Scan barcode
daphx00's review against another edition
3.0
After being excited for a really long time (I featured this book in On My Wishlist recently) so I may have squealed a bit when I saw it was up on NetGalley. And then again when I was approved. While This Is Not A Test made for a solid good read, I felt oddly disconnected from the story because of the main character's way of distancing herself of just about everything, resulting in a three star rating.
Summers has created a believable and creepy world, where the apocalypse is happening and zombies are roaming the streets to find life to destroy and eat. The story is fast paced at all the right paces, with intrigue and personal relationships on the edge of collapsing when the story tends to slow down in the middle. While the middle of the story could get a bit boring because the characters were just hiding out, the events happening between the characters kept me intrigued to keep reading, so that's what I did.
The main character, Sloane, is a girl whose life collapsed when her sister left their home and left Sloane with their father. Although I understand why she was in the state of mind that she was, it made it really hard for me to connect with the story. In the end, I didn't and I felt so seperated from the story, so unable to feel with the characters, that it bothered me. I like to be sucked into the story, to feel what the characters feel, even if it's only for a couple of moments. With this book, I had zero.
This Is Not A Test is a solid good read in terms of writing and plot developing, but the characters fell flat for me and that's what made me like the book okay, instead of loving it. However, I really liked Summers' writing style, so I'll be sure to check out more of her work - and hopefully I'll be sucked into the story a little more.
Find this review and others on Loving Books.
Summers has created a believable and creepy world, where the apocalypse is happening and zombies are roaming the streets to find life to destroy and eat. The story is fast paced at all the right paces, with intrigue and personal relationships on the edge of collapsing when the story tends to slow down in the middle. While the middle of the story could get a bit boring because the characters were just hiding out, the events happening between the characters kept me intrigued to keep reading, so that's what I did.
The main character, Sloane, is a girl whose life collapsed when her sister left their home and left Sloane with their father. Although I understand why she was in the state of mind that she was, it made it really hard for me to connect with the story. In the end, I didn't and I felt so seperated from the story, so unable to feel with the characters, that it bothered me. I like to be sucked into the story, to feel what the characters feel, even if it's only for a couple of moments. With this book, I had zero.
This Is Not A Test is a solid good read in terms of writing and plot developing, but the characters fell flat for me and that's what made me like the book okay, instead of loving it. However, I really liked Summers' writing style, so I'll be sure to check out more of her work - and hopefully I'll be sucked into the story a little more.
Find this review and others on Loving Books.
jdhwoods's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
annvalentine's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, and Death
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Suicide attempt
The narrator of the book spends little time with her abuser on page, but the trauma of her abuse is a main focus of the book. It is physical but not sexual. She is also actively suicidal from the first page, and the book focuses a lot on her mental state and making decisions that are at least passively suicidal.heathercottledillon's review against another edition
4.0
The world is ending, but for Sloane Price, life has been over for a while. After her beloved sister left her alone with their abusive father, life wasn't exactly rosy. So when the dead start walking and civilization falls apart, Sloane accepts it as she has accepted all of her problems and waits for the dead to break through the barriers to reach her and the five other students holed up in what used to be their high school. Unlike Sloane, the other students actually want to live, and the only question is how far they will go to stay breathing. Before long, things start falling apart inside the school as much as outside and Sloane is forced to re-examine her decision to give up and let the others fend for themselves.
I like zombie books and apocalyptic fiction, as you've probably noticed if you've known me for very long, and this is one of the best that I've read recently. Yes, it's sort of predictable. When you've got some kids together in one building and some zombies outside, it's no shocker when things start going a little "Lord of the Flies." Still, it feels different than other stories with similar plots, more thoughtful and literary. I like the writing style--I'm not sure how to describe it other than to say that Summers definitely knows how to create a melancholy atmosphere and it fits the story perfectly. There's plenty of action, too, to move the story along. I feel like a lot of teen authors feel like they have to have a happy (or at least somewhat happy) ending and I like that Summers didn't do that here because it wouldn't have fit. I think it has a satisfying conclusion--it's not all sunshine and rainbows, but there's closure. Definitely a must-read for those who like end-of-the-world stories.
