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This Is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

Thursday, June 28, 2012



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?

Goodreads Summary


Sloane is not as unhappy as most "normal" people might be when the apocalypse hits. Her home life is deteriorating further and her sister has left. She hates her father, the reader will receive small hints throughout the book concerning why. When Sloane falls into the small group, she isn't as big on survival on the rest of them. The group isn't doing so well either, they are arguing amongst themselves over who really "killed" the two parents who were with the group.

With the group Sloane is in stuck in a high school, much of the book takes place in that high school and it is the setting for the revealed secrets and developed relationships. Sloane is desperately trying to learn more about her sister and deciding if she truly cares to continue to live. The author does a terrific job of setting the other characters apart from each other; they each have an individual unique personality, they are memorable. The reader will be rooting for them all to survive to the end, but is that realistic in this type of atmosphere? The ending will leave the reader both surprised and oddly satisfied. This book is recommended to young adult/teen readers.

4 Stars


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This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.

21 comments:

  1. Unknown said...:

    Sounds so sad that Sloane's life is so horrible that she doesn't even want to survive. I love survival stories and seeing a group of strangers trying to work together. I'm sure there will be lots of arguing. Curious who killed the parents.

  1. Unknown said...:

    I absolutely LOVED this book!!! It just stunned me! :)

  1. fakesteph said...:

    I want to read this so bad! I'm glad to hear that the ending is satisfying!

  1. I've been hearing good things about this book, I'm not a huge zombie fan, but I'm willing to give this one a go.

  1. Lili said...:

    I've heard nothing but amazing things about this book which makes me want to read it! I normally don't like zombies, but this story seems to focus more on this girls survival even though she doesn't really want to survive!

  1. "The ending will leave the reader both surprised and oddly satisfied." <-- Ooohhh! That sounds good! I have been touch and go with whether or not I plan to read this one but I am pretty sure I will be picking up a copy of it at some point. :)

  1. Yael said...:

    I've been looking forward to "This Is Not a Test" for a long time! Good to hear you liked it!

  1. OOooo... I have been looking forward to this one since I first seen it!! Intrigued about ending leaving you oddly satisfied! Now I am more interested. Great review!

  1. Jennifer said...:

    I have been hearing so much about this book that now i want to read it. Sounds interesting. Thanks.

  1. Tanya said...:

    This sounds so terrifyingly sad. I usually love books like this, but I don't know if the sadness will make it to much for me. I will definately have to give it a go. Thanks for the review.

  1. Randi M said...:

    I can't wait to read this! I've read so many favorable reviews on it. Bought my copy the other day. :) Thanks for the review!

  1. I have heard so many great things about This is not a Test, and I can't wait to see for myself just how great it really is. Zombies + serious issues = Unique and my kind of read. Thanks for reviewing it for all of us followers!

  1. Anonymous said...:

    I want to read this one SO bad. I keep hearing good things about it. And I love zombie books!

  1. I'm really excited for this one, even though I'm not normally big into zombies. I've heard such great things, and I'm actually waiting for a copy to arrive in the mail any day! Glad you liked it!

  1. OMG! I really, REALLY liked this book. So happy to see another blogger singing its praises. Is it odd that I found the ending somewhat hopeful? If a little sad at the same time? LOL. This book did a number with my emotions, that's for sure.

  1. Haha, I think I'm the only person in the entire world who didn't immediately love this book. Different strokes, eh? But I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

  1. Anonymous said...:

    I have not read this yet but I would love to read it. I love post-apocolyptic reads especially with zombies. Thanks for the post.

  1. I have read a lot of mixed reviews on this book and I'm not really a zombie person so we will see if I like it!!!

  1. Stacy said...:

    I love zombies so I am definitely going to read this one. Thanks for the review.

  1. Anjelica said...:

    I haven't read that many zombie books (the only one was The Forest of Hands and Teeth) so I don't know what my opinion of them are but This is Not a Test looks really good!

  1. Unknown said...:

    Thanks for the review. I just started reading this book yesterday. :)