This is Not a Test

This is Not a Test
by Courtney Summers

It’s the end of the world. Six students have taken cover in Cortege High but shelter is little comfort when the dead outside won’t stop pounding on the doors. One bite is all it takes to kill a person and bring them back as a monstrous version of their former self. To Sloane Price, that doesn’t sound so bad. Six months ago, her world collapsed and since then, she’s failed to find a reason to keep going. Now seems like the perfect time to give up. As Sloane eagerly waits for the barricades to fall, she’s forced to witness the apocalypse through the eyes of five people who actually want to live. But as the days crawl by, the motivations for survival change in startling ways and soon the group’s fate is determined less and less by what’s happening outside and more and more by the unpredictable and violent bids for life—and death—inside. When everything is gone, what do you hold on to? (description from Amazon.com)

Gritty and real, this zombie apocalypse survival story gripped me from start to finish. Definitely for older readers, there's a lot of very real mature things happening as these teens try to survive. As a reader that prefers realism to a perfect happy ending, I very much enjoyed the fact that Sloane's story does not shy away from the horrors of a zombie "infestation." It would not have felt as authentic to me if Sloane suddenly became a perky rah-rah kind of girl and everyone survived.

Happy ending hunters may not like what they find here...but, readers looking for a more true-to-(fictional)life experience will appreciate this compelling tale.

Full disclosure: Borrowed from my Library

Shimmer

Shimmer
by Alyson Noel
Riley Bloom series, book two

Having solved the matter of the Radiant Boy, Riley, Buttercup, and Bodhi are enjoying a well-deserved vacation. When Riley comes across a vicious black dog, against Bodhi’s advice, she decides to cross him over. While following the dog, she runs into a young ghost named Rebecca. Despite Rebecca’s sweet appearance, Riley soon learns she’s not at all what she seems. As the daughter of a former plantation owner, she is furious about being murdered during a slave revolt in 1733. Mired in her own anger, Rebecca is lashing out by keeping the ghosts who died along with her trapped in their worst memories. Can Riley help Rebecca forgive and forget without losing herself to her own nightmarish memories? (description from Amazon.com)

Riley's story once again just struck a total chord with me and I found myself tearing up in two really excellent scenes. Though I did really enjoy the books in the Immortals series, I don't think I ever really connected like I do with Riley's books. There is just something so emotionally pulling for me in her afterlife quest to grow more mature, both physically and emotionally.

I LOVED the connection in this book to the real life story of the slave revolts in St. John in 1733. To see the actions from both sides and how the emotional fallout stuck with everyone...that was powerful. When Riley is able to bring the souls to a state of forgiveness...WOW. I cried. I'll admit it. Alyson Noel did a great job not only dreaming up a really cool way to have souls relive horrors of their lives, but also a way to find redemption.

Noel's imagination never fails me. I love how there are layers of complexity in the Here&Now. Every scene adds something to the world. Such a good series! I can't wait for book number three, Dreamland (out in fall 2011).

Full disclosure: Received from publisher for review