KJK Reads

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Romance, Small Town, Dual POV, Grumpy/Sunshine Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I know Carlisle can do small town romances well but this one was a step up with the stuck in the cabin too. I loved the dogs and how well their characters shone through and it added to the snowy cabin days and the feeling of homeliness (despite being so far from Tessa’s home). I also really liked Tessa’s character with the clumsiness and jokes about romcoms, it made her feel so much like the kind of person I often am and know so many of. I did like Gage and the parts from his POV to help understand him more and I was rooting for them as a couple by the end too.  Favourite Quote: “Because love doesn't come around every day. And when it does when it looks like a grumpy mountain man with kind eyes and chainsaw-carved furniture and dogs that fall in love with you instantly-you don't walk away. You fight. And this time...

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Disability, Self-Help, Memoir Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. As someone who is still coming to terms with my disability and it’s impacts on my life, this book helped make me feel seen. Some of the advice I already knew from a recent bout of therapy to help me process it but it felt really validating to see that someone else had gone through something similar and also give me a heads up as to what I may come to experience when I decide to start dating while disabled. Favourite Quote: “Growing up, I never asked for help. I was scared to ask because I felt it made me look weak and needy. One of the biggest stigmas people with disabilities face, in my experience, is being underestimated, infantilized, and perceived as in constant need. I did not want to give anyone further reason to put me in that box.”

Rating: 3 Stars Themes:  Thriller, Fiction, Crime Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I have mixed feelings about this one. One one hand the murder crime element around the missing girls was interesting and I didn’t predict who the killer would be. On the other hand there were bits in there that felt unnecessary such as all of the bits from Regina’s POV and most of Zoe looking into her past since we didn’t get any closer to answers there although I see there’s going to be another book so maybe it’s gonna be a story across a series with the different crimes alongside for each book. The audiobook itself seemed well paced but I did notice I’d stopped paying attention at a couple of points. 

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Children's, Fiction, Holiday  Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a great children's holiday book to open their curiosity and understanding around the different winter holidays. It touches on 6 different holidays and also the importance of helping others and giving too and I really appreciated the Holiday Glossary at the end as there were 2 that I didn’t know anything about covered. I also liked the diversity in the book was really thought about with the illustrations too with different races, hairstyles and ages being covered, with there being a child in and wheelchair and even a long distance family thought of. Favourite Quote: “Though we all celebrate in our own way, kindness is what leads the winter day.”

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Children, Graphic Novel, Disability  Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I just had to grab this book as the premise sounded so interesting and it was. The book handles the theme of disability in a sensitive manner and I’m sure that it will be great to help children get their heads around having an amputated limb. It was also an interesting creative choice to have the majority of the book in red with the title being rose and just the black for the wolf although with colourblindness being so common I’m not sure whether it would be as impactful for those with red colourblindness. 

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Childrens, Christmas, Fiction  Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is such a fun way for kids to learn about the spirit of giving at Christmas rather than being told by caregivers (as we know how often it goes in one ear and out the other) but instead through dogs. I really liked that the lesson was learnt through Faith’s House to really reinforce the looking out for those less fortunate. The book can also be used to explain to children the reason a family is doing a gifting tree, donating to a food pantry or donating a gift to a local gift drive. Favourite Quote: “Remember, Christmas is a time of being selfless, showing forgiveness, and being together with the ones we love. Sure, it’s awesome to get gifts, but to make others feel happy, that’s the Spirit of Christmas.”

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Poetry Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. As someone who is still trying to heal their relationship with food, the description and other reviews convinced me I had to give this book a try. The photos are of really appetising food and the Haikus that accompany them related to both the food and relationships. Some of the things I hadn’t even thought of such as the grounding warmth comment alongside the coffee picture. I also appreciated the glossary of food found in Singapore at the end since there were foods I wasn’t aware of covered.

Rating: 1 Star Themes: Romance, Audiobook Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I gave this book a fair shot since I liked the characters personalities but there were too many issues for me to like it. Although I liked Bella’s character for the most part it felt unrealistic someone who cares so much about family and pays for her mums medical bills and brothers tuition out of compassion would hear her mums going to hospital and then be thinking about a new dress for an event rather than saving the money just incase but at least she borrowed it in the end. The story itself felt overly descriptive, for example I don't need to know the colour of the skirt a character wipes their hands on and at times was repetitive, especially about characters' pasts. The narrators also sounded monotonous narrators which didn’t help keep my attention or passion for the story.

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Thriller, Mystery, Audiobook Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. By the time I came to read this book I had forgotten what I’d read in the blurb so I went in sort of blind and that opening instantly set me up for what was to come and caught my attention from the off. There are some great twists and turns throughout so even though I thought I had predicted the victim at first I started to doubt myself (turned out I was right) and I couldn’t predict how they ended up dead.Francesca and Owen were insufferable characters to me but that shows great writing when other characters felt so likeable to me. The birds  as a concept had me confused at first as to what they could be and where the superstition came from but turned out really well done and I was super impressed with it/them by the end. I listened to the audiobook version of this and the multiple narrators helped me to keep all the different POV’s i...

