The Test

Idir Jalil lives in London with his wife, Tidir, and two children. As an immigrant seeking citizenship, he must pass the British Values Assessment test. Failure will cause an immediate deportation of the whole family.Just minutes after he starts the test, terrorists storm the building. Their leader plays a game with Jalil - every fifteen minutes he picks two hostages from the crowd and has Jalil decide who lives and who dies. With his family amongst the hostages, Jalil experiences conflicting emotions and heart-wrenching drama. How is he supposed to choose who lives and who dies?Obviously, there’s much more going on, but I can’t elaborate on it without going too far into a spoiler territory. Terrorists have their motives and we discover them at around thirty pages into the novella. A strong contrast between Jalil’s goodness and oppressors’ cold and clinical approach to life results in a fascinating read.I find The Test disturbing and though-provoking, but also predictable. While not remarkable, it’s well worth the read.I've read it as a third novella in my self-imposed 10 days / 10 novellas challenge. Seven more to go

It’s hard to discuss The Test without giving away key plot details. As a summary, it’s a harrowing read, filled with deep questions about ethics, human psychology, and the impact of trauma. I recommend giving it a read.To go into a bit more detail…The Test is an examination of what it means to be human. It starts off as a typical test and becomes a horrifying life or death situation. The novella asks an extremely complex question: what kind of person would you become in a situation of extreme trauma? It’s an interesting and terrifying question, especially when used as a method for assessing a person’s right to citizenship. The psychological implications of this test are astounding, especially when the plot digs deeper and examines its roots.At the beginning, we see a typical immigration test and, while it’s ridiculous and asks questions no one really needs to know, it pales in comparison to the horrors that come. To say the scenario is unethical would be an understatement. Imagining a government weeding people out based on trauma is pretty horrifying. This reduces people down to sets of statistics, with their futures hanging on which box gets checked.It’s especially difficult to watch these events unfold because we get to know the primary character well. We see him shift from excitement to fear to pure trauma. That transition is haunting, and knowing the implications of the test on his life to come makes it all the harder to stomach.The Test is a psychological experiment to be sure, examining human actions from a personal and a government perspective. In the end, it’s clear that the “good guys” have crossed the threshold and left their humanity at the door.

How does one accurately determine if someone is a good fit for their society? In <i>The Test</i>, this citizenship test is much more than your basic test. It assesses your values, beliefs, knowledge and most importantly, whether you will be a good fit for the society as a whole.The test of course isn’t without its flaws. Who they decide to deem a citizen is incredibly subjective. To me, the test is more of a cruel and unusual punishment than an actual measurement of whether someone meets the qualifications to become a British citizen. Overall, a thought-provoking and entertaining read. I didn’t give it a higher rating because some of the dialogue and inner thoughts of the characters were written in a very juvenile tone.

Set in a futuristic society where the immigration process is data-driven and is like a Black Mirror episode - pass ~the test~ and secure your and your family’s citizenship.I love this novella for hitting the nail in the head in just a hundred pages. It makes you think and realize that the choices you make for yourself and others, no matter how minute they may seem - change the narrative and, ultimately, YOU.Trigger/content warning: terrorist attack, hostage-taking, violence, trauma

A short story that will inevitably be compared to an episode of Black Mirror. Set in a near future where British security is at a heightened state and the vetting of citizens is at a premium, The Test makes the reader think about race, the choices we make, and the aftermath of those decisions. I thoroughly enjoyed the psychological language Nuevel employed to describe the inter-workings of the exam. This story will push you and get your heart pounding.Definitely Recommended.

An interesting perspective on the challenges of becoming a citizen as well as the challenges of determining who is to become a citizen. The author does a good job of presenting the situation from both perspectives; with a few twists for everyone involved. An all too believable look at how the future might turn out.This is a quick read of less than an hour.

This novella is a clear, precise answer.The complexity of humanity and the intention of brains and learning will always make our heroes “anti” and our villains self realized.The Buddha was right.Life is suffering, but the suffering is from the convoluted post-impulse behaviors we eternally engage in through confirmation bias, thus perpetuating the illusions of control and freedom of action.As I suspect Sylvain knows, all human problems come from the constant warping of internal and external language, as we fight to maintain our delusions of balance and normalcy.Excellent work.I look forward to more from Sylvain.

It's not a long read by any stretch. But it's genuinely engrossing. You'll finish it in one sitting but the story will linger with you.A delicious mix of politics, psychology and sci-fi in a future United Kingdom. A lot of reviews like. This story to an episode of Black Mirror. I see the easy comparison to be made but I think this story is more than that.Another amazing read by the brilliant Silvain Neuvel. Make sure you read the Themis Files trilogy too, those are excellent. So far, Neuvel can do no wrong. Buy this book.

‘’𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙄 𝙨𝙤 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𝙟𝙪𝙙𝙜𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙣? 𝙄 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙤𝙪𝙨, 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚. 𝙒𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙬𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠’’.This book has only 100 pages. Read it in one day. After finishing this book, I was starring into the wall thinking: what the actual f?Since the book is actually really tiny, it is also very difficult to talk about it without giving too much information about what actually is going on. Obviously, we have a man here who is taking the test for British citizenship. It is all good and fun until he needs to make the choice between life and death.This book destroyed me completely after finishing the last pages and I just could not believe it has finished so quick. If I could read it all over again I would but I guess I will give it some time to sink it in and then eventually, reread it to see whether it will have the same impact on me as the first time.I would actually recommend you, bookish friends, with having a go with this book because it is really good. Like really, really good. As good as ice creams or beer during a hot summer holiday. I guess this explains how impressed I am with the storyline of this beautiful position.By the way, if you decide to read it, I suggest do it on Kindle because for a book of only 100 pages it’s a bit too expensive for its price.

It is an interesting read, it discusses topics such as what makes a good citizen, human behavior, social equality...mix up in a "messed up" setting. But I think the themes are treated in a superficial level, maybe because the novel is very short but I felt like it wasn't enough, something is missing.

I don’t think I have the words to describe this book. It blew me away. If you like Black Mirror, you’ll love this. If you’re worried about the state of the world, you’ll take note of this. And if you’re human, you’ll never forget this.

This short story was fantastic, and so very different from Neuvels other work about giant robots. I instantly understood why so many people are comparing this to Black Mirror, it would have made such a good episode. With all thats going on with Brexit at the moment, this short story on how they vet immigrants for citizenship, really hit home.