge of things you would never even consider. She knows when to give up. Her intuition guides her and her intuition is never, ever wrong. She is a special snowflake of the highest level. She is perfect and almost personality-less.
She leads a team brilliantly. Everyone else who has made it to the university is selected to take five or six classes, maybe seven if they’re really bright. But not Cia. Oh, no, because Cia is THE brightest. The entire world hinges on her being able to fix everything. So she gets nine classes. She grapples a little emotionally, but as far as intelligence goes? No one else even comes close to her. She gets to intern with the leader of the country, and so on and so on. Cia’s perfection was infuriating. I remember this being a bit of a problem in The Testing, but I certainly don’t remember it being to this extent(or I never would have finished).
Cia, as narrator, also loves to tell us everything about everything. There would be paragraphs of Cia explaining non-relevant information, which made the beginning of Independent Study quite slow. It finally picked up in the middle, but it never got terribly exciting. The most exciting parts were reminiscent of the first book. The university students have to complete a challenge that’s quite similar to what they did in The Testing. Now, this can be okay if done right(see Catching Fire with its games and new arena), but it’s just sort of. . . well, boring in Independent Study. It feels to similar to the first book.
While there’s a new plot development in Independent Study, I don’t feel it was strong enough to carry this book. The idea of rebellion, which we learn about towards the beginning of the story, is the only strength of the book, and it’s just not enough(though it’s probably enough to make me read the final book just to see how it ends, so, you know, it must work on some small level). It’s definitely a perk in the book’s favor. I just wish there were more of those perks.
This review originally appeared on Book.Blog.Bake.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
I seemingly enjoyed this one so much more than the first, feel it also made me appreciate the first a bit more cause I did have fun reading it.
Got a bit lost in the setting/with directions was hard to picture some things but ultimately I really enjoyed this. Although, Tomas was NOT needed. Cia is so strong, brave and independent she doesn’t need Tomas at all + am still yet to feel a proper connection to him. He just feels as though he’s there, but I want to like him more and want to care about him more but he’s just kind of there.
Got a bit lost in the setting/with directions was hard to picture some things but ultimately I really enjoyed this. Although, Tomas was NOT needed. Cia is so strong, brave and independent she doesn’t need Tomas at all + am still yet to feel a proper connection to him. He just feels as though he’s there, but I want to like him more and want to care about him more but he’s just kind of there.