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Young Adult Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. In the age of lessening sex education this book could be a great tool to help bridge the gap. I appreciate the talk to an adult bits that can encourage children to start to have conversations that are important but they often think are cringy. The note to trusted adults bit at the end is great too and there’s quite a few useful activities to help the messages really sink in. Some of the points here such as fetishisation and body image are really important ones that I never learned that young (which could be the reason I had such poor body image as a teen) and for the most part the book talks to kids on their level although some areas may feel a little immaturely worded for older teens.

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Poetry Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This poetry collection handles the complexity of grief when difficult relationships are involved and also the lived experience of Myanmar's political struggles and military coup in emotive details. Some of the poems have an air of myth and fantasy with dragon metaphors which shows the complicated relationships even better. Favourite Quote: “DEAR FELLOW FABLEMAKER, There is a country drowning. Mine.”

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Christmas, Romance, Small Town, Hallmark Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This book says in the introduction that if you like Hallmark movies you will enjoy this story and it more than lived up to that. In general, I’m not the biggest fan of Hallmark movies but I absolutely love to get my seasonal hallmark fill in books and this was a good one. Leslie really takes the time to develop the characters as people and their relationships before even bringing out the quilt which adds a feel good touch to the story and leads to some sweet moments towards the end. I enjoyed how much effort Leslie put into the children and their feelings which added to the feelgood cozy vibes, and Laura’s children are class adding some laughter in too. The relationship between Laura and Dan developed in a manner that felt realistic to me and their characters were both likeable and somewhat relatable. Favourite Quote: “We'r...

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Romance, Fantasy, Witches, Second Chance Romance Thoughts: What a cute witchy romance this book is. I instantly fell in love with the Toil and Trouble trio (which makes me so glad that there are more books for me to move onto in this series), their personalities and friendship blend so well. Bastian took a little longer to warm up to, since we know how much he hurt Emma but once I understood his motives I melted to him too and I suddenly 100% understood him. The development of their relationship and the friendships felt realistic and showed real character development, especially for Bastian with Tia and Kole. Overall, this was a great and cozy witchy read for my October reading. Favourite Quote: “That's what you don't get. You shouldn't have to be a certain way to have somebody love you. Love isn't love if it isn't freely offered. Love isn't selfish."

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Folklore  Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I learnt so much from this book. I knew some of the things such as the First Footing and crossing on the stairs but thought I’d have a go with this book to see if there’s any more I needed to know. Although some of the points are a bit archaic there are some points that are easy to apply in our daily life and ones like th eFolklore First Aid Kit can be great ideas for first points of call for sickness (especially helpful as coughs and colds are specifically mentioned and I can’t take cold and flu tablets so they will be really helpful for me going forward.The illustrations were complimentary and I really liked the dates for your diary but at the end of each section making it easier to mark out things we want to observe going forward. Favourite Quote: “Yet despite (or maybe stubbornly because of) interference from those who naysay, who psycho...

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Supernatural Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a great first introduction or basic guide to the different types of ghosts around the world. I am interested in the supernatural but am just starting to look deeper into it so I learned a lot of different creatures here. There are some interesting facts here such as being raised in the North East we used to say The Grey Lady ghost was in the school toilets if you called her 3 times in a mirror so it was very interesting to learn that one of the original Grey Ladies is actually from somewhere close to other family members. The images are awesome as they show what these new to me creatures look like and there were quite a few beautiful ones in there. However, I would have liked a pronunciation breakdown after each title.

Rating: 2 Stars  Themes: Retellings Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I have mixed thoughts on this one. On one hand I do appreciate what Birss was trying to do here and some of the stories such as the twist on the Little Mermaid worked quite well in my mind. But others seemed to be too short to have much of an impact with their message and felt a little forced. While I do usually love a good feminist retelling this collection fell short of the mark for me. However, the illustrations were beautiful and it was great to mostly have an original one for each story, with just two sharing an image. Favourite Quote: “I watched my younger sister die in inches, as most women do for the love of an undeserving man. She molded herself in his image, and I lost her for a time.”

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Children's Fiction Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This book is soo cute and a great way to help teach children about resilience in the face of any of life’s changes. Kit and Amal are both so curious about their new surroundings and apply determination, resilience, and hope to the things around them in an interesting way. The illustrations are great, they’re pretty and vibrant enough to attract children's attention to the details without becoming overwhelming and add to the overall effectiveness of the story.  Favourite Quote: “If you kids can find determination, resilience, and hope, you can handle any change. Good or bad. Big or small"