My review of THE WONDER TEST concludes:

THE WONDER TEST engages in various ways. The social satire of life and child-raising in Silicon Valley is either entertaining or appalling, depending on the reader. The description of the art of detective surveillance is convincing and seems well grounded. If the villain of the piece seems a bit over the top, he is the more engaging because of it. And the presence of two characters struggling to cope with loss provides emotional weight. Most readers will find, as I did, quite enough here to satisfy.

The complete review appears on Reviewingtheevidence.com:
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“Great story strong character development. Few twists and turns along the way. Recommend for your consideration” - posted on Goodreads

"The Wonder Test" reminded me of the series "Stranger Things".

I loved the main character, Lina. She recently lost her husband and father and was raising her son on her own. She took a break from her job as an FBI agent until she gets pulled into a mystery that involves her son's friend.

Lina is a very strong female character and a badass FBI agent. She almost seems like a superhero at the end of the story. At first, I thought I didn't like how far the author pushed her abilities. Then I decided I liked believing she could do all the things she did in the book and that she could learn it all at Quantico. Lina reminded me of the main character Alex in the Tv Series Quantico and I liked it even more.

When I went to write my review for this book I realized this was not the first book I had read by this author. The first book I read by this author was "The Marriage Pact" and I gave it a five-star rating. The books are similar in the sense that the storyline in both books was creative and original, not predictable. I will definitely be looking for my book written by Michelle Richmond.

I received this galley from Netgalley.

Being an educator with state mandated standardized tests, this book was unbelievably realistic. I dislike how much pressure gets put on kids and teachers to not only pass these ridiculous tests but to meet certain levels of achievement. And, at such a young age. This book showed an extreme situation where a district has been top of the pack on test scores for so long that they will stop at nothing to keep that status. And by "they" I don't just mean the district, but a whole group of people who stand to benefit from a high ranking school district. Fun, fast paced read with some mystery and whodunnit woven in to familial and non-familial relationships.

A few years ago, my sister gave me a book and told me I had to read it. It was called “The Year of Fog”. Soo good. When I requested this book, I didn’t realize it was the same author, but I loved the write-up and the tie-in with the cover! So happy to have rediscovered this author!

The Wonder Test, is intense to say the least. If the questions asked at the beginning of each chapter are any indication, I’d have failed miserably! As our kids pre for SATs, these NoCal kids prep for the Wonder Test. It is all this elite district can think, talk and care about. Newly widowed Lina and her 15 yo son, Rory, leave NY to close her father’s home. Lina is on leave from her FBI job, but an agent is always an agent. Previously, a teenager was reported missing and turns up weeks later, walking out of the ocean on the beach. Then another teenager goes missing, but this one is closer to home. As the mystery evolves, Lina becomes more and more involved until it comes to a frightening end.

This story will keep you reading and on the edge of your seat. Richmond shows how far a mother will go for her child, and the lengths some people will go to to stay No. 1. Emotions are raw with Lena and Rory, and you can feel the love and loss between them. Even though I thought I new where the author was going, she definitely threw some twists in there.

Thanks to Ms. Richmond, Atlantic Monthy and NetGalley for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.

Thank you to NetGalley, Michelle Richmond and Grove Atlantic for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

This one was more of a slow burn in the beginning than I expected, but it picks up quickly and kept my interest all the way through. It's more action packed than I expected and I really enjoyed the main characters and how badass they are. It's such an interesting concept and I definitely haven't read anything quite like it before. I would definitely recommend for those who enjoy action packed thrillers.

3.5. I actually hesitated to start The Wonder Test but I'm glad I did. I finished this book in one day and that's extremely rare for me especially when the book is over 400 pages. I found myself saying "one more chapter" then reading another and another, that until at around page 200. That's where the start of the roller-coaster experience began. Divide this book it into three parts - - I really liked the first part, I didn't care much for the middle and even though the ending picked up a bit it just could make up for that drop off.

In my opinion the plot became a little unrealistic in that middle area. I understand it was to pave the way for the climax but I don't think it was the best execution for the story. I'm not very familiar with law enforcement but I find it hard to believe that a civilian could be involved in the investigations of a crime outside of being a victim, witness or informant. I find the thought of an FBI agent carrying around a civilian , especially if that civilian is her teenage son, absolutely ridiculous. There's just too much risk involved for those stupid decisions. There are some other details in there that I found unbelievable but that's the aspect that really threw me off. As i said, the ending was better but I don't think the plot truly recovered after that. The happenings and dialog didn't seem to fit the tone set anymore. In my novice opinion, evidence of four kidnappings from the same area occurring around the same time of every year is more than enough for the FBI to consider the case one that needs urgency. Somehow I was to believe Lina who has been said to follow procedure to a T did not want to involve the FBI because she's afraid the organization will be too tied up with interrogations, paperwork etc instead of working the case as well as she can on her own? Welp that doesn't seem right to me. I appreciate the pacing of that last third but the execution really fell off.

