Becks' dad and new step-mum have just flew to Japan on their honeymoon, seen off at the airport by Becks' step-sister Silva who is left in charge of looking after 16-year-old Beck until they get back. But Silva never returns from the airport, and Beck is worried. Does she call her parents, or try to find Silva herself? Beck decides she will find out if Silva is okay before calling her parents home from their honeymoon, and whilst fixing a mess her cat makes, stumbles upon a clue that might be the first key in finding her step-sister.

I fell into this book completely after the first few lines, the writing flowed well and was just so easy to consume, mixed with a great cast of characters and some intrigue, I was hooked. Patrice Lawrence made it so accessible. and she really captured the mind of a 16 year old in her writing, without it being too childlike. I believed Beck was 16 years old, I enjoyed all the culture references and how current it felt. But most of all I enjoyed her commentary on race, sexuality, wealth, love, obsession, loss and friendships. She managed to speak about these topics so openly, and touched on multiple layers of feelings and issues, applying them to her characters so easily, and embracing them. She is able to show unhealthy and healthy relationships in a real but gentle way. Her writing allows for usually hard to read topics to be consumed in a way that doesn't feel so harsh, and that isn't easy.

With so many themes it would be easy to loose the story, but she doesn't. She keeps you on the edge of your seat, wanting more, supporting Beck along the way to finding her sister and hearing from Silva too, in a duel perspective that was just written perfectly. It was so much more than a mystery. I will definitely be looking out for whatever Lawrence writes in the future.

I feel so grateful to have been able to read and review this ARC. Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for this opportunity.

The mum and stepdad of our main character Becks have gone away on their honeymoon leaving Becks with her older stepsister, Silva. However Siva does not come home after seeing them off at the airport. Becks discovers some clues in Silva's bedroom and uses these to aid her in the mystery of where Silva could be. Meanwhile Silva is on her own journey of discovery.

I really like how this book shows the complexity of family. First of all there is the positive representation of step-parents which was so nice to see. The relationship with step-siblings. The loss of a parent. The relationship with a biological dad who has not been around for sixteen years. It also represents a multicultural family. For so many years the nuclear family was seen as the norm but families can be and are a lot more complex than that. So good to see it normalised on the page.

There are a few pop culture references that very much provide a time setting for this novel in current day. The k-pop references went a little over my head but I know this is something that others (thinking of the teenagers I work with) will love.

Eight Pieces of Silva - Patrice Lawrence

Becks is into girls but didn't come out because she was never in. She lives with her mum, stepdad and eighteen-year-old Silva, her stepdad's daughter. Becks and Silva are opposites, but bond over their mutual obsession with K-pop.
When Becks' mum and stepdad go on honeymoon to Japan, Becks and Silva are left alone. Except, Silva disappears. Becks ventures into the forbidden territory of Silva's room and finds the first of eight clues that help her discover her sister's secret life.
Meanwhile, Silva is on a journey. A journey to make someone love her. He says he doesn't, but he's just joking. All she has to do is persuade him otherwise ...

Fun fact, I have been meaning to read Patrice Lawrence for about five years, ever since I saw her on a panel at YALC and she made a reference to Paul Weller. Finally, I got my chance thanks to Netgalley when they approved me for an ARC of her latest book.

This was so engaging and I adored the way it was narrated, it was prose, but also... not how you would expect from a novel. Told mostly from Beck's point of view in an almost stream of consciousness fashion with occasional asides from Silva and her unknown location, it gives such an interesting dynamic to the story, it was incredible. I actually felt like I was sat with these girls and they were telling me the story in their own words. It features all the usual East London slang and everything!

I didn't realise when I started putting this post together, but here's another YA book with LGBTQA+ themes, as well as featuring people of colour and mixed families. It was the ultimate modern mystery. If Patrice Lawrences' other books are anything like this one, I know I'm going to really regret waiting so long to read them! This book is expected to be released in early August, so keep your eyes peeled for it!

This is a tender, perfectly observed story of love, grief and self-discovery. Patrice writes complex relationships with such truth and ease. This is her best book yet.

This is an absolute masterclass of characterisation! Becks and her missing sister Silva are vividly drawn and the plot is completely driven by their relationship with each other and the people around them. It's a tense, emotional book in many ways although this tension all comes from completely believable action. Both main characters are flawed, both are complex and relatable. A subtle, soulful story about siblings, love, the importance of listening to each other and what happens when your own wants and needs clash with another's.

