Mini Reviews: Gameboard of the Gods by Richelle Mead & The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau

Gameboard of the Gods (Age of X, #1)

Richelle Mead
June 4, 2013 from Dutton Adult

2/5 stars

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*shakes head* Gameboard of the Gods.. how disappointing and long and excruciating you turned out to be. I was SO happy when I got a review copy from Penguin Canada and I couldn't wait to dive in. Yes it is a hefty book, but who cares? the synopsis sounded fantastic and it is Richelle Mead for God's sake! The reason why I opted for a mini review instead of a full one is because I have so much to complain about and it isn't really effective for me to whine so I'll just summarize all the problems I had with this book that made it in the end a not so happy reading experience. This is an NA book, however with the graphic and descriptive scenes I felt it is more adult, and I didn't appreciate the careless nature the main characters had in regards to their love life, or more like lust life. Justin was such a womanizing Jerk while Mae was just void of any emotional depth. All Justin thought about was women and drugs while Mae basically felt like a robot to me. Then there was the actual plot which was basically a mind melting one, not the good kind. I just felt that we were left in the dark for too long and I didn't appreciate not knowing what the hell was going on. At times I had to go and read reviews just to understand some aspect of the world building because it was so confusing. Also, the plot promises a murder mystery investigation but so much happened in this book, the deities and religions, the dystopian world, the murder, the supposed romance, and the promise Justin has to fulfill. It was a bit too much to take for a single book and while the plot had a lot going for it, most of the time I was pretty bored. I personally wouldn't recommend it to anyone because this book put me in a reading slump and I managed to read it in around 8 days. If you know me, that is pretty bad since I usually finish a 500 page book in two days maximum. All in all, this book won't shape my opinion of Richelle Mead and I do intend on reading her VA and Bloodline series, but just not this one.

Note: apparently the back of the book said "new adult series" meaning it is a new ADULT series, like brand new. That completely threw me off! 

The Testing (The Testing, #1)

Joelle Charbonneau

June 4, 2013 from HMH

2/5 stars

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The Testing, unfortunately, turned out to be a much safer, tamer, and less interesting novel to the ones it was compared to, The Hunger Games and Divergent. I expected to be horrified, to see things without any sugar coating, and to have an emotional connection with the main protagonist as well as scenes that cause my heart to go on overdrive. However, I got the baby of those two novels, because The Testing had a lot of similarities to both novels, but it fell flat in comparison. We have the tests, which in theory remind me of Divergent, however the first test was them completing written tests then a few unexplained deaths here and there, but what annoyed me is that no one questioned them, and I think that was my biggest problem with the characters in this book. Then there are tests 2 and 3 which are pretty much forgettable, and lastly test 4, which is very similar to the game in THG. However, again, we get pretty uneventful scenes. I just wanted more, however all I got was a few tiny bursts of a would be horrific scene but then the author quickly masks it and I'm like: but.. I want to know more, I want more action, I want more depth from these characters, but unfortunately the author only scratched the surface with the plot and the characters. So, The Testing was a disappointment in the end and I honestly am not invested enough with the plot and characters to pick up the sequel.