KJK Reads

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, True Crime  Thoughts: This book does a great job of sticking to the facts without going over the top and glorifying the gore in the cases. It covers 11 cases in detail and then briefly mentions a few that didn’t properly fit in the epilogue. I like that it focuses on what happened in the perpetrators lives to seemingly trigger their choices to kill but it would be nice to know more about the victims themselves as humans since they are often, no matter how unintentionally, erased from their own stories. Overall, it’s a good book and great as a starting point to further research the areas/cases. Favourite Quote: “It’s not my intention to provide any excuses for these killers, though. I just hope that by uncovering their often sad and tragic lives, it might be possible to prevent others from evolving into being the psychopaths of the future.”

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Classics, Fiction, Short Stories  Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. It’s interesting to read short stories that reflect the 1960s experiences of African Americans, written by someone with the same lived experience. It’s unfortunately just as relevant today as when it was published. There are only 8 stories but it covers many complex topics such as housing discrimination, addiction, and family secrets as well as the overt racism and institutional racism. Favourite Quote: “Goddamit to hell, I'm sick of it. Can't I get a place to sleep without dragging it through the courts? I'm goddamn tired of battling every Tom, Dick, and Harry for what everybody else takes for granted. I'm tired, man, tired! Have you ever been sick to death of something? Well, I'm sick to death. And I'm scared I've been fighting so goddamn long I'm not a person any more I'm not Booker T. Washington...

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Poetry  Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a great introduction to Dickinson’s works. The introduction is nice and then the book itself groups Dickinson’s poems into love, death and spirituality, creativity and identity, and nature. The curator has picked some great poems and does have a few literary critiques but for the most part lets Dickinson’s poems speak for themselves. It is weird to have someone critique work, especially arguing with others without really knowing who they are though. The cover is also gorgeous and drew me to the book itself, I like the touch of it being a bird as that is her most well known poem. Favourite Quote: “Because I could not stop for Death - He kindly stopped for me - The Carriage held but just Ourselves -  And Immortality”

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is actually a really interesting read. I’ve seen in scientific studies the benefits that supervised drug use can help with psychological traumas and this book shows its benefits specifically with radicalised trauma. I like that Powers advocates for supervised exposure as it is seen therapeutically as the safest option so it doesn’t advise trying alone which could actually make things worse. I like that this alternative to traditional talk therapy is being suggested/approached to for Black people as they are historically less likely to agree to talk therapy so at least they may have another option. Favourite Quote: “Psychedelics spark revolution.”

Rating: 2.5 Stars Themes: Psychological Fiction Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I’m not quite sure about this one, the changing cover threw me off from the start and the formatting with so many new lines for seemingly everything didn’t quite sit right with me. I understood the story and what Polgár was trying to say and actually it is a somewhat important one about the way in which as a child trying to fit in can drag us into the wrong places and trying to find your place as an adult too but that didn’t really outweigh the formatting for me. Favourite Quote: “I’m not asking what it is. It doesn't matter. Everyone's got something. Traumas, I mean. Those scruffy little devils sitting on our shoulders.”

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: History, Childrens, Play. Feminism  Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a great idea, the book is mainly a play that is offered free for schools (I checked them out online) and it’s done in a fun way that will keep children entertained. Boise and Jindan are the main factors in the play as narrators but it is written to only need 3 actors and the narrators interactions not only mention this but find a way to make it funny with them bickering about who has to be a man or who gets to be the richer one. The one that plays Sophia stays as only Sophie so as to keep a focus on her as a whole rather than remembering the character of that scene and it covers her life quite well in the hour it’s expected to go on. It is also cool that it intends to have audience participation as again it will keep children engaged. The biography type bit at the beginning is great and can be used after the play in clas...

Rating: 5 Stars Themes: Historical Fiction, World War 2, Middle Grade Thoughts: This book is split up into three parts, in the first part we are in Lancashire, England and with the way in which Da behaved towards Stanley I was starting to think it was a bit too down for me atm but it is actually important to the rest of the story. Stanley’s love for animals, especially Soldier, is soo sweet and the way in which he describes them makes such a clear picture in our minds. I was torn between thinking Stanley running away to war felt like a severe overreaction and underestimation of what he was signing up for and being glad the situation with Da would be ending. It was interesting to see the way that many different soldiers reacted to Stanley since we knew he was only 14 and records suggest that as many as 250,000 boys under 18 actually served in WW1. I liked the way in which many of the older soldiers as senior officers did what they could to keep Stanley away from the horrors of the front...

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Fantasy, Romance, Retelling, Dual POV Thoughts: I’m still quite new to fantasy stories but I absolutely loved this one. Since it’s a Beauty and the Beast retelling I knew they would get together in the end but it’s definitely a slow burn when halfway through the book they could still barely talk to each other. I enjoyed seeing the way in which they started to care for each other through trying to protect the people of Emberfall and also how those people took to the complete stranger of Harper and their new roles. I loved how Harper’s Cerebral Palsy is portrayed. As someone else with a disability it was refreshing to see her condition took in the stride of Rhen and Grey but she also admits when she’s struggling to slow down the horses or take a hot bath so it isn’t just treated like we should push through everything regardless of what it does to us. It also led to the ‘baddies’ being shown as insulting her through her illness, constantly calling her broken, but I...

