Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book. Unfortunately it’s not the book for me. DNF @ 9%.

Although the tropes in this book are not unique, the plot is still super exciting and pulls a reader in.

The biggest problem with dystopian is that it has been done in so many ways and so many times. However, this book added a few unique ideas that I loved. The plot is exciting and was kept up with a nice fast pace. I loved the characters, especially Glade. She felt real and I loved following her through this novel. It sets up the series well and leaves a lot of things to look forward to.

Glade Io is a Datapoint. She has been groomed by The Authority to carry out the Culling. It's her job to cull anyone showing violent or murderous tendencies. She wholeheartedly believes that she is making their world a better place to live in, but that all changes when she is kidnapped by a rebel group known as the Ferryman. While in captivity, she learns that what she believes to be true, may not be, and that The Authority is different than she was led to believe.

I have the kindle copy of this since it came out but never got the time to read it, and to be honest, I was getting a little fed up with the tropes in the dystopian genre. But when it came to audio, I jumped at the chance to listen. Well, this book was awesome!! It was so much better than I thought and I flew through it.

I really liked the idea of the plot. The Earth is uninhabitable, or so the Authority will have you believe, so everyone lives on different planets in the solar system. The Authority rules all and has a firm grip over everyone. Every few years, they use the Datapoints to Cull the population. With the use of their biotech, they are able to determine who will show violent or murderous tendencies and they then cull them. The plot held a steady pace and kept my attention throughout.

I really liked Glade Io. She was brave and wasn't like the rest of the Datapoints. Even though she was brainwashed since she was young, she didn't enjoy her job and did wonder about it. The only reason she kept doing it was because she wanted to save her sisters from the life she has to live. Once she gets kidnapped and meets Kupier, she starts to question everything and is determined to get to the truth.

In all, this was a great read. I mean, it does follow the usual pattern of girl realising the bosses are evil, girl also finding out she is special and the only one able to either stop them or help them destroy the world, and there is always a boy!! Even with this formula, I still ended up loving it. The world building and character development was awesome and I can not wait to read the next one!!

Summary: I enjoyed this book (even thought it took me a while to write this review), even if the mechanics of the theme are not new.

This is marketed / targeted at young adults, and in that regard, it hits the nail on the spot. Also, it does a good job of describing a dystopian survival of the fittest scenario. However, even though you get concepts borrowed and reused in all genres, this leant on the Hunger Games (which itself was like a slightly tamed down version of Battle Royale) just a bit too much for me. That being said it was definitely an enjoyable read. Will *I* read the other books in the series? Most likely not, but would I recommend it to other people? Absolutely.

Ramona Finn created a dynamic dystopian world in this book where the main Character Glade witnesses her father being "culled" and it gives her a different view of how life is. She grows up knowing what is expected but also has her own identity. She is a wonderfully written character with her own flaws, but she's a character I found myself rooting for from the beginning. I was drawn into the world she lived.

Been trying to read it for 2 days and unfortunately I just couldn't get through it, for some reason the story just didn't hold my attention or pull me into the story, while it was a bit creepy and I did like the idea of the story it was not for me. With that said I would like to say thinks to Netgalley for giving me a chance to at least try The Culling out and review it in change for my honest opinion.

A pretty well done and interesting novel set in a sci fi world. The characters are entertaining and likeable, the plot is well done. I just wish the bad guys were a little more interesting.

A brilliant dystopian story that explores the morality of a central authority who decides who lives and who dies. Glade gets to see both sides - being inside the authority who runs the culling, and among those who oppose the authority and live under its watchful gaze. What happens when a computer decides who deserves to live, and how far would you go to fight it when your family's lives are at stake?

publisher synopsis: What happens to a girl trained as a executioner, who finds out her life is a lie?

In a solar system where The Authority decides who lives and who dies, only one of their own executioners can stop them.

Glade Io is a trained killer. Marked at a young age as an individual with violent tendencies, she was taken from her family and groomed to be a Datapoint—a biotech-enabled analyst who carries out the Culling. She is designed to identify and destroy any potential humans that threaten the colonies: those marked as lawbreakers, unproductive or sick. But when she’s kidnapped by rogue colonists known as the Ferrymen, everything Glade thinks she knows about the colonies, and The Authority that runs them, collapses into doubt.

Pulled between two opposing sides, and with her family’s lives hanging in the balance, Glade is unsure of who to trust—and time is running out.

This book is GOOD!! It has a killer with a conscious, a killer that the system depends on. What happens when the conscience voice gets louder and that person realizes what she will really be doing when its not a simulation.
Thought provoking and fascinating! Couldn't put it down!! Can't wait for the next in the series!!

