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A review by jodieboone
This Is Not a Test by Courtney Summers
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.