KJK Reads

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is actually a really interesting read. I’ve seen in scientific studies the benefits that supervised drug use can help with psychological traumas and this book shows its benefits specifically with radicalised trauma. I like that Powers advocates for supervised exposure as it is seen therapeutically as the safest option so it doesn’t advise trying alone which could actually make things worse. I like that this alternative to traditional talk therapy is being suggested/approached to for Black people as they are historically less likely to agree to talk therapy so at least they may have another option. Favourite Quote: “Psychedelics spark revolution.”

Rating: 2.5 Stars Themes: Psychological Fiction Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I’m not quite sure about this one, the changing cover threw me off from the start and the formatting with so many new lines for seemingly everything didn’t quite sit right with me. I understood the story and what Polgár was trying to say and actually it is a somewhat important one about the way in which as a child trying to fit in can drag us into the wrong places and trying to find your place as an adult too but that didn’t really outweigh the formatting for me. Favourite Quote: “I’m not asking what it is. It doesn't matter. Everyone's got something. Traumas, I mean. Those scruffy little devils sitting on our shoulders.”

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: History, Childrens, Play. Feminism  Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a great idea, the book is mainly a play that is offered free for schools (I checked them out online) and it’s done in a fun way that will keep children entertained. Boise and Jindan are the main factors in the play as narrators but it is written to only need 3 actors and the narrators interactions not only mention this but find a way to make it funny with them bickering about who has to be a man or who gets to be the richer one. The one that plays Sophia stays as only Sophie so as to keep a focus on her as a whole rather than remembering the character of that scene and it covers her life quite well in the hour it’s expected to go on. It is also cool that it intends to have audience participation as again it will keep children engaged. The biography type bit at the beginning is great and can be used after the play in clas...

Rating: 5 Stars Themes: Historical Fiction, World War 2, Middle Grade Thoughts: This book is split up into three parts, in the first part we are in Lancashire, England and with the way in which Da behaved towards Stanley I was starting to think it was a bit too down for me atm but it is actually important to the rest of the story. Stanley’s love for animals, especially Soldier, is soo sweet and the way in which he describes them makes such a clear picture in our minds. I was torn between thinking Stanley running away to war felt like a severe overreaction and underestimation of what he was signing up for and being glad the situation with Da would be ending. It was interesting to see the way that many different soldiers reacted to Stanley since we knew he was only 14 and records suggest that as many as 250,000 boys under 18 actually served in WW1. I liked the way in which many of the older soldiers as senior officers did what they could to keep Stanley away from the horrors of the front...

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Fantasy, Romance, Retelling, Dual POV Thoughts: I’m still quite new to fantasy stories but I absolutely loved this one. Since it’s a Beauty and the Beast retelling I knew they would get together in the end but it’s definitely a slow burn when halfway through the book they could still barely talk to each other. I enjoyed seeing the way in which they started to care for each other through trying to protect the people of Emberfall and also how those people took to the complete stranger of Harper and their new roles. I loved how Harper’s Cerebral Palsy is portrayed. As someone else with a disability it was refreshing to see her condition took in the stride of Rhen and Grey but she also admits when she’s struggling to slow down the horses or take a hot bath so it isn’t just treated like we should push through everything regardless of what it does to us. It also led to the ‘baddies’ being shown as insulting her through her illness, constantly calling her broken, but I...

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Romance, Contemporary, GrumpyxSunshine  Thoughts: This book is soo cute. The setting of Violet’s manor in Falling Stars is so mesmerising with a sprawling grounds that could be creepy in a different story but instead gives us the romantic feeling of nobody in the world but you. I think it’s almost as magical as ‘Maybell Coffee Shop AU’ which adds an interesting layer with Maybell being able to wander off into her own world when it all gets too much. Maybell herself has such a beautiful heart and is definitely a ray of sunshine throughout, even when trying to bicker or dig at Wesley. It also instantly made me hate Gemma and think she is a POS, as who would do something like that to another human and no wonder Maybell is ‘Twice Shy’ after being (once) bitten like that. Her trying to take some form of credit like she did a good thing later showed a huge lack of growth in her character but then again some people never change their ways. Wesley is a complex chara...