Review: This Can Never Not Be Real
FIVE TEENAGERS
WITH NOTHING IN COMMON,
THROWN TOGETHER
BY AN ACT OF TERRORISM,
CAN'T SURVIVE THE NIGHT
WITHOUT EACH OTHER.
In the unremarkable town of Amberside, the unthinkable has happened: Terrorists have attacked a local festival. No one knows why, and no one knows who the attackers are, but that doesn’t matter. What matters first is survival. And what matters after that is survival, too.
In this brilliantly written account of hope, humour and humanity, five ordinary teenagers are caught up in a truly extraordinary situation. It’s a heart-pounding and gripping account of the fight for survival, told from multiple perspectives, as the attackers prowl the festival grounds.
QUICK THOUGHTS AND REVIEW: 5/5, STUNNING, COMPELLING, GRIPPING. I DON'T THINK THIS IS A BOOK ONE CAN GET OVER.
Possible Trigger Tags:
1. Death
2. Mass shooting
3. Violence
4. Terrorism
5. Murder
6. Violence
7. Gore
8. Medical trauma
9. Islamophobia
WHAT DID I FEEL ABOUT THE BOOK'S:
1. Writing Quality: So the writing style is basically the testimonies of four (later on five) survivors of a terrorist attack/mass shooting in a festival in a small town. It did remind me a lot of This is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp. While in the other story, the narration is done during the shooting, which means that the narrators there are experiencing only one kind of horror. On the other hand, because this is a testimony of the survivors: Ellie, Peaches, Violet and Joe [and also March right towards the end], this means that these five have to relive the horror that they had just gone through. This does pose as a double, I don't really know how to phrase this term, I just feel like recounting a nightmare is much worse than being through the nightmare because you're actually recalling the fear and the terror that you had felt at the moment, plus the current fear that things will never be the same again. Or you will never be the same again because that one incident is always in your mind. And I think that's what made the narration even more compelling.
2. Character Development: Well, to be very honest, I'm kinda very, I don't know confused on various levels about the character development but at the same time I understood what was going on.
Ellie: Ellie is an enigma in a lot of senses. Like seriously, she came off as such a mysterious person to me I actually thought maybe I wouldn't be able to write this portion. And maybe I'll not be able to. Though I really love her character. She's brave, she's smart and despite seeming almost perfect to everyone else, she's flawed. But she doesn't hide them. She simply puts them out in the open for others to see, only upto them if they want to see or not. And also the really intimate moments that she shares with Violet just make me love her more.
Violet: Violet, a character I do think was really prominent in the story. I really feel that Peaches and Violet were on the opposite ends of the spectrum while really being on the same spectrum at the same time. Violet is timid, kind of scared, which is completely fair considering that her brother and her mother are out there and she has no way of reaching them or knowing whether they're alright or not. Which brings out some hesitation in her actions. Her backstory is also pretty much worked upon really well and thankfully her dynamic with Ellie is also explained.
Joe: Despite Joe's POVs being one of the most frequent POVs in the book, I do feel like he's only narrating the story along. I really get that he lost his best friends and I tried to really sympathize with him and he does have my deepest sympathies, but at the same time it feels like he's a character that is not much explored on. I mean, he could have been developed more for someone with a backstory
Peaches: Of all the POVs that I have read throughout this book, Peaches stands out a lot. Probably because it's one of those 'I'm not taking your bullshit' attitude that literally radiates throughout the whole of the POV. I mean, she literally gets a bullet and a glass shard through her, she sees the person closest to her die, she also swims through fucking icy water to survive, and yet all that stays is that attitude. I do say this in a positive light though. I absolutely adore her character and it's really amazing how her instinct kicks in almost immediately. Like *snap* and the instinct is there. She doesn't know what to do but at the exact time she also know what to do.
March: To be honest, March is a character that is very prominent throughout the story but we don't get to know about his POV right until towards the end of the story. But he is one of the significant characters considering he seems to have the best survival instinct out of the two. Also it's really sad to see March facing all the Islamophobia just because of his religion and culture. And also what really sticks with me about March is how, despite all the hate, he holds none. Like literally he's not holding a grudge against anyone for it, just seeing the niceties about it.
3. Couldn't put it down- Ness: 10/10, absolute banger. Like seriously, I'll pick this book up and I'm gonna fucking cry again.
4. Intellectual Depth:
5. Plot: To be very honest, I don't know how to emphasize on this point. To be honest, the plot is not something usually you come across until you're reading fiction based on terrorism and shooting. And let's be very real, I've had my fair share of books regarding this trope and I must say, not a lot of books are able to execute this trope. Which I guess was pretty much a pleasant surprise when I did find out that this book executes it every well. Kinda am upset this book isn't more popular but then you realize booktok is actually very very very shit.
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