This is the second of Sera Milano’s books I’ve read (though this is her debut) and I feel she has cemented herself as an autobuy author and what I think is a powerful and important new voice in YA to watch out for. Set across one night at a local festival, this book follows a handful of mostly unconnected characters as they are thrown together into a nightmare scenario when a group of shooters descend on the crowds.

Firstly, I love how so far Milano’s books have an interesting and unusual format. Vile Stars was told through a podcast but this is told through an inquest after the event has happened. I listened to the audiobook and highly recommend it. It’s emotional and heartbreaking and portrays the heaviness of the book very well.

There are some devastating scenes in this book, but it was so beautifully written. Some other things I loved about it: showing boys as emotional. How you don’t actually learn about or hear anything about the shooters from their names to their reasoning. They are not the focus of the story and they should not be remembered and glorified. Casual body positivity, positive queerness. Relatable characters in a disaster. Not shying away from who would be suspected to be a terrorist based on their name, appearance, and race.

I just loved it. I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for more from this author!

I think that this is a book that will require a physical reread at some point. The formatting of who was saying what appeared to be a little mixed up in my eBook version, though I know you can't expect perfection in ARCs. I also don't know if I absorbed it as effectively as I could have.

It's a very unusual book. It's an as it happens narration of the experience of 5 teenagers (only 4 narrate the vast majority) as they try to survive a terrorist mass shooting event. They all attend the same school but none really interact normally yet are thrown together by fate.

I think claustrophobic is a good way to describe this book. Not just because of the hiding in small spaces but because 98% of the book was just this one event. I think I would have liked to have read more from the outside. Not from the terrorists themselves, I completely understand the author's decision on that front, no the police officers and the families on the outside, how did they find out, how did they feel? All we got were a couple of brief police reports that could have been expanded on.

I did like the writing style and would definitely read more by the author, I'd particularly love a sequel to see how the characters are sometime down the line.

An incredibly powerful and original plot. I usually don't like the use of multiple POVs, but it was a brilliant way of showing the chaos, the horror and the intensity of the attack. It's an incredibly emotional but absolutely amazing read.

This Can Never Not Be Real is a book I had high hopes for, and it’s one that left me conflicted. While I enjoyed the message of the story and the way things were handled, I was not a fan of the style in which the story was told. This is probably just me being picky, yet it made it difficult for me to get into the story.

Although many are sure to love the way this story is told, I was not a fan of the way we were given snippets of the story through each character, bouncing every sentence or paragraph between them. For me, it made it hard to connect with them. Add in the fact that we were supposed to be reading the testimony of the events, and I felt like it didn’t feel like a testimony at all. Despite this, the story did have me powering through it quickly. The style of storytelling meant it took a while for me to get into it, but I could not put it down once the pieces started to move.

All in all, I enjoyed the story, yet I was not won over by the style of telling.

Being the age I am, terror attacks have always been there on the periphery, atrocities you hear about on the news but that could never happen where I live. The thing is, where I live is exactly like Amberside, and it could happen here. As I read This Can Never Not Be Real, this was a very sobering thought that stayed with me throughout.

Writing in the style of testimonials and witness statements, Sera Milano gives real insight into each character and captures the all encompassing terror that each of them was feeling. Being inside each character’s head instead of watching from a distance made my heart beat faster and my body tense. The short snippets of testimony from each person make this a fast read and add to the feeling of panic and chaos – just a few sentences and then you are with someone else in another part of the attack.

I was so immersed in this book that every time the real world dragged me out of the pages, it took a few moments for me to relax. It is a harrowing read that left me mentally exhausted and emotionally drained. It has been a long time since a book got under my skin like This Can Never Not Be Real did, and it is a book that I will never forget.

This isn’t a story glorifying the violence of terrorism, or of the heroic acts of one person saving countless others and overpowering the terrorists. It is simply a story of people doing what they can to just survive.

It didn’t do it for me unfortunately. Possibly a bit too real for my liking at times and I wasn’t a fan of the way it was told

This is a very human story about triumph over adversity, This book is gripping, it tackles a tricky subject and is a book which will stay with you. This is not a story about the bad in life, of the attack but a story that focuses on hope , it made me cry (you will need tissues) it’s raw and emotional , the switching POVs are done so well, it keeps you hooked and I can honestly say it’s going to be a book of the year for anyone that reads it.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

This book is centered around a terrorist attack in a small town and 5 teenagers' reactions to what's happening around them. It's quite powerful, emotional, and heartbreaking.
If you're interested in the plot, it's a good one.
Thanks a lot for this copy.