I didn't like the last few chapters either. It felt like a rush to close off the story, a bunch of details given but very little clarity provided . Somewhere in that middle section we stopped hearing about Officer Kyle, the man that literally brought Lina the case then the ending gives a one line about him quitting the police force and that's it? What happened to George and other characters frequently mentioned? I'm also not sure if the case is now officially being handled by the FBI, if so who is investigated and charged? Seems like a pretty big story to me. (And that very last chapter should have been the epilogue but if this really is a standalone there's really no point in having it there at all. Just put a one line in the penultimate chapter making reference to it). My last note is the on the use of another language. I don't think it's needed but if it is there to stay I think more translation is required.

I know I'm ranting alot but I surprisingly liked this book. I enjoyed the test questions quoted at the beginning of each chapter and I actually spent quite some time thinking about a few of these questions and the need for our exams to test our critical thinking abilities . This is a well written thriller and I really liked the use of standardized testing as the evil that drives the bigger evil, there's just considerable room for improvement .

This book presents an interesting perspective about a school that is completely devoted to testing and being the top scorers in the nation. The importance of these scores to the community,parents, and teachers goes beyond making sure the students are ready for life. A page turner that leaves you thinking after the story has ended.

The Wonder Test is a new standalone espionage thriller from Michelle Richmond, more prominently known for her conventional domestic drama thrillers. The plot features a widowed FBI agent who grows increasingly suspicious of her son's new school. Lina Connerly is on leave from her job in New York at the FBI in order to clean out her father's home in Silicon Valley. As though letting go of her father isn't hard enough, Lina has also recently lost her husband in a freak traffic accident. Still reeling, she and her teenage son Rory must make their way through this strange new town and the high school around which it all seems to revolve. Rory soon starts coming home with reports of the upcoming "Wonder Test," a general aptitude assessment that appears increasingly inane, and Lina is shaken out of her grief by a sense that something is amiss in Hillsborough.

When she discovers that a student disappeared last year and was found weeks later walking on a beach, shaved and traumatized, Lina can't help but be sucked into an impromptu investigation. Another kidnapping hits closer to home and reveals a sinister link between the Wonder Test and the rampant wealth of Silicon Valley's elite. This is a riveting and complex slow-burn thriller with an abundance of twists and turns and a well-woven plot. It's intelligent and thoughtful while grappling more with the motivations and nuances of people's actions than merely being a rapid-fire throwaway thriller. A truly unique, engrossing and intriguing story from first page to last highlighting the elite and competitive world of private schooling which can often have a lasting impact on the mental health of the student, and it's very often the case that their wellbeing becomes quite low on the scale of priorities. Highly recommended.

This novel was an interesting, different mystery/suspense/thriller with a touch of suburban satire. Main character Lina is an FBI agent, who after the (unrelated) deaths of both her husband and her father, takes a leave from her job and moves her 15 year old son Rory across the country to the affluent town where her father was living to clean out her father’s house. But Rory reports that in school, literally all they do is prepare for a standardized test called The Wonder Test. And then Lina hears about a student at the school who went missing the previous year and reappeared in mysterious circumstances, and starts digging.

While the book sets up a suspenseful atmosphere from pretty early on, it definitely starts slow, but kept me reading and in fact I stayed up late to finish it. Maybe not for you if you like extremely fast-pasted twisty thrillers, but if you like a more literary, smart, slow burn mystery/thriller, then this is a good one. Things went a little crazy towards the end but I didn’t mind, and I loved Lina’s character and investigative methods. (Though certain things about her job sounded more CIA than FBI to me though I’m certainly no expert.) But I would very happily read another book about Lina and Rory. And I will definitely keep reading Michelle Richmond as this is the third book of hers that I have enjoyed.

This suspense/thriller from Michelle Richmond, involves an off-duty FBI agent who stumbles across something sinister, when she starts to investigate the strange occurrences related to an aptitude test that is administered at her son's school. The Wonder Test is an odd multiple-day exam, which seems to have become incredibly important to the surrounding community. When children start disappearing, agent Lina Connerly feels obligated to find out exactly what is happening.

This book is set up a bit differently than most of the suspense/thriller books that I've read. This isn't the kind of book where there is a main twist that caught me off guard and solves the mystery; instead I could see the ending coming quite early on. The story is more about slowly explaining the motivations of the characters, while also having the main character deal with juggling multiple problems at once. It is also part commentary on the increasingly competitive academic pressures placed on kids, and how silly it can become. There are sample questions from actual Wonder Test to start the chapters, so the reader can appreciate what kind of test this is.

I thought that some of the events in the book seemed a little too convenient and a bit unrealistic, but otherwise the plot was decent. This story seems to be an adventure that also serves to build up the main protagonist, to add more depth to her character, with the expectation of using her in future books. If so, I would be willing to read her next adventure in the series too.

