Eight Pieces of Silva
Publisher: Hodder
When Becks' mum and her stepdad Justin go on their honeymoon to Japan, they leave Justin's older daughter, 18-year-old Silva, in charge - but she never comes home after seeing them off at the airport.
Becks starts off cross, then rapidly becomes deeply worried, but she doesn't want to ruin her mum and Justin's honeymoon, so she decides to try and sort it out herself. Silva is a very private person whom Becks barely knows these days, and she's not supposed to go into her bedroom. But what choice does she have, especially when it's obvious that her cat Azog has gone in there and made a stinky mess!
Becks finds eight pieces of evidence in Silva's room that lead her on a mysterious journey to finding out about Silva's very complicated and secret life.
This is a brilliant read for a teenager, and Becks is a great heroine. The dialogue rings so true and the book is about so much: friendship, being a gay girl, living in a mixed heritage family, K-pop, the return of absent fathers, how complicated life is and, in a thread running through the story, the sinister danger of toxic relationships.
It's refreshing to see Becks' own sexual orientation as normal life, with her crushes and romances sweet, uncomplicated and secondary to the main plot. The weaving in of Silva's letters to Becks makes for a thrilling pace as the reader sometimes knows more than the narrator.
A really fantastic book with no easy answers and a slightly chilling ending that leaves you salivating for more.
