Read June 20

I want a sequel! I loved this and my heart is full! So much representation: race, sexuality, family, personality, disability. I loved how real and flawed the characters were and how they all came together. I loved that Sunny ended up becoming a central character, younger siblings all too often end up being forgotten, left behind, or treated like crap, so it was really refreshing.

Oh I guess you want a little on the plot and not just general gushing! Sophie is left a package by her best friend Freya (who has left suddenly and we never meet her) which once unwrapped contains instructions for the package to be delivered to Win (older sister of the aforementioned Sunny), once she opens there's instructions to deliver to someone else... In between we get flashbacks about how these characters know Freya and how they each have their own view of her.

If I have one criticism it is that Ryan and Lucas’s voices were a little too similar, although I don’t think that was helped by my reading the book in chunks thanks to it only being available in a format that I could only read on my PC or phone. I guess even a tablet would be easier if I had one LOL!

Every Little Piece of My Heart is a story about friendship and loss. The story follows Sophie, who's best friend Freya has recently moved away from Leeds to Manchester. As far as Sophie is concerned, Freya may as well have moved to moon because Freya has been ignoring all of Sophie's texts, calls, likes and messages. Sophie really needs her best friend because she has recently been diagnosed with Lupus and she is hiding it from everyone. Just as Sophie begins to adjust to her new normal, with Lupus and without Freya, Sophie receives a parcel from Freya containing a bracelet and a name of a girl at her school; who Sophie doesn't know and who Sophie is certain Freya didn't know either.

The more Sophie plays Freya's game of human pass the parcel, Sophie learns that she didn't know Freya as well as she thought and she begins to question their friendship. The further down the layers she goes, and the more people she meets, the more she realises that Freya has been trying to control her life for a long time, even in her absence. Sophie decides to try and figure out who she is without Freya ands brings her new friends along for the ride.

Non Pratt's characters are immediately likable. Sophie such a strong protagonist and even the spectre of Freya is a fully realised character. It is with the character of Win, and her sister Sunny, that Non really stole my heart. Win is a shy, closeted lesbian, who is second generation Chinese. Sunny is the polar opposite of Win, outgoing and boy crazy with no problem inserting herself into her sister's adventures. Sunny also has no problem being the book's comic relief and their dynamic reminded me a lot of me and my sister.

Every Little Piece of My Heart is an amazing summer read, it is mysterious and intriguing but will leave you feeling loved and accepted.

I really enjoyed this book and the mystery behind the parcel and letters kept me turning the pages.. The Lupus story line also resonated strongly with me as someone very dear to me suffers from the disease.

The day out with the misfit friends - who somehow fit together perfectly in the end, after all - reminded me of Giri/Haji which I also loved. While Freya remained as much of an enigma by the end as ever, Sunny, in particular, is a character who will stay with me for a long time.

The book is written in the perspective of four characters who each receive something from Freya who left town abruptly and each person was a part of her life in different ways.

I really enjoyed the writing style and the characters in the book, each character was written well with focus on their own feelings, their story and the impact of Freya. I did like the plot and the pace of the book, I also liked how I related to the disappointment the characters felt over the letters. At first I found the reveals boring and not as dramatic as I thought but that was how the characters felt too. The relationship between the characters was built well and the romance in the book was cute. I also liked the ending.

4/5

Friendships lost and Friendships found...

Sophie’s friend Freya moved away without any explanation, so when Sophie receives a parcel from her 5 months later, she hopes it will contain an explanation of why she suddenly disappeared from her life. Instead she becomes part of an elaborate game of pass the parcel when she has to pass it on to the person named on the next layer within so she can eventually receive her prize at the end....

There are very few writers who can depict the British teenager in the way Non Pratt can, somehow Non just “gets them”. I cannot wait to buy this for my school library collection

I loved this effortlessly diverse, moving story of friendship and especially loved the mystery throughout. Non writes such brilliantly fleshed out British teenagers and this is her best YA yet. Five stars.