Loved it!! This was my favorite book by Michelle Richmond. Thank goodness I never had to take The Wonder Test. The questions were insane and I would have failed miserably. The rich people of Greenfield, California were extremely serious about this test. CRAZY serious. Lina was my favorite character. She was an awesome mom and a great FBI agent. She had an amazing relationship with Rory. Loved how Lina solved the mystery about why children were disappearing. The whole thing was SCARY. I couldn't believe what people would do for money. I can't forget Glen Park and all the strategically place orange Post-its that Lina's dad left for her throughout the whole house. I was hooked from the very start and couldn't wait to find out what was going on. George/Near Bear was a great partner for Lina. If I was Lina, I would sell that house (even though it was amazing) as fast I could and never look back.

Definitely recommend the book. Loved the characters (especially Lina), story and writing style. There's so much going on throughout the book, but somehow everything ends up fitting together. I wouldn't mind reading another book about Lina and her adventures as an FBI agent. Look forward to reading more books by the author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Grove Atlantic through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I really enjoyed the flow of this story, every chapter started with a question and it really made me glad that I'm not taking the Wonder Test, but also really made me think.The premise of the book was so intriguing and as the plot unraveled and the mysterious dissappearances of the students about to take test. I really enjoyed the mystery of this novel and thought Lina was such a great character.

The story is told from the main characters Lina's prespective, she's a widowed FBI agent who moved with her son to her recently deceased father's house she inherited. A new home means a new school for her son Rory and this particular school isn't a normal school with classes but rather one obsessed with studying for a huge test. With a new home also comes secrets and Lina is inlisted to help with a bunch of missing children cases that are from her sons school. The cases all seem to happen at the same time each year, really close to when the students take the wonder test. Then Roey's girlfriend goes missing, and Lina makes a promise to her son that she will find her. What will Lina discover on her journey to uncover what has happened to these teens?

Thank you to the author, Grove Atlantic and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an engrossing read, albeit with a few weaknesses. The central idea is genius, and the relationship between mother and son, who are grieving and trying to adapt to a new reality without their spouse/father is very well-done. The healing and rebuilding that they both go through is foundational to the plot. However, the mysterious misadventures of an FBI agent on leave, and the risks she takes in pursuit of solving the mystery are just not credible. There is too much happening "just so" which seems to serve only to drive the narrative forward, but is far from how things go realistically. Maybe I have a twisted mind, but I knew within the first few chapters what the resolution of the story was.

Lina is an FBI agent working in New York who experiences the tragic loss of her husband and then shortly after her father passes away. Lina takes a leave of absence from work and moves with her son to Silicon Valley to clean out her father’s house.

Lina and her son Rory soon discover that he will be required to take the “wonder test” in his new high school. Lina’s FBI experience helps her discover that something is amiss here. She begins an off-duty investigation and finds that everything is not as it seems in Hillsborough.

Michelle Richmond spins an offbeat take on Silicon Valley culture. The entire concept of THE WONDER TEST was very unique and intriguing. I really enjoyed this book. Lina was the perfect main character and I would not mind reading more about Lina and Rory in the future.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic/Atlantic Monthly Press for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be posted to my Instagram Blog (@coffee.break.book.reviews) on July 9, 2021.

Michelle Richmond’s new novel is a unique story about a wealthy town outside of San Fransisco that puts their focus on what they call the Wonder Test. Students, parents, teachers and even real estate agents get behind doing what they can to ensure the students have the highest scores possible.

A series of unusual disappearances of a few students has taken place over the last years right around the time of the week long Wonder Test. The students are returned but unable to speak about what happened, where they went and who took them.

FBI agent Lina Connerly and her son Rory are new to the town. Lina is there to clear out her father’s home after his death. Rory is now enrolled in the school. After also losing her husband in a car accident, she’s at a loss for direction and trying to do the best she can for her son as well as put her own life back together. When Lina is approached by a local police officer asking for advice with regards to the disappearances, Lina begins bit by bit to unravel this page-turning mystery.

I really enjoyed reading The Wonder Test and wandering through the maze with Lina and seeing the untangling of the mystery. I liked Lina as a character and enjoyed the other characters that we met throughout the book. The dialogue was smart, witty and sounded very authentic.

Thank you NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for providing me with an advanced copy of this novel. It was a great read.

