The Test

How it reads

The Test is science fiction (dystopian science fiction, specifically), and its dominant mood is tense. The suspense is the kind you feel in your shoulders. It moves fast: plot-driven and hard to put down, the kind of book that carries you along even when you're tired.

It's set in an international setting, in the future, told through letters, documents or mixed forms. Its central concerns are justice, class and society and power and politics. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.

It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending is left open, for you to argue about. At 108 pages it's a single-sitting book. It's moderately known: read by plenty of people, but not a household name.