KJK Reads

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Thriller Thoughts: This book has quite an interesting story, the wintery small village makes an eerie setting for a murder as it feels more idyllic and romantic than violent and scary. Seeing the murder of Bakary through the murderers’ wife instead of the victim or the murderer themself gives the book a different feel and also leads to us as outsiders considering what we may have done in those circumstances. The crime itself is unsettling as there’s layers of race, and prejudice as well as crime and finances. It’s also interesting that the further into the facts of the case we go the more the murderer also becomes a victim of another crime. Reading the authors note, I didn’t know anything about the case before and I’m not sure how much of the book is supposed to be true to the real crime and how many are fictionalised to make the story up. Favourite Quote: “I don't know if we're all capable of killing with as much as savagery as you had. I still don'...

Rating: 1 Star Themes: True Crime  Thoughts: With such a plain cover I seem to have been tricked into reading an AI book. Davidson has written 523 books according to Goodreads and some have much more obviously AI covers. The format did seem a little repetitive despite being so short (but I’ve seen that in human writers covering crime cases too). It irritated me how often the book mentioned finding the boy's name and giving his name back but it never actually mentioned his name (Cairo Jordan) and even worse when looking into the case facts, it gets the cause of death wrong. The book keeps mentioning asphyxiation but all the news coverage on the case states an electrolyte imbalance being the likely cause of death. 

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Children's Fiction, Alcoholism Thoughts: This is an amazing little book. Alcoholism can be such a difficult illness for even adults to understand so knowing how to explain it to children is especially difficult. This book does an excellent job of explaining in a child friendly and understanding way of both addressing the illness and counteracting children’s tendency to internalise the problems, reinforcing that it isn’t their fault and they don’t have to fix daddy. Favourite Quote: “So you are already doing something to help your dad. You have shown him time after time you love him, even when he is late or doesn't show up. He wants to be a better dad for you two, and that is going to be an enormous help in him getting better.”

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Memoir Thoughts: This is the first Lewis book I’ve read and it’s a really impactful one to start with. Sarah is soo small and young and yet she had so much to contend with in her first few weeks. Lewis is great at explaining the impact of prenatal drug use on Sarah while maintaining privacy for the families involved and the intimacies of Sarah’s struggles.  Favourite Quote: “How fragile their lives are, I think when nothing is certain and the events of one day can turn everything familiar upside down”

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Short Story, Domestic Fiction Thoughts: Green does a great job of addressing parenting friendships with Sam, Jackie and Anna being very different people with different types of marriages, yet they’re all still friends with their children being friends nonetheless. Seeing Anna’s point of view felt very relatable as she seems to be comparing herself to the others and seeing more of her own failings but all 3 seem to put themselves down in comparison at least once which makes them feel more real and human. I also really liked the ending and think it could be interesting to go on to read The Mummyfesto after this one. Favourite Quote: “That was when I realised what my resolution should be. Actually, not what it should be, but what I wanted it to be. To be happy. It was as simple and as complicated as that.”

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Fantasy, Cozy Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is such a cute story and definitely deserves the title of cozy. Ashford does a great job of worldbuilding with really well detailed characters and settings, especially since he’s detailing many different magical creatures that I could picture really well from his descriptions. This is a really comforting read as even the plot point that needs to be overcome is cozy which is hinted to with the trigger list. I also loved the chapter titles which while a small thing really added to the overall feel of the book and Mitsi’s bent hat being the image on each page is a sweet touch. I fell in love with Mitsi instantly and there are so many more loveable characters in Marivell that I can’t wait for the sequel to check in with them all again. Favourite Quote: “Most folks don't find their calling until they've stumbled around a bit first.”

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Children's Fiction  Thoughts: This is a cute little read and a great way to get young children excited about Carnival. I liked that Molly was encouraged by many different people, showing the community spirit and kindness of Carnival and I liked the way in which resilience is promoted in a more subtle way for children to start building the essential life skill young.