This is Not a Test

by Courtney Summers

[Suz @ Bookish Revelations]

Courtney Summers pens an emotional edgey unpredictable tale of survival and strength in a chaotic world full of danger and destruction. In many ways, it's a startling dismal outlook at life and death in an intensely gritty realistic and terrifying way. This book is by no means your average run of the mill zombie apocalypse horror stories. It's riddled with chaotic violence, terrifying outlooks on life itself, and the human race. This book is sure to draw readers into its web and wrap them up inside the pages.

There is so much more to this story, than just what appears on the surface. Sloane is not just fighting to die, she's actualy fighting to SURVIVE herself in this crazy violent and messed up world that Courtney Summers has created. It's not just about living life through the eyes of five strangers as they stuggle to survive and stay alive, but more about growing, learning, and needing to feel that urge to fight for survival on Sloane's part, herself. Sloane is a broken protrait of a young woman on the cusp of womanhood, yet she has had to deal with far more pain in her life at the hands of her father and again when her sister abandons her to save herself in the zombie apocalypse. It's easy to see how she would rather fight to die, than fight to stay alive.

The absolute best part of this book are the characters and how realistically written they are and how wonderfully flawed everything is. Nothing in this life is perfect, nor is it by any means necessary in Courtney Summers world either. It's what makes this story even more intriguing and incredibly intense. I absolutely fell in love with the premise, the memorable characters, the brilliant sense of reality, and the start dismal violence that comes along with it. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of dystopia and or zombie/horror fiction. It is certainly one that will grab readers and pull them in for more.