Review - This is Not a Test

by Courtney Summers
publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
date of publication: June 19, 2012
format: ARC
pages: 320
source: LibraryThing Early Reviewers

From Goodreads:

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?

This is Not a Test is an emotionally wrought twist on zombie novels. Though they are present within the story, the emphasis lies not on the zombies, themselves, but on the effects a cataclysmic event like a zombie apocalypse has on different people. The six teens we meet in This is Not a Test are a study in loss, grief, terror, and bravery. Each kid's reaction brought something different to the story, which made This is Not a Test such an engrossing read.

Sloane, the main character and narrator, is such a heartbreaking character. As the layers of who she is and what she has been through are peeled back, a complicated and truly damaged girl is revealed. I will admit that I found her motivation a bit difficult to understand, at first. While I don't agree with her rationalizations for wanting to give up, I can see how what she has been through causes death make sense to her. Her interactions with the other people in her group are actually somewhat heartening. Though she doesn't hold much value for her own life, she does respect the lives of her companions and seeks to make sure she doesn't put them at risk. Considering the behavior of a character such as Trace, it's even more surprising. While she isn't necessarily a character you can fully understand and like, she is definitely a fascinating one to get to know.

The setting for This is Not a Test couldn't have been more perfect. The outside world is a bleak, dangerous place and the inside world that the six teens inhabit has a level of safety that is tenuous, at best. I definitely appreciated that while the high school provided several of the things that the group needed, it wasn't safe enough to lull them all into complacency. However, the fact that so much of the story takes place in the high school definitely makes for some slow pacing, at times. While the group deals with its dramas and interpersonal struggles, the plot lagged at some points throughout the book. This was usually remedied rather quickly, however, so it didn't become too much of a problem.

This is Not a Test turned out to be so much more than I expected. I went in expecting nonstop attempts to fight off the zombie horde. What I found was a moving look at the human experience and what it means to different people. I think the question posed in the plot description lays it all out best: “When everything is gone, what do you hold onto?” The answer to that question is different for each character and different for each reader, as well. It brought a level of personal feeling into the story that came as a big surprise. This is Not a Test is truly an engrossing, though-provoking take on the zombie apocalypse theme.

Buy This is Not a Test at the Following Locations:

Amazon /  IndieBound  /  B&N  /  The Book Depository

Obligatory legal statement: This ARC was provided to me free of charge via the publisher through Library Thing Early Reviewers. No monetary compensation was received in exchange for this fair and unbiased review.