Tags
book, book review, dystopia, school, survival, teenager, teens, young adult, zombie apocalypse, zombies
This is Not a Test (2012)
by Courtney Summers
Paperback Edition
Publication Date: June 19th, 2012
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Buy a copy via Amazon.
Synopsis from Goodreads.
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.
My Thoughts:
I was hesitant to read Courtney Summer’s This is Not a Test because I’m not a fan of zombies. However, This is Not a Test keeps zombies to a minimum, with them mainly appearing in flashbacks and in the denouement. I can see how zombie fans would be disappointed with the lack of action and epic fight scenes, but I was fine with it because the all of characters were rendered with such complexity, from their inner motivations to their flaws. I was skeptical how Summers could make being stuck in a school last 300 pages, but she did–and beautifully too. This is Not a Test is a wonderful, poignant character-driven story and what happens when you are stuck in a school with five less-than-perfect people in a hopeless situation, which may be more evil than the rancid zombies looming outside.
Solane, The Girl Who Wants to Die…But Can’t Seem To Do It Right:
Solane is a unique protagonist, while everyone is fighting for survival, she’s contemplating the best way to die without being a burden on everyone else. She’s not the fierce survivor who slashes through hoards of zombies with a strong will to survive. She also tries to get herself eaten by zombies, but somehow her plans always foil. Oh the irony! It’s through Solane’s eyes that we get her story behind her suicidal intentions; even though I find her character gloomy, I could understand her motivations. I found her character realistic, especially when she voices her disgust towards Harrison, the wimpy freshman who always makes the already dire situation worse with his crying. I could relate to her (don’t worry, not the suicidal part), even if she isn’t the nicest of people.
She’s a gloomy, passively reserved character, but I also found her surprisingly thoughtful. It would be so easy for her to slit her wrists, but she decides not to do so for she doesn’t want her peers to deal with her corpse. I would also like to think that part of her doesn’t really want to die. We find out her father’s abuse and her being abandoned by her older sister that made her sink into depression. I liked the complexity in her relationship with her older sister, she wants her to be safe, but she also blames her sister. It’s as if she wants to use her sister as an excuse to wallow in depression. The suicide note she keeps in her pocket is written to her sister, as if she wants to make her sister feel guilty for her death.
Harrison, The Crybaby That Everyone Secretly Wants to Punch in the Face:
He is the reason why I think all the others are very nice people: they manage to put up with his whining. If it was me, I would have slapped this kid in the face, and probably gagged him so he would stop crying. He somewhat redeems himself in the end, but I suspect he was kept unlikable because Sloane wanted nothing to do with him, so we never got his back story. I was annoyed with him, but I don’t know if I would have been able to muster courage either amidst a zombie apocalypse where everyone I ever knew was either dead or developed an palate for my brains.
He pretty much faded in the background for much of the story. I pitied him, because he knew he was being dead weight.
And he tries desperately to be in everyone’s good graces, or at least stay out of everyone’s way so they won’t feed him to zombies. For some reason, I was expecting him to extract revenge. Hey, it’s always the silent ones you have to watch out for.
Grace, The Student-body President and Nice Girl:
For a nice girl, I didn’t expect her to be that promiscuous. She’s the only one that kept Trace, her twin brother, in check and acted as a peer-mediator. She’s secretly weak even if her position calls for bravery. She has her flaws, but I found her to be a flat character and the most boring out of the group. Sure, she was nice but that was it. No one had a reason to dislike her, but she wasn’t the brave, righteous person either.
Trace, The Jerk Everyone Loves To Hate:
He’s the one that stirs up unnecessary problems to get on everyone’s nerves. His anger is not completely misplaced for he does have his reasons. He just doesn’t know how to deal with his grief, so he displaces it with anger and blame. He blames other so that he won’t have to live with the guilt–but deep down, he knows it isn’t working. I’m surprised at the maturity of his peers to let him go on his tirade instead of giving him a cold, hard reality check. Underneath his anger is just a lonely guy.
Cary and Rhys, Because I Am Too Lazy to Give Them Each Their Own Section:
For an Asian guy (I am guessing from his last name), Cary Chen breaks the stereotype. He doesn’t do well academically and he is a drug dealer. And apparently he is also a sexy beast. Cary might not do well in school, but he gets an A+ in survival skills, even if had some evil intentions. He didn’t survive by being a nice guy. Rhys’ back story is heartbreaking, and I admire him. There’s no reason to dislike him, but I have nothing to say about him either. Go figure.
