Member Reviews
I am a massive fan of Non Pratt and have been ever since reading Trouble a few years back. I love the way Non Pratt writes and the way she engages her reader so effortlessly. Her storytelling, for me, is top tier. However, I have to be honest and say that Every Little Piece of My Heart was probably my least favourite of her stories.
There wasn’t anything particularly bad about the story. I just couldn’t help but compare how I felt when I read Trouble or Remix. This story just didn’t give me the same feelings.
If I had to hazard a guess as to why I would say that it may be the subgenre of the book. I think I have grown a bit tired of the misery porn of YA books – stories of illness or life limiting conditions. It was a bit of a trend a few years back and I think maybe I have worn myself out with them.
Not the worst book I have read but it wasn’t my favourite Non Pratt book (that is still Remix – go and read that).
Every Little Piece of My Heart by Non Pratt is available now.
I absolutely adore Non Pratt, all of her books will always be must reads for me. Every Little Piece of My Heart was no different. I think Non Pratt writes with such authenticity and humour whilst also getting into the real grittiness of human relationships. I felt really engaged with Sophie's journey to find the piecing bits of information on the disappearance of her best friend and how she slowly discovers more about herself, her friendships and those around her.
I have loved a lot of Non's books and I was really excited to read Every Little Piece of My Heart but had put off reading it because I wanted to hold on to her last book. It was safe to say that I was happy to finally read the book as it was a really quick read for me and I liked the characters and seeing the friendships evolve. I do love the friendships in the story bonding over a sole character and to be quite nice to see it happen and end. I overall just really liked the book and would recommend it.
An interesting book that I feel as a young reader I would have loved. A great book for YA genre. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for gifting me a book
First of all a big thank you to the author, publishers and Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book to read and review.
This book just wasn’t for me. I found this to be quite slow and drag in parts. If I had read this a few years ago I probably would have loved it. However my tastes have changed and evolved and contemporary is no longer one of my faves.
The Netgalley file for this book never worked for me, I bought the book when it was released and am finally able to review it -
My enjoyment of this book was based entirely on the characters, whom Non Pratt writes really well...the storyline, however, fell a bit flat for me. The friendships formed made for a cute story and some parts are actually quite funny, it just didn't really feel like it went anywhere; the flashback scenes all seemed to be leading to some big reveal that never quite happened. I do like how diverse the book is and I love the way a non-binary character was portrayed, it was also nice to see some awareness of chronic illness.
The real strength of this book is the characters, how real they felt and how well the messy, complicated nature of their relationships (romantic and otherwise) was brought to life in every scene and interaction. The dual timelines and the way the reader is gradually introduced to the various different secrets, events and misunderstandings that led to where they are in the present day were woven together beautifully. The highlight, for me, was maybe the way we come to see the various sides of Freya, the absent friend who holds the whole story together, and the MC Sophie learns that maybe neither of them were the person or best friend she thought. I also really appreciated the chronic pain rep - mine isn't specifically lupus so I can't speak to the detailed accuracy, but the way it affected everything Sophie did and every choice she made, the difficulty of deciding whether to own up to it and get help but risk dealing with preconceptions and misconceptions and the inevitable pity of the able-bodied, and especially the way she wavers between acceptance and anger, disappointment, frustration - all of that was very true to my experience.
Unfortunately, the one thing that didn't work for me was the central concept - the 'treasure hunt' parcel from Freya that kick-started the story and brought the four present-day characters together. Of course in books and films we accept things happening that would be very unlikely in real life, but this was just a stretch too far for my suspension of disbelief.
Overall rating 3.5 stars.
I tried listening to the audiobook, but I quickly found myself not enjoying this book. I gave it two hours and then I DNFd the book, I just really think it wasn't for me. I couldn't keep track of the characters, nothing about them or the plot stood out to me or was particularly engaging.
Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read a free advance copy of this book. Unfortunately I hadn't found time during the year to read this book, and so I will be picking up a paid copy in 2021 to support the author instead as an apology.
This was my first book by author Non Pratt, after hearing only good things about them I was excited to read Every Little Piece Of My Heart. Although the missing friend trope has been done a lot in recent years, it still sounded like it was going to be an interesting book, but unfortunately it just did not live up to my expectations.
