jkreads's reviews
117 reviews

Hidden Roots by Clio Evans

adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

I’ve been loving romantic suspense lately and it was the first book in this series (Broken Beginnings) that got me into it in the first place. I still haven’t written my review of Broken Beginnings but it was an absolutely bonkers good time in the same way that the Pretty Little Liars TV series was.

Hidden Roots followed Emma and Hunter, and from their very first interaction over the phone in Broken Beginnings it was very obvious they’d end up a couple, and it was always going to be fiery! If you’re into banter and “enemies to lovers” (I say it that way because Hunter was clearly simping for Emma from the jump) then you’ll probably love this one. Without posting any spoilers I will say that this book surprised me with how hard some of the more emotional scenes hit me - I was just here for an unhinged good time but I got so much more than that!

This book was high on the spice, so be aware of that going in! One thing I love about Clio Evans as an author is that she is very upfront about trigger warnings in her books, and includes a list at the start. The list details specific sexual acts (many will just say ‘sex scenes’) which I think is great because some may be confronting, off-putting or triggering for people and it’s great they can make an informed choice about whether they want to read it or not!

The trigger warnings list was as follows (this is literally verbatim from the author’s note):

• Parental death
•  Animal injured (no animal death)
•  Stalking
•  Coping with grief
•  Assault
•  Gun violence
•  Stabbing
•  Kidnapping
•  Discussions of difficulty getting pregnant
•  Detailed sex scenes including: shibari, spanking, pegging, dub-con voyeurism, breeding kink, use of sex toys, role playing, anal, rimming, and more.

If you’re a romantic suspense fan, or a Clio Evans fan, I definitely recommend this! I’m sad this series is over and I hope Clio writes some similar books in the future 🩷

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Infertility, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I’ve loved the Hunger Games series since it first came out, it’s easily my favourite book series of all time. The way that such confronting topics are explained without sugarcoating but also in an accessible way to fit the YA genre has always blown my mind. I find something new every time I read these books. I’m already itching to reread the original trilogy after reading SOTR.

This was exactly as gripping and devastating as I expected it to be. It was also not at all subtle with its political themes. Honestly even calling them themes feels like understating it, fascism and resistance are the beating heart of this book. Of course the Hunger Games books are famously political in their message, so this one was always going to follow that, but I was struck by just how in your face it was from the very beginning. There is no way anyone could read this book and not pick up on the similarities between the book and the Western political climate and decline into fascism. It felt almost desperate at times, like Suzanne Collins was shoving it in your face screaming “here, do you see this? Do you understand? How can I make you understand?!”. In a way it was reminiscent of my experience of reading Babel, a book which has been criticised by some as hand-holding its readers and leading them to the conclusion that colonial structures are bad. For me, although I was already on board with the message of Babel as well as the very clear message in SOTR, the clear and unrelenting way in which both authors hammered home their respective messages only highlighted the importance and urgency of them. This underlying sense of urgency combined with what Haymitch was experiencing on the page made reading this book a very disorienting experience.

There are many recognisable characters in this book given that it’s a prequel to the original series (but set after The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes), characters that have either featured in previous books or characters that have been spoken about but perhaps not in detail or not given a name. Sometimes when an author does this is it can feel like fan service, adding nothing to the plot but giving the reader a little thrill. Some may see it that way here, but for me these all felt like little pieces of a much larger puzzle clicking into place. Every introduction and interaction felt intentional.

Overall this book was nothing groundbreaking, certainly not as much as the original trilogy, however I still think it’s an incredibly important work to come out because of the discussions that will come with it. 

To finish I’ll share one of my favourite quotes:

“You were capable of imagining a different future. And maybe it won't be realized today, maybe not in our lifetime. Maybe it will take generations. We're all part of a continuum. Does that make it pointless?"

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Torture, War

False Idols by Darcy Dahlia
Did not finish book. Stopped at 21%.

How many times does one attempt to read a certain genre before declaring it as ‘Not For Me™️’? I think I may have reached that point with dark romance

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Curious Tides by Pascale Lacelle
Did not finish book. Stopped at 6%.

