"Before I used it, the key had infinite possibilities.
Eleven-year-old Elise feels stuck. Her school locker-buddy squashes her lunch and laughs at her, every day. She doesn't want to go to school - and her best friend Franklin just makes things worse.
Now I was ready for something to be different. Anything, really.
One day Elise discovers an incredible secret. A secret that might just help her unlock her past, and take a chance on the future.
I decided that tomorrow I would see what that key opened up. It had my name on it, after all . . ."
Despite Eight Keys being aimed at the tween audience I was really eager to give it a read due to all the critical acclaim for LaFleur’s debut novel Love, Aubrey and I was surprised by how much as an adult I enjoyed it.
Suzanne LaFleur captures what it’s like to be an eleven year old girl perfectly. Right from the start I was back there with Elise understanding what she was going through and feeling. Eight Keys is a charming coming of age story about family, friendship, and crossing that difficult and unsteady road from childhood into the teen years. LaFleur expertly captures the growing pains of leaving childhood games behind and muddling through your first year at a new grown up school. Mixed in with insecurities, bullying issues and a lovely secret legacy left behind by her late father and Elise has a lot to contend with and a lot to learn! This story is narrated with charm, honesty and innocence making it hugely relatable and endearing to a young reader.
Suzanne has a magicial and moving way of telling a story and is a hidden gem amongst her genre. If you’re starting out at high school at the end of this summer or are a parent of or know somebody who is I would whole heartedly recommend this gorgeous story on growing up. I only wish that Suzanne LaFleur was writing books when I was younger!
Overall Eight Keys was a sweet and tender read that has the rare ability to capture the hearts of everyone even this slightly older than aimed for reader!
My Rating 4/5 stars
Thanks go to Puffin for sending me this book to review
Synopsis taken from Amazon
This sounds really good! Seen it about recently but this is the first proper review I've read. Sounds like something I'd get for my sister
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This does sound like a good read, I've seen it popping up on a few different blogs recently - it's one that I will watch out for.
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