TW: Suicide/suicidal thoughts, physical abuse (in the book and referenced in this review)

Can we talk about how awesome this premise is? A zombie apocalypse from the POV of a girl with depression. Just let that sink in.

THIS IS NOT A TEST is the kind of book I knew I wanted, but I didn’t know how to describe. From someone who has depression, it can be exhausting reading about books where the MC is in either a mega dangerous world or on some excruciating journey with lots of battles, and they just keep rolling with the punches. That’s great for them and all, but when you’re depressed, sometimes rolling with the punches is the exact opposite of what you feel you can do. This book asks a really important question, “What happens when world survival is at stake but you already want to die?”

When it comes to zombies, I think people often love it or hate it. I’m not a huge fan, but I still love iZombie, and I like how zombies are used here. This is a story that involves zombies, but it’s not about how they happened, how much humanity is left in them, etc (though both issues are mentioned at some point). It’s about Sloane and a group of fellow students who are barricaded in their high school, trying to survive, waiting for help, and dealing with all that’s happened. I love how dynamic each character is. You get to know each of them, for better or for worse, and you really feel it when not everyone makes it out alive. They are the kind of characters you remember long after reading their stories.
Final Verdict:

Zombies plus brilliant depression portrayal plus realistic characters combine in another fantastic Courtney Summers novel.

Originally posted at The Forest of Words and Pages: http://www.forestofwordsandpages.com/2016/08/review-not-test-courtney-summers/