KJK Reads

Rating: 3.5 Stars Themes: Graphic Novel  Thoughts: This is a surprisingly deep and cute book. From the back of the cover (not the same blurb as goodreads) it sounded like something funny and maybe quirky and the first chapter fit in with it. However, as the story unfolds we see Frankie navigating the world around her and figuring out who she is in relation to an absent father with the support of her friends. I liked that between Frankie and her friends many minorities were represented so it can help many kids who feel different and don’t feel represented in the stories they read. The ending was really sweet and I’m kinda intrigued as to what’s coming next for Frankie. The illustrations themselves are great and there’s some more things to see the longer you look at them.  Favourite Quote: “Honey, there’s nothing wrong with being different. In fact, it’s the best thing you can be!”

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Childrens Fiction, Rhyming  Thoughts: A cute rhyming story showing how reading can be used in daily life to promote reading to children. Favourite Quote: “For a boy so little he knew a lot because he would read every chance he got.”

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Fiction, Novella Thoughts: This is a somewhat interesting book if you can get your head around the inner workings and interpretations, which I have to admit took me a moment or else it could have been a read in a day book. It is interesting that the massacre that is being memorialised is never actually declared/decided and everytime it is mentioned to anyone Serbian they say “which one” especially with the history of occupations. I also found the quote on an ethno-racist war interesting as Haworth stated that she wrote this in 2020 when the monuments around colonisation and the slave trade were being debated and pulled down in the news while Brits and Americans debated their own racist history. I did find the different POVs while still being in 3rd person was a little jarring, especially when it switched between the events and ‘hallucinations’ or ‘visons’ of the characters and different characters all in one chapter. Favourite Quote: “We need to stop denying tha...

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Dystopian Fiction, Young Adult, Post-Apocalypse Thoughts: I was quite intrigued reading this one, the nuclear apocalypse happened quite quickly but we experienced the events with Danny rather than jumping in after everything had already happened which I’m used to. It also showed the way in which everyday people handles/reacted to it and the authorities were actually absent for most of the book which meant we got to see so much more of how Swindells feels people would treat each other with a lack of formal rules after such an event. It’s interesting that Swindells avoided mentioning any specifics of the year or time period the events happened and since there’d be no technology after that kind of collapse then it could even represent what would happen today despite it being written in 1984. The ending was really well written even if it wasn’t what I’d hoped for and does leave us with hope for the characters in the future too. Favourite Quote: “They used to say we ...

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Domestic Fiction, Dual POV Thoughts: This was my first book by this author and I haven’t read many from this midlife style of domestic fiction either so it was all pretty new to me. Having the Alexa as a real human was an intriguing premise and I may have asked the Alexa in our house if she is really a real human called Pauline but she hasn’t been programmed with a response to this book yet. Michelle seemed to have everything that could go wrong for her happen but I know someone who has had that type of year so it didn’t feel like an exaggeration to me. However, she also did seem like a little bit of a midlife cliche at some points but I’m sure that was done intentionally to represent the target audience. I have to admit that Marc did my head in and I get that he’s feeling unfulfilled but why should that mean that he causes more problems that Michelle has to fix and why when he claims the socialisation of ordering sh*t online is what he likes, does he not look a...

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Dystopian Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I found this book soo conflicting, while the premise itself was intriguing I found most of the characters insufferable. Juliet is so selfish and self-important which would rub me up the wrong way in most books but in an end of the world as we know it situation when she’s (internally) whining about having to help Martin’s friend with a severe snake bite or helping a toddler in the beginning even though she was supportive after they had already started helping the child. I understand the mothers need to get back to her child, especially when the world is upturned but the seemingly total overriding of compassion for anyone else, including Martin who is helping her stay alive, is irritating. Billy himself is also somewhat selfish but that is completely understandable considering he is only a teenager and they behave like that in normal circumstances nevermind a ...