
Independent Study
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Narrated by:
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Elizabeth Morton
About this listen
Seventeen-year-old Cia Vale survived The Testing, as has Tomas, the boy she loves, and they have both gained admission to the University. She has a promising future as a leader of the United Commonwealth and no memory of her bloody testing experience, thanks to a government-sanctioned memory wipe. Cia should be happy but is plagued by doubts about the past and future.
Determined to find the truth, she embarks on a path of study forbidden by the government delving into the Commonwealth's darkest secrets. What she finds is the brutal reality lurking behind the friendly faces of her classmates and the unbearable realization that leaders chosen to protect us can be our greatest enemy.
©2014 Joelle Charbonneau (P)2014 Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...
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More twists and turns than the first!
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Amazing book!
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What did you like best about Independent Study? What did you like least?
I have to state that I did enjoy this book, it wasn't as good as the first one but it was okay. I feel that its biggest downfall is in the main character. She seems almost too perfect. She is able to do just about anything and never seems to falter. Cia, doesn't seem to have any flaws, she figures out all puzzles put to her with little effort and knows a little bit of everything, its barely a struggle.This world actually seems a little more devious and brutal than some of the other dystopian novels I have read. In this world life is a more dangerous and not so obvious.
What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)
Left me wanting to pick up the final installment. Not sure I would have without this ending.Would you be willing to try another one of Elizabeth Morton’s performances?
I am still struggling with the narrator of these books. Her voice is very bland and almost monosyllabic with occasional inflection thrown in making it easier for my mind to wander or me to zone out while listening.Do you think Independent Study needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?
yes, you are left dangling.Not as good as the 1st - picks up in the last 1/4
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Chilling
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Story: Cia has passed the testing but now faces the challenges of induction. She's been chosen as a leader for government and her life is just as perilous and decisions just as critical as during the Testing. Lives will be lost, she will face betrayal, but she will also be given hope for the first time. Cia will have to learn quickly: for every mistake she makes, someone will die.
Unlike most dystopian books, the government isn't all evil nor populated with moustache twirling bad guys. Characters are good and bad and each have their own motivations for what they do. While this book did not peg my implausibility meter quite as frequently as other dystopians, there were still some questions about why the government is so stupid/allows Cia the chances she gets to learn more about them. The old "hiding behind an object just in time to overhear incriminating words from the bad guys' was more than a bit too much.
As noted before, the dialogue here became very stilted by book two. I didn't mind it as much in book one - I greatly appreciate a character who acts with maturity and thoughtfulness. But when every character seems to be the same way, it does lead to monotony. I began to wish for a character who would actually speak in sentences less long than an entire paragraph. It's the type of writing that sounds good in your head but when said outloud, you soon realize how stilted and unnatural it sounds. On the audible version, it really became problematic.
I will continue to read the series through to the last book. I've read some really poor YA dystopians lately and this is definitely not among them. But at the same time, I would have liked this better without the endless textbook dialogue or supernaturally gifted main character.
Decent Follow Up
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Awesome follow up book to The Testing..
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Elizabeth Morton lacks the ability to narrate dialog for adult men. Like...completely. Every single male character in this book is either a young adult, or middle aged. Nonetheless, Morton voices every single one of them like they are 12 year old boys from 1956. The intonation is weird, super juvenile, and distinctly old fashioned. They all sound like Huckleberry Finn. AND, while consistent, her pronunciation for several names is weird. Tomas, especially, just keeps getting screwed over by the narrator for this series.
It's a good story, and I feel pretty invested in seeing it through. Nonetheless, I'm considering not even reading the last book in audio form, even though I paid for the whole series.
Good book, not-so-good narration
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The story itself is reminiscent of The Hunger Games trilogy and the Divergent series with a heroine being better than everyone else and somehow being chosen to overthrow the government. It's aight.
The narrator may ruin the whole series
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Once they finish this test the ones who make it go onto college. What a relief right....wrong they never stop being tested. It’s a test of wills and intelligence throughout, between the teachers, a rebel group that isn’t what it was supposed to be, students and a President who seems to be trying to do what’s right!
I’m onto the next book in this amazing series. I can’t wait to find out what happens between these different fractions. Who will have the smarts, patients, tenacity, and be able to out wit the other fractions? I can’t wait to find out. This book and the others in the series are, sit on the edge of your seat, eyes bulging in disbelief, emotional rollercoaster, unpredictable, ride. You’re just not sure if it’s to hell, or salvation.
Unbelievable
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Love this trilogy
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