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It is the distant future. People no longer live on Earth. Now we live across the galaxy, in colonies on distant (and some near) planets. All humans are ruled by The Authority, an organization made up of 7 people who claim to protect us and keep us safe from each other. To do this The Culling was created as a way to weed out the people who have murderous and violent thoughts and remove them from society (essentially kill them). Our protagonist, Glade Io, is part of the elite group of people who lead The Culling. Glade has always devoted herself to her training and The Authority, that is until she is kidnapped by a rogue group of rebels who make her question everything she believes.

The premise of this book first intrigued me, as it seemed like a new idea for a dystopian novel. However, this one played out like most dystopian novels. Girl must fight government. Girl must save everyone. Girl split between 2 love interests. Still, The Culling had some enjoyable parts and was a fast read. I am somewhat intrigued to see what happens in the next book of this series. This one definitely set things up for some more action. Overall I liked The Culling and give it 3 out of 5 stars.

This book is great for all ages! It's mot just a YA book to be sure. I loved the build up behind everything and the drama that was around every corner. I do so hope there will be another book because I wasn't ready for it to end.

This wasn't bad but it wasn't something too good, either. I guess, it was like any other dystopian book out there, except for a few things that did stand out. For one, the romance is really good. The main character, Glade, doesn't fall for the guy instantly, neither does he for her. Their relationship is developed quite steadily, and while both were majority of the times at extreme opposite poles in terms of opinions, their views gradually become one and they develop a trust for each other, that I liked.

Another thing I liked best is the writing. The prose is detailed, well descriptive and builds up a scene quite well, even when the scene is predictable. This made the action scenes pop out, and made up for the cliche scenes, for me. Though at times, the details became too much and I had to skim over to reach to the main point that's being told.

While the overall story didn't impress me much, because come on, which dystopian has a group going behind the authority because they believe in freedom and all that jazz? Yeah, pretty much all. Though, I won't be too firm on that point I mentioned because the way the story line would be perceived depends entirely on the reader, so there's a possibility that others might love this plot...which evidently many have liked.

I would recommend this to those who like a good ol' dystopian story with a romance that takes a spotlight subtly and writing that certainly engages you.

A fast paced dystopian scifi full of action that I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series. You would think that in the years of the Hunger Games and even going as far back as the Handmaid's Tale and 1984 that dystonia would have run their course and dried up and disappeared by now. There are many dystonia books out there and most sound the same. What sets this one apart from the usual dystopian is the scifi aspect that makes it kind of like the Minority Report and Ender's Game combined. I love the concept of Data-points, Humans with tech implanted in their bodies. The suspense and well written plot is filled with complex, diverse characters, who struggle to survive and thrive in a hostile environment. A guarantee enjoyment and highly recommended read!

A fascinating and absorbing sci-fi story with great characters and an awesome storyline. Glade is on a journey of seeking the truth but which is it, who does she trust and can she trust the one that made her feel things she had never before felt. A rather confused young lady but one who is determined to finding the answer to her search, the truthful one that is. Finding out you have feelings for the enemy, has twisted her scenario into a dangerous one, not only is she now searching for the truth of the culling, is it murder or justified killing, and is there such a thing, tied that with her feelings towards two guys who she considers to be great, Dahn who she knew for a long time and Kupier who she had just met but had an instant attraction to, and to top it off if her feelings for the enemy become public she would be blacklisted as a rebel and that means certain death. This has been an engrossing and interesting read, well worth the journey on the reading train.

Glade Io was taken from her home at a young age to be trained as an assassin. Glade’s job is to cull out people that have murderous or violent tendencies to help make the world a better place to live.

When Glade is kidnapped by group of people that is known as the Ferryman she soon learns that everything she has been taught and raised to believe by The Authority may be a lie. After being kidnapped Glade starts to question her whole life and The Authority. Glade has to be very careful in her investigation of The Authority as it could cost her, her family.

You know you would think that I would get tired of reading Dystopian novels after a while but I don’t think I could ever get tired of this genre. Each book is unique its own way and each and every author adds their own distinct touch to each novel just a little something that makes them all different in some way or other. I love the world building in dystopian novels.

It bugged me to no end as to why Glade didn’t question The Authority more than she did. Why didn’t she trust them less? I mean for the things that The Authority did to her but on the other hand I guess she trusted them and believed in them for the things that The Authority put her through. I guess if they did to me what they did to her I would believe in them too. I am not saying that she didn’t question what they taught her to believe because she did.

Glade is one tough cookie to have lived through what The Authority put her through and come out with her mind still intact. Most of the characters were really great people but there were a few that I didn’t care for very much and some I think are probably good but are sort of brain washed and just need a little help. But there are some that you could probably never help or change their ways. Some people are always going to be out for number one.

I really enjoyed reading The Culling and it will stay with me for a long time to come. The Culling is a fast read but it is one that you want to take your time with and absorb all that you can. I couldn’t believe that ending it just blew me away I was like no, no, no way. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book in the series.

