KJK Reads

Rating: DNF  Themes: Poetry Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a mixed bag of poetry for me. There are some poems such as ‘My Heart is a Boat’, ‘Grandmother’ and ‘Burned’ that struck a chord with me. However, some of the poems felt more like prose or essays with them being very long and the broken lines of some of the poems (one being one word per line) made it more difficult to read and pages longer than felt needed. Favorite Quote: “with love, grief and fury my eyes blurred with tears I cannot write this page everywhere, chaos, conflict the global mourning can be seen from space trust your grief it is trying to show you the truth believe your tears they are crying to show you your strength”

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, LGBTQ+ Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is definitely a difficult read and it took me quite a while to get through it for that very reason. It is split up into 17 different peoples experiences with a foreword and afterword. It’s definitely an important read for many as these practices are still legal in many countries, including my own, and without knowledge of the damage of the practices many may not join in the protests or sign the petitions to try to get laws in place. As a member of the community myself I found some of these stories such as the ‘Sniffing the Gay Away’ and ‘Convert’ especially difficult to read and reminded me just how lucky I was to have such a supportive and loving community around me. I appreciated that the afterword highlighted the limitations of the collection such as having little to no religious, geographical or racial diversity but that they did try to ga...

Rating:  Stars Themes: Short Story, Cosy Mystery Thoughts: Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I had to read this book, seeing it was available, after reading Pipers Piping and Puppies last year. I did read it as a standalone (it’s not the first time I’ve read a series out of order and likely won’t be the last) I managed to follow along fine although I’m sure I’d have understood the relationship dynamics better had I read it in the correct order. I found the story great and as for the mystery I was guessing myself right the way through until Sam figured it out. Sam is a strong female main character who feels worth investing in so I may have to go search some more of the Heywood Herbalist series out. I enjoyed seeing Sam interact with her friends as they had great chemistry and it felt real, and also really liked Sam’s interactions with Doug as it added another layer of humanity to her and reality to the town. I would love ...

Rating: 3.5 Stars Themes: Cozy Mystery, Short Story Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is another short and sweet cozy mystery by Gray. The characters are interesting and each have a trait for us to be suspicious of them. Delaney is another example of Gray’s witty and charismatic female sleuths and she definitely made me laugh once or twice which is extra impressive considering how short the book is. The mystery is pretty well wrapped up in the short space too and it was nice to see that Delaney got what she aimed for out of the experience despite the way in which her trip was derailed. Favourite Quote: “Either way, I'd come to Mosswood Camp looking to find myself. I hadn't expected murder But I did, somehow, find what I needed. Even if it wasn't what I came for.”

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Slasher, Short Story, Suspense  Carnival Kills by Caesar Daniels Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is an easy readable slasher so long as you don’t mind the gore and violence. There are some very creepy villains with an understandable motive and some self-centred college students which makes them all feel like they could be real life people and there’s an overarching atmosphere of uncertainty that keeps us on edge right until the last page. Overall, it was a great and creepy short read. Favourite Quote: “Now, after all these years, the cycle repeats itself.”

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Crime Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I did enjoy this book with the mystery of what happened to Genevive and to Jessie and it definitely had me guessing and second guessing most of the way through. I did like the banter and rapport between Braddock and Tori but I’m not sure how necessary the romance element was although I’ll admit it did make for a sweet ending. I also found that it was wayy longer than necessary with the details of the other case Tori was sent on in the middle and the one nearer the end of the book weren’t really important to the overall plot and did lead to the book feeling dragged out at points.  Favourite Quote: “We'll just have to put everything back together, It'll define us only if we let it”

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Abuse  Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is quite a difficult read but one that’s really worth it for the insight it gives if you can make it through. Jonah and Solly really do have a rough time of it throughout the book from the beatings to the loss of hope and the death of a dear friend but their strength and resilience throughout gives us a sense of hope. Whittenberg does a good job getting across the need to be on alert at all times and the knowledge that today could be your last day really well. She also does a good job of conveying the need to persevere and the fear of being separated. I was really glad the mum stepped up towards the end by calling a lawyer and I have to admit with the type of person Nick is and being on the run I have a feeling they may just get away with it. The ending was a bit of a tough pill to swallow but it’s quite a realistic one ...

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Romance, Short Story, Brothers Best Friend/Best Friends Sister, Dual POV, Christian Romance Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is such a cute quick romance read. There’s only kissing which leans into the wholesome vibes between Blake and Ryder though it is also hinted they’re waiting till marriage due to religion as their motive. The two really overcome quite a lot in such a short book in order to establish a relationship and make it work. I’m really glad that there was a character arc with the dad as he was so pig headed I wanted to throttle him at times but at least he came to his senses at the end and I’d love to hear more about the charity in other books since there’s already a prequel so there could be more in store for that fictional universe. I did guess who Reggie was straight away which made it even funnier seeing the characters speculate on something I had sussed out so well.  Favour...

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Cozy Mystery, Short Story Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I read these out of order so it’s great to finally find out how Leigha and Calvin met and got into their swing. This is an interesting first installment to the Victims on Vacation series and is a great way to slowly reel us in with a cozy mystery and a less intense crime than those that come later in the series.  Favourite Quote: “Don't let yourself feel behind for any reason. You are right where you should be.”

Rating: 5 Stars Themes: Psychological Fiction, Feminism, Third Person, Women's Fiction Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I am lucky to have never had to experience the predatory nature of religion or MLMs so this book at first was quite unnerving as I went in blind (read a few months after reading the blurb and requesting so I had forgotten what was coming) and had no clue where the story was going to go. However, as the story went on and Anna started to come into her own I really enjoyed it. I loved the strong female characters and how they managed to come together by the end of it to do what’s best for the victims of Christian. 

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Children's Fiction Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This was quite an interesting book seeing how children handle the pain and then the attention of a bloody injury at primary school age. And then how they can handle the difference of healing and what will come afterwards. I think it perfectly depicts the drama and fuss of an injury at that age, especially from the memories I have of classmates of that age getting injured. 

Rating: 5 Stars Themes: Children's Fiction Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is such a beautiful book about Tali and her Nona cooking together, exploring family and the way in which Dementia/Alzheimer's impacts their interactions. It’s lovely to see Tali trying to figure out what is meant by the timeless time and keeping her on track and I think it’s actually a really sweet way to look at Dementia/Alzheimer's as a condition as well. The illustrations were also well done with some great detailing.

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Children's Fiction Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a great book to start to explain politics to children. It shows the importance of thinking critically about the people you vote for and also the power that people can hold when they come together which is awesome for kids to learn about their power.