In the quiet, unassuming town of Amberside, a horrific terrorist attack rips through a local festival, killing and injuring hundreds. Five teenagers recall their terrifying experiences of the night that they all fought for their lives while trying to make sense of what was really happening to their loved ones. This heartbreaking, pulse-racing thriller depicts some really beautiful friendships and budding romances. It is very emotional and topical but it looks at the touching ways in which genuine humanity and unconditional love will always win out against hate. You’ll want your tissues for this one!

This Can Never Not Be Real tells the story of a terrorist act at a local festival from the perspective of the teenage victims as they fight to survive and avoid the shooters at all costs.

There are four main characters with very distinct and engaging voices and the book is set out as interviews reflecting back on the events they each experienced and the impact it has had on them, interspersed with the occasional input from an outside source (i.e.: a police transcript, etc).

The continually changing perspective really keeps you hooked and builds tension as the story progresses, adding a sense of drama and almost panic as the terrorists motivations remain a mystery to those struggling to survive.

The author really highlights how, in times of crisis, everything else falls away (social hierarchy, family background, religion) and new relationships can be formed between otherwise unlikely allies.

What a book! The tension was palpable and I just couldn’t put it down! Highly recommended!

This is an incredibly powerful book that takes readers right into the centre of a terrorist attack at a festival in a small town. We never learn anything about the perpetrators or their motives, which is as it should be. The story focuses instead on some of the teenage survivors, their relationship to one another, and how their lives are irrevocably altered by this experience.

The story is brilliantly written with an intriguing, dynamic plot and a host of compelling characters. It took me a while to read this book because it was so vivid and intense. I really felt like I was there, and it was enormously stressful at times, it even inspired some very dramatic dreams! I can't believe how deeply this book got under my skin and how much the story has stayed with me too.

It’s narrated by a wide variety of characters, which handled less skilfully might be overwhelming and disorientating. But Sera Milano manages to bring each protagonist and their unique inner worlds to life brilliantly. The selection of protagonists is remarkably diverse. From “popular” kids to those bullied mercilessly, Black, Asian or minority ethnic, and LGBT, a broad range of perspectives and voices are represented.

My heart was pounding in my chest the whole time I was reading this and some of the scenes moved me to tears. Despite the violence and devastation on which the plot is centred, this is a remarkably hopeful, positive and defiant story. Love is shown to be indestructible and the force that ultimately always wins. This Can Never Not Be Real is the first book I've read by Sera Milano, and I can't wait to discover more of her work.

A truly compelling (at times heartbreaking) and thrilling read. Loved the premise and the gripping plot.

The writer was really able to bring the characters to life, pulling at the readers emotions with every storyline- I laughed, cried and held my breath.

Highly recommend this to YA thriller fans. A compelling and truly interesting read.

✨“The reason it hurts so much to separate is because our souls are connected.”✨
― Nicholas Sparks

Trigger warnings: Terrorism, serious injury, suicide, and death.

🌷Broke into five perspectives, this book follows teenagers in the ordinary town of Amberside where nothing exciting ever really happens. But one day, terrorists attack their local festival. It becomes a battleground and everyone is fighting, screaming for their survival.

The majority of this book is set at this festival, and we see humanity at its rawest. What will or won’t people do to protect themselves?

🌸This was so heartbreaking. I was honestly on the edge of my seat. My heart was in my throat and I could not stop reading. The emotions, and the reactions of each character felt. so. freaking. real. When the terrorists attacked, all the characters could think about was why. Why were they doing this? Why is this happening to us? Why is no one helping? Why won’t they stop?

Honestly guys, you need to mentally prepare before you read this. It is seriously scary in terms of ‘I can imagine this— this could be real’.

Thank you so much for emotionally scarring me @Netgallery, @EgmontBooks, @ElectricMonkey and @SeraMilano.

Read. Be happy. Stay safe.