No one writes British teenagers as well as Non Pratt. Authentic, effortlessly diverse and unashamedly thirsty, her characters jump off the page and into my heart. I really enjoyed the mystery of this novel, with four strangers (plus a precocious little sister) coming together over a mutual friendship with Freya, who we never really get to meet. They were a lot of fun, and it made me miss the final days of school before summer holiday, when nothing much gets done except signing shirts, gossiping and watching films in class.

I thoroughly enjoyed this intertwining story of four teenagers left behind when Freya leaves her life on New Year's Day. A mysterious game of pass-the-parcel brings together Sophie, her best friend, Win, her neighbour, and two boys who played a surprising role in Freya's life. Sophie, our main character, drives the narrative, as the original recipient of the parcel and the driver of this strange game of pass-the-parcel, as Freya's bizarre game unfolds over the course of the last two days of Sophie's year 11.
The central tenet of the book, Sophie and Freya's relationship, and the unravelling of Sophie's web of lies, that Freya's been keeping in touch in the five months since she vanished without a word, is really well-drawn. Sophie is dealing with a lot, trying to come to terms with her diagnosis of lupus, which she received shortly after Freya disappeared. And honestly, I feel like this is really well done. I can't say that I'm an expert on chronic illness - far from it. But the way that Non Pratt portrays Sophie and her struggle with her illness is very relatable. Sophie hasn't been dealing with the diagnosis of lupus for long, and she's still adjusting to the amount that she can do - she spends much of the book pushing herself past her limits, and paying for it in the latter part of the book. This depiction of the real impact of being a 'spoonie' is portrayed really well, as far as I can see, although I admit to a complete lack of experience here.
On top of this, the book is packed with all kinds of rep - LGBTQ characters for whom their identity is a secret, and for whom it's not, Asian British characters, an envy character who just *is*, rather than being an issue, and some absolutely adorable romances that I was rooting for with absolute heart eyes. The plot was really lovely also, with some solid sibling relationships, musings on extended family relationships, great development of budding romances, and a solid amount of anger at Freya for just disappearing without a word. In fact, I really thought this book was incredibly engrossing and thoroughly enjoyable. Except we never, really, found out why Freya left. From context, we can piece together aspects of why she was unhappy, and what parts of her life she found difficult, but she's just a central mystery who vanished from her life to abandon one parent for the other, and wholesale leave her life behind without a word. This absolute radio silence might not be unusual for teenagers - it's a while since I've been one - but such a dramatic change seemed, to me, to be a jarring omission that was left unsolved by the end of the book. I really felt like a thoroughly interesting story thread was left dangling.
This is actually the same feeling I had with Non Pratt's debut, Trouble, which I read the week before I read Every Little Piece of my Heart, so perhaps it's just something I need to get used to in this author's books, but it did leave me with a final feeling of dissatisfaction, which was a really jarring note in an otherwise fabulous book.

I am going to be really honest and say that I found this book really difficult to get into - it actually took me over 2 weeks to read, and I am usually a very fast reader. It follows the lives of a group of individuals who are connected by Freya. I found Freya to be completely not relatable and I didn't know enough about her in order for me to connect with the story. It talks a lot about how she had reasons for leaving, but I personally felt that her reasons were not addressed adequately enough for my liking. I could surmise why, but I wasn't given a definitive answer, which I craved.
The different perspectives were a bit disjointed and I found myself re-reading parts as I couldn't quite understand what had happened. It still wasn't clear.
I got to about 40% of the way through, and once I had finally worked out who each of the characters were, I was able to enjoy it slightly more. When the connections were able to be made, I found it easier to comprehend and I did end up enjoying and wanting to find out what happens next.
What I wanted to happen, did not happen, which did leave me feeling slightly disappointed, but it was not my call! :P
Overall, I would say that this book is very slow paced and requires intense concentration in order to follow accurately. However, I did end up enjoying it.

I really enjoyed this, and has someone who used to suffer from M.E. I really reiated to a lot of Sophie's struggles with her illness - especially explaining fatigue to people!

