KJK Reads

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Poetry, Disability Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This poetry anthology contains a broad range of disabilities, including invisible and rarer ones and I was happy to find one with my disability as it’s rare but I felt so seen. I liked the note on disability and identity at the beginning, especially as person first or disability first is a hotly debated topic in the community with some being offended by one or the other so we’re aware we may see both and it lets those who will be upset to make the decision straight off whether they want to continue or not. I also liked the photo and mini biography being there with the poem instead of all at the end as when that happens I often find myself having to flick back and remind myself what’s going on with my condition impacting memory, which makes it inclusive. However, having the poem origin before we read the poem itself is different and it kind of ensure...

Rating: 5 Stars Themes: Young Adult, Race, Fiction Thoughts: I absolutely devoured this book. I knew from the off this was gonna be a deep and intense book and it didn’t disappoint. Jerome is so mature in his actions caring for his family when alive and at the same time we can see him acting his normal age when he gets frustrated with it all. I’ve seen kids behave like that myself so Jerome feels like a very real child of that age in those circumstances. It’s interesting that we see so much about the family of the cop who shot him, especially the daughter but I can see how some may interpret it a little like it centres the sympathy of the perpetrator a little too much. Although I personally did like the angle it took with that in terms of the purpose of these Ghost Boys and the reason why we need to see a lot from Sarah and the cops perspective. I liked that it flipped back and forth between dead and alive as it built up the tension and also reminded us just how young and innocent Jero...

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Young Adult, Horror, Supernatural Thoughts: This is my first Night House Files book and it looks like they’re a really cool concept. The book is somewhat mixed media with interviews and document clips being included to build up the world and emphasise the classified and coverup nature of the story. I liked that these are printed with shading behind like they were really extra pages added to the written script provided. The images were well done and added an extra creep factor when the villains were pictured. It was actually surprisingly creepy for a book I found in the teen section so probably for older teens but it was really well done and impressive.

Rating: 3.5 Stars Themes: Graphic Novel  Thoughts: This is a surprisingly deep and cute book. From the back of the cover (not the same blurb as goodreads) it sounded like something funny and maybe quirky and the first chapter fit in with it. However, as the story unfolds we see Frankie navigating the world around her and figuring out who she is in relation to an absent father with the support of her friends. I liked that between Frankie and her friends many minorities were represented so it can help many kids who feel different and don’t feel represented in the stories they read. The ending was really sweet and I’m kinda intrigued as to what’s coming next for Frankie. The illustrations themselves are great and there’s some more things to see the longer you look at them.  Favourite Quote: “Honey, there’s nothing wrong with being different. In fact, it’s the best thing you can be!”

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Childrens Fiction, Rhyming  Thoughts: A cute rhyming story showing how reading can be used in daily life to promote reading to children. Favourite Quote: “For a boy so little he knew a lot because he would read every chance he got.”

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Fiction, Novella Thoughts: This is a somewhat interesting book if you can get your head around the inner workings and interpretations, which I have to admit took me a moment or else it could have been a read in a day book. It is interesting that the massacre that is being memorialised is never actually declared/decided and everytime it is mentioned to anyone Serbian they say “which one” especially with the history of occupations. I also found the quote on an ethno-racist war interesting as Haworth stated that she wrote this in 2020 when the monuments around colonisation and the slave trade were being debated and pulled down in the news while Brits and Americans debated their own racist history. I did find the different POVs while still being in 3rd person was a little jarring, especially when it switched between the events and ‘hallucinations’ or ‘visons’ of the characters and different characters all in one chapter. Favourite Quote: “We need to stop denying tha...

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Dystopian Fiction, Young Adult, Post-Apocalypse Thoughts: I was quite intrigued reading this one, the nuclear apocalypse happened quite quickly but we experienced the events with Danny rather than jumping in after everything had already happened which I’m used to. It also showed the way in which everyday people handles/reacted to it and the authorities were actually absent for most of the book which meant we got to see so much more of how Swindells feels people would treat each other with a lack of formal rules after such an event. It’s interesting that Swindells avoided mentioning any specifics of the year or time period the events happened and since there’d be no technology after that kind of collapse then it could even represent what would happen today despite it being written in 1984. The ending was really well written even if it wasn’t what I’d hoped for and does leave us with hope for the characters in the future too. Favourite Quote: “They used to say we ...

