This Is Not a Test (edition 2012)

2.5 stars

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'The radio crackles the prerecorded voice of that woman at us over and over...
'This is not a test. Listen closely. This is not a test.'
But I think she's wrong. I think this is a test.
It has to be.'

The Storyline
'This is not a Test' includes a group of sorrowful teenagers trying to survive (some of them at least) and a post-apocalyptic world full of zombies.

Sloane Price has survived the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. She's joined up with 5 other kids she went to school with and they are all hiding out in their old high school, trying to survive. Except Sloane never intended on being alive for very much longer. Ever since her sister Lily abandoned her she hasn't been the same and lacks any sort of will to live.. She escaped from the beatings their father inflicted on them both, and didn't take Sloane with her. Being surrounded by kids who want more than anything to live makes her feel like an outcast as she continues to search for her way out so that she's finally 'free'.

Thoughts
I am a huge fan of zombie novels, and there's certainly no 'right' way to do them but with most zombie novels I've found that I particularly enjoy the world building aspect and finding out how the zombies came to be. If it's lacking in world building it better have a super fabulous story to focus on instead. The world-building aspect isn't explained in this story and it came off feeling like a normal teenage angst ridden story, just with zombies thrown in as secondary characters, rather them being an actual part of the story. It's almost like the author decided on two genres but forgot to mix them well enough so that they were good and blended.

I had a hard time liking the characters. These were all high school kids, hiding out in a high school, still playing high school games. I kept waiting for them to toughen up, to harden from what has happened to them, but it just didn't happen. Plus? The zombie action was quite minimal for my liking.

The ending was bleak, brutal, but unsatisfactory; more than likely just simply due to my personal preferences.. I can see how this story will be liked by many, it just wasn't overall exactly what I had anticipated. ( )

Sloane is one of six students who have taken shelter in Cortege High following a zombie outbreak. There’s little to do but sit and wait it out, hope that the pounding zombies stay on the outside of the doors, and wish for rescue. One bite from an infected person is all it takes to become one of the walking dead. For Sloane, there’s a certain irony in her situation: six months ago, her world ended, and she’s been planning her death ever since. As she waits for the inevitable death that is sure to come, she’s forced to see things through the eyes of people who want to survive. Will the group make it out alive? What happens when life and death situations move ever closer in personal bids for power?

Courtney Summers is arguably one of the most beloved YA authors writing today, known for her gritty portrayals of teens in turmoil. This Is Not a Test marks a departure for her, moving from the firmly-grounded contemporary world of YA into much murkier, fantastical territory. Summers took a risk, to be sure, but her fourth book is an absolute triumph of blending genres and creating a story that is completely gripping.

Sloane’s journey is emotionally raw, unflinchingly real, and totally heart-wrenching. Summers takes her time to develop the characters trapped in Cortege High, and the result is so successful that it almost hurts. While many zombie novels forsake character development for rising action, Summers manages to do both: the novel’s characters have emotions, motivations, and undergo changes as their situation becomes more dire, but the novel’s pacing is pitch-perfect. This is not a novel that is easy to put down. As the danger gets closer, the tension builds to an almost unbearable level, and the last 50 or so pages are excruciating (in the best way possible).

What is perhaps most commendable is Summers’s careful handling of the character of Sloane herself. Sloane’s desire to die never feels melodramatic or heavy-handed. It’s clear that she has suffered the worst kinds of pain and feels there’s nothing left to gain from continuing to live. Her subtle development as the novel progresses, as well as her coming to grips with her family situation, is exceedingly well done.

All in all, this novel surpassed all expectations. Although the fact that it’s a zombie novel is going to be widely publicized, the novel is so much more than that. This is a zombie novel for people who don’t like books about zombies. Fantastic contemporary YA with a twist. Highly, highly recommended.

This is Not a Test hits shelves today. Go get a copy. Go. Go. Go.

This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers. St. Martin’s Griffin: 2012. Electronic galley accepted for review via NetGalley. ( )

Zombies done right.

I'm not a huge fan of the zombie genre (though I am admittedly obsessed with The Walking Dead), but this novel got a hold of me and did not let go until the final page. There was something very real about the way Courtney Summers handled her characters. I've always thought that in the face of an apocalypse, your personal demons wouldn't just evaporate. You'd still have guilt, regrets, insecurities... Summers doesn't waver when it comes to the human side of an apocalypse and, to me, this fact is what makes 'This is Not a Test' so great.

Courtney Summers has created a masterpiece in This is Not a Test.

It is a page-turner, a zombie apocalypse story, a coming of age novel, a romance, while still being contemporary, realistic, heartfelt, and completely engrossing.

I would recommend it to just about everyone. Fans of YA fiction of all ages, fans of zombie stories/movies/video games. Reluctant readers. Teens who read a lot. Adults who have never read YA fiction. Seriously. Everyone. ( )

The writing, which has a very particular style, definitely took some getting used to. Even now, I'm not completely sure how I feel about the book or the writing. I think it's probably because it's so beautiful, so nuanced and so gut-wrenching. Her writing also has a strangely lyrical quality, enhanced by the strange placement of punctuation.

The world-building in This Is Not a Test is minimal. All we really know is that there was a zombie outbreak, and that's about it. That's because the dystopian aspects aren't what make the book unique, they're not what the book is really about. Whereas most dystopias focus on a person, or group of people, desperate to survive, This Is Not a Test focuses on a girl who wants to die. This viewpoint really changed everything. What scares Sloane is not the zombies, not the dying. She fears having to live.

I've seen this book called "The Breakfast Club meets The Walking Dead." I see where they're going with that, and it's valid. I want to add a comparison to Laurie Halse Anderson and Ilsa J. Bick. If you enjoy those authors, you will love this, and by love I mean be seriously depressed by. I think this one is going to stick with me. ( )