I enjoyed the story and the character development. I felt it had a little of a less dark 13 Reasons Why vibe, except we never truly find out why - this was something I liked and found frustrating in equal measure!

Would recommend to students.

Absolutely loved this book!!! Would wholeheartedly recommend to all of my friends, and I cannot wait to read more from this author.

This is not aimed at my age group (old) but I sometimes like Young Adult fiction. This one had nicely drawn teenage characters, full of angst and having a difficult time. Freya has disappeared and is out of contact. She has left a mysterious parcel which has messages to distribute to all her friends. Her aim is to unite the disparate characters into a support group. The back story is told from each character's point of view in flashback chapters. All of the friends realize something about themselves in the process, but for me, the story goes nowhere and there is no real mystery and no explanation as to why Freya cuts all contacts.

A lovely read - one I will be recommending in my library!

Freya disappears and many months later a letter arrives for Sophie - her best friend. In it is a further letter to Win - her old neighbour. This leads Sophie and Win to find out more about why she disappeared and leads them to other important individuals from Freya’s past.

Each learns more about themselves and each other - Freya’s legacy becomes new friends and relationships.

I could not put this book down - a captivating read.

Sophie, Freya, Win, Sunny, and their life full of drama was very entertaining to follow. However, you know how some YA books are perfectly enjoyable to read at any age? Well… this one was the opposite. I know I would have loved this book way more if I read it during my teenage years.

More and more authors include diverse characters in their books, and I love how far we’ve gone in just a couple of years. Even though I have no idea what it’s like to live with a chronic illness, I think that representation in «Every Little Piece of my Heart» was done particularly well. I love when authors include diverse characters in their books by don’t make their “diversity” the main point of the plot. Instead, it’s there to show a different angle, to let the readers connect with the characters in their own way.

So many people (so many kids!) live hand in hand with chronic illnesses, with pain and everyday struggles that come with it, and yet there are so little books that include this part of our lives.

The mystery element of this novel was what, essentially, kept me going. Sophie’s best friend, Freya, suddenly left the school and town where she used to live with her mother, abandoning all of her friends, not saying goodbye, and then ghosting everybody from her “past” life. After 6 months of this “disappearance” Sophie receives a parcel from Freya and that’s where the fun begins.
The fact that we don’t get Freya’s PoV in the book, makes this mystery even more compelling. I loved discovering all the secrets, truths, and lies.

As much as I liked the representation in this book, I did not like the characters. The only one that seemed somewhat alright was Win, but I don’t feel like I got to know her enough to properly get attached to her character. The mystery was there, the plot was well-thought-out, but the characters needed some further development.

There isn’t much more to say about this book. It was a very typical YA high-school story with lots of drama. I read it very quickly, but nothing (besides the representation) really stuck with me.

Having read Pratt’s earlier works, I was very excited to be able to read an advanced copy of her new book. It did not disappoint!

We are first introduced to Sophie who has received a parcel from her best friend Freya with instructions on deliveries. The only thing is, Sophie hasn’t seen or heard from Freya in months. Like the parcel being passed around Sophie’s acquaintances, the plot is revealed layer by layer using different character POV and well placed flashbacks. It keeps the readers interest throughout the book as we constantly wonder why Freya decided to send the parcel to who she did and why she has waited until now to do so.

Each relationship and character presented in the book are more complex than you first think, demonstrating that everyone has their own issues and hides parts of themselves away. Even the absent Freya who seems selfish for abandoning her friends is, at the end, shown to have some redeeming features.

I have to give a special mention to Win, my favourite character. She is a strong and fierce character who I just loved “Just because someone doesn’t advertise their feelings, doesn’t mean those feelings don’t exist”. There are definite parallels with Elinor and Marianne from Sense and Sensibility with Win and Sunny which made me love the book all the more.

The conclusion is hopeful. Not everything is resolved but the characters are moving towards a happier place - with each other, their pasts and most importantly, with themselves. Excellent!

