KJK Reads

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Romance, New Adutl, Contemporary Romance, Dual POV, Dual Timeline Thoughts: A somewhat strange sort of love story. I know most people call this a love story but most of the book involves Tate lusting after Miles and him treating her appallingly but that's supposed to be okay in our eyes as he finally changes in the last less than 100 pages. In my honest (psych and counseling degree educated) opinion this can be a dangerous message to send to impressionable young adults and increase their vulnerability to abuse.  Favourite Quote: "Sometimes a man’s spirit just ain’t strong enough to withstand the ghosts from his past."

Rating: 4 Stars  Themes: Classics, Mental Health, Gothic, 19th Century Thoughts: Though a short story, this book does an excellent job of showing one woman's descent into (or further into) mental illness through the obsession and consequent relationship with the new rooms wallpaper. Favourite Quote: "At night in any kind of light, in twilight, candlelight, lamplight, and worst of all by moonlight, it becomes bars! The outside pattern I mean, and the woman behind it is as plain as can be."

Rating: 5 Stars Themes: Thriller, Mystery, Crime, Suspense, Disability Thoughts:  Another great book by Douglas. The representation of dynamic chronic pain was very accurate, and seeing the control and manipulation it allowed her to accept can be hard to read. In terms of the mystery I can totally see how that would happen in the context of painful emotions, trauma and fear.  Favourite Quote: "She's got used to living with the chronic pain. The accident had damaged her muscles and nerves, but the emotional pain was harder to deal with."

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Memoir, Health, Disability, Non-Fiction, CFS/ME, Short Story Thoughts: This was definitely a difficult read for a fellow spoonie with periods of fatigue. But in a society still judging and making jokes about people with ME/CFS I think this is a critical read to help others not in the community to understand the brutal reality people with the condition face.  Favourite Quote: "Fatigue, I learned, is not the absence of energy, just as sadness is not the absence of happiness. Fatigue is a force unto itself; it sucks you dry like a dentist’s tool and punches you in the solar plexus. You lack reserves. You feel raw, unpeeled. Small barbs wound deeply; the self-pity adds up. The suffering of both loved ones and complete strangers strikes so much more deeply than before. But crying gives you a headache, so you try to avoid it. Sometimes you can’t try hard enough and your voice cracks and you go to a dark, speechless place. "

Rating: 5 Stars Themes: True Crime, Non-Fiction, Memoir, Abuse, Religion Thoughts: This is such a difficult but important read. Misty details her life in heartbreaking details whilst still (reading the last chapter) sheltering us readers from becoming desensitised from overexposure. Not only is this important for police and services such as social care to read to avoid letting another child like Misty and Samantha or their aunt fall through the cracks but also everyday citizens because there were so many people that could have made a difference in her life if they had said something.  Favourite Quote: “I hope child abuse and sexual assault survivors will take heart from my story and move past their pain to embrace their dreams. I encourage everyone: Never turn a blind eye towards child abuse. Please be a hero and report; you may be that child’s last chance.”

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Historical Fiction, Banned Books, Military Fiction, War Fiction Thoughts: A hard but insightful read. The contrast between the beginning believing they won't be there long and the end of Perry's tour where the action is becoming intense is clear and escalating. It also shows the deterioration of different soldiers mental states and what causes it.  Favourite Quote: “Maybe the time had passed when anybody could be a good guy.”