Review | The Test by Sylvain Neuvel

Sometime in the near future, Idir Jalil is sitting for a British Citizenship Test. Originally from Iran, Idir has been living in London for the past year with his wife and their two children. He has to answer twenty-five questions and pass the Test in order for them to remain in the country. Failing the test will mean deportation.

As he is taking the test, a terrible turn of events takes place. He finds himself in a horrific situation, forced to make an impossible decision. How can he survive a test that no longer fits normal parameters?

Have I done this? Have I gotten myself here? There’s nothing I can say, no good answer. I might die today, and I don’t know if it was inevitable or if I inched myself into it, one small mistake after the other.

The Test is a brilliant look into a society that leaves the fate of people to set algorithms and conditional experiments. Many reviews have compared this book to Black Mirror and I agree with that assessment. In a world where technology is the master, how can humanity survive intact? The book is packed with topics like immigration, terrorism, racism, religion and morality. There’s a certain kind of commitment, knowledge and cost to a person who wants to be a citizen of another country. Sometimes, it even affects their loved ones. The book makes it clear that there is no such thing as a level playing field when it comes to fitting certain slots in society. It makes you wonder what would you do if you were ever in Idir’s position.

Idir is the protagonist but we also meet another character, Deep, who is as involved in Idir’s life as he could be. I like the parallels drawn between these two very different, yet in some ways, similar characters. However, there isn’t a lot of subtlety to the story due to its short length. I would have loved if the book had gone deeper into the characters’ lives before they are put in this situation. I also wanted a real buildup because the ending is a gut punch.

Above all, the question is what makes a man when he is forced to make an awful choice? And what happens in the aftermath of that choice? An absolute wild ride, I highly recommend this book.

About the author: Sylvain Neuvel

Photo by José Alejandro Cuffia