Review : This is not a Test by Courtney Summers

Posted by on March 22, 2013 2:53 am in 4.5 stars reads | 7 comments

this is not a testThis is not a Test by Courtney Summers
Pages : 323
Genre : YA, Horror, Zombies
Stand alone
My Rating : 4,5/5

From the back of the book :

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 wantto 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?

My Thoughts :

When I first heard about Courtney Summers writing a zombie novel, I was quite surprised and, I will admit, not too optimistic. It is not that I believe authors should be confined to their own little niche, on the contrary; simply put, I am glad authors have the courage to try new things, but having them step out of their comfort zone hasn’t always lead to success. So, as I started reading This is not a Test, I was keeping my expectations on the low.

Fortunately, I didn’t need to. This is not a Test was exactly what you would expect from a novel by Courtney Summers (introspection, grim setting, complex characters, depth) with a touch of zombies on the side. This isn’t a gore story : though there are a few unpleasant scenes of the type, they merely serve to underline the harshness of Sloane’s new world. Readers coming it expecting action scenes, bloody descriptions and life-or-death pursuits will probably be disappointed. Like in Summers’ other previous novels, there is very little happening on the outside : it’s all about what is going on in Sloane’s head, and to a certain degree, in the other characters’ heads while they try to survive, too. But while we are talking about heads, you should know this isn’t really a book about eating brains.

Since I love both zombie books and Summers’ prose, the meeting of the two was everything I could have hoped for! Sloane was a difficult character, but as with most of the author’s main characters, I don’t think she was someone we are supposed to connect with easily. She was so tortured and lost, not always pleasant, often difficult to understand: it was difficult to imagine there was anything hopeful waiting for her.

The characters surrounding her were interesting, and different enough. I did feel they were a tiny bit stereotyped at first, but as we get to know more about them and what they went through, they become too complex to really categorize.

As for Sloane’s personal story, I thought it was very well done, too. She was clearly chained to her past, and it was really difficult to see her place so much hope with her sister. It’s a sad story, and a sad book. If you’ve read Courtney Summers before, you’ll know not to expect rainbows and unicorns; and yet, I am always surprised by the depth of her characters’ despair. It rings true, too. It wasn’t a book I was able to read in one sitting, mainly because the emotional aspect of it is so heavy.

In the end, I only have praise for this book. I am glad that This is not a Test didn’t turn into my first negative review of a Courtney Summers novel. And while the supernatural touch added something a little different from her previous books, it still had all of the qualities I have come to expect from her talented voice. It’s going to be a long wait until we get to read her new novel in 2014!

7 Comments

  1. You liked this more than I did. 🙂 I couldn’t put myself in the premise of the story and believe that having a zombie premise was a good way for Sloane to overcome her past. Still, it IS Courtney Summers, so I will continue to read whatever she feels like writing.

    • Ha! I’ll admit I didn’t considered it from this point of view. What I found captivating though, was how Sloane was pulled from an already bad situation into another. Unlike most characters in zombie/post-apocalyptic novels, who spend so much time longing for the past…
      I agree though, even if I hadn’t liked it, I would still continue to read whatever she writes about! 😀

  2. I have not read this book because I am not a Zombie fan. But.. I only read awesome reviews about this book so maybe I should go and pick it up after all!

  3. I don’t love zombies, but “a touch of zombies on the side” might work for me.

  4. Great honest review.

  5. I’m not really that into zombies, but this one looks really good!

  6. This is one that didn’t appeal to me based on the description, but all the positive reviews have me convinced to give it a try. Now I must find the time! 😉

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