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This Is Not a Test  By  cover art

This Is Not a Test

By: Courtney Summer
Narrated by: Stephanie Cannon
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Publisher's summary

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 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, everyone's motivations to survive begin to change in startling ways....

©2012 Courtney Summers (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about This Is Not a Test

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    5 out of 5 stars

Fresh spin on the zombie genre

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. As an avid consumer of the zombie genre, a lot of what you get is the same storylines in different fonts that have a tendency of falling short of any profound exploration. This Is Not A Test deviates from that by centering the story around the meaning of life rather than focusing on the inevitability of death.

As someone who has had her struggles with mental health and suicidal ideation, I found a strange sort of comfort in this story. The idea of surviving not because you want to but because others need you.

If you’re looking for a zombie horror thriller, this probably isn’t the book for you as the apocalypse is more of a backdrop that the centerpiece of the storylines. If you’re up for a Dawn of the Dead meets the Lord of the Flies that explores survivor-hood and all that comes with it, I can’t recommend this book enough.

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  • V
  • 11-08-22

Good kind of different

I've been a zombie fan since I was a child, but with contemporary zombie genre being more action and super zombie based, "this is not a test" pulled me back to why I fell in love with the zombie theme to begin with.

Firstly, the author adheres to mostly Romero-esque zombies, which is a must for me - as my preferred view of zombies is the omnipresent threat and utilization as a framing device, rather than jump scare gimmicks.

Although I am older than the intended audience, I presume, the teenage angst and twist was new and provided a new light to the genre I had never thought of before.

Note: there are obnoxious characters in the writings, but give it a shot and continue to read.

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Gen Z teens and zombies-NOPE

Omgosh. Where to start? Whiney main character, all the worst parts of Breakfast Club and Lord of the Flies and literally five words of actual zombies the rest of whining angst. Kill. Me. Now.

Update: I managed to finish this book and it stayed on brand. Literally wanted to feed myself to the zombies. And honestly God bless this author. They tried and they get a participation trophy.

If you’re over 23, you may want to just skip this.

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    4 out of 5 stars

Good read, even not knowing this is a book for young adults.

Wanted a good zombie book and this popped up as recommended. Not much action, however there were some great tense moments especially towards the final act. Happy with the ending.

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Depressing....

Zombie books are supposed to be exciting and on the edge of your seat while explaining how people evade the dangers and get to safety. This book skips all of the good parts. definitely a YA story. Repeating words for filler over and over was annoying. The narrator wasn't bad.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

I'm torn.

I expected this story to be more... Scary. That's what I wanted it to be, a book that truly scares me, but it mostly left me shocked and detached. While I thought the story telling was kind of bland, I was still engrossed enough to stay awake the entire night to finish the book. I thought the reader on the audio version did a wonderful job with the different characters, even though I couldn't like all of their voices. (Rhys.) I love how she read Grace!
Anyway, I guess the only part of this book that scared me was Sloane's own trauma and her distrust and disbelief at everything that's happened. That, and how easily something can go wrong, how quickly one can go in the midst of surviving for so long.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Too YA for me

This book was a little too young adult for me. The book really played on the tensions and interactions of the teen group during the zombie apocalypse rather than the actual apocalypse itself. As a result I didn’t really connect or like the characters, although the author does do a good job of making you feel sorry for/know where, Sloan, the main character is coming from. It was an interesting but didn’t have the normal action you would see in a normal zombie book.

The Performance was good, not great.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

I am so depressed now.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

No. I kept waiting for Sloane to have some sort of life altering moment of clarity and get off of her suicide mission. If I would have known she'd never snap out of it, I would have stopped listening earlier.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

For God's sake, a little bit of joy! Even though she and Rhys connected, she still couldn't find a little happiness. In my opinion, the most effective stories are those that have more balance. A little light amongst the dark. If there were a few of those moments in the story, I think it would have been much more powerful and enjoyable.

What aspect of Stephanie Cannon’s performance would you have changed?

She did a good job for the most part.

Did This Is Not a Test inspire you to do anything?

No. It left me numb and depressed. Not good.

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Not a zombie book

This is barely a zombie book. The first chapter and the last chapter are the alone parts with zombies. The rest is high school drama. A waste of a credit.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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I love this story

the story was amazing. the narrator did a really good job. will read again.

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