ryanjamesburt's review
4.0
1) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
2) Genre: Horror/Zombie
3) Synopsis: Sloane is trapped in her high school. Not leaning but avoiding being infected by a single bite. Sloane isn't even sure she wants to live.
4) Feelings: This is certainly not a feel good book. Reading it, you feel kind of like Sloane with a dark cloud over your head. Although if you are surrounded by the walking dead there isn't a whole lot of sunshine.
5) Final recommendation: This is a good Zombie book. If that's what you are looking for this is the book to read.
Ryan James Burt
Husband, Father, and Writer
http://ryanjamesburt.wordpress.com/
2) Genre: Horror/Zombie
3) Synopsis: Sloane is trapped in her high school. Not leaning but avoiding being infected by a single bite. Sloane isn't even sure she wants to live.
4) Feelings: This is certainly not a feel good book. Reading it, you feel kind of like Sloane with a dark cloud over your head. Although if you are surrounded by the walking dead there isn't a whole lot of sunshine.
5) Final recommendation: This is a good Zombie book. If that's what you are looking for this is the book to read.
Ryan James Burt
Husband, Father, and Writer
http://ryanjamesburt.wordpress.com/
jodieboone's review
5.0
I love zombies.
I love reading about them, watching them, everything. Last halloween, I was zombie tinkerbell.I've always thought it might be kinda cool to have a zombie apocalypse, even if reason knew it would be horrible. I've read up on what to do during one, I know what I would personally do, what weapon I would have, who I would want in my group.
But this book made it 100% clear that just because I think I'd be prepared, doesn't mean I would be.
One of the main reasons I love zombie things is because of the survival side of it. Humans, doing everything in their willpower to survive, even though they know they might die tomorrow, even though so many people have died, even though they don't understand why it's happening is fascinating to me.
Of the things I've seen and watched of zombies, I think This Is Not A Test highlighted that the most. This book is not about zombies. It's about the psychological affect of them, the hopelessness of being in this situation, and I adored that.
It is the story of six teenagers who have taken refuge in a school. When it became clear that not many zombie killings would be involved, I wondered how bored I was going to be, but I was wrong. It was much deeper than that, and I found myself going through the grief along with the characters. I was emotionally attached to all of them, and when they were scared, I was scared. I wondered several times if I should get up and barricade my door, just in case, and usually, I don't get scared when reading. Not only did Courtney Summers make me feel scared, but she made me cry for characters I didn't really sympathise with, or like, and my main praise for the author is how well she made me feel everything. I was a wreck of emotions, and I felt like I was going through everything the characters were going through. Because of this, I rushed to go and get other books by Courtney Summers.
One plot I loved, was Sloane's opinion on her life. She didn't want to be alive. She was happy to go out and sacrifice herself, or to leave the group and just not come back. She didn't want to be there, or be alive, and I understood that. I wasn't annoyed, or thought she was being selfish.
The characters are a huge part of this book, more so than the zombies. They're all flawed, they're all emotional and they clash, making survival harder, but it was real, and I loved that.
The ending, in my opinion, was wonderful. With endings like this one, I'm always annoyed because I want more. And I did want more, but I wasn't annoyed by that. I liked that.
This book is wonderful, and I cannot recommend it enough.
I love reading about them, watching them, everything. Last halloween, I was zombie tinkerbell.I've always thought it might be kinda cool to have a zombie apocalypse, even if reason knew it would be horrible. I've read up on what to do during one, I know what I would personally do, what weapon I would have, who I would want in my group.
But this book made it 100% clear that just because I think I'd be prepared, doesn't mean I would be.
One of the main reasons I love zombie things is because of the survival side of it. Humans, doing everything in their willpower to survive, even though they know they might die tomorrow, even though so many people have died, even though they don't understand why it's happening is fascinating to me.
Of the things I've seen and watched of zombies, I think This Is Not A Test highlighted that the most. This book is not about zombies. It's about the psychological affect of them, the hopelessness of being in this situation, and I adored that.
It is the story of six teenagers who have taken refuge in a school. When it became clear that not many zombie killings would be involved, I wondered how bored I was going to be, but I was wrong. It was much deeper than that, and I found myself going through the grief along with the characters. I was emotionally attached to all of them, and when they were scared, I was scared. I wondered several times if I should get up and barricade my door, just in case, and usually, I don't get scared when reading. Not only did Courtney Summers make me feel scared, but she made me cry for characters I didn't really sympathise with, or like, and my main praise for the author is how well she made me feel everything. I was a wreck of emotions, and I felt like I was going through everything the characters were going through. Because of this, I rushed to go and get other books by Courtney Summers.
One plot I loved, was Sloane's opinion on her life. She didn't want to be alive. She was happy to go out and sacrifice herself, or to leave the group and just not come back. She didn't want to be there, or be alive, and I understood that. I wasn't annoyed, or thought she was being selfish.
The characters are a huge part of this book, more so than the zombies. They're all flawed, they're all emotional and they clash, making survival harder, but it was real, and I loved that.
The ending, in my opinion, was wonderful. With endings like this one, I'm always annoyed because I want more. And I did want more, but I wasn't annoyed by that. I liked that.
