jkreads's reviews
67 reviews

The Yield by Tara June Winch

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emotional hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was breathtaking. A story about a woman losing and then rediscovering herself, her family, her culture and her home. There are no words that I could use to do Tara June Winch’s writing justice. This book is truly a work of art. Books often make me feel emotional (it’s one of the things I love most about reading) but rarely do they have me in proper, streaming-down-your-face tears. This book did that to me. It was a million feelings wrapped up in writing so beautiful that I never wanted it to end. An easy 5 stars.
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Marigold Milk: A contemporary Australian romance by Ayla Simone

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

Wow, this book hit very close to home. To the point where I almost didn’t finish it because some of the themes are still a little raw for me. This book follows Mariella who, following the late-term pregnancy loss of her daughter Eden, takes on a job as a wet nurse for a baby whose mother passed away. 

I really enjoyed the exploration of grief, and as someone who has experienced pregnancy loss a lot of Mariella’s thoughts and decisions made sense to me. The relationship between Mariella and Jamie felt rushed but that’s pretty common for people who are grieving, so it made sense for the story.

I felt like this book could have used a little more editing, there were a couple of continuity errors but overall nothing that impacted the flow of the story too much. The side plot about Mariella’s grandmother also seemed a little unnecessary to me, it wasn’t fleshed out and didn’t really add much to the plot in my opinion.

Overall this was a sad, but sweet read.
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Funny Feelings by Tarah DeWitt

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book was like a warm hug. I LOVE a fake dating scenario, I feel like its so unrealistic and since I read to escape it’s perfect for me. This was a fake dating, friends to lovers romance with a found family element and it was divine. I adored the mental health representation, it was refreshing to have main characters being open with each other about their struggles and talking about how important therapy is. I also loved the inclusion of a Deaf character and how this was weaved into the story, it formed a core part of the plot and thus didn’t feel tokenistic (at least to me - though I’m not a member of the Deaf community so I’m obviously not the authority on this).

I recommend this book to anyone looking for a sweet (but still spicy) romance and I will probably reread it in the future when I need a pick-me-up.
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I started this book yesterday and accidentally stayed up WAY too late last night because I had to finish it. This book is like if Behind Closed Doors and Gone Girl had a twisted, creepy baby. I was on edge from start to finish and truly struggled to put this book down. It was fast-paced, high stakes, everything you could want from a good thriller! Because I had read both books mentioned previously I could guess some of the plot twists in this book, but others took me by surprise. 

The Housemaid’s Secret has jumped up my TBR after reading this!
The Blood Traitor by Lynette Noni

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A great end to the series! Everything resolved in a really satisfying way, with some fun bonus reveals that were beautifully breadcrumbed so as to be shocking but believable at the same time. I enjoyed the world-building throughout this series even although it was done more in the background, as I found the plot to be primarily character-driven. The relationships between the cast of characters were the focus of the series, and the author did a terrific job of writing side characters who weren’t just one-dimensional plot devices. 

I will probably reach for Lynette Noni’s books in the future when I’m in a YA mood (which let’s be real, is pretty often).
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

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funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This was a fun read! I absolutely tore through this book in two days because it was so light-hearted, enjoyable and easy to read. It's clear why so many people enjoy it. Points off for some cringey descriptions during intimate scenes plus a hefty dose of miscommunication one of my least favourite tropes). Also like, we get it, he's TALL. I did enjoy that Olive wasn't the teeny tiny 4 foot tall heroine that seems to be a prerequisite in romance (and even fantasy) novels. As a taller gal myself it was nice to be able to relate to the FMC in that way! 
Overall I really enjoyed this book and will likely read other books by Ali Hazelwood in the future.
The Dilemma by B.A. Paris

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emotional sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The premise of this book was so intriguing to me - it’s set over the course of a day, with the two main characters keeping secrets from each other that need to be shared at the end of it. It started strong but I almost lost interest in the middle. Rather than building tension, I felt like it was fizzling out and I was getting bored. This would have made a GREAT novella, but in its current format I felt it was about 100 pages too long. In fact this may have even been a 5 star read for me if it were in a shorter format!

I also felt like most of the characters were very two-dimensional. The side characters were all deeply enmeshed in the plot but I almost felt like they were just assigned a name and a story and that was it - despite the main characters having years of history with the side characters I didn’t really feel invested or interested in them.

I did really enjoy the beginning and end of this book though, it was just the middle that fell flat for me. Kind of made it tricky to rate, so we’re going with 3 stars!
Icebreaker by Hannah Grace

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funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

"It's not porn. It's a romance book that happens to have a little bit of sex in it." - Anastasia Allen, Icebreaker. 
If that doesn't sum up just about every contemporary romance novel l've ever read, I don't know what does. This book was certainly no exception! You know when it's a cute cartoon cover it's about to be filthy. This was a fun, lighthearted read, it was exactly what you expect it to be which in this case wasn't a bad thing. The Grumpy x Sunshine trope is always fun for me especially when it's flipped like in this book, and the FMC is the grumpy one. I enjoyed seeing Anastasia's relationship develop with Nathan, but I almost enjoyed her relationships with Henry and JJ more. Unsure how to feel about the clearly autistic-coded Henry, I did feel as though some interactions infantilised him a bit which felt icky to me. 
Overall though I really enjoyed this book, it's fantastic if you're looking for something light and easy to read, but is still well-written with a decent plot.
The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent

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adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I’ve never met a Carissa Broadbent book I didn’t like. This one was no exception. This book was like a spicy vampire Hunger Games and I had so much fun reading it. It probably would have been a 5 star read, but the ending felt a little rushed, especially given it’s the first book in the series so it’s not like there was no time to flesh it out a little more. I also felt the ‘twists’ at the end were quite predictable. Overall though, this book was such a good time I can forgive those things. The world building was amazing as always, it didn’t take long before I felt fully immersed in the world and the characters’ stories. I enjoyed the relationships between Oraya and the other characters, and how these changed throughout the course of the book as everyone’s motivations came to the surface.

A fantastic read and I will for sure be picking up book 2 when it’s released next month!
Seven Sisters by Katherine Kovacic

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book was gripping and devastating in equal measures. A 'Strangers on a Train' type thriller, this story hooked me from the very start and I was on edge the whole time. Although the characters went to extreme measures in their grief, the actions they took were not completely unbelievable given their situation. I have never personally experienced family violence, however on a professional level as a social worker it is a topic I am all too familiar with. Men's violence against women is an epidemic in Australia - at the time of writing this review 11 women have been killed in 2023 (a rate of more than one per week). 1 in 
4 Australian women has experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner. Intimate partner violence contributes to more death, disability and illness in Australian women aged 15 to 44 than any other preventable risk factor including smoking, obesity and high blood pressure. This is a SIGNIFICANT issue within our culture. This book shines a spotlight on this issue, through the lens of those left behind in the wake of this violence. Kovacic did an incredible job of capturing the raw heartbreak of the victims left behind - the families of those who were murdered by their partners.