Not as good as the first two books in the series, probably 3.75 stars. Graduation Day starts right after Independent Study, with Cia Vale being moved into her specialty study area. Cia is given a major and daunting project by the President of the Commonwealth that will help end the Testing forever, however, she must decide whom she can trust to help (in the continuing light of her father's advice to trust nobody), whether she is willing to go through with it at all since it violates her moral code, and finally, whether she is willing to undertake the full scope of the assignment. She assembles her team, and her implementation plan, but the task is daunting as are the odds against her team to succeed.
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“Graduation Day” is the conclusion to the “Testing” Trilogy by Joelle Charbonneau, a captivating dystopian YA story, that mixes action-adventure, social reflection and coming-of-age tropes into a fast-paced, character-driven plot, set in a future version of our own world, in which the Seven Stages War destroyed the majority of the planet letting only a wasteland in its wake. The remaining former American population has been united under the United Commonwealth.

Cia’s quest for liberation takes a dark turn, the rebel resistance plot against the Government is not exactly as she wants it to be. The United Commonwealth is in the brink of war, and Cia has been giving more responsibility that she ever wishes for, with the subsequent ramifications. This is not your HEA conclusion to a series. Joelle Charbonneau manages to show the perils of power and abuse, and how fighting against cruelty with mere violence is never enough.

Joelle Charbonneau’s story telling is rich, compelling, fast-paced and still easy-to-read while still offering a high-quality narrative. The world descriptions are fresh, credible, real to the point they come easily alive, the persons could be us, the monster could indeed be lying in wait at the turn of the next corner. War aftermath Chicago is highly recognizable, even to foreign readers. Charbonneau’s explanation for the state of the world is real, scientific and based on facts, that we of course hope never came to pass. This is a fantastic series for older teens onwards, who can be trusted with real (and sometime harsh) facts, information and a story that push the boundaries into the realm of a possible future gone wrong. ( )

Last in the trilogy. These things never end well. Having passed the Testing and survived, these teenagers face further winnowing as potential future leaders which includes more death and sorrow and angst. Cia's Final Exam so to speak is to become the assassin of the current leaders of the University. She has to devise ways to trust her classmates, dispatch her enemies and save humankind. Lot to place on an impulsive 16 yr. old's shoulders. So while the characters you want to survive make it, they are scarred and damaged and haunted by what they endured.I have to wonder about the timing of the author's ideas and publication because it seems very derivative of Hunger Games and Divergent, yet potentially she could've had her ideas first, which kind of sucks. ( )

Not bad, but not great. Seemed like this was the final book in a trilogy, but one can never be sure. ( )

Finally, I feel u was slightly short changed here. You can definitely tell a difference in Mrs. Charbonneua's writing when comparing from this series to Diving Eden. This, I feel, is geared toward a more younger (6th grade ) group than that of Diving Eden. I lived Diving Eden, but I felt that there was too much "trust and distrust" going back and forth. I just felt that I shouldn't believe anything that any character says, even Valencia. Over all, okay story, cool premise, but lacking in the development of characters.
SPOILER: The ending is lackluster and I dont agree with Valencia's choices. ( )