KJK Reads

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Sci-Fi, Short Stories Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a great collection of well thought out short stories of varying lengths. The AI moral conflict stories were interesting as it’s not something I’ve thought about too much before. Most of them seemed to follow a similar world such as the Kami being in more than one story. The ones nearer the end that had a WW2 twist were awesome, blending together the history I’m more familiar with the sci-fi twist.  Favourite Quote: "Art inspires change. That’s why I write."

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Poetry Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This collection is mixed for me, some of the poems were really good and all were definitely emotive but I think so many poems on the Hamas attack and subsequent war which is highly politically charged a little difficult to tackle. Favourite Quote: "What good is it to open my heart when in the end, you will stab it in the back?"

Rating: 2 Stars Themes: Crime, Short Stories Thoughts: I’m really not sure what I think of this story. Some bits of it were great like exploring the realistic backgrounds for some people in prison and the ending was happy and sweet. But I struggled to believe Colin’s miraculous recovery and the birth being bang on the due date which I have never seen happen before. I also noticed there were a lot of ands, sometimes more than one in a sentence and some for every sentence in a paragraph.  Favourite Quote: "As Colin went on listening, he thought it was no wonder that Barry didn’t want to leave the prison. After such a childhood, life inside was better."

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Memoir, Feminism Thoughts: This is a great short book and I definitely think I need to seek out the full version of this book. Caitlin infuses a memoir on her growing up through the 80s and 90s with reflections from modern day, especially with contemporary views on women. It also tackles issues such as being childfree, abortions, misunderstanding feminism and difficult births well in the short extract.  Favourite Quote: "A whole generation confuse ‘feminism’ with ‘anything to do with women’."

Rating: 2 Stars Themes: Short Stories, Romance, Young Adult, Contemporary Thoughts: I picked this one up from the world book day selection thinking it’s a good way to figure out if I can get into the series and the characters and I’m quite glad I did. I really couldn’t get along with Elle’s personality and despite her acknowledging the issues with her thinking this way (especially around Amanda) it still didn’t make me like her any more. However, I did think the idea of a road trip and Lee were sweet, especially him making sure that Elle could get to see the statue of liberty despite the traffic and time constraints.  Favourite Quote: "It turned out road trips weren’t exactly glamorous."

Rating: 5 Stars Themes: Memoir, Mental Health, Non-Fiction, Psychiatry, Humour  Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This book is an amazing read and has given me a much deeper insight into the kind of professional world I hope to be joining (mental health). The first consultant hinting there must be something wrong to want to work there made me laugh as it’s something we used to joke about in my course. Benji shows us what it's like to go from a new graduate right through to his consultancy training. I appreciated that he didn’t shy away from his own experiences of burnout and mental health suffering as more books like this help to contribute to de-stigmatisation of mental ill health. I’m glad we got to get one or two pieces of some sort of closure but I understand that Benji himself didn’t get to complete the process of any of his patients being moved regularly so it makes sense we don’t always find out if his patients ar...

Rating: Stars  Themes: Horror, Supernatural Thriller, Short Stories Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is the second installment in the Eerie Acadia series and follows a similar format to the first tackling elements of mental health and fear one at a time for the character. This time we meet an adult with more grown up worries and looking for help wherever she can. The therapist definitely gave me eerie vibes from the off and I think was well written and the ending felt sweet and hopeful after everything.  Favourite Quote: "For the next couple of weeks, I found that anxiety was no longer something I felt inclined to claim as 'mine.' I stopped saying 'my anxiety and referred to the condition simply as anxiety, giving it less personalization and removing it from my identity. I realised now it was not a part of who I was. It was a part of being human, but it was not a part of my authentic self."

Rating:  3 Stars Themes: Memoir, Nonfiction, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Own Voices Thoughts: This memoir is a bit of everything. As McCreary says you wouldn’t expect a memoir from a twenty something year old but I think it’s important for young people with ASD going through school to be able to find voices who can relate which with the developing nature of technology many older people who didn’t grow up with phones and social media can’t (McCreary himself admits they were only just getting internet and Facebook was new when he was at camp and now most young people have easy daily access to the internet and multiple social media sites). There are funny elements but since it is a memoir in a serious element of his life the balance between realism and comedic undertones is struck well in my opinion. Favourite Quote: "Having autism is like having too many tabs open on a computer. Or more accurately, it’s like trying to surf the web without an ad blocker. Every time you click on somethi...

Rating: 5 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Self-Help, Psychology Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I am so glad I picked up this book, from my previous books and studies I knew the importance of the Vagus Nerve in regulation and tackling trauma but this is my first in depth look into it. I appreciated how the book started off with explaining all about the nerve and its importance to give a more holistic view before looking into healing it and the illustrations for things such as the phases of healing and the zones makes it easier to visualise these theories. I was also pleasantly surprised with the representation in the illustrations with a mix of genders and races being depicted and even people like long hair and stubble together or wearing a headscarf which can easily be overlooked when making less image dense books like this. I also appreciated the end having recommendations for rise as we are and wearable tech recommendations ...