I like zombie books and apocalyptic fiction, as you've probably noticed if you've known me for very long, and this is one of the best that I've read recently. Yes, it's sort of predictable. When you've got some kids together in one building and some zombies outside, it's no shocker when things start going a little "Lord of the Flies." Still, it feels different than other stories with similar plots, more thoughtful and literary. I like the writing style--I'm not sure how to describe it other than to say that Summers definitely knows how to create a melancholy atmosphere and it fits the story perfectly. There's plenty of action, too, to move the story along. I feel like a lot of teen authors feel like they have to have a happy (or at least somewhat happy) ending and I like that Summers didn't do that here because it wouldn't have fit. I think it has a satisfying conclusion--it's not all sunshine and rainbows, but there's closure. Definitely a must-read for those who like end-of-the-world stories.
geniesurreal's review against another edition
I was pretty excited to read this book when I found it in my recommendations. I borrowed it from my library and ran home eager to throw it open to chapter 1. To my sincere disappointment it did not deliver like I had hoped. The content and story plot of the book were fine. The writing style was unbearable. Every sentence was cut short excluding much needed detail.
You see, I need detailed descriptions so I can imagine where I am and what the characters look like. I need that or else my brain becomes confused and unwilling to move forward. It didn't give me any foundation to stand on. At one point the main character was having a short boring conversation with her silhouette father and the next there were neighbors trying to eat them.
I'm guessing the author wanted to throw you into chaos the same way the main character was but I feel she could have done a much better job at writing her story out in a way that didn't make me stumble back a few pages just to figure out where I am now.
The whole book was confusing and jumped from A to B in matters of seconds without warning. I couldn't appreciate a book that does that. So 1 star from me.
You see, I need detailed descriptions so I can imagine where I am and what the characters look like. I need that or else my brain becomes confused and unwilling to move forward. It didn't give me any foundation to stand on. At one point the main character was having a short boring conversation with her silhouette father and the next there were neighbors trying to eat them.
I'm guessing the author wanted to throw you into chaos the same way the main character was but I feel she could have done a much better job at writing her story out in a way that didn't make me stumble back a few pages just to figure out where I am now.
The whole book was confusing and jumped from A to B in matters of seconds without warning. I couldn't appreciate a book that does that. So 1 star from me.
narcissia's review against another edition
4.0
4.5
So when I first found out that Courtney Summers was writing a zombie book, I was all like, "Whaaaaaaat?" And then I read the description and it made more sense to me, because it sounds like it's not really a zombie book, but a book about a girl who wants to die but has been thrown into this survival situation. And that's exactly what it turned out to be. The zombies - they're in there a little bit. But it's not a zombie book. It reads like a gritty contemporary that just happens to have something out of science fiction and horror going on in the background in order to facilitate this survival mentality. So if you're looking for a ZOMBIE book, this is not that. There are a couple of scenes with zombies up-close. But what it is, is a book that takes a look at the monster in all of us, what might bring those things to the surface, what a person could be made to do in the types of situations that can only come about through some crazy survival mode situation. And Sloane, who is convinced that there is no reason to live, is thrown into this situation where everyone else is desperately trying to survive, which forces her to face herself and her demons. It becomes a lot about what the others will do to live, and what she won't do to die.
