Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

This Is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

3 reviews

lauraeerika's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

WHAT THE FUCK COURTNEY WHAT?? 🤨🤨🤨🤨

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Medical content, and Child abuse

Moderate: Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Grief

meri's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence

This is a zombie apocalypse book but it’s not about the zombie apocalypse. It’s about grief and depression. Surviving vs wanting to live. It is a heavy book but a good one with a lot of emotional grown from the mc and how she deals with multiple traumas, the dead, and choices that aren’t always good. Even when you are safe you aren’t always safe from the monsters that live inside your head.

mahtzahgay's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers is one of the few zombie apocalypse novels I've read that is well-written and gives the subject its due respect. Often, fiction involving zombies is action-packed, fast-paced, and popcorn for the brain; Summers' novel is the antithesis of all that. This is Not a Test is a frank look at how people, particularly teenagers, would truly react to such an event. The toils on the mind, relationships, and society are very explicitly covered, but not in a crass or overdramatic way. Sloane, our protagonist, is not a particularly lovable character, though as reader's we cannot help but empathise. Gone are the over the top dramatics of The Walking Dead, Day Z, or Resident Evil - there are no heroes here, only traumatised children.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content and Suicide