Review: This Is Not A Test by Courtney Summers

Title:  This Is Not A Test

Author: Courtney Summers
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Publishing Date:  June 19th 2012

Pages: 323
Genre:  YA Apocalyptic

Series: Stand Alone
Source:  Paperback

  

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 wantto 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?

I was very excited for this book. I love a great zombie book and this one sounded like my kind of read.. the cover is so very creepy too. It took me a while to get to it and then it took me a while to get through it. I liked the book, I think it lacked in the zombie area but it added in some great realistic issues. Two things I would have never thought to read… a realistic fiction/zombie apocalypse book. Seriously, check it out and see for yourself. A good read but I was a bit disappointed, I just expected different.

The zombie apocalypse is hear and Sloane is stuck in a school with 5 other kids. Trying to survive the story of Sloane’s life before the apocalypse comes out. Sloane isn’t sure if she wants to survive or die. She is depressed and this seems like a perfect way out but she can’t do it, she can’t give up because of the 5 other kids stuck with her. She can’t risk their lives so she lives… day after day in the school fighting for the desire to stay alive.

I liked the premise of the story. I love a good zombie story. I really enjoyed the characters that were thrown together in the school. It was a great blend of zombie goodness and eclectic personalities. I also liked the story behind the main character, Sloane. What I didn’t really like was the two stories thrown together. I enjoyed the story but it just didn’t seem to fit right. If I had been aware from the beginning that this was more of a realistic fiction with a few zombies thrown in for the fun of it… I would have gone into the book expecting so, but I wasn’t. I was in the mood for and expecting a zombie throw down book.

The one other thing that really gave me a hard time when it came to getting through this book was the tone of the book and the voice of Sloane. I get it that she came from a very abused family, I get it that her sister left her to fend for herself, I get it that Sloan has no self esteem or self confidence. I do get all this, but I kind of didn’t get why all this was the only thing on her mind when there were zombies surrounding her. I guess I understood why she was whiny but really hated that she was whiny about issues that are now gone and didn’t focus on the issues at hand. This said the tone was very dark and depressing which in turn made it really hard for me to get through.

So with all that out there, the rest of the book was very good. The writing was amazing. Even though I didn’t like the tone, it was because of the writing I didn’t like the tone. The writing was awesome and left me feeling dark, depressed, and everything else that Sloane was feeling. If this had been purely a realistic fiction book it would have rocked. The author did an amazing job getting across what she wanted to get across. I felt it all. Not only did she do amazing on the tone but also on the setting. With this fact, if this book would have been purely a zombie apocalypse book, it would have rocked as well. The pacing of the book was a little slow but not so slow that I didn’t want to keep reading or so slow I skimmed. It was a great pace for what the book was. I wanted to know more, I wanted for sure to know what was going to happen in the end. The character building was also great. This book is definitely a character driven book, and although I didn’t much care for Sloane, I did understand her and connected to her…even if not on the level I would have liked. The other characters were great too. All completely different, all bringing something useful to the party and also all with some pretty huge flaws. What I really loved about the characters in this book…. I either loved them or hated them. No one left me with a eh.. didn’t really care… feeling.

The Main character, Sloane, I have addressed… she was whiny and a bit to down for me. The characters I did like… Grace… I loved Grace. She was by far my favorite character. Loyal, brave, and sweet. Her brother, Trace, on the other hand… hated. A real jerk, always put the blame elsewhere. Harrison… was the youngest and just whined and cried all the time. He was 15 years old and a real baby.. really get over it. Nope, didn’t like him. Rhys.. I loved. He was cool, calm, and a true survivor…. Kind of like a modern day James Dean.. at least that is how I pictured him. Cary was a real butthead for most of the book, but I still liked him. He had some issues. He was about the only take charge character.

The zombie apocalypse is hear and Sloane is stuck in a school with 5 other kids. Trying to survive the story of Sloane’s life before the apocalypse comes out. Sloane isn’t sure if she wants to survive or die. She is depressed and this seems like a perfect way out but she can’t do it, she can’t give up because of the 5 other kids stuck with her. She can’t risk their lives so she lives… day after day in the school fighting for the desire to stay alive.