Romance:
There’s a tiny pinch of romance. Although I would rather call it “being desperate” instead. It’s more of trying to make light of the dire situation than a romance.
Overall, I loved the story. My only gripe was Sloane spent her time being emo and made the pace slower than I would’ve liked. There were also a few minor events that weren’t fully explained. But it’s definitely on my list of top YA reads of the year. The characters were so well developed that my heart ached for them throughout the story. A refreshing new direction for the zombie genre (even though it barely had anything to do with zombies).
On a separate note, what’s the best way to stop yourself from becoming a zombie in the middle of a zombie fight? Would drinking cyanide be fast enough before a zombie bite? Just wondering.
Rating: A-
Fudge! Just when I thought I was okay with going back to depressing, dark, murder-filled novels…I need a recovery book again!
Spoilery Thoughts I Need To Get Out of My System (Highlight Below To Read..or not):
So…what was Roger doing lying out there? Did Mr Baxter really ditch him?
And what about the suspicions about “medical processing”?
Why did Trace have to die like a jerk? Go slit your wrists or something, not lure every zombie in hearing distance!
Hi!
I’m waiting for this book to come and I can’t wait to read it. i’m happy to hear that it wasn’t to scary though!
*relief* Between us I’m not zombie fan either! 
Great review!
Tanja
LOL. Oh you and your character descriptions.
Brief comment: Sloane. You definitely misspelled that for most of the review. Haha. Just fyi.
Man, I do not remember the spoilery things well enough to discuss. BOO!
What I do remember is being DEPRESSED. Oh, Cary Chen, the sexy beast. There should be more Asian sexy beasts in my fiction, so that i can watch them when the movie versions are inevitably made.
Oh, also, I would love to punch Harrison in the face.
And I liked the non-romantic romance a lot.
Fudge. *goes and erases all traces of it*
I DID NOT MAKE A STUPID SPELLING MISTAKE! NO!
Random note: I actually went to Google Translate to figure out how her name is pronounced. Doesn’t read too well, feels like the kind of name that you’d need a nickname for. Just like how I feel about Paige.GIRLS NAMES NEED MORE SYLLABLES TO SOUND ALL FANCY, GIRLY, AND STUFF.
NOOOOO!!! REMEMBER! *shakes your head*
I WANT TO DISCUSS! I kind of want to discuss Trace’s masturbation session. He should’ve done it in the bathroom not in a room with five other people!
On the other hand, I am surprised at how quick I forgot what happened to Trace. I had to read the last chapter again.
Tehehehe (oh gosh, this makes me sound like a pedophile) Ditto on the Asian sexy beasts! *drools* The only one I can think of that might make movie status is The Maze Runer with Minho. I imagine him as a sexy beast.
If it makes you feel better, I think I initially spelled her name Sloan, without the e. It’s not a name I’m particularly familiar with. Oh man, imagine if your parents had named you Lee or Ann or something. You would be so pissed! But they gave you your fancy girly name. I remember that I had a teacher named Kay who was eternally displeased that not only did she not get multiple symbols, but she got only one letter! (Well, three, but in pronunciation).
You can always remind me and we can have a twitter DM discussion or something.
MINHO. He was my favorite character, mostly because I imagined him as an Asian sexy beast. Man, all this talk has me really wanting to go watch kdrama.
What are you talking about? I thought I told you I didn’t make a silly spelling error. lalalalalala *denial mode*
Ha, my parents did worse. My first name is my Chinese name, one that nobody can pronounce. I still dread attendance on the first days of school. I’ll be waiting when the teacher stumbles on a name for ten seconds then it’s like my signal to raise my hand and be like “it’s okay, no need to freak out,…you can just call me Lilian.” I swear they are relieved that somebody saved them.
But my dad was nice enough to give me an English name (Lilian) and tack it on as a middle name. No complaints about my middle name though. I worked as customer service person for a photo studio in high school, and I would be required to call a gazillion people, and I would love to say my name.
YESH! WE SHOULD HAVE A TWITTER DM DISCUSSION! except, I don’t really like 140characters (I can’t type a fancy sentence!), but I’ll make it work!
YESH, GO WATCH SOME KDRAMA! *o*
Just be glad that I’m a nice enough friend to tell you! I didn’t tell the reviewer who reviewed Insurgent and spelled Tris TRICE the whole way through. I just laughed forever and went on with my life.
