The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1969)
Movie
A man hired by the CIA to find out who murdered a crime kingpin uncovers a Communist plot to take...
All the old knives (2022)
6.0
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Movie
Two CIA agents and ex-lovers (Chris Pine and Thandiwe Newton) are brought back together years after...
Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated The Testing (The Testing, #1) in Books
Jan 23, 2020
The first time I read this (I was bored at the mall. I beelined to Barnes & Noble, plucked up a book, hid in a corner, and skimmed), I skimmed it, but I had a general idea of what was going on, what was happening – nothing very detailed. My second read though, was much more thorough and detailed – it was also a refresher of sorts.
<i>The Testing</i> is the first in a trilogy set in a futuristic United States called the United Commonwealth. Every year, the best and brightest of each graduating class in each colony are sent to The Testing, a program designed to pick out potential leaders of the future. When Cia Vale, along with four others from her colony, is chosen to participate in The Testing, her father tells her about his own experience – an experience filled with potential horrors that Cia may come across herself in her Testing.
I love Cia as a character: she's brave, she's intelligent – and oh, do I love the way she handles Will and Tomas when the tension is high between the two later on in the book. If there's ever a potential love triangle in the future, I might not be annoyed if Cia continues to handle them in the next two books the way she handled them in this book (read: I like Cia. I never said I liked Will or Tomas).
That, however, depends. Perhaps my brain will start crying in protest instead.
There doesn't, however, seem to be a major plot or storyline that appear until around the end: <i>The Testing</i> seems to be focused more on how The Testing operates from an inside look and setting up for the second book. Basically, for literally 90% of the book or more, Cia and the other testers are focused on surviving The Testing and making it to the new class of University students.
From early on in the book, similarities to <i>The Hunger Games</i> could be spotted easily: the colonies, the penalty of death, Michal, Cia's relationship with Tomas and Will, etc. Despite all of that though, I highly enjoyed reading through <i>The Testing</i>. The sequel is something that I'll probably enjoy reading (or listening) to as well.
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-the-testing-by-joelle-charbonneau/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
The Torture Report: A Graphic Adaptation
Jane Mayer, Sid Jacobson, Ernie Colon and Scott Horton
Book
On December 9, 2014, the Senate Intelligence Committee released a 576-page report that strongly...
Wolvenguard (Gen-Heirs: The Guardians of Sziveria #7)
10.0
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Book
To find the assassin responsible for murdering her family, Lucianna Castien is willing to do...
Science Fiction Post Apocalyptic Romance
Speical ops lionesses
8.0
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TV Show
Joe attempts to balance her personal and professional life as the tip of the cia spear in the war on...
David McK (3425 KP) rated American Made (2017) in Movies
Mar 15, 2020
Slow and (ironically, giving the fact that he is a pilot) plodding: perhaps this type of film is just not up my street?
JT (287 KP) rated Spy Game (2001) in Movies
Mar 10, 2020
The tight script and shooting make for an entertaining mix of explosions and plot twists. Robert Redford plays Nathan Muir a soon to be retired CIA operative who has spent the past few years training his protege Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt).
When a routine extraction in China goes wrong Bishop is captured behind enemy lines and it is up to Muir to get through all the political red tape to help pull him out.
The film is tense even in the boardroom scenes, and we get a real sense of the relationship between Bishop and Muir with good use of flashbacks. This is first rate and another winning film from the late Tony Scott.