Hello hello and welcome or welcome back to my little bookish corner of the internet. Today I’m bringing you my review of the young adult mystery, Eight Pieces of Silva, which I read as one of the prompts for my readathon this month. I’ve had it on my shelves for ages, and finally got around to reading it, and I’m really glad I did.
Synopsis
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.
Review
I’m the older sibling so I don’t know quite what it’s like to know to be banned for a sibling’s room, but with an upcoming teenager myself, I certainly know the enforced rules of knocking before entry. Becks is left stood outside a room without being sure to enter for a long period of time before her cat forces her to go in. It leads to a discovery of a pile of reciepts, starting the journey into trying to work out what is going on.
In between the chapters of Becks’s wondering and worrying, we have the ocassional burst from Silva’s side, that isn’t communicated to Becks but to the reader, which allows up to gradually build up little bits on information on top of what Becks is putting together. Becks has support from her friends and new girlfriend, but most of what she is shouldering she does solo – until a letter from “DNA Dad” arrives at an ideal time. A man she’s never met, but who writes to her regularly, saying he’ll help her if she ever needs it. And right now, she does, and has nowhere else to turn.
The story covers so many more things than a young girl worrying about her sibling. It’s about the dyanmics of a step family, it’s about a teenager falling in love, it’s about grief and worry and sadness and all the things that go in between. We see Becks pulled in numerous different directions, both in her investigations, but also in her life, and, in my opinion, she comes out the other side having benefited from what she learns.
Thanks for stopping by for the review of this YA mystery, which there’s always bound to be plenty of around here! Be sure to check out a few more, such as The Girls I’ve Been and This Lie Will Kill You. They’re one of my favourite genres, so if you’re a fan, you can be sure you’ll see plenty of them around.
And On She Reads 