Review + Excerpt: This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

by Carmen Shaw 9:11 AM 6 comments

It’s the end of the world. Six students have taken cover in Cortege High but shelter is little comfort when the dead outside won’t stop pounding on the doors. One bite is all it takes to kill a person and bring them back as a monstrous version of their former self.

To Sloane Price, that doesn’t sound so bad. Six months ago, her world collapsed and since then, she’s failed to find a reason to keep going. Now seems like the perfect time to give up. As Sloane eagerly waits for the barricades to fall, she’s forced to witness the apocalypse through the eyes of five people who actually want to live.

But as the days crawl by, the motivations for survival change in startling ways and soon the group’s fate is determined less and less by what’s happening outside and more and more by the unpredictable and violent bids for life—and death—inside.

When everything is gone, what do you hold on to?

Overall Thoughts:
Survival stories are always the most exhilarating to read, and this was certainly no exception! My body was literally shaking with anticipation while reading this book!

This is Not a Test is about a group of six teenagers who are violently uprooted from their homes and seek refuge in their high school when a zombie apocalypse takes over. Exciting, huh? This book centers around a girl named Sloane Price who has become like an empty shell ever since her older sister, Lily Price, ran away six months prior.

The group consists of: Rhys Moreno, the most level-headed and balanced guy of the bunch; Cary Chen, the best survivor with a fiery persona; Grace & Trace Casper, twins who are like yin and yang in the way that they balance each other out; Harrison, a meek little freshman boy; and of course Sloane, the seemingly strong girl who always seems to be in control of her emotions.

We follow this unfortunate band as they struggle to survive in a deadly world that resists their existence. With the ever-decaying zombies knocking against the barricades, and their ever-present fear of being truly yet desperately alone, can they survive this zombie apocalypse? Much less, venture out of the safe remains of their beloved school to find some help?

What I liked about this book:
Courtney Summers is a genius! I love how she takes a seemingly used idea (i.e. zombie apocalypse), and completely twists it to transform it into one of the most chilly and suspenseful book I've read in a while!

The weird thing is: you don't even see much zombies in this book. They are not the main focus, like I thought they'd be, but I was still scared! The author used the character's paranoia and utter fear to frighten the readers... which is brilliant!

What I disliked about this book:
I really loved the ending don't get me wrong but the last paragraph left me feeling slightly confused. I felt like the author wrote it to mean something profound and big but I couldn't for the life of me understand what it meant.

Verdict:
I read this book in half a day not by choice, but because it wouldn't let me go until and unless I finished it!        

5 TARGETS!

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Excerpt:

Lily, 
I woke up and the last piece of my heart disappeared. I opened my eyes and I felt it go.

I sit on the edge of the bathtub and run the fingernail of my thumb up the inside of my wrist. I trace a vein until it pitchforks out and disappears under the fleshiest part of my palm. Lily couldn’t sleep; a few weeks before she left, she had all these pills to help her do that. I didn’t know why at the time but now I think her guilt was probably keeping her up at night. When I searched her bedroom earlier, I couldn’t find them, which is too bad. I was counting on it. Her. I should know better. It just seemed like maybe the stars would align for this–that the day I decided to die, everything would go right.

    But they didn’t and now I’m not sure what I’ll do.

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