ARC provided by the publisher—Tor.com—in exchange for an honest review.

The Test by Sylvain Neuvel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Test is simple in concept and smart in execution.

I’m not a stranger to Neuvel’s work. I loved Neuvel’s Themis Files trilogy and I found the last book of that trilogy, Only Human to be highly enjoyable due to the philosophical discussions that Neuvel implemented. I’m glad to find that The Test retained his relatable and thought-provoking philosophical discussions. I didn’t know anything about this book when I received it, I was only going to take a peek, and I ended up reading through it in one sitting because it was so hard to put down.

The story of the novella revolved around Idir, an immigrant who is taking the British Citizenship Test for him and his family. To achieve that, he has to answer twenty-five questions that will determine their fate. Of course, the test itself immediately took an unexpectedly deadly turn and now, Idir’s choices will decide not only their citizenship but also their literal life and death.

The Test was a great read and in my opinion the story that Neuvel wrote here worked really well in novella format. It’s a very short read; 100 pages long and less than two hours to read. The Test taught us that we are the sum of our choices. Self-sacrifice, what determines the value of a life, and how being ignorant can lead to a devastating result. There were a lot of relatable situations and commentaries that were very relatable to our current society. Just like Only Human, Neuvel once again shows just how good he is at writing and imbuing engaging philosophical discussions into his sci-fi story.

If you loved Neuvel’s Only Human or the TV series Black Mirror as I did, I don’t think you can go wrong with reading this one. The Test is a great thriller/sci-fi novella that also serves as a wake-up call for us to always be careful with the choices we make. Highly recommended!

Official release date: February 12th, 2019

You can pre-order the book HERE!

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