Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Review: This Is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

This Is Not a Test by Courtney Summers
Reviewed by Maggie: June 22, 2012
Published June 19, 2012 by St. Martin's Griffin
Goodreads • Buy at AmazonKindleBook Depository


I get the hype.

This Is Not a Test reminded me of Lord of the Flies meets The Walking Dead -- the first season when you're actually cheering for the humans and not the zombies -- with a dash of The Breakfast Club. Not only was this my first Courtney Summers book, this was also my first zombie book. Verdict? I'd like more of both please.

Sloane, a physically and emotionally abused girl, finds herself barricaded inside her high school along with five other students. While they know each other, they aren't friends. They came together because they were the only ones who weren't infected in a town overrun by zombies. The only signal they get on the radio is a recorded message informing them that "This is not a test." The school seems secure, the perfect place for a group struggling to survive. The difference between Sloan and everyone else is that she doesn't care to survive -- and hasn't since before the first zombie appeared.

There are so many elements to this novel. To begin, the setting is perfect. This is a survival story, but by having the group camped out at the school, the two basic elements of survival -- food and shelter -- are taken care of. Now instead of having the characters scrounge around for basic physical necessities, Summers can focus on the psychological aspect of survival. Holy mindfuck, Batman. This is an area where Summers excels. Not only is this about the living versus the dead, it's about the living dead, the people whose lives make them feel dead already. Sloane's survival up to this point has been more of a reflex than a desire. She watches as the other people in her group make choices -- cruel, arguably necessary choices -- to improve their own chances of survival. There is so much tension and suspense in this book as you try to figure out how it's going to end while you piece together how it began.

Of course, I also have to mention that one of the characters is Asian! Cary Chen, the stoner-turned-de facto leader, is a complicated, non-stereotypical character. Thank you, Courtney Summers, for that. And because I like to be thorough, I went ahead and mentally cast him.

I was hesitant to try Summers' previous books because while the reviews were often glowing, they would also include the words "uncomfortable," "intense," and "raw." Honestly, I just thought they would be too much for me, like the literary equivalent of Requiem for a Dream, a movie that I'm still not over and it came out 10 years ago! Adding zombies, though, is the perfect filter for all the intensity.  The very real exploration of human nature and cruelty is much more palatable to a wuss like me with the paranormal zombie element. Having said that, I wish there was more information on the zombies, particularly how they came to be or how widespread they were. I know zombies aren't the focus of the story, but since they were included, I wanted to know more. Nevertheless, This Is Not a Test was the perfect introduction to Courtney Summers.

Rating: 4/5 stars.

25 comments:

  1. Fantastic review, hun! I keep hearing how good Courtney's books are but I still haven't read any, bad me. I was going to pass on this because I'm not a huge zombie fan but, I like that the focus is on the humans, not the zombies. I already feel for Sloane and can't wait to meet her.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hmm... I may have to include this in your next package. ;)

      Delete
  2. Amazing review! This Is Not a Test will be my first Courtney Summers novel as well, so I'm glad to see that it won't be your last! :D

    ~Keertana
    Ivy Book Bindings

    ReplyDelete
  3. Don't be scared of her other books, Maggie - I think you'd love them.

    I know that there really wasn't a "love" interest per se in this book but as I was reading it I was totally hoping that Cary would be the love interest. That's some excellent casting that you've done up there - but what's up with his shirt? Are his hands TRAPPED?

    I'm just going to go stare at the picture for a few more minutes now and then I'll go. Maybe.

    Love the review!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LMAOOOO!! Shirts are difficult to extricate yourself from, CATIE. GOSH. ;)

      Okay, you can pick my next Courtney Summers so I can be all, Catie made me do it!

      Delete
  4. I'm so glad that you loved this one too Maggie, I'm not a huge fan of zombie books, but this was just on another level! Lovely review! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dude! Kim Bum! The dimples! Yes okay, I haven't read the book but I'm here for Kim Bum. And his dimples. Lovely review however. I'm not a very big fan of zombies but I do like the author. And the cover is amazing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is why I love you, Nafiza. :) All I ask for is more books featuring hot Asian guys so I can mentally cast them.

      Delete
  6. I know our comments are supposed to be about the book but listen, we all know that Courtney Summers is the cat's meow. So that said, um, that guy is hot. Also, I cannot wait til season three of Walking Dead. I am so sick of some of the characters. I can't wait until their brains are devoured by zombies or that blonde chick "accidentally" shoots more of them like the idiot she is. I hope Laurie/Lori gets murdered first. I hope someone goes apeshit and leaves her outside so we get to watch her get eaten alive...something like that dude who was stuck on the fence in season two. You know what I'm talkin' bout.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I stopped watching Walking Dead after the mid-season cliffhanger. I just wanted all of them to die. Is it worth restarting? I think the remaining 6 eps are still clogging my DVR.

      Delete
  7. Haha, I felt the same way! I'm totally afraid of her previous work because of the words used to describe it, and yet they're the same words I use to describe This Is Not a Test...only...there's zombies. Certainly made it more palatable, and I loved the mentally grating aspect of this one.

    Also, can we mentally cast him as Minho from The Maze Runner trilogy as well?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ooh ooh, Heidi... this is who I cast as Minho: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/155675574 :)

      Delete
  8. Oh HEY double C. He is cutttte. But he has a pony tail and he's still cute.

    I am confused. EVERYTHING I KNOW IS WRONG.

    I love this review, Maggie. I'm so glad you loved it! Definitely read more Courtney Summers. Some Girls Are is excellent and I have another one of her's that I haven't read yet.

    [ps. Thanks for the shout out, you flirt.]

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Don't make me restart the Ponytail Wars! Ponytails can be cute!!

      Delete
  9. Excellent review Maggie. I've been wanting to read this for ages so I'm glad it lives up to the hype. Love your casting choice. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rachel, I hope you read this soon. I'm so curious to know what you think!

      Delete
  10. You can't just throw a bunch of pictures of a hot guy on your blog and expect me to get any work done, now, can you? I mean, forget that I'm looking at blogs which means I'm supposed to be working anyway but you get what I mean. I'm totally derailed now, thanks a lot.

    Yeah, I'm a Summers fan, and this book, not unlike her others, was great. But this is my favorite review of the book I've read so far. Because of sentences like these: "Not only is this about the living versus the dead, it's about the living dead, the people whose lives make them feel dead already." Awesome.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Capillya! Glad I could derail your day. :)

      Delete
  11. Thanks for the review! My library hadn't ordered a copy of this and I just put in the request to do so (I have a lot of kids who like zombie books). The psychological aspects of zombies are what I find most interesting, so I might even read this one myself!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I did not know there was an Asian (male) in this book. I must read it now, who is the actor you chose?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. On second look, is it Takeshi? (I mean, who else could it be?)

      Delete
    2. It's Kim Bum! He's a Korean actor. :)

      Delete

We've just installed Disqus for comments. If you see this message, it means that Disqus has not loaded properly. BADLY DONE, DISQUS. You can either try refreshing the page to get to the Disqus thread or leave a comment here.