Book Review: This Is Not A Test by Courtney Summers

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:

Release Date: June 19, 2012
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
336 Pages

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?

VISIT THE AUTHOR:

Goodreads.Twitter.Website.Facebook

FIND THE BOOK:

Goodreads.Amazon.Barnes & Noble

Review:

This Is Not A Test is crazy. This book is legitimately crazy. In a thousand different ways.

This is the story of a group of teenagers on the run from a town - and possibly, world - overrun with fleshing-eating zombies. Cary, Rhys, Grace, Trace, Harrison and Sloane are hiding together in their abandoned high school, trying to stay alive. Sloane is the main character. From her perspective, you can read that she no longer cares if she lives or dies. Her life SERIOUSLY sucks and zombies are only making it worse. The only connection they have to the outside world is a radio that streams the same message over and over again. The message tells them that, "This Is Not A Test," which is also the title of the book - so nifty! The group refers the the woman who voices the message as TINA T. The internal conflict of the group makes it even harder to survive. The fighting between them is constant. All of the odds are against them, because they can't work together well or put the past behind them to live in the now. It's making them weaker and if they don't work things out, it will cause a lot of chaos for them in the future.

This Is Not A Test was an excellent read. Even a week after reading it, I'm still reeling over the content and the ending! My only real issue with this book was the ending and how open ended it was. *This could be considered a spoiler, but it gives no indication as to what occurs within the story.* I hate when you have to interpret the ending. You never really know what happens. I wish there would be a sequel! Most of the audience, including myself, want to know what's going to happen next in Sloane's life and what's going on with the rest of the world.

This book is full of angst! My heart could barely handle it! It was addicting angst too, the kind where you can feel your face draining of blood, but can't make your eyes leave the pages. I love those kinds of stories! I've noticed that Courtney Summers always writes angst, and she writes it very well. So when she writes a zombie book? I was sure it was going to be her usual angst multiplied by one thousand. And it was.

There are a few holes in the story, and to keep it realistic, it makes a lot of sense not to have them filled, but I was left wanting. I would love for Courtney to do some little background stories, or stories from other people's points-of-view because I'm so curious! Especially about Sloane's sister, Lily, and what happened before Nick Baxter joined the group at the school, and how the zombies came to be in the first place! You never learn any of that and for me, it was hard to concentrate on the story, when I didn't know everything. (I'm also obsessive compulsive about detail. Details are my life.)

I definitely didn't like all of the characters. I did not like Trace, and that's an understatement! I understood is anger and why he was upset, but you need to work with what you have. YOU COULD BE EATEN BY ZOMBIES AT ANY TIME. BE PREPARED AND NOT AN ASS. (Also, there is a gross scene with him that made me want to puke and then punch him in the face.) Grace meant well, but as Trace's twin sister, she, more often than not, took his side. Even when she knew he was wrong, she stuck with him. Cary was a good leader. He tried to save the group. He really didn't mean any harm and I don't believe that anyone could have led like he did. I felt bad when he was ostracized. Harrison was young. I don't know how else to describe him. He acted very young and no one can fault him for that. It was frustrating for the group, but he did not understand what was going on and crying was his way of dealing with the grief. He needed support, not to be yelled at. Sloane, oh, Sloane. I felt horrible for her. She has a lot of baggage. An abusive father, a dead mother and her sister, who she had always counted on before, abandoned her. She had a very rough life and her thoughts and actions are ultimately understandable, totally idiotic, but understandable.

This is definitely not a novel for younger teens. There is a lot of cursing, suicidal thoughts, murder, gore and some mentions of sex and descriptions of sexual acts. I enjoyed this book immensely, but I don't think anyone younger than sixteen should read it.

This Is Not A Test was not the first book that I've read by Courtney Summers and it certainly won't be the last! Lemme just include my favorite of my reactions to the book:

holy batman.

my head hurts from all the feelings.

rhys is so sweet. i love him. i love him a lot. he's so good for sloane. and when he broke down, i wanted to sob with him. asking if he could stay with sloane and lily? d'aww

NOW GO BUY AND READ IT!