Must Read Monday: This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

Must Read Monday is a meme hosted by Jen from What's on the Bookshelf to showcase a book or series (old or new) that we recommend.

This weeks book is This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers.

This is Not a Test
by Courtney Summers
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Released: June 19th, 2012

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? ~ Goodreads | Amazon

Why I recommend it:

I started hearing a groundswell of buzz for This is Not a Test. I thought it had an interesting cover but didn't really have a clue what it was about.

Then a few people I knew started reviewing it and mentioned that it was about zombies! I'm in!!

But…..they all prefaced their reviews by saying that they don't really like books about zombies but loved This is Not a Test. That kind of scared me off because I DO love zombies and all the gore that implies. I ended up giving it a try anyway with much trepidation. All unfounded.

Everyone is right. This is a great book even if you are not a fan of the typical zombie genre. This is Not a Test is about survival but more importantly deciding if you even want to survive. Even though the requisite zombie gore is indeed there and creepy as hell - the story is more psychological. The pressure the survivors put on themselves and each other was more intense than anything happening outside.

Courtney Summers does an amazing job at weaving the group of survivors stories together in a wholly fresh and original way. One decision… one unintended action… has consequences for the whole group in a domino effect that was chilling.

You will constantly be questioning if you would make the same choices if you were in their situation. Who lives? Who should be sacrificed?  Is life worth living anymore?

"The man outside, he was expendable. He didn't mean anything to me. Was I expendable?"
"This is what it sounds like when the world ends."

"The thing that no one tells you about surviving, about the mere act of holding out, is how many hours are nothing because nothing happens."

I was blown away by This is Not a Test. It's definitely on my top reads list for 2012 and I will be checking out Courtney Summers contemporary YA novels soon.

Here are a couple of more detailed reviews if you're still not convinced.
Rather Be Reading
Jen Ryland/YA Romantics