KJK Reads

Rating:  3 Stars Themes: Memoir Thoughts:  I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a lighthearted memoir despite jumping into the gritty in the first paragraph. It’s a lovely celebration of Pride and queer love, and identity when she explores her social life in the 90s. The photos included at the beginning of each paragraph is a nice touch and I liked the chapters having a title too. However, there isn’t much detail about other traumas mentioned from her childhood but I wasn’t aware that it’s a second memoir so most  of trauma she is ‘triumphing over’ (word used on front cover) must be covered in book one so I was in the dark at points.  Favourite Quote:  "I realized once I moved out and began working at The Advocate that the actions you take as an individual can create a ripple effect. By embracing my identity, sharing my experiences, and standing up for my rights, I'd hoped to make a meaningful impact to a ...

Rating: 3.5 Stars Themes: Doodles/Cartoon, Politics Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. These ‘doodles’ or cartoons are so impactful, the book is so full of emotions and anger that I could feel it flying from the pages. It’s awesome to see what an impact a black and white drawing and one or two sentences can have. The fact that most of the drawings were in black and white made the ones where colour was used even more impactful. I did notice some repeats but there was a slight difference in them and it was still an important message despite being told again. Favourite Quote: “My greatest fear... The closet becomes the safest place.” With thanks to Netgalley for my advanced digital copy of this book.

Rating: DNF  Themes: Mystery Thoughts:  I really struggled with this book and don’t think the series is for me. I found that the characters were pretty much all caricatures which in a series is really unnecessary as we have the time to learn about each new main character and the all cops stupid but the new boy trope was done to an extreme. This felt even weirder to me as the story/mystery was slow to start but it wasn’t because we had to meet the characters in depth since they lacked depth and just followed stereotypes instead. It was also weird that Crystal’s scent was mentioned soo much, even if it is important to the mystery later it felt overboard to have it mentioned multiple times a chapter. I found the Brunswick ‘romance’ element really icky with the age thing even for the time. Working it out Brunswick is about 38 but the girl he is fawning over and chasing is only 19 so it’s nearly a 20 year age gap. As far as the point I DNF’d it, these things were irrelevant but eve...

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Mystery, Suspense, Fiction Thoughts:  I wasn’t sure whether to stick with this book and at one point I mentioned reading it to see if it gets better because it felt like it was taking forever to get started as over 100 pages and we weren’t even in Morocco yet despite the blurb saying soon. I found Florence unlikeable almost from the beginning as she seemed to feel she was better than everyone and deserved more than everyone else while almost blaming them for her not having it yet. I also found Helen and her attitudes unlikeable pretty soon after meeting her so that made me more hesitant about the book but I was confident that they’re being portrayed that way for a reason and they really were. As the real mystery elements unfolded in the latter half of the book I saw that all the build up (that I thought was slowing it down) and Florence and Helen’s characteristics were really important to making the ending work. I was very interested in seeing how the twists...

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Fiction, Mystery  Thoughts: I don’t quite know what to think about this one. I went in thinking it was a thriller mystery type book but while a child does go missing in the first chapter, the story felt like it was missing those elements for me. Especially when we were getting towards the end of the book as Lily’s being found/rescued wasn’t really covered and was more of an afterthought in Rachel’s story. Rachel herself was a character I really couldn’t get along with, while I can see where her dissatisfaction could be coming from she seemed to be completely selfish and centering herself in everyone else's (especially that of Deborah and Mia) trauma. The way in which she spoke about Mia centered herself and almost reduced her as if Rachel had really wanted a doll she could dress and control forever and not an actual child who would grow and develop their own mind. I also disliked the way that as soon as she knew who it was with Lily, she tried to reconstruct...

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Graphic Novel, Romance, LGBTQ+ Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a sweet and slow burn romance. It is advertised as an age gap which is more evident with the older man being a university lecturer but I didn’t realise how small (only 11 years) it actually was until the characters brief bios at the end. I liked that the majority of the story took place either in a library or on scenic car rides as it felt more like a love story for introverts which I don’t see too often. The artwork itself is in black and white which adds a lovely touch as the story isn’t too in your face intense and neither are the pictures. The cover warns of graphic content but that is only in the Bonus Story so those who are interested in the story but not that content can easily skip it without missing out context. Favourite Quote: “I think I was looking for a place I could belong. The more people I interacted with and the ...