The Culling

Culling Series, Book 1

By: Tricia Wentworth

Narrated by: Jennifer Jill Araya

One hundred and fifty years after a virus wipes out most of the world's population, Reagan Scott finds herself chosen for the State of the Union's fifth Culling. She will compete against 49 of the country's brightest girls. And then, of course, there are the 50 boys. She'll have to pair up with one for her shot at becoming the next Presidential Couple.

Though the government truly means well, not everything is as it seems. She will be tested to the fullest extent while an evil storm brews.

With eliminations happening frequently, how far can she make it? And if she makes it far enough to meet the boys, how can she be expected to, at just 18 years of age, find a partner . . . for life? Does she have what it takes to be the next Madam President?

©2017 Tricia Wentworth (P)2019 Tantor

Unexpected fantastic listen

Loved this book and was not expecting to. It gives hunger games and divergent vibes. Good love triangle and woah the cliffhanger ending!!

Wow! What a surprise!

I wasn't expecting to love this book as much as I do. First of all, the performance is great. The story captures you from the very beginning. I couldn't wait to listen to this every day and it was hard to stop listening. Very clever idea and I loved all the characters dearly. There's a love triangle. I love the one that didn't quite make the cut the most, but I can understand why. I can't wait to listen to the next one in the series. I'm ordering that one right now. I also love how clean this book is. In fact, I giggled each time the main character said "oh my crap". Love LOVED this book!

Juvenile in its story

I'm pretty. His dimples are cute. I have integrity. She's mean. Rinse & repeat. Super junior high.

Good Plot but Obnoxious Characters

The ideas behind this story and world are great, however, the characters often come across whiney, unrealistic and sometimes rediculous but not in a good way.

Good Story! But...

I'm enjoying the story, but I think it's kind of sneaky when the first book in the series just cuts off abruptly, without reaching a conclusion.
The narrator is good, but could use some practice on the men's voices.

Fantastic read!

Loved this book from beginning to end! Was rooting for regan to choose the right guy! She did and the cliffhanger at the end made be buy the next book immediately!!!

Intriguing story and pleasant surprise.

I got this audiobook not knowing what to expect. The summary seemed a little vague but there was a little intrigue there too, so I decided to take a chance. I actually found myself not disappointed. It was a little slow for a good portion of the book, off and on, but there were a lot of mysteries involved in the story that kept it interesting enough to continue. At first I wasn’t that impressed with the main character and thought she was kind of dumb, but I put myself in her place and found that it actually fits in with the story—her naivety, and the society that she comes from.
Possible spoiler alert:

this book has a love triangle. I both love and hate love triangles. Mostly hate, but I was impressed with this one because it was a little different than normal love triangles, Especially in the teen genre . Usually in a love triangle there’s two love interests and one is clearly the better choice, but this one was actually hard to choose. I did eventually start liking one a little more than the other, but the good thing about this book is that the love triangle is resolved by the end of the book and you don’t have to go through the entire series to find that out.
I think the narrator did a pretty excellent job in her narration and won’t hesitate to listen to a book read by her again.
This book does end on a bit of a cliffhanger, but it isn’t a total drop off in the story, it does resolve most of the conflict. The cliffhanger has more to do with the overall series, which just makes you want to read the next book. The world in this book is dystopian and has an interesting though maybe not so scientifically believable offset. It reminded me a lot of The Selection Series by Kiera Cass , And also has a tiny bit of feel like The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins, but it is also unique to itself in many ways .
Overall, I enjoyed this book and especially the ending which had a twist that I did not see coming. I am also happy to find out that the entire series has already been written and I don’t have to wait a year for the next book to come out. However, the other books in the series are not yet on Audible, but hopefully will be soon. Multi-line text field

Worth a listen

Clean/No Spice. Any intimate descriptions were limited to kissing. Very little, if any foul language (to the best of my memory)

Intriguing story with great characters. My only issue was some of the things Reagan, the MFC would say that I felt were ick inducing, particularly when speaking of intimate interactions between her and her love interests.

Will continue series.

Entertaining, but definitely in the tween category

So, I like this book, though I did find the main female character, Reagan, immature for someone who is supposed to be incredibly smart and clever and 18. Even sheltered as the book portrays, I'd say she is more like 16. I also thought that while the premise and the details were well thought out and developed, it lacked some realism. I wish the book was written for a bit more mature audiences to support the foundation, but I would recommend this book and don't regret using a credit for it.

Fun listen, without having to think too hard

I listen to a lot of YA books while at the gym, so I can zone out on the cardio machines. It's good for that. It's not profound literature or anything. But I enjoy the fact that there's no swearing or sex. I understand why the author ended it the way that she did, but I do think that it could have been wrapped up a little bit better will still having people interested in book two.