Michelle Richmond's books are intriguing and ones I would recommend. The Wonder Test was a great page turner with a nice focus on parenting and thrill. It's more domestic suspense, intrigue than action and crime, but you still want to know what's happening next. I definitely recommend this one!
Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book easily could have become an espionage kind of thriller. After all, the main character, Lina, is an FBI agent who deals with spies on a regular basis. (side note: I thought that was the CIA? Isn't the FBI limited to domestic issues?) When her husband is killed in an accident and her father dies, Lina finds herself running away to the Bay Area of California to ostentatiously take care of settling her father's estate. While there, her son is enrolled in school, as one should do. But this school is fanatically focused on acing a test called The Wonder Test. The entire town focuses on this annual test to the level of obsession and it becomes quickly obvious that things are not all okay. When Rory's friend goes missing, Lina decides she isn't over reacting but needs to investigate. The character development, especially Lina, is very well done. She has brought some serious struggles with her and is avoiding dealing with many of her problems. The investigation is an attractive distraction but the writing still keeps Lina's issues front and center for the reader. The story was presented in a manner best described as putting a frog in a pot of water and warming it up. The reader is slowly brought in to the underbelly of the school, town, and focus on the test. Not that it is a slow read, but you just don't notice how absurd the situation is until you stop, step back, and take a breath. However my absolute favorite part of the book are the quirky test questions at the beginning of each chapter. They acted both as a palate cleanser throughout the developing storyline and as a reflection on the ridiculousness of some of the tests used to measure our children's success or potential. "True or false: Circles are more efficient than triangles" is an example. I will be honest, I had hoped for an answer section at the end of the book! And I couldn't resist sharing several of the questions with family members and actually discussing them!

“ ‘To exchange all the goodness and grace of every life in Omelas for that single, small improvement: to throw away the happiness of thousands for the chance of the happiness of one: that would be to let guilt within the walls indeed.’ Argue for or against the moral imperative of Ursula Le Guin’s city of Omelas.”

Lina and her 15 year old son Rory find themselves transplanted to Silicon Valley from New York City, after they have had what Lina describes as annus horribilis, or the horrible year. She lost her father and her husband in quick succession and she’s spending her unpaid leave of absence from her job in counterintelligence and profiling at the FBI trying to sort through her deceased father’s home and belongings, as well as hopefully putting her own life back together. Rory is a clever kid, and he fits right in at his new school, including quickly catching on to how to ace the Wonder Test.

What is the Wonder Test one might ask? It’s the current “it” thing in the increasingly competitive academic world, the gold standard of standardized tests. Doing well on the test individually can greatly improve a teen’s chances at getting into their dream school, and doing well collectively as a high school doesn’t just engender pride, it can skyrocket property values in the district. Schools, including the one Rory is now attending, have shifted their entire curriculum to prepare students for the test, and there is such intense buy-in that at one point Lina half jokingly wonders if she’s wandered into a school budget meeting or a cult. It quickly becomes apparent that not everything is as it seems in the idyllic town of Greenfield. While she may be on leave, Lina can’t ignore her investigative nature and soon she finds herself sucked into an investigation involving the very odd disappearances and just as strange reappearances of local teens over the past few years. Having just moved her own teenager into town, can she really trust he is safe here? And how far is she willing to go to protect him?

This is not a !! shocking twists !! kind of book. It’s a slow burn mystery that gradually picks up the pace until it becomes a pulse-pounding, unputdownable thriller, but readers are going to have a decent idea about what is going on early on, and I can’t imagine that was anything but intentional. The focus is much more on how we get there than finding out where we’re going. For a book like that to work, you need to have a really strong main character and Richmond more than delivers here. Lina is a strong, capable, sympathetic protagonist. She’s the kind of person who is able to have frank discussions with her teenage son about the difference between doing what is “correct” and what is *right*. She’s the rare fictional character I’d want to actually hang out with in real life, which I find to be extra elusive in the suspense genre.

I have some criticisms about plot points that either required suspension of disbelief or that were just too “easy” or contrived, and I felt like perhaps there were slightly too many tangents and unnecessary arcs, but overall I enjoyed this one and its satirical commentary on academic excellence. I also got a kick out of the test questions. Each chapter opens with a question from the eponymous Wonder Test. Some are hilariously ridiculous and obscure, some are truly thought provoking, and some touch on major themes within the story. I opened this review with the one that truly struck me more than any other. And I’m going to give you homework: If you haven’t read The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, please do. Right now. It’s a short story and won’t take up much of your time, but it will stick with you. And what could possibly be more appropriate for a book about a test than having assigned preparatory reading?



Many thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the chance to review an advanced reader’s copy of this book.

Lina Is an FBI profiler who is trying to put her house in order. A car accident has taken her beloved husband and time her father. She takes her son Rory to her fathers house to settle her life and her and Rory’s future. The house her father leaves her is in the best neighborhood as far as schools and real estate is concerned. She learns just how good through the Wonder Test that is given every year. An event that has drawn international attention which in turn escalated the housing market which in turn results in Lina being pulled into intrigue and larceny . When students at the school go missing and are then returned seemingly unharmed, only Lina senses there is another piece that is being ignored. A truly wonderful excursion into the world of test taking and all it entails. A MUST