Hahaha, oh teachers. I always loved that, but no one mispronounces Christina, unless they decide to call me Christine, which happens A LOT. My last name gets pronounced incorrectly a lot too, and it’s always awkward, like correct them or not. If you do, well, that’s always uncomfortable, because you both kind of feel like jerks, and it removes whatever natural flow the moment had. If you don’t, they may call you that for ages before you’re like ‘listen, buddy, my last name is pronounced like THIS not THAT’ and then they’re UBER-embarassed.
Lilian is a pretty name. And a bit less everywhere than my name. Sigh. I hated my name as a child, but I’m used to it by now.
I just type as many messages as I need to. Haha. I am not made for 140 characters.
Can’t.
I don’t know why you keep talking about this non-existent spelling error you think I made. Obviously, it didn’t happen. I’m Asian, errors are IMPOSSIBRU!
That’s why you have to be ninja about it! Pretend to take a call on your cell phone and keep dropping your last name in an obnoxiously loud tone. “Oh, hello X credit card company! You need to double check my last name? it’s (insert last name here). OH, you didn’t get that? it’s (insert last name here). Oh, and my parent’s names? they are John (insert last name here) and Jane (insert last name here).”
That’s four times, bound to work. Reminder: obnoxiously loud tone. Or you know, just use a the handy megaphone.
What’s there to hate about Christina? it’s nice and long..perfect for swirly signatures! I used to want my name to start with a K so that my signature would look nicer. A cursive L looks blehhh. And when I print my name, the bottom line in L lands on the lines on the paper making it look like an I. *pet peeve moment* So I have to tilt my Ls.
Grammar and Twitter don’t mix well. hmph.
BAHAHAHA. Right. Got it. No grammatical errors up in here. No sir. Asians have that shiz under control!
I SHOULD PROBABLY ALSO YELL THAT. THIS WILL REMOVE THE TENSION AND MAKE THIS PERSON WANT TO BE FRIENDS WITH ME, BECAUSE THAT IS HOW LIFE WORKS. PLUS, NO ONE WILL EVER FORGET THAT MY LAST NAME IS (INSERT LAST NAME HERE)!
I love writing in cursive, although I forgot in like fifth grade how to make a cursive Q and have used the print Q and just connected with the little strike through to the rest of the word since. I always hated the cursive Q anyway, so who cares. It would be awesome to have a J or Y in my name, because those are so fun in cursive. I also really love lowercase Fs.
Harumph. I pretty much always just make another tweet if I can’t shorten it without using u, r, 2, 4, etc.
YES, OF COURSE!! THE OTHER PERSON TOTALLY WOULDN’T RUN AWAY FROM YOU LIKE YOU ARE A FREAK! AND DITTO ABOUT THE LAST NAME, WHO WOULD DARE FORGET YOUR LAST NAME?! THAT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT PART!
Jay Kristoff was right, capslock is liberating. WE SHOULD TOTALLY TYPE LIKE SUPER FRIENDLY, SCREAMING PEOPLE MORE OFTEN!
Funny you say that, my high school world history teacher was fed up with seeing those print Qs that he demonstrated a cursive Q in front of class. Then I realized I’ve been writing it as a cursive G for the longest time. *embarassed*
OH YEAH, f’s are super fun and also Z’s!
I always take notes in script because: 1) faster 2) nobody can copy 3) nobody will know I secretly don’t know anything and I’m just writing nonsense 4) it’s fancy, and everyone will think I’m sophisticated and drink tea with my pinky finger up.
SURELY NOT. I AM THE BEST PERSON EVER, AS IS EXHIBITED BY THE EXCELLENT PROJECTION I USE WHEN SPEAKING. EVERYONE WANTS TO BE MY FRIEND.
Right? CAPSLOCK HAS BEEN MISJUDGED. IT JUST WANTS TO BE FRIENDS WITH EVERYONE. STOP RUNNING AWAY, EVERYONE. THIS IS MY ‘I WANT A SNUGGLE’ VOICE.
I seriously don’t know what they’re supposed to look like. Something like an L I think, only backwards? They don’t look anything like a Q. Nope. Just kidding. Googled it and apparently cursive Q is a rounded 2. WHAT THE EFF IS THAT? (Note: this capslock does NOT WANT TO BE FRIENDS!!!)
Zs are always fun, I think because they’re so dashing, like Zorro.
I agree with all of those things, although I actually think my combination print/script is faster. I love how tricky cursive is to read. People can’t just read it over your shoulder; they have to work at it.