This was a great mystery story with well-developed characters who have all been affected by the surprise move to another city of their friend, Freya. Five months after her departure and with no contact since she left, she sends a parcel to her best friend. The parcel has to be shared with three other people who find themselves brought together as a result. The story demonstrates very well that people can have a lot going on that other people don’t know about and the misconceptions that can arise as a result. Well worth a read and I can think of a lot of people who would enjoy reading this that visit my library.

Overall I really enjoyed this book! It felt like a grown up version of Pratt's previous work, Unboxed, and I liked how they handled the lesbian and bisexual characters. I also loved Sunny, I was worried she was going to be a throwaway character as ‘the baby sister’, but she was so good!! And funny!! Read this book just to meet Sunny!!

I had a few problems with distinguishing the male characters, which might have just been me, but I was convinced that Ryan and Kellen were the same person for a good 30% of the book. Obviously it’s cleared up at the end, but I wish Sophie had outright stated that Ryan and Kellen were cousins. (Also, were there two Aunt Helen’s? Or am I just stupid? There were a lot of Aunts in this book.)

I really loved Sophie and Win, I would almost call them the main protagonists. As someone with a Chronic Illness, Sophie felt very real, especially the overdoing herself. Also the mother who wants to help, but thinks that eating right and exercising will cure a chronic illness. No mother. I will feel better eating this Krispy Kreme than this bowl of Kale.

Win was also really great, and I enjoyed how her parents weren’t stereotyped into the typical ‘Tiger Mom’ roles. They really cared about her, and they accepted her being gay, and that wasn’t her whole arc! Incredible! A lesbian character with a stable homelife? We love to see it.

In conclusion, this was a really good book, especially if you’re looking for a YA low-stakes mystery. The female characters are well written, and there is a lot of accurate representation.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC.

I love Non Pratt's stories so I was really excited to start this one. It's another brilliant contemporary YA told from the perspective of four very different but equally engaging characters.

Non captures teenage life in a way that will resonate with teen readers without feeling patronising. Sophie's refusal to think about her exams, the whole-life encompassing impact of friendships, family fallings out are just a few of the ways she creates authentic teenage characters.

It was interesting to read about a teenage character with a chronic illness and Non's author note at the end is really informative. It's clear that Non really did her research before writing Every Little Piece of My Heart, and I've finished it feeling more empathetic, and also having learnt a lot about Lupus. But Sophie is far more than just her illness, and it doesn't define her character. She is loyal and funny and in desperate need of a friend.

Every POV character was fun to read, and I was never disappointed when they switched. Win was strong and stable and she kept the peace. Her story will resonate with lots of readers. Lucas's toxic friendship with Kellan is something many teenagers will relate to as well - the conflict between knowing someone isn't a good friend for you, but wanting to keep them in your life because you're afraid of letting go. Ryan was different again, believing himself to be unloveable and pushing everyone away.

Although the shining star of Every Little Piece of My Heart wasn't a POV character at all, but Sunny. She was an absolute delight and impossible not to love. I also found it fascinating how much Freya dominated the narrative, despite her absence.

I loved the way the timeline flipped back and forth, so the story slowly fell into place. There's a great mystery element to the plot which will keep readers going late into the night.

This is a wonderful story of friendship, growing up, and being yourself. Every Little Piece of My Heart is a must-buy for school libraries this September.

I requested this off of NetGalley based on the blurb. I actually really enjoyed it.

There were multiple point of views which worked really well. Sometimes I like one character better than others, but I really liked them all.

I loved the chronic illness storyline and it is really interesting to read what Sophie goes through.

I loved Winn and Sunny, Lucas and Ryan too. I loved seeing the characters evolve and grow.

This story is all about finding yourself, and your family along the way. It is also about believing and being true to yourself.

Brilliantly written and I would recommend this YA book to all!

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is not my usual genre, I’m more into crime/thriller books and even psychological thrillers too so I am extremely pleased and grateful to them for opening up my mind to something totally different.