Mint and Murder by Carly Winter

Rating:

Stars

Themes:

Short Story, Cosy Mystery

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 to see how the characters and their relationships develop as they go on as I know there’s many more to the series. However, I really didn’t like the way in which an epilogue was put for the book but it was just a teaser for the next book outlining the murder mystery and then telling us to find the next book. I’d have rather had no epilogue, which makes sense with there being more in the series, and sharing a preview to the next book instead of tricking us into reading it.

Favourite Quote:

“This is a small town and sometimes, there's not a lot to discuss except rumors and other people's business.”

Comments

The War of Sober by Edward Rand

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Self-Help, Addiction, Psychology Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a great book not just for addicts trying to establish and maintain their sobriety but also psychologists, counsellors and the people working with them. It approaches the experience of addiction from the perspective of going to war and may help those who can’t get along with the 12 steps, contingency management or other forms of therapy traditionally used. It’s also helpful to have Edward detail his own experiences and approaches throughout so it feels less clinical and shows he does know what he’s talking about when he mentions the difficulties so it comes across less patronising than some self-help addiction books. Favourite Quote: "It doesn't matter what happened yesterday. Win or lose, if we are still alive, we must decide to be different today and then make the correct choices today, because friends, ...

Broken Glass by Sarah Kay

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?"

Shame-Sex Attraction by Lucas Wilson

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...

KJK Reads

Search This Blog