A DNF for now - this one just didn’t grab me, I think I wasn’t in the mood for it

Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

Absolutely loved this book. It was gritty and tender, hopeless and hopeful all at the same time. I honestly don’t even have the words to describe the way that this book pulled me in and made me feel so familiar with a region I have never been to (Appalachia). Everyone should read this book. I don’t do star ratings any more but this one deserves all the stars!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Deadnaming, Death, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Transphobia, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use

Mother of Death & Dawn by Carissa Broadbent

3.0

I enjoyed this book, though not as much as the previous book in the trilogy. It was longer than book 2 - understandable, given it was the final book in the trilogy, but it FELT so much longer. The pacing was inconsistent, the plot throughout the middle of the book seemed to crawl along and then the last few chapters moved through at a blistering pace. I did appreciate that although everything was wrapped up in a neat little bow at the end I was still left with a feeling of uncertainty, which was in keeping with the characters’ personalities and journeys throughout the series. Broadbent’s writing is easy to read and this is definitely a series I will recommend to people wanting to read fantasy, especially if they’ve never read it before.

From Lukov with Love by Mariana Zapata

3.0

After reading a grim YA novel I chose a romance next for something more lighthearted & enjoyable. It was lighthearted for the most part, but I can’t say I really enjoyed it. As a general rule, I don’t enjoy first-person writing in fiction. I have to REALLY like a character to be stuck in their head for an entire book, and unfortunately that wasn’t the case here. It is written from the perspective of Jasmine, who has a prickly personality which isn’t bad but I felt like there was so much made of it throughout the book & by a certain point it felt redundant.

She’s also an over thinker & given that you’re stuck in her head for the entirety of the book, it was almost unbearable to read at times. There were multiple times she would be having a conversation with another character & there would be an entire page with no dialogue between them, just Jasmine’s thoughts about the interaction. When I’m reading a first-person POV I much prefer for it to be a bit more dialogue-heavy so that I can see the relationship unfolding almost as a third-person observer, rather than solely through the MC’s eyes.

I’ve seen this book recommended by so many people as a slow burn, enemies to lovers romance which I should have loved because those are some of my favourite tropes. It was certainly a slow burn, in that the first half of the book played into the “they’re just being mean because they like you” mentality, and the second half was the MMC putting out the most blatantly obvious signs that he was in love with the FMC but her being either unwilling or unable to notice. So many references to ‘a funny feeling’ in the FMC’s stomach when the MMC said or did something nice or thoughtful for her. I know it’s a slow burn but by the end I was practically screaming at my book “you are in love with him!”. People who are ‘just friends’ don’t squeeze your thigh under the dinner table! People who are ‘just friends’ don’t KISS YOU ON THE LIPS! Girl, come on. Overall this was quick & easy read but not one I’d go back and re-read.

The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni

4.0

This book had a slow start for me, but once I had my bearings and immersed myself in the world I loved it! I was a big fan of The Hunger Games books when they came out and reading (or rather, listening to) this reminded me of the feeling I had while reading those. It’s hard to describe but I almost felt as though Kiva was keeping the reader at arms length throughout the story, which is fitting for her character as she tends to be closed off to others. This was really well written as it was intriguing rather than off-putting.

Noni did a brilliant job of creating likeable, multi-dimensional supporting characters and I really enjoyed watching them develop their relationships with each other as well as with Kiva. There were some big reveals at the end which provided some momentum going into the second book, which I’d thankfully already lined up and have already started! I’m looking forward to seeing what direction the series heads in.

Daughter of No Worlds by Carissa Broadbent

5.0

Absolutely devoured this book. Will be recommending this to anyone who asks for easy to read yet still fast-paced fantasy. This book was everything I wanted ACOTAR to be.

The Gilded Cage by Lynette Noni

4.0

This one was so hard to settle on a star rating for! I didn’t find it quite as gripping as the first book in the trilogy which I gave 4⭐️, but 3.5 didn’t quite feel like enough. So we’re doing quarters because StoryGraph says we can