Becks’ Mum and Silva’s Dad have gone on honeymoon to Japan, leaving Silva, as a young adult, in charge of 16 year old Becks. But Silva never returns from seeing the pair off at the airport. She doesn’t respond to any of Becks’ messages and Becks is rightly worried. Becks doesn’t want to alarm her parents and cause them to return from a much anticipated holiday, so she tries to manage the situation herself. She crosses the threshold of Silva’s bedroom to look for clues. She finds these in a box under the bed leading her on a trail to piece together a story of complete love and devotion Silva had for a boy none of the family had met.
Along the way, Becks discovers friends she thought she could rely on won’t help, and new friends who will.
This novel has both an LGBT element and a race element which are important parts of the story, but not the whole story and treated in a normal everyday manner which is refreshing. Although an accusation is leveled that sometimes we don’t actually listen to others is not strictly true, it is a thought to make us all consider how we treat others.
A book about what it means to be a family which is never quite as simple as it sounds.

This reminded me a lot of Holly Jackson's writing- fantastic characters, driven plots and a masterful shift between different genres. I can't wait for it to be published so I can sell it in store!

Silva is meant to be looking after Becks while their parents honeymoon in Japan. But when Becks gets in from school, Silva isn't there. She doesn't appear the next day either, or the next. Becks ventures into Silva's room in search of clues, and discovers she might not know her step-sister as well as she thought.

With diary-like entries from Silva interspersed throughout, this story kept me on the edge of my seat as it builds to its satisfying conclusion. Tension runs high throughout and I struggled to put this novel down as I was desperate to know what was going on. Lawrence lets the mystery unravel slowly, making the outcome hard to predict.

Eight Pieces of Silva is filled with brilliant, realistic, complicated characters readers will love. Beck's voice comes alive on the page, feeling fresh and real in a way that sucks you straight into the novel. The vivid cultural representation, especially the K-pop and Marvel references, will make this very popular with teenage readers.

Lawrence shows the complexity of toxic relationships and first love through Silva's despair, and Silva's desperate passages show how a bad breakup can feel like grieving. But Lawrence also shows positive, loving relationships through Becks and China, who was supportive and caring towards Becks and was exactly who she needed by her side while trying to get to the bottom of Silva's disappearance.

This story also explores the complexity of family, especially what it means to be a dad, how to become a family, and dealing with grief when your family is torn apart.

I feel incredibly lucky to have been given the chance to review this phenomenal novel and can't wait to read whatever Lawrence writes next.

Eight Pieces of Silva is a compelling and tense mystery with a story that plays back more like a movie than a book. Patrice Lawrence is one of the best writers we’ve got. She gets right into the head of her characters and the voice is so strong you can hear them speak. In this book, they are real and richly layered and they smash ALL the stereotypes. It's refreshing to see this kind of *quality* varied representation too (LGBTQ rep + working class rep + Black/mixed race characters). We need more of this in YA. The cultural references are also so on point they made me smile every single time, including Lord of the Rings refs and refs from Black Panther and other moments from Marvel (as a HUGE Marvel fan, this made me SO happy).

Another hit from a brilliant author. 5 stars from me.

Much like her previous books, the strength in 8 Pieces of Silva is the creation of characters that burst from the page. You could lift Becks from her story and place her in any YA book and she would still be as a vivid and well written, you’d most likely want to see how she handles herself in a sci-fi or epic fantasy too (my guess is she’d be just fine).
As a family drama, 8 pieces works well, with interesting and unpredictable plot points as well as a sensitively written portrayal of trust and betrayal in a teenage relationship and how intensely that betrayal can effect young people. Patrice Lawrence continues an incredible winning streak with this book and once again confirms herself as one of the best writers of teen and YA fiction in Britain.

Eight Pieces of Silva has everything – from a heart stopping mystery to a gorgeous romance, all set in a gloriously textured real life London. It’s tense, rich, compulsively readable and very funny. It’s such a smart read - genuinely, the world fell away and I moved in with Beck’s for 2 days. Patrice Lawrence is a rare talent, I fully expect this treasure to be winning all the prizes. It deserves to. If you doubt me, just read the first paragraph about the breakfast trying to commit suicide. I’m still laughing at that even as my heart recovers from Silva’s heartbreak.