If the only type of zombie books you like are they type that follow some bad-ass, shotgun wielding heroine around as she blows away brain-eater after brain-eater....don't read this book. This is not what This Is Not A Test is about. It is about so so much more.In all honesty the zombies don't really play a huge role in this story. They are simply a means to an end. Sloane hopes they will be the means to her end. Sloane wants to die. She has an abusive father, she lacks a mother and her sister has abandoned her. She's prepared to die, she's even prepared for it to be by her own hands. When the infected start attacking people she thinks she's found the perfect opportunity to end herself. Saved by a rag-tag group of students, Sloane ends up taking refuge with them in the high school. Now not only does she have to battle her own life-long inner demons, she also has to learn to handle the zombies outside as well as the people inside. All while still trying to plan her own demise.The characters that Summers has created are all quite riveting on their own. None more so than Sloane who is dark and haunting, you can't help but feel her every pain and want. Cary is the survivor by nature who has a connection to Sloane's past that creates a bit of a bond between the two. Rhys is just a sweetheart trying to keep the peace and keep Sloane alive. Brother and sister duo, Trace and Grace, are about as different as different can be. Trace is harsh and judgmental while Grace is caring and loving. Harrison is a young boy who cries at the sight of his own shadow.No character is completely loveable yet you can't bring yourself to really dislike any of them either. Summers creates a very real, vivid world even with this supernatural threat waiting outside every door. It is a beautifully dark and depressing tale.This is the story of a group of young people learning how to overcome all the odds. After tragedy erupts in the world and turmoil erupts in a barricaded high school. It is the story of Sloane learning to love and being able to be loved. This Is Not A Test is Sloane's journey to wanting to survive a zombie outbreak, not the story of her surviving it. And I really loved it.
