This is Not a Test | Book Review

This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Most zombie books are about survivors who want to live. This one isn't. Abused by her father, abandoned by her sister, Sloane Price wakes up one morning determined to end her life and discovers the zombie apocalypse has begun. This should be a simple solution. Let the dead kill you. But Sloane finds herself saved by survivors from her school and unwilling to risk their safety for her own suicide. As Sloane tries to find a way to die, the others do everything they can to survive.

Writing technique: ★★★★1/2 Summers is an incredible writer. She writes this tale of survival so poignantly, I felt everything. I felt Sloane's terror towards her dad. I felt her fear of the dead. I felt her hopelessness. I felt her despair over Lily. It was a very devastating, beautiful book. A zombie book but so so much more than that.

Character development: ★★★★★ This is a zombie book, but it's not really about zombies as it is about the people surviving them. Sloane is broken and needs a reason to live. Grace and Trace are twins who recently lost their parents and desperate need someone to blame. Cary their sort-of leader is who they blame. Harrison is the freshman who cries. And Rhys is the one person who keeps pushing Sloane to keep going.

Plot/Story development: ★★★★ Since most of this story takes place in the high school building the survivors camp out in, much of the plot evolves as the people learn more about each other. The antagonists of this book are internal and external.

Message/Theme: ★★★★★ Summers explores concepts of abuse, domestic violence, suicide, depression, survival, murder, ethical dilemmas (ie: do the ends justify the means? sacrifice one to save another?), family, and hope in this novel. It doesn't offer definitive answers as much as lay the questions on the table. I will say the ending is a kind of poetic justice, and I appreciated it even if it was sad and painful.

Overall: ★★★★1/2 I devoured this book in one day. Couldn't put it down. It was amazing. It was devastating. It was raw. It was a zombie book and so much more. I highly recommend this.



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Before I Fall | Book Review

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was my immediate reaction after finishing this book:

I LOVE it and I HATE it when I read a book that makes me depressed because I'll never write anything THAT amazing probably ever. Ugh. Before I Fall is Mean Girls meets Groundhog's Day. Or Daybreak if Taye Diggs's character had been Gretchen Wieners. Every single teen issue is addressed the story. ALL OF THEM. There is character development GALORE. And it made me cry just a tiny bit. And I'm freaking angry that I can't know more about What Happens After. I hate you, Lauren Oliver, for being so dang good at words. I hate you and I love you to death. And even then.

Honestly, I think that's says everything you need to know about my feelings. Here's the Rating Breakdown:

Writing technique: ★★★★1/2 Oliver makes magic out of words. She's compelling and intriguing. She makes you like pretty loathsome characters. She makes them relatable, loveable even. Her descriptions are perfection. She uses the a shallow, vain, self-absorbed girl to raise interesting questions, say thought-provoking things. A tiny example:

“I shiver, thinking how easy it is to be totally wrong about people-to see one tiny part of them and confuse it for the whole, to see the cause and think it's the effect or vice versa."

Character development:★★★★★ Sam's transformation is so real and believable and awesome. I also got to see into a lot of the other characters in a way that was really moving. I thought I'd have difficulty sympathizing with a Mean Girl, but I loved Sam. A lot.

Plot/Story development: ★★★★1/2 Unlike Bill Murray's character who relives Groundhog's Day potentially millions of times, Sam relives her last day only 7 times. I thought the days would be a predictable repetition of the same events day by day, but I was pleasantly surprised. Sam makes significantly different choices that lead to entirely different days and a brilliantly unfolding plot. So good.

Message/Theme: ★★★★1/2 OMG, Oliver delves into practically every teen issue fearlessly: popularity, peer pressure, snobbery, teen sex, teen drinking, drinking and driving, alcoholism, divorce, family drama, friend drama, leading v. following, bullying, drug abuse, suicide, depression, eating disorders, student-teacher romance, senioritis, vanity, greed, lying, cheating, and probably more. Oliver's message is essentially this: how you live matters, how you treat people deeply affects them, the world doesn't revolve around you, and when you die, will you be remembered for something good? You don't know what moment will be your last.
 
Audiobook Narration: ★★★★ Sarah Drew read this audiobook and she did fantastically. When I looked her up, I was shocked to realize she was the most detestable character ever on Grey's Anatomy (one of my favorite shows). I appreciated her as an actor far more for her work on this novel than anything I've witnessed on that show. She made me laugh out loud literally. She made me love Sam and Lindsay and Anna and Juliet. She only loses a point for her "Kent" voice which I'm not sure did him justice, and her "Rob" voice which always sounded stoned.

Overall: ★★★★★ INCREDIBLE BOOK. I wish everyone would read it. Seriously.



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