This Is Not a Test
Buy the Book
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | Bookshop.org | Indigo
Product Details
Publisher: Bindery Books x Inky Phoenix Press
Release Date: January 13, 2026
Formats: Paperback, Ebook
ISBN: PB: 978-1-967967-12-4; EB: 978-1-967967-13-1
Trim: 5.5 x 8.25
Page Count: 320
Courtney Summers
NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY ADAM MACDONALD AND STARRING OLIVIA HOLT
The Breakfast Club meets 28 Days Later in this revised and expanded edition of Courtney Summers’s cult classic about a traumatized young woman forced to survive the zombie apocalypse.
Sloane Price knows there are worse things than the end of the world, so when the zombie apocalypse happens, the opportunity to escape her violent home life offers no relief. She’s already lost the one thing that matters most—her sister—and now seems like the perfect time to give up.
But when she inadvertently ends up barricaded in her high school with five other teens, their desperate and volatile bids for survival force a series of impossible decisions. As the days creep by and the dead close in, Sloane must confront everything she thought she knew about life, death, survival, and sacrifice and—once and for all—make a choice.
Joined together for the first time in this special “director’s cut” edition, This Is Not a Test and its novella sequel Please Remain Calm explore the forces that tether us to life—and to each other—in our darkest times.
About the Author
Courtney Summers is a writer “known for a history of risky artistic choices” (Kirkus) and novels that “are not for the faint of heart” (The New York Times). Her critically acclaimed work has received numerous awards and honors, including the Edgar and ITW Thriller Awards. She lives and writes in Canada. Find her online at courtneysummers.ca.
About the Tastemaker
Kathryn Budig is an internationally celebrated yoga teacher, author, and founder of the online community Haus of Phoenix and the Inky Phoenix book club, with over four hundred thousand followers on Instagram and Facebook. She’s known for curating speculative and magical fiction with a focus on LGBTQ+ and BIPOC themes and authors. In 2023, she founded Inky Phoenix Press in partnership with Bindery Books, growing a dynamic author list and thriving community. She lives in Charleston, South Carolina, with her rescue pup, Ragnar.
Reviews
“Beautiful, bleak . . . [This is Not a Test] turns the concept of the walking dead into a haunting and thoughtful metaphor.” —The New York Times
“This Is Not a Test brought me to tears, caused me to gasp in shock in public places, and almost put a stop to my heart . . . Summers’ voice is raw with emotion, and utterly right for the impending zombie apocalypse.” —Nova Ren Suma, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wake the Wild Creatures
“My favorite zombie novel.” —Veronica Roth, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Divergent
“Chilling, thrilling, and heartbreakingly beautiful. I love this book so much it hurts.” —Olivia Holt
“Earnest and so terribly fierce, This Is Not a Test is a searing examination of hope and how to navigate through life when it feels as if it has all been lost. With sharp-as-teeth prose and her hallmark acerbic wit, Courtney Summers has completely eviscerated me. (Also, there were zombies!)” —Erin A. Craig, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Thirteenth Child
“In This Is Not a Test, Summers mercilessly brandishes her signature razor-sharp insight into the human condition. Unflinchingly brutal and, at times, startlingly tender, This Is Not a Test repeatedly redefines the term ‘breaking point’. Reading this one is like digging a finger into a wound. Hypnotic and devastating; I could not look away.” —Sarah Gailey, Hugo, Logus, and Nebula Award–nominated author of Magic for Liars
“In This Is Not a Test, the end of the world is more circumstance than rising action. This does not make it any less terrifying. Summers re-introduces her blisteringly-paced zombie masterpiece to the world in spectacular fashion, showcasing the inherent resilience within teenagers and the idea that there is no right or wrong way to survive in an inhospitable world.” —Joelle Wellington, author of Girls Who Play Dead
“Electric. . . . Impossible to put down.” —Adam MacDonald, director of This Is Not a Test