Title: Please Remain Calm Series: This Is Not a Test #2
Author: Courtney Summers
Published: January 20, 2015
Genre(s): Horror
Page Count: 96
Rating:
Summary from Goodreads: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...
When I first heard that Courtney Summers was going to write a sequel to This Is Not a Test, I was honestly quite surprised. It hadn’t seemed to me like the sort of book that needed a follow-up. But, because I really like the author, I did give Please Remain Calm a try. And I’m glad I did.
This novella sequel thing starts off at the very second that the first book ended, so not a moment in Sloane and Rhy’s story is lost. However, this is narrated first person from Rhy’s point of view, not Sloane’s, so it’s a change of pace and perspective for sure. Yet since this book is so short, it didn’t really feel like the reader got to know Rhys too well, though it does help that he already has an established character from the previous book.
In general, though, I think Please Remain Calm suffers a lot because of its brevity. This isn’t a true sequel in my sense of the term, but rather a snapshot into what comes next. There’s no real sense of closure at the end, so it’s more like The Continuing Adventures of Sloane than anything else: an episode in this character’s life. Which is fine, certainly, but it did make me feel less enthusiastic about this book as a whole.
That being said, I still enjoyed this novella. I think it was nice to return to these character, for however short a time, and Courtney Summers’ writing is certainly worth the effort. Please Remain Calm is absolutely a solid read for anyone who enjoyed This Is Not a Test.
