Sometimes I get lucky and find the hidden ARCs at a book festival. That’s exactly how I ended up with a copy of This Is Not A Test by Courtney Summers. Her publicist left a copy of it for someone to find at YALLFest 2025 and I snagged it. Mwuahahaha.

This Is Not A Test [Buy Bookshop Amazon LibroFM] is a repackage of the book that was released more than a decade ago. It’s getting new life and being published with a companion novella worked into the book now after the author regained the rights for her backlog, just in time to republish it ahead of the upcoming movie adaptation. I didn’t know about the adaptation or that backstory when I grabbed the ARC… nor did I know what the book was about.

It’s a zombie book, y’all.

I didn’t think too much about the cover since Courtney frequently writes stories about teen girls going through abuse, which, there is some of that in here as well, but in hindsight, the hands on the bloody window is giving zombie.

Anyways…

This Is Not A Test mostly centers on a girl named Sloane as she learns that the world she was living in is gone and zombies are taking over. This, of course, happens on the day she decides she’s going to kill herself. She ends up away from her family and in a high school, taking refuge with a small group of other teens. There, they must figure out how to survive and get along. That is, until they find a teacher inside their fortress and question if all the barricades they built are actually keeping them safe.

While this is a book with zombies, it’s not a book about zombies. The zombies are a constant threat and presence, but not explicitly in the room with them often. I’d say this is more an exploration of grief and trauma through the eyes of teens who don’t fully know how to process it all yet. Because of that, this isn’t as high energy and action as you’d expect. It’s a bit slower of a pace than I wanted it to be, but then again, so was The Walking Dead, so take that as you will.

My main issue was with the writing style, which is pretty choppy. I feel like people tend toward run-on sentences more than constantly using short ones, so it felt a little off to me in terms of dialogue and the main character’s thoughts.

Overall, this was a solid story about moving forward through grief and pain. Sloane definitely isn’t interested in living at first, but she learns how to deal with some of her issues and keep going, which I think is an important topic for teens to see on the page.

111. COURTNEY SUMMERS: Adapting This Is Not A Test into a movie full of zombies, grief, and trauma – LiteraryHype Podcast

Send a textThis week on LiteraryHype Podcast, I'm chatting with the delightful Courtney Summers. She originally published This Is Not A Test 12 years ago, but now it's getting new life in a re-published book and a movie starring Olivia Holt. We're breaking down how zombies can help us process grief, seeing your brain child come to life, and what she's excited for people to see on screen. As much as this sounds like a sad conversation, it's actually really funny, so I hope you enjoy it!FOLLOW COURTNEYBUY THE BOOKSBookshopThis is Not A TestSadieAmazonThis is Not A TestSadieLibroFMThis is Not A TestSadieSupport the showSupport the podcast by shopping:EtsyMy Bookshop.org listsLibroFM audiobooksTry Audible Plus Gift Audible Membership Glocusent LED Neck Reading LightTry Shameless Snacks10% Off at Once Upon a Bookclub10% off Goli VitaminsTWO FREE AUDIOBOOKS with new LibroFM Membership: Kindle Unlimited FREE FOR THREE MONTHS!Prime Television FREE TRIALJoin the fun!WebsiteInstagramTiktok…