This book falls somewhere around the very center of the bell curve for its genre. It's not bad -- it certainly has a place to fill in the teen dystopian market. Essentially, <i>The Culling</i> is like if <i>Scythe</i> by Neal Shusterman met Scott Westerfield's <i>Uglies.</i><br>
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Glade is a fifteen-year-old trained to use cyborg VR computer technology to kill people from far away for the good of society. The book tracks her through her kidnapping by rebel forces, and her eventual disillusionment with the government that she serves. The most interesting parts are:<br>
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• The subtle worldbuilding details. Everyone uses the name of the planet/moon colony they're from as their last name. That's pretty cool, as well as the "synthetic black holes" everyone uses to travel within the solar system, and the delineation drawn between ships and "skips."<br>
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• Glade's gradual working free from her brainwashing. It's a good, gradual progression where she has to fight through everything she's always been taught, and all the incentives, personal and physical, that keep her on the side of the Authority. This is my favorite thing from this book, and I only wish it hadn't relied so much on her liking a cute boy from the rebel side.<br></blockquote>
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Most everything else is pretty standard. There's a love triangle set up where two older boys, a rebel and a fellow assassin, both spend their days pining for Glade. Glade is a never-before-seen prodigy at what she does, for reasons that are never fully explained. Glade is universally recognized as unique and different, for reasons that seem rather thin. Glade is taught by the kind and dashing rebel boy to let go of her rigid, repressed logic and embrace emotion and intuition...<br>
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I would also like to note that the end was abrupt as heck. Leaving some loose threads is necessary for a series, obviously, but I appreciate it when each book solidly ends its own self-sufficient epoch of the story. <i>The Culling</i> ends when Glade finally sits down and makes a mental decision about which side she wants to be on, but before she does anything about this decision. <br>
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Its not any kind of ending that a standalone book could support -- more like the end of a TV episode, calculated to force you to wait with bated breath for the next installment. It felt preemptively aborted and discouraged me from reading the series any further, rather than building up compelling suspense.

As someone who generally doesn't read or enjoy sci-fi or futuristic fiction, I've been pleasantly surprised by The Culling. The book, which centers around Datapoint: Glade Io, was a thrilling ride into a new, post-apocalyptic society type not seen before in other books within the genre. The book started a little slow for me, but picked up midway through until I couldn't put it down. Now, I'm anxiously awaiting the second book of the series.

While it didn't bother me, some plot points were expected or followed genre norms. For example, (without spoilers) the progress of the romance reminded me of many books I've come across. However, cliche doesn't necessarily mean not well done. The dynamic between the two in question in undeniable. It is also clear that Miss Fin put immense work into this novel and its world building.

I'll be looking forward to the next book in the series!

I enjoyed the fast-paced narrative of the text and the conflict the protagonist has in her fight between relying on technology and emotion. The internal conflict was good as well. A bit more language than I prefer in my YA fiction, but it sets up the next book in the series pretty well. The shifting POV can get a little confusing if you are not following closely.

You would think that in the years of the Hunger Games and even going as far back as the Handmaid’s Tale and 1984 that dystopians would have run their course. That they would have been dried up by now. Because let’s be real, how many dystopians can really be out there and not all sound the same?

Well, allow me to point you in the direction of The Culling. Because this was absolutely phenomenal and I’m highly upset that I have to wait until January to get my hands on the next book.

I loved the concept of Datapoints. Humans with tech in their bodies which makes them nearly robots along with sociopathic tendencies. Count me in! I was fascinated and also slightly afraid of them. I wouldn’t want to come across a Datapoint in a dark alley at night, that’s for sure.

I really enjoyed Glade’s POV. Sure, she was so entrenched in the belief of the Authority but I also liked that she questioned things. Even before she met Kupier. She had constantly questioned everything. I liked her confidence and I liked she was really into computers. Anytime a girl is interested in anything considered not girly, I get excited because that is awesome rep for girls in the science and technology field.

I also enjoyed that the POV was exclusive to just Glade. It added more to the story because clearly Glade didn’t know everything. With Jan Ernst Haven, we got a more sinister look of things that were happen. With Kupier, we got a look at the rebels who were trying to take the Authority down. With Dahn, we got a look inside what is considered the perfect Datapoint. Every POV brought something to the table and enhanced the story.

If I could offer one teeny tiny complaint, it would that I would have liked to have learned more about the creation of the Authority. How did humans attain space travel and are able to live in different planets? (Glade was from Io, a moon of Jupiter) How did someone come up with the idea of Culling? I would have liked to learn more about the tech and how it connects to the Datapoint. Just little things like that. I’m one of those that really love backstories.

Other than my super tiny complaint, this book was really spot on. I think this will be a great series and I’m anxious to see where it will go.