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Poetry, Identity Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This book interweaves so many different themes in such a short collection of poems., tackling topics I relate to such as femininity, psychology and queerness with others that I need to learn more about such as being Pakistani, and being Muslim. I was also amazed at how well Ahsan managed to weave the Quran in the text making it rhyme and also fit in with each poem a quote is used in. Ahsan really makes us feel things with each of her poems, especially those on world known attacks like 9/11 and the Pulse nightclub. 

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Poetry Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This poetry collection is so diverse it manages to keep you feeling with every poem without starting to think that it was becoming more of the same. The poems on school shootings and Hiroshima and Nagasaki were especially emotive and those on self-acceptance and struggling with your mind also rang surprisingly close to me.  Favourite Quote: "Valentines Day. Another school shooting. 3 dead. 7 critically wounded. But probably not really big a deal because it was at a college, and all the victims and wounded were almost adults Their blood, and cries, and screams for help are probably worth a little less because of that."

Rating: 5 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Mental Health, Psychology Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This book was an amazing read for me both personally and professionally. Although it was hard at time to read thought processes and experiences that reflected my own when I was at my sickest, it was really helpful to hear about the different eating disorders from people who have actually lived with them. I also really appreciated the fact that lesser known and understood conditions such as Diabulimia, muscle dysmorphia and orthorexia to help bring light to the more complex issues. Professionally, it is also great to hear from those with the conditions themselves as at times it can be hard for some professionals to be able to relate or separate the lesson from the actualities of living with a condition. Favourite Quote: Getting back to normal' eating habits with a healthy relationship with food is a process and different for e...

Rating: 5 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Memoir, Trauma, Mental Health  Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This was an often hard but crucial read. I am glad Amy is in a place in her journey where she is able to share her story now as it doubtless inspires many going through similar things, and it has definitely impacted me as a future practitioner. I was infuriated for her at the treatment that was provided by many of her so called professionals such as Kendra and the nurse at the inpatient hospital talking about knowing her and so this book is great to help us in the field learn exactly how this behaviours can impact on a negative mental health journey and do better going forward, much like those in the CIT programmes.   Favourite Quote: "I’m hopeful that by writing this book I’ll find the one person who needed to hear this story. Maybe, just maybe, they’ll become Unsilenced, too."

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Poetry, Love  Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Most of these poems were beautiful, showing the reality of having a crush, young love, infatuation and heartbreak. However, I did have a major problem with one poem as the lines about changing postcodes to stay near someone and call the cops I’ll love you till they arrive while calling the woman cruel romanticises stalking and harassment which is already a crime often not taken seriously enough nevermind trying to portray it as loving and acceptable.  Favourite Quote: "It's a cruel thing. Time is. It takes what it cannot give back"

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Arts and Crafts, Hobbies, Mindfulness Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is such a cool colouring book. Working through it was soothing and relaxing, great for mindfulness and grounding. The pages had a good mix of detailing and more simplistic colouring spaces and the slogans are funny and often sarcastic. I also loved the spare/blank page on the back of each colouring page that stopped two pictures from bleeding through the pages and blending which I have struggled to work with in other colouring books. 

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, LGBTQ+, Picture Puzzle Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This may be one of the most fun ways to learn about our communities history. I have read quite a few books about Pride and the LGBTQ+ community but this book still managed to teach me something new, especially in the middle ages and Gods bits. Having the unicorn, butterfly and pride flag to search for throughout was fun and helped join all the pages together that little bit more. Overall I enjoyed the searching although some took me way longer than they probably should have to find and the pictures/scenes were all fun and detailed. I also appreciated the flags page and glassary at the end for anyone learning new terms or turning to this as their first introduction to LGBTQ+ history.  Favourite Quote: "Pride is a protest. Pride is a statement. Pride is a celebration. This book is all of the above!"

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Children's Fiction, Psychologyy, Mental Health  Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I really wish I had this book when I was younger and struggling to understand my own mental health. Anika is a relatable character to anyone who has struggled to understand or cope with their mental health while still school age. The illustrations were realistic while staying childlike and cartoon enough not to make it too overwhelmingly realistic with the topic. I am glad that she was shown opening up to a variety of people (family and friends as well as professionals) and the methods explored to help are great ones that anyone can try.  Favourite Quote: "I've been in a sad funk for a few weeks. Maybe even a month now. What's weird is that nothing happened or changed to make me start feeling this way. I almost wish something really awful had happened, then I'd understand it. But nothing changed. I...

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Children's Non-Fiction, Self-Help Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I was pleasantly surprised by this book. There was some things that I expected and were good like taking the compassionate approach to why some children fear being apart from parents and the adding of the animal kingdom facts is a great way to engage younger children. But the steps and having the staircase was an amazing way to take a therapeutic process (gradual exposure therapy) and pose it in a way that families can engage with themselves without having  to go to a therapist which many may not even think to try for children just wanting to be with parents. It was also interesting to see how they managed to explain the amygdala and fear response in child appropriate terms as it’s something I didn’t know anything about until i started my studies.  Favourite Quote: "For some children, the move toward independence happens smoo...