Monday 23 July 2012

Mini Review: This Is Not A Test

I sometimes find it hard to write a full-length review, and this is more often the case when a book completely blows me away. Nonetheless, I try to record my thoughts in just a few words, and hence, the Mini Review. My very first mini review is for This Is Not A Test, by Courtney Summers.


(image and summary from goodreads; eARC courtesy of NetGalley)

Summary:
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:
Man, after reading Cracked Up To Be, I should've known that Courtney Summers does not spare her readers at all! This was a constant high-paced, will-they-or-won't-they-survive story, that at times made me want to stop reading and take several deep breaths. Zombies are normally not my thing, but Ms Summers made it work. Traumatizing at times, this story is about a girl (Sloane) who has decided to end her life, and then finds herself in a situation which calls for the natural fight-or-flight response. Trapped in school with five of her schoolmates who are trying to survive against the vicious beings outside, she sees a different side of things - what one is willing to do when there is absolutely nothing to lose. Really worth the read.


2 comments:

  1. I love Courtney Summers, and I really liked this book! But it did give me nightmares for a few days :(

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    1. I've only read one other book by her, but I think I liked this one a lot more. You're right, it was a bit creepy, and really sad. I can't quite bring myself to read Some Girls Are though.

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