Sloane is not a character that makes me adore her because she's so [insert adjective for something awesome like nice/funny/smart/strong/snarky here]. But she is very real, and I like that about her. She's not looking for a reason to live. She's looking for a way to die that won't jeopardize the lives of her zombie apocalypse companions. She has to make a lot of decisions, some admirable and some not so much. She's in a world where holding on to your values will get you and the people you care about killed. There are times when it comes down to deciding who one cares more about, who is valuable, who is a liability. Some of it is split-second decision, but some of it is calculated. Everyone in this story has some amount of horrible in them that is brought out when situations become life or death. All of these characters are simultaneously terrible and decent. They all say and do things that they'd probably never say or do in a normal situation. They're selfish. They're self-preserving. They've had to make tough choices, sometimes at the expense of others, in order to keep themselves alive. The precedent for this line of decision making is set even before the zombies show up, via Sloane's sister. But when it's life or death, is that not understandable? These characters, dwelling in their gray areas, captivated me with their harshness.
The pacing is not as quick as one would expect a book with zombies to be. They're barricaded in a school for the majority of the story, and there just isn't much to do. It involves a lot of reflection, a few scary situations, and a lot of arguing and slinging blame and accusations and confessions. But it was still a really quick read, because I became so engrossed in the human nature of it all. The ending, I'll admit, is something that might bother me in another type of book, but for this one it felt like the perfect place to end the story, and I liked it.
If you're in it for the zombies, you might be disappointed at the lack of face-biting. But, if you can appreciate the more psychological parts of a zombie apocalypse, then you would probably still enjoy this book a great deal.
So when I first found out that Courtney Summers was writing a zombie book, I was all like, "Whaaaaaaat?" And then I read the description and it made more sense to me, because it sounds like it's not really a zombie book, but a book about a girl who wants to die but has been thrown into this survival situation. And that's exactly what it turned out to be. The zombies - they're in there a little bit. But it's not a zombie book. It reads like a gritty contemporary that just happens to have something out of science fiction and horror going on in the background in order to facilitate this survival mentality. So if you're looking for a ZOMBIE book, this is not that. There are a couple of scenes with zombies up-close. But what it is, is a book that takes a look at the monster in all of us, what might bring those things to the surface, what a person could be made to do in the types of situations that can only come about through some crazy survival mode situation. And Sloane, who is convinced that there is no reason to live, is thrown into this situation where everyone else is desperately trying to survive, which forces her to face herself and her demons. It becomes a lot about what the others will do to live, and what she won't do to die.
Sloane is not a character that makes me adore her because she's so [insert adjective for something awesome like nice/funny/smart/strong/snarky here]. But she is very real, and I like that about her. She's not looking for a reason to live. She's looking for a way to die that won't jeopardize the lives of her zombie apocalypse companions. She has to make a lot of decisions, some admirable and some not so much. She's in a world where holding on to your values will get you and the people you care about killed. There are times when it comes down to deciding who one cares more about, who is valuable, who is a liability. Some of it is split-second decision, but some of it is calculated. Everyone in this story has some amount of horrible in them that is brought out when situations become life or death. All of these characters are simultaneously terrible and decent. They all say and do things that they'd probably never say or do in a normal situation. They're selfish. They're self-preserving. They've had to make tough choices, sometimes at the expense of others, in order to keep themselves alive. The precedent for this line of decision making is set even before the zombies show up, via Sloane's sister. But when it's life or death, is that not understandable? These characters, dwelling in their gray areas, captivated me with their harshness.
The pacing is not as quick as one would expect a book with zombies to be. They're barricaded in a school for the majority of the story, and there just isn't much to do. It involves a lot of reflection, a few scary situations, and a lot of arguing and slinging blame and accusations and confessions. But it was still a really quick read, because I became so engrossed in the human nature of it all. The ending, I'll admit, is something that might bother me in another type of book, but for this one it felt like the perfect place to end the story, and I liked it.
If you're in it for the zombies, you might be disappointed at the lack of face-biting. But, if you can appreciate the more psychological parts of a zombie apocalypse, then you would probably still enjoy this book a great deal.
juju8j's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
jenhurst's review against another edition
4.0
I’m constantly impressed by Courtney summers. Her writing is really good and she’s just so good at hiring what needs to be hit. She’s explored zombies, bitchy teenage girls, sexual abuse and she always goes deeper and darker than majority of her other contemporaries of the YA genre.