Monday, August 27, 2012

YA Book Club Review: This is Not a Test


YA Book Club is the brainchild of writer/blogger Tracey Neithercott.
 
I'm so excited to participate for the first time!

The pick for August is: This Is Not a Test by Courtney Summers
This Is Not a Test 
 
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. 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?

I absolutely love Courtney Summers’ books, so even though I’m not really into zombies at all, I just had to read this book. I love how her main characters are flawed and unlikeable, and yet I still like them. Sloane was no exception. However, despite how unlikeable she was, I still found myself rooting for Sloane. Wishing that somehow, things would work out for her.

I enjoyed the suspense of the story, seeing how things unfolded. I really never knew what to expect.    

I still don’t really get where the zombies came from or why, but I guess it doesn’t really matter. It gave the characters a reason to be trapped in the school together and that’s what was important. Besides, since I’m really not into zombies anyway, I like that the story focused more on the six people and what was going on with them inside the school.

This was a great story, and I highly recommend the book. Plus check out her other books (in particular, Cracked Up to Be, which is just incredible) if you haven’t already!

4 comments:

  1. I'm with you: I don't need to know why there were zombies and whether they'll ever be destroyed. It wasn't about that for me, but I did think it was a great backdrop for this survival story. Better than, say, a straight contemporary story about a girl who wants to die but learns to want to live. The whole zombie thing just made it that much more interesting.

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  2. I love Courtney Summers, even when she writes about things I hate. (Like zombies)

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  3. The only other book I read from her so far is Cracked up to be and I LOVED it! :D
    This one was amazing as well, the story she brings is one to make the readers think. And put in contrast with zombies? it brings on this doom ´-never-know-what-might-happen-next feeling.
    Really, great!

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  4. You know, it didn't even occur to me that this story was lacking in zombie background information until you mentioned it. Like you, I obviously didn't find that backstory crucial. I was too consumed with the quiet tension and the awesome characters Courtney Summers created. Great write up, Zanne!

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