Review: This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

This is the end of the world.

Zombies are everywhere. Parents are dead. Minors are left to take care of themselves. Help from government never comes.

This is the end of the world, but to Slone, her world has already ended.

Six months ago is the day her sister ran away from their house, leaving Sloane alone to deal with their abusive father. Lily is the center of Sloane’s world. She is her sister, her best friend, her protector, her everything. Without Lily, she is nothing. Sloane is dead inside the moment Lily leaves her.

But now, Sloane is stuck in her school with five other kids. This is crazy. In the perfect world, she’s supposed to have died in the moment. But in the perfect world, Lily would have never left her either. She’s biding her time, waiting for the perfect moment to leave the kids and kill herself…

The first few hours after reading this, I couldn’t even form a simple sentence. My mind is a whirring jumble of thoughts, and I felt so emotional, shocked, and hopeful in the same time. The characters in this book are very real. They’re three-dimensional characters for me. When I close my eyes, I can see them playing scenes after scenes in this book in my mind.

It’s almost ironic that Sloane is one of the survivals when everyone else is dead. Sloane might be the last person in the city who wants to survive. She is broken, almost beyond repair. Sloane is apathetic to everything because she doesn’t see the reason to fight. The world she knows has always been cruel to her. Sloane is a very complex character. My heart felt wrenched every time I read the way she describes Trace and Grace, the twins in their group. I can see how much she longs to have relationship like Trace and Grace, how lonely and shattered she is.

It’s sad how selfish people can be when it comes to survival. Everyone is egoistic. Everyone wants to live whatever it takes. Characters in this book do horrible thing to survive, yet I can’t easily judge them. When it’s the end of the world, the line between bad and good is blurry. This book explores the darker side of human, and I love it for that.

Reading This is Not a Test is like reading nightmare. I was emotionally attached to almost every character in the book. It’s gripping. Awesome. Dreadful. Nightmarish. Devastating. This is Not a Test is a must-read because you have to determine yourself which adjective you would use to describe this book.

I turn myself over, slowly, painfully, and stare into milky white irises, all the capillaries around them busted and red. I lose focus. I see one of her, two of her, three of her. Calm settles over me. She licks her lips. I close my eyes.

This is it. Finally.

 

Website * Goodreads * Amazon * Book Depository

I rate this book:

Four cups of tea. Amazing! Love the book, it’s simply awesome. I love the tea flavor!  A strong recommendation.