KJK Reads

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Graphic Novel, Childrens, Middle Grade  Thoughts: I managed to get my hands on this book second hand for a steal and had to read it to check the age was appropriate for the boy I had bought it for or if I needed to keep it for a few years. Not only is it the perfect age and hopefully able to entice him into reading but it also made me smile in a few points too.

Rating: 2 Stars Themes: Short Stories  Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect going into this book as the reviews seem to either love it or find it a waste of time and after reading it I can kind of see why. The short book is made up of 25 stories each taking its own approach which gives us an insight into lots of different lives to our own. However, there is no flow through each individual one which at times felt disjointed and sometimes it took me till nearly the end of the story to figure out what/who it was about. Though I won't be reading this one again, it is no comment on the author's skill and I may look into a full story written by her instead in the future. Favourite Quote: “Your memories, your youth, your strength, your life: the factory had taken them. All it had left you was weariness, the mortal weariness of forty years of work.”

Rating: 4 Stars  Themes: Psychological Fiction, Mental Health Thoughts: I picked up this book as I thought the blurb had an interesting premise and seeing it was an award winner I thought it would be well worth a shot and I wasn’t disappointed. K tells the story of his life to the African God of stories, sharing a difficult story through honouring his heritage. K himself is such a complicated individual and as we see his difficult childhood at the beginning we can understand how the troubled child can develop into a struggling adult. I did enjoy seeing his relationship with P develop from caring for a baby brother into 2 men trying to navigate adult life and the ways in which mental health struggles can force a divide between families. This book may be short and each chapter split so that it can be jumped in and out of as needed but I absolutely devoured this one and only put it down as needed (sleep got in my way of reading it all in one sitting). Favourite Quote: “My body require...

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Holocaust Thoughts: This is something completely different to the Holocaust books I have read before but I found it in my library and it being about local history piqued my interest. The beginning of the book is mainly around the history of the war and the Holocaust itself which I mainly knew but the paragraph all about the men DLI themselves was new and interesting and set the scene perfectly for them to be at Belsen. The book is very educational and I really liked the amount of references and further reading that was provided at the end for each different thing so I can learn more about the DLI and Belsen specifically without having to go hunting for their specific resources.  Favourite Quote: “Never forget the six million who died in the Holocaust. If we forget, it may happen again.”

Rating: 5 Stars Themes: Graphic Novel  Thoughts: I have never read a fully illustrated book before now but this one absolutely amazed me. I found that the illustrations were amazingly done and absolutely stunning, so despite there being no words I didn’t feel the pages lacking. I liked that those whose reasons for migrating we saw were all for different reasons as it highlights multiple reasons why someone may feel the need to go in the real world. I also liked that the man had gone and work in order to save enough money to bring the rest of his family as that’s what I always think seeing single male migrants but hearing comments by some online shows me how rare that realisation is. I must admit I don’t think I 100% got the little animal type friends but they were soo cute I don’t mind.

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Dystopian Fiction, Young Adult Thoughts: Remember me is sweet and heartbreaking in near equal measures. At first I have to admit I had no clue what was going on and felt like I was learning what had been happening alongside Blue which is interesting. Blue has some amazing friends and their conversations make me think of the friends and banter I had at that age (especially surrounding exams and revision). I sweat chapter 14 is the longest chapter known to man (112 pages) but it makes perfect sense as it allows us to learn all that Blue had erased without it being broken up and feeling disjointed. The ending being how it is allows for a little reader interpretation as to whether it is to be a happy ending or more heartbreak for Blue but I’ll imagine that the retrieval goes like they hoped.  Favourite Quote: “Real life isn't always as shiny as the memories we wish we had, but it is real and that's the important part.”