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Romance, Contemporary, GrumpyxSunshine  Thoughts: This book is soo cute. The setting of Violet’s manor in Falling Stars is so mesmerising with a sprawling grounds that could be creepy in a different story but instead gives us the romantic feeling of nobody in the world but you. I think it’s almost as magical as ‘Maybell Coffee Shop AU’ which adds an interesting layer with Maybell being able to wander off into her own world when it all gets too much. Maybell herself has such a beautiful heart and is definitely a ray of sunshine throughout, even when trying to bicker or dig at Wesley. It also instantly made me hate Gemma and think she is a POS, as who would do something like that to another human and no wonder Maybell is ‘Twice Shy’ after being (once) bitten like that. Her trying to take some form of credit like she did a good thing later showed a huge lack of growth in her character but then again some people never change their ways. Wesley is a complex chara...

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Poetry  Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I just had to request this book as I read quite a bit of poetry and the concept of poetry as a prescription intrigued me. There seems to be something for everyone in most times of need. For the most part they are well curated but I did notice that there was a Christian bias with quite a few sections from the Bible in as well as many poems referring to God. The list of further poems at the end was interesting as it let the book stay fairly short but doesn’t miss others that Alma ‘prescribes’ frequently.  Favourite Quote: “I know that  hope is the hardest  love we carry.”

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Graphic Novel Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. At first when I was reading this I thought it was really quite strange while it looked at the outsiders with poor grades but the counsellor and parents were soo weird. But the more I read the more it made sense, the pressures from parents and teachers can break a students spirit which is shown quite literally. The ghosts/spirits were such cute depictions though the detective was a little different from the others shown. The end of the story showing hope was unexpectedly deep and intense. The artwork throughout was good, especially in the creeper moments.  Favourite Quote: “It’s the educational system that doesn’t care about us! You’re crushing us with homework and your grading curves. Instead of encouraging personal development, you encourage competition between students so that you have good little modern slaves.”

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Fiction, Short Stories, Africa Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This book is made up of 7 short stories based on Caribbean experiences from different walks of life. Many of them were raw and enlightening, especially the first one and those around pregnancy. The first story with the books title is especially emotive, showing how the wrong church can prey on the more vulnerable and how they exert their grip over them for years to come. Exile also stuck with me and I really felt for Paula being so out of control due to her age despite the fact that all the decisions being made were about her. Her strength and determination of character developed through her story in a way that left me proud of her by the end. Favourite Quote: “Columbus like them gangstas, dangerous men from Trinidad East-West Corridor, who could get people to do things they don't want to do. 'Cause Columbus understand that if yu...

Rating: 5 Stars Themes: Quick Reads, Mental Health, Psychological Fiction, Eating Disorders Thoughts: This was a really difficult but poignant read. Watching Ray’s descent felt both slow and painful and too fast like watching a crash you can’t stop. I could feel quite early how bad his behaviours were going to get and seeing how long it took any friends to notice felt bad, especially those who are also into the gym and food. It was an interesting take to mark the chapters in part two by Rays weight rather than the dates we’re used to seeing in books, it also made his decline so much sharper. It also felt soo real despite being fiction and at points my eyes were watering and I pretty much never cry at books.  Favourite Quote:  “Obviously I didn't wanna die. That's the whole reason I stopped eating ultra-processed food. This was just supposed to be about self-control. Reaching a goal. Being pure muscle, no soft bits, no fat. But the fear was a next ting.”

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, History, Syris, SWANA Thoughts:  This book started off really strong with Di Giovanni addressing the descent into the Syrian civil war through the eyes of different people living there. Her sections on torture and the sexual torture of the women who had been detained were impactful and the fact she was in danger at points investigating it shows how difficult it is to obtain that information. I didn’t mind the comparisons to other wars in which Di Giovanni has been a journalist for as it is done often in reports anyway and it can help to get across the full extent of an ongoing atrocity with the comparison to one we already know well. However, towards the end the book became more about Di Giovanni’s own experiences and fears rather than focusing on the reality for Syrians like the blurb indicates the book will do. Favourite Quote:  “War means endless waiting, endless boredom. There is no electricity, so no television. You can't read. You can...

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Children's, Historical Fiction Thoughts:  This book is a cute but significant book. Otto and Michael are very different kids with different views to violence, with us spending most of our time with Otto who dislikes violence and wars so much he doesn’t want to take part in the class trip and project. This in itself was quite interesting, seeing a child’s mature viewpoint against war when we’re so used to being shown kids like Otto dressing up and playing soldiers for fun. The boys finding out about a relative who had fought in the war through a random comment and mad dash not to throw out an old suitcase may be replicated through many homes as the generations grow. I liked seeing the development of Michael and his views and the ending was quite cute too. Favourite Quote:  “Surely, if you want what you say you want a world at peace you have to understand the consequences of a world at war. Plenty of consequences buried out there in the battlefields of th...