I won't lie to you, I am a traditionalist when it comes to literature. I like it to be narrative, speech marks, proper punctuation - the whole shebang and normally when a book veers away from this I get frustrated. However, with This Can Never Not Be Real I was able to get past the non-traditional format because the story is so damn good.

It is a story of a terrorist attack that happens during a local festival in a small town and it is told from the perspective of several people. It is told in what can almost be described as soundbites of information interspersed with police reporting. The style is similar in style to how you feel an interrogation would go but also shows how one event can be experienced by several different people in many different ways.

What it also does is highlight underlying prejudices and challenges them. It shows how communities - big or small - can be brought together through tragedy and how powerful the shared experience is.

I thoroughly recommend This Can Never Not Be Real and will be foisting it into the hands of the students I work with whether they want to read it or not.

This Can Never Not Be Real by Sera Milano is available now.

For more information regarding Sera Milano (@seramilano) please visit www.seramilano.com.

For more information regarding Electric Monkey (@EMTeenFiction) please visit their Twitter page.

I was gripped from beginning to end, but left disappointed by the relationships & the weakness of the March thread, felt I needed more of him & didn't want any blossoming romance in amongst the terror, never mind 2 romances in the 5 characters we met.

I adored this book and devoured it, reading it in a day.

I was gripped from the first page and couldn't put the book down - the storyline was engaging and well-paced and I enjoyed the characters, I don't always love a multiple-perspective book, however I think it really works for this story and helped to keep the events moving.

As a young adult contemporary, I think this is an excellent display of emotional writing and sensitive tackling of some difficult topics by Sera Milano. The character's feelings are always at the forefront, stopping the violence and trauma from becoming too overwhelming.

This Can Never Not Be Real is a sensational book, so good that it kept me up until 4.30AM reading.

This book begins with the testimonies of Joe, Violet, Peaches and Ellie at a bonfire and firework display at Historic Hearne House.

Joe was with his friends, Violet was with her mother and her brother Ade, Peaches was watching from the lighting bridge and Ellie was dancing to the music in front of everyone.

Peaches was one of the first ones to spot that something wasn’t right.

“At the end of the trail: two of them. Both in black, hooded, with scarves tied up over the lower parts of their faces. They had huge guns in their hands; rifles or something. The kind you hardly think are real because you only see them in movies and games.”

It was tense and emotive, thrilling and heart- wrenching. I felt like I was facing down a terrorist with them all.

“They’d stopped firing so indiscriminately by then. The crowd was thinning in places and packing tighter in others, and as I put one foot in front of the other to climb down the gantry ladder, I could see their tactics change. They were choosing targets. Picking people off. Hunting.”

One of the things I love the most about This Can Never Not Be Real was that the focus wasn’t on the terrorists and their motives, rather it was on the people caught up in the disaster.

“I don’t want you to care, either. Not about the men with guns. But I want you to care about us, and the people who were with us. The ones who were less lucky.”

This is an essential read.

I cried when I finished it, it was so heart wrenching but the main thing was it was real. Something people have gone through and I think the real emotions just broke me down. I loved it. An edge of the seat tale with a narrative of 5 strong teenagers. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. It’s about terrorism but surprisingly not about the terrorists instead it talks about survival and living.
I really liked how different the characters were as the storytelling narrative changed accordingly.
The story was so real yet felt too far away. I seriously loved it a lot.

A tense and gripping read that kept me turning the the page to the very end. I did however find the structure very strange and it did pull me out of the story at points. Some sections were too quick, sometimes just a single sentence and I found this to be quite jarring as I couldn’t really form connections to some of the characters.

This Can Never Not Be Real is a startlingly book that drops you straight into the lives of the teenage narrators from the town of Amberside. Traditional festivities rapidly turn into an unscripted night of terror and loss as unidentified gunmen begin to indiscriminately open fire. Milano's writing flings you into the action as you feel the confusion, fear and panic of the teenagers as they struggle to process the events unfolding. The emergency of the prose, coupled with the honest description of the children having to cope with literal life and death decisions is unflinching. Milano manages to create such immediacy in her book that you believe completely in the events unfolding. The inevitable trauma inflicted physically, emotionally and mentally on the narrators is dealt with deftly, with Milano unafraid to tackle the bloodshed head on which only serves to benefit her readers. Highly recommend.