IT’S ALWAYS GOOD TO VOICE OUT YOUR OPINIONS AS LOUD AS POSSIBLE WHEN SPEAKING! THAT’S WHEN YOU KNOW YOU’RE RIGHT AND THE OTHER PERSON IS WRONG. BECAUSE JUST LIKE YELLING MAKES YOU A FRIENDLY PERSON, IT ALSO MAKES YOU A SMART PERSON. TOTALLY NOT OBNOXIOUS. PLUS, IT ALSO TELLS PEOPLE YOU ARE HEALTHY.
I CAN’T BELIEVE I FORGOT THE MOST IMPORTANT REASON TO WRITE IN SCRIPT: I can hide my poor spelling. Not sure how to spell a word? No problem! Just write the first and last letter with a bunch of scribbles in between. Hopefully, the professor will know what word you meant and just imagine it in for you. And if anything, you can probably argue that they are just incompetent cursive readers, and that you did know how to spell it, just that your speedy cursive made it unclear.
Brilliant plan I say!
“apparently cursive Q is a rounded 2″
Haha, I know! That’s exactly what I thought when I my high school history teacher wrote it. And thus, I’ve never forgotten it.
I bet I can write “Quiz” in cursive and some people would be “What’s 2 uiz?”
I agree! It’s like “I dare you to try and copy my notes! Foiled you plan didn’t I? Oh yeah!”
YOU CAN TELL I AM A WELL MADE BEING BECAUSE OF THE CLARITY OF MY YELLING. ARE YOU NOT PLEASED? DO YOU NOT WANT ME ALL THE MORE?
My main issue with cursive is that my lowercase r, n, and m tend to blend together. Make too many little humpy doodads and you have the wrong letter! NOOOOO. Words that have multiple in a row are tricky. Like hammer.
It really, really doesn’t look like a letter. Let’s just admit they messed up with that one and come up with something better, kay?
bahahah! You cannot have my genius notes/doodles of cats!
WELL OF COURSE! THAT GOES WITHOUT SAYING! THOUGH I WOULD ADVISE YOU NOT TO DO SO IN THE MIDDLE OF A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE. YOU WOULD NOT SURVIVE LONG. APPARENTLY, ZOMBIES ARE IMMUNE TO SUCH OVERT DISPLAYS OF FRIENDSHIP.
WHO CARES IF YOU HAVE TO WRONG LETTERS? It still takes me a gazillion tries to get “guaranteed” right. That word does not like to be spelled. You have context to guide you. I mean you’d totally get hammer and hannnner mixed up…
I suggest a doodle of a duck. A duck would be an awesome letter. Just sayin’
WELL OF COURSE! My notes hide dark secret messages…like where I stashed my Doritos.
WHY WON’T THE ZOMBIES BE FRIENDS WITH ME? THAT IS ALL I WANT.
I have trouble with the word occasionally. Damn it. I spelled it wrong the first time. *throws remote*
I’m awful at art, so let’s not do that.
DEATH TO ANYONE WHO EATS MY DORITOS.
Now all I want in the world are some Doritos. Also, I am amused that Doritos are in this comment box’s dictionary.
I THINK YOU’D HAVE TO JOIN THEM SO THAT THEY CAN BE FRIENDS WITH YOU AND NOT HAVE THE URGE TO TEAR YOUR BRAINS OUT. I AM CONFUSED AS TO WHY ZOMBIES DON’T EAT DEAD BODIES. AND IF I PRETEND TO BE DEAD, HOW LONG COULD I SURVIVE?
I have trouble with “disappointment.” Those Ss and those Ps…ALL HAIL SPELL CHECK! AND GOOGLE!
“I’m awful at art, so let’s not do that.”
fine, a fish? you know those simple figure eight ones? HOW ABOUT THOSE?
I should’ve listened to my browser’s dictionary when it underlined Solane. Sloane is actually in my the dictionary O_O. Of course, the last two sentences are completely hypothetical, and I so did not make spelling errors. I’m Asian after all. *eats rice…like a boss*
SOME ZOMBIES DO. DEPENDS ON THE AUTHOR. THOSE ZOMBIES MAKE MORE SENSE TO ME. THEY WILL BE MY FRIENDS.
Too much like the Jesus fish. No religion, please.
MMMM, I love rice.
I just finished this novel a few days ago. It was my first zombie novel and I absolutely loved it! It kept me up at night. I just couldn’t stop reading it. It was absolutely amazing! I love your spoiler thoughts. I keep asking myself the same thing about Trace.