Title: This Is Not a Test
Author: Courtney Summers
Reading level: Ages 13 and up
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (June 19, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312656742
ISBN-13: 978-0312656744
Synopsis:
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?
My Thoughts:
This wasn't an easy read for me. The basic plot line has been done many times over and when such an occasion arises, a reader hopes something new and fresh will be presented. This was not the case. If you've seen the movie Zombieland (featuring Woody Harrelson, Jessie Eisenberg and Emma Stone) then this book is basically the same story but with a dramatic teenage-suicide-depression twist.
At the beginning of the book, we are introduced to Sloane, a young teenage girl who regularly suffers abuse at the hands of her father. She's alone in the family bathroom, contemplating suicide because her older sister has ran away and abandoned her. We get a brief glimpse into this troubled young girl's psyche before all hell breaks loose with the zombie apocalypse.
Throughout the book, Sloane's inner thoughts grow tiresome. She's depressed beyond rationality and all she can think about is dying. Yes, she prevails, but nothing ever gets resolved and the end just leaves us hanging. The fact that these six teenagers group together and survive is awesome, cause face it, in today's age, if a cellphone doesn't work, the world as we know it has ended.
These six kids are resourceful. They seek refuge in their high school and gather supplies from places throughout the school. They survive on their wits and determination. This impressed me. The MC, however, did not.
This isn't a zombie apocalypse book and it isn't a teenage story. I honestly don't know where this one fits.
I give it a rating of 3 out of 5.
Don't agree with me? Leave a comment and let's discuss it. I loves me a good book discussion.
*I received this title from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Self-proclaimed Southern Duchess
