Summary:

 

My Thoughts:
This Is Not A Test may be a slight departure from the contemporary novels which Courtney Summers usually writes, but it didn't deter from delivering a strong character-driven storyline. It explores human nature in the darkest of times and the difficult choices to be made in order to survive. This Is Not A Test is a post-apocalyptic novel unlike anything I've ever read before, with a theatrical touch that's easy to visualize but also brings out powerful feelings that settle in your chest.

As humanity descends into madness and zombies pound against the barricades hastily thrown up at Cortege High, six students take refuge inside and wait in isolation from the rest of the world. Wait for hope. Wait for rescue. Wait for death to come and finally take them all. Sloane Price gave up trying to live several months ago, after her older sister, Lily, suddenly ran away from home. Now Sloane's struggling to simply exist in the present and find a reason to keep holding on.

Everyone would like to think if they faced a life-or-death situation, they would act morally and bravely until the very end, but when it actually happens, that's a whole other matter. And that's what I really liked about This Is Not A Test; the actions and mindsets of the characters are very believable. My heart completely went out to Sloane. Similar to Courtney Summers's previous protagonists, she's a depressed young woman, one of those lost souls you want to wrap your arms around in comfort and banish her dark thoughts. 

Every page of the novel is emotionally-charged, and there's a delicate tension that threatens to snap as readers wait for the inevitable moment when something will go horribly wrong. This Is Not A Test is one of Courtney Summers's best novels yet, which is really saying something because I've loved all of her previous books! I cannot wait to see what she'll have in store for us next!

*****

Thanks to Raincoast Books, I was also able to ask Courtney Summers a few questions about This Is Not A Test and her other novels! Without further ado, here's my Q&A with the Canadian author: 

1) Who was your favourite character to write about in This Is Not A Test?

Sloane was--it'd would have been really difficult to write from her perspective if she hadn't been. But after Sloane, definitely Trace. He was so outspoken and awful but also very vulnerable. I loved writing him!

2) Your previous novels, Cracked Up to Be, Some Girls Are and Fall For Anything, have all been within the contemporary YA genre. What inspired you to write about an impending zombie apocalypse this time around?

I've always known that I'd write a zombie novel, because I've always loved zombies--it was just a matter of when. After finishing Fall for Anything, it felt to me like it was time to mix it up a little.

3) Was there a deleted scene from This Is Not A Test that you wish had made it into the final version?

Not really! I've been trying to think if there's one, but most of my deleted scenes are deleted for a reason--they are disasters I can't in good conscience inflict on people. There were two other characters--Sabrina and Will--that didn't make it into the final version. I gave all of Sabrina's character traits to Grace and some of Will's to Harrison. I'm glad they stayed out of it though. They slowed down the book. 

4) I'm always anticipating what kind of pain you'll rain down on your characters in a completely heart-wrenching scene. Was there ever a time when you were writing a particularly difficult scene in one of your novels that just had to walk away from it for awhile?

That's a great question. I've never been one of those writers who has to step back from the pain I'm causing my characters, no matter how awful or traumatic it is. That said, the scene in Some Girls Are--where they lock Regina in the supply closet with Donnie--was tough. It was essential, but hard to include in the book. I believed those characters would do that to Regina (I still do) but it's disturbing.

5) Can you share with us what you're working on next for readers to enjoy?

Right now I'm working on my fifth book, ALL THE RAGE. It's coming out in 2013 from St. Martin's Press and it's about a girl who wakes up on the side of the road with no memory of how she got there, with a semi-erased message she left for herself her only clue. As she pieces together the evening before and all of the events leading up to it, a dark and sinister game is revealed. It's kind of a psychological thriller mystery--no zombies. A zombie apocalypse would be a reprieve for the poor characters in this book! (ominous music)

*****