Book Review: Please Remain Calm by Courtney Summers

Please Remain Calm by Courtney Summers
Release Date: January 20, 2015
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Genre: YA Horror, Post Apocalyptic, Zombies
Source: Bought E-Novella
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In this gripping sequel to THIS IS NOT A TEST, Rhys and Sloane are headed for a safe haven when they get separated along the way. Rhys is determined to reunite with Sloane until he discovers people who might need him more–people who offer him the closest he’ll get to everything he’s lost, if they can just hold on long enough.

Rhys thinks he has what it takes to survive and find the girl he lost, but in a world overrun by the dead, there are no guarantees and the next leg of his journey will test him in unimaginable ways…

The sequel to THIS IS NOT A TEST is finally here and it was everything I hoped for and more! First, the sequel is told from the POV of Rhys so that was pretty awesome. Rhys and Sloane are on their way to Rayford where it’s assumed to be a safe haven until they’re surrounded by zombies and end up getting separated, at which point we follow Rhys as he searches for Sloane while also becoming friendly with a young family who saves him.

“But maybe you don’t realize you’re doing it because you’ve spent so long telling yourself you can’t.”

I found the story to be incredibly moving from the very first line. We’re following these two kids as they are fighting to search for shelter while grieving and coming to terms with what they did and what they left behind. I loved the worry and tension this world creates, love feeling the emotional loss that weighs heavy on Rhys and Sloane and the three new characters we meet…it’s truly gut wrenching and thought provoking and thrilling all at the same time.

I’m afraid everything I was is gone and all that’s left is everything I’m not.

I think one of my favorite moments is when Rhys is praying in Spanish, the language of his family, the language he lost living in a town that didn’t want to make room for my language. It was so moving to see him connect to not just the past but his roots, all that’s left to hold onto, the only thing no one can take away from you in a post apocalyptic world. He held onto that and what a moment that was. But every moment here was heart thumping and tender and heart breaking and just a beautiful disaster that Courtney Summers has done such a magnificent job creating.

I wonder if all hearts are made with the same pockets for fear and pain and sadness.

And that ending?! WHOA. WHOA. All I can say is YES. YAAAAAAAASSSSSSSS. Now THAT, my friends, is how you end a novel. Wow. When you give a round of applause to an ending when no one else can hear you clapping, you know a book is GOOD. This is beyond amazing. Whatever that is, this sequel is. So what are you waiting for? Get to reading!

The sequel to This is Not A Test, Please Remain Calm by Courtney Summers is available as an e-novella now.