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Domestic Fiction, Dual POV Thoughts: This was my first book by this author and I haven’t read many from this midlife style of domestic fiction either so it was all pretty new to me. Having the Alexa as a real human was an intriguing premise and I may have asked the Alexa in our house if she is really a real human called Pauline but she hasn’t been programmed with a response to this book yet. Michelle seemed to have everything that could go wrong for her happen but I know someone who has had that type of year so it didn’t feel like an exaggeration to me. However, she also did seem like a little bit of a midlife cliche at some points but I’m sure that was done intentionally to represent the target audience. I have to admit that Marc did my head in and I get that he’s feeling unfulfilled but why should that mean that he causes more problems that Michelle has to fix and why when he claims the socialisation of ordering sh*t online is what he likes, does he not look a...

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Dystopian Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I found this book soo conflicting, while the premise itself was intriguing I found most of the characters insufferable. Juliet is so selfish and self-important which would rub me up the wrong way in most books but in an end of the world as we know it situation when she’s (internally) whining about having to help Martin’s friend with a severe snake bite or helping a toddler in the beginning even though she was supportive after they had already started helping the child. I understand the mothers need to get back to her child, especially when the world is upturned but the seemingly total overriding of compassion for anyone else, including Martin who is helping her stay alive, is irritating. Billy himself is also somewhat selfish but that is completely understandable considering he is only a teenager and they behave like that in normal circumstances nevermind a ...

Rating: 5 Stars Themes: Romance, Young Adult, Graphic Novel  Thoughts: This is surprisingly deep and very cute. The book seems like a romance and in its essence it is but it also covers a lot about different types of loss and heartbreak and in a way it also addresses different family types. Val has a very strong will and a belief in true love that’s damaged when she finds out that her family has no history of a happy relationship from her grandmother. Seeing her and her father interact with her grandmother shows an interesting dynamic with the way in which grandparents can accidentally burden grandchildren but also how much love is there. It’s also funny to see the grandmother as a complete feeder as many grandmothers are and I got to see more different food to what I’m used to. Comparing this to Les’ gigantic family gatherings with the buffet and Jae’s smaller family and more basic meals shows different family dynamics depending on who the matriarch/patriarch is. We also get to se...

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Short Story, Fantasy  Thoughts: This is a beautiful short but sweet story and as an introduction to Clarke I think it was a great one. It’s somewhat like a fairytale and definitely has that vibe with being set in the woods and the woods and the animals talking to Merowdis. She’s a very strong willed young girl and seems determined to get what she wants, but I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not with the baby she ended up with being less than perfect but then again being made a saint with the church windows means it did turn out well in the end even if it wasn’t the best outcome for her overall. Favourite Quote: “In winter, the wood is supposed to be asleep. That is what people say. But I don't think it's true. In spring and summer the trees and creatures are preoccupied. Everyone is busy. In winter there is silence. In winter the wood is listening. In winter you hear the wood speaking.”

Rating: 3 Stars  Themes: Crime, Thriller, Short Story, Horror Thoughts: This is my first MacBride but I don’t think it’ll be the last, I was impressed with just how much story he managed to tell in such a short book. At the beginning I had no clue if the trio were supposed to be the good guys or the villains but as I made my way through the book I realised their road trip was more complicated than just good and evil. There’s a lot more morally grey in the story than I expected picking the book up and surprisingly little details on the murderer or any of his POV. There are some brutal scenes included and while MacBride doesn’t shy away from the details, there’s still some prolonged violence he fades to black for.  Favourite Quote: “Never point a gun at someone you're not prepared to kill.”

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Play, Humour Thoughts: This was quite an entertaining read, although reading a play can never give the same (intended) impact of watching it did have me laughing at a few points. I must admit I have already seen the film so I read Miss Shepherd in Maggie Smith’s delivery but I think that somewhat enhanced it since we’re told in the beginning she also played her in the opening of the play itself too. Having two Alan’s and him debating with himself was interesting as it shows us his reactions in the time the things happened and how he views it now when writing it with the benefit of hindsight to reflect. Miss Shepherd is an interesting character and although funny for us as readers and a film/play audience, I’m somewhat amazed by Alan’s patience with her as I don’t know if I’d be able to keep my calm with all her eccentricities.  Favourite Quote: “It seems that both at the northern and southern gates of my life stands a deluded woman.”

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Historical Fiction, Short Story, Holocaust Thoughts: This is an interesting little book infused with the hope that can come along with music alongside the horrors of the Holocaust. It was quite light on the intimate details of the horrors but Anglada does mention the punishments in the satellite camp and also provided some of the evidence at the beginning of most chapters that back it up. I enjoyed seeing the developing relationship between the luthier and the violinist and seeing the intense bonds that can be created in such extreme circumstances. I found the ending really sweet and hope filled. Overall, it was interesting to see a story from one of the Auschwitz satellite camps and was a good quick read. Favourite Quote: “It isn't true, is it, Daniel, that music can tame the beasts? Yet, in the end, a song lives”