It’s the annual town festival, the bonfire is lit, the band is playing, people are dancing and the fireworks display is in full swing. But why are people falling to the ground and screaming?

It’s a terrorist attack and there are gunmen in the grounds. The festival is held on an estate surrounded by the river which only has one way in and one way out. This Can Never Not Be Real is a multi narrator account of a group of teenagers and how they survived the attack.

It took me a while to get into the writing style and remember who was who. But within about 30mins of reading it I was totally on board and barely paying attention just understanding. This book is unbelievable. In this day and age terrorist attacks are a genuine fear we have in every day life and they don’t make sense and they happen when we least expect them; the Manchester Ariana Grande concert is a prime example. The raw emotion and grit of this book felt real to me.

I think I only have on criticism, during the festival there is a lot of talk of adults and families, yet there is only one adult really encountered by the teens and it didn’t seem to fully fit.

If you haven’t read this book yet though you totally should!