Normally I can read a book from start to finish in a few hours but when it doesn’t immediately grab me, it’s always a bad sign for how it’s going to go. I found this hard to get in to, particularly because I didn’t like or feel connected to any of the characters, I think probably because of the multiple points of view.
I don’t have anything bad to say about the writing itself so I would definitely give this author another go, I just think this particular story wasn’t for me.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed this book!
The characters were all likable and realistic and the drama added to the mystery of why Freya left. The plot was intriguing and I liked the journey the main 4 characters go on throughout the book and seeing the depth of each one's relationship with Freya and how that affected them. I read this book really fast never wanting to put it down and the book has a nice ending bringing all the loose ends together to create a brilliant YA read.
I was really excited to read this book but the formatting for the e-arc made it difficult to read. Therefore, I had to wait until it was published to read it. I'm really happy that I read this. I have loved all of Non Pratt's previous novels and whilst this was definitely a slower novel, it was also fantastic.
I partly listened to this via audiobook and partly read it physically and I think the audiobook helped with the pacing. This is very much a slow, character driven novel that doesn't have a really exciting plot so it might not be for everyone. However, I love to read about the lives of different characters. Each character had a unique voice in this story. My favourites were Lucas and Sophie but I did like them all.
My only issue is that I would have liked to see Freya just to tie it all together and get some closure on what actually happened but overall, I really enjoyed this book.
Non Pratt’s latest book follows four characters, connected by Freya who has left for Manchester without speaking to any of them, including her best friend Sophie. When Sophie receives a parcel from Freya, she hopes it will explain why she left without saying goodbye. But instead, she finds letters addressed to other people and starts to question whether she ever really knew her friend at all. As with all Non Pratt books, Every Little Piece of My Heart had well-developed, loveable characters and believable dialogue. It was also well-researched with good representation of chronic illness through Sophie, who has Lupus. However, I found the mix of multiple perspective and multiple timelines a bit off-putting – it felt like we were flitting about quite a lot – and it was a slower read than I anticipated because I wasn’t as fully gripped as I have been with Non’s previous books. It’s a good read, but it didn’t blow me away!
The old "enigmatic best friend has done a disappearing act" format in which we tell a story about a character from multiple points of view, without ever getting the character in question 's own take on things. Freya was an interesting enough character so it did end up working out for this book.
I liked Sophie and her determination to not let her invisible illness affect her life. I liked Win and Lucas and even Ryan when we got past his attitude. No problems with the writing. All the characters were well developed and I was very invested in their lives when I was reading the book, but it was a little forgettable in the end.
It ended in a nice place but the problem is that I still wanted more.
Another gem of a book from Non, who writes teenagers with so much heart and character. I loved the chronic illness rep, and the gentle queerness. If you are looking for a UKYA friendship story full of hope, I would heartily recommend this one!
This is the first Non Pratt book I've read despite intending to read several before. I was amazed by how realistic and believable her characters were, and I really felt like I wanted to read on. My only criticism would be that I couldn't decide whether I liked the characters as I was reading it and that made me uncomfortable at times although I'm sure that was intentional. I'll definitely read more from this author.
The abundance of characters and perspectives made it difficult to connect to the characters and care about what was happening in their lives. I ended up feeling quite bored by the story and found myself skimming through chapter after chapter in the hopes of finishing the book quicker. But that did not work.
The representation in this story was done well though. There are POC and LGBT characters and a character with chronic illness, but it never felt like the author was going through a list and checking of different kinds of minorities to make sure they had one of each.
Unfortunately a dnf for me at 34%
I found the writing to be disjointed and pretty simple, even for a YA novel, of which I read a lot. I could not identify with any of the characters and found the story a real slog to get though to the point that I could not bear to pick it up again. A real shame as I enjoyed the authior's previous books I have read.
Lots of good fun, I really enjoyed this book. I like stories of friendship, and the plot was gripping.
This is such a lovely book I devoured it in one day. A brilliantly engaging plot with lovely believable diverse characters. Truly a joy to read and I’m so happy to see a book I can recommend to students and feel like I’m giving them an excellent example of what great storytelling that really reflects our world.