This book is wonderful, and I cannot recommend it enough.
chrissireads's review
4.0
I had some misconceptions before I started this book. I thought it was going to be a zombie book but really it’s a book that has zombies within the story. It’s much more than a zombie book. It’s a story about survival.
This Is Not A Test centres around six characters who are hiding in a school. It’s the end of the world and there are zombies outside who are determined to kill. The zombies will only need one bite to kill a person. Sloane has been suffering for six months and begins to wonder if it’s time to give up. Sloane has to experience the apocalypse through eyes of others that want to survive. Days pass by and life becomes even more unpredictable for the teens inside the school.
I thought this book was so intense and quite tough to read. As I expect from Courtney Summers, this book really was quite dark. I could feel Sloane’s pain through the pages. I’m not usually a fan of books containing zombies, but it really worked with this book. It wasn’t gory, but the reader certainly felt the threat throughout. It was creepy to think of them lurking outside hammering on the door. *shudders*
I absolutely loved the character of Sloane. She is incredibly complex and her pain was so tough to read about. I really feel a character like Sloane adds depth to the story. There’s so much to be found in this story, there’s grief, loss, a lot of pain and a struggle for survival. It really is a wonderful read and I’m intrigued to see how the story continues in Please Remain Calm.
This Is Not A Test centres around six characters who are hiding in a school. It’s the end of the world and there are zombies outside who are determined to kill. The zombies will only need one bite to kill a person. Sloane has been suffering for six months and begins to wonder if it’s time to give up. Sloane has to experience the apocalypse through eyes of others that want to survive. Days pass by and life becomes even more unpredictable for the teens inside the school.
I thought this book was so intense and quite tough to read. As I expect from Courtney Summers, this book really was quite dark. I could feel Sloane’s pain through the pages. I’m not usually a fan of books containing zombies, but it really worked with this book. It wasn’t gory, but the reader certainly felt the threat throughout. It was creepy to think of them lurking outside hammering on the door. *shudders*
I absolutely loved the character of Sloane. She is incredibly complex and her pain was so tough to read about. I really feel a character like Sloane adds depth to the story. There’s so much to be found in this story, there’s grief, loss, a lot of pain and a struggle for survival. It really is a wonderful read and I’m intrigued to see how the story continues in Please Remain Calm.
katdid's review
4.0
These days I don't generally mesh well with YA fiction but I was pretty into this! and have been thinking about it a lot since. I really liked the interplay between the infection and domestic violence. (Zombie) apocalypse novels have kind of been done to death but this offered some surprises (to me, anyway).
thepaperreels's review against another edition
4.0
If there's one word to describe my emotion after reading This Is Not A Test, it's.. surprised.
I know that zombies are involved, I just didn't know that it would be that emotional and that the story has that depth that usually books by this genre lacks. It's amazing how Courtney Summers made her readers sympathize to a main protagonist who whines every chapter because she just wanted to die. I honestly don't feel for suicidal heroines, I know, I'm heartless. But most of them are just irritating that's why it's hard to sympathize. But Sloane is different. She's real, she developed as a character and her journey is just heart wrenching.
Sloane is one of the students that hid inside Cortege High when the apocalypse broke down. In there, six students are trying to survive and making plans to stay alive. But they don't know that Sloane has other plans. You see, Sloane wants to die. From the opening chapter of the book, she makes it clear that she no longer wants to live. Her father hurts her and her sister, the only family she cares about, left her. What's the reason to live? But Sloane will find the answer to that question when she and and six more students found themselves trapped in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.
This Is Not A Test is a zombie book, but it's really not. Do you get what I'm saying? The atmosphere of the book is really good, it's like you're really there with Sloane that's why you get the chills and the creeps, and yet, the story.. is so emotionally raw. It's terrifying and poignant. Courtney Summers is one of the best authors ever, I can attest to that. Her writing is... WOW. I can't describe it. It's lyrical, gritty and gripping.
This is also one of the most character driven book I've ever read. The characterization is brilliant. Each character has stories and you will find yourself eager to know it. Though the book isn't focused on the romance aspect, being me, I still shipped Sloane with someone and guess what? It sailed!
Courtney Summers could write on a napkin and I would read it, devour it, love it. 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.
I know that zombies are involved, I just didn't know that it would be that emotional and that the story has that depth that usually books by this genre lacks. It's amazing how Courtney Summers made her readers sympathize to a main protagonist who whines every chapter because she just wanted to die. I honestly don't feel for suicidal heroines, I know, I'm heartless. But most of them are just irritating that's why it's hard to sympathize. But Sloane is different. She's real, she developed as a character and her journey is just heart wrenching.
Sloane is one of the students that hid inside Cortege High when the apocalypse broke down. In there, six students are trying to survive and making plans to stay alive. But they don't know that Sloane has other plans. You see, Sloane wants to die. From the opening chapter of the book, she makes it clear that she no longer wants to live. Her father hurts her and her sister, the only family she cares about, left her. What's the reason to live? But Sloane will find the answer to that question when she and and six more students found themselves trapped in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.
This Is Not A Test is a zombie book, but it's really not. Do you get what I'm saying? The atmosphere of the book is really good, it's like you're really there with Sloane that's why you get the chills and the creeps, and yet, the story.. is so emotionally raw. It's terrifying and poignant. Courtney Summers is one of the best authors ever, I can attest to that. Her writing is... WOW. I can't describe it. It's lyrical, gritty and gripping.
This is also one of the most character driven book I've ever read. The characterization is brilliant. Each character has stories and you will find yourself eager to know it. Though the book isn't focused on the romance aspect, being me, I still shipped Sloane with someone and guess what? It sailed!
Courtney Summers could write on a napkin and I would read it, devour it, love it. 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.
erincharp's review
2.0
Eh. This was okay. It's a zombie book, but not really. Six teens are trapped inside of a high school while the zombie apocalypse rages outside. Once they're inside, they don't really find themselves in any danger, except that they're all whiny and falling apart and one of them is suicidal. Also, they want to sacrifice the nerdy kid. Definitely not what I expected from the premise of this book, which could've been set during a non-zombie apocalypse because the characters only gave a brief nod to their presumably dead parents and classmates.
siobhan27's review
5.0
This Review can also be read on my blog Conversations of a Reading Addict
This is not a Test is a lot more than a zombie book, it is a look into the lives of six desperate teenagers that are trying their hardest to survive in a world that is crumbling around them. And for Sloane her world was crumbling long before the zombie infection. What I loved most about this book, and all of Courtney Summers’ books, are their realism, and their ability to crush such strong emotions into the reader. Her style of writing infects you from the moment you start and doesn’t stop until after you have finished the book.
Sloane is broken in a way that breaks your heart, and we see this from the beginning when we get a glimpse into her life before the world ended. Courtney’s short and curt sentences have a way of stabbing you in the stomach. They are forced onto you and it seems harsh at times but necessary. I loved this way of getting the reader invested in the characters. I loved Sloane’s character because she was flawed, and selfish at times. She tended to say the wrong things at the wrong time, and she was the perfect example of real teenage emotions.
At times I felt that the zombie element of the story was more of a writing device rather than a necessary part of the plot. It was used as way to justify the segregation of these 6 teens away from the rest of society. I have heard from other reviews that they thought the zombie device didn’t really add to the story, but I don’t agree. In the end I thought that the zombies added a sense of unseen tension to the characters that really couldn’t have been visible had the zombies not been there. If you are a lover of gory zombie books, this book is not for you. There were only a handful of scenes that made me cringe while reading, but for the most part the zombies were more of an unseen threat.
Although I keep talking about how much I loved Sloane as a character, I also want to express my love for the secondary characters. I felt that their interactions with each other and their actions towards each other added so much more drama and suspense to the entire novel. Some hated each other, yet they all knew that they needed to stay together in order to survive. This is not a Test is like Lord of the Flies with more internal dialogue (and zombies of course).
Please go out and pick this book up, I have read every single novel written by Courtney Summers and my god she has gotten better with every one. This is not a Test will open your eyes to raw emotions that don’t always get the attention they deserve. It will stay with you long after the last page is turned.
Brilliance.
This is not a Test is a lot more than a zombie book, it is a look into the lives of six desperate teenagers that are trying their hardest to survive in a world that is crumbling around them. And for Sloane her world was crumbling long before the zombie infection. What I loved most about this book, and all of Courtney Summers’ books, are their realism, and their ability to crush such strong emotions into the reader. Her style of writing infects you from the moment you start and doesn’t stop until after you have finished the book.
Sloane is broken in a way that breaks your heart, and we see this from the beginning when we get a glimpse into her life before the world ended. Courtney’s short and curt sentences have a way of stabbing you in the stomach. They are forced onto you and it seems harsh at times but necessary. I loved this way of getting the reader invested in the characters. I loved Sloane’s character because she was flawed, and selfish at times. She tended to say the wrong things at the wrong time, and she was the perfect example of real teenage emotions.
At times I felt that the zombie element of the story was more of a writing device rather than a necessary part of the plot. It was used as way to justify the segregation of these 6 teens away from the rest of society. I have heard from other reviews that they thought the zombie device didn’t really add to the story, but I don’t agree. In the end I thought that the zombies added a sense of unseen tension to the characters that really couldn’t have been visible had the zombies not been there. If you are a lover of gory zombie books, this book is not for you. There were only a handful of scenes that made me cringe while reading, but for the most part the zombies were more of an unseen threat.
Although I keep talking about how much I loved Sloane as a character, I also want to express my love for the secondary characters. I felt that their interactions with each other and their actions towards each other added so much more drama and suspense to the entire novel. Some hated each other, yet they all knew that they needed to stay together in order to survive. This is not a Test is like Lord of the Flies with more internal dialogue (and zombies of course).
Please go out and pick this book up, I have read every single novel written by Courtney Summers and my god she has gotten better with every one. This is not a Test will open your eyes to raw emotions that don’t always get the attention they deserve. It will stay with you long after the last page is turned.
Brilliance.