Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

KID by Jescie Hall

8 reviews

bbygirl21's review

Go to review page

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

4.0

This is a fantastic book. It had very heavy themes/topics, so it took me a bit longer to read than usual. But I absolutely loved it. 

I loved Kid/Kai and Johanna. I was originally frustrated with how Johanna treated Kai. But after she finally revealed what happened with her mom, her behavior is completely understandable. 

As I said this is quite a heavy read, so definitely check the trigger warnings, but I would absolutely recommend.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

brooksie03051's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

KID by Jescie Hall is an intense spicy dark romance that is complex, emotionally challenging story about addiction, overcoming loss, and finding the person who puts all the broken shards of your heart back together in the messiest of ways. 

Be sure to look at the trigger warnings of this book before reading. This should be read after Hawke as this story takes place after those events and will help you understand a bit of backstory to other characters in the book.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

keeley996's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

ehsquidwardreads12's review

Go to review page

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

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

susansantos's review

Go to review page

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

4.0

Kid was the follow up book to the authors “Hawke”. I definitely feel like it rounds out the both of their stories perfectly. Be aware of the triggers for this book, for sure. I thought her writing fit the characters inner monologue beautifully, clearly displaying a funny, loving, addict, making you fall in love with him. At the same time seeing his struggles along with the fmc and love interests struggles as well. Their relationship is raw, weird, and difficult, but somehow beautiful by the end. I definitely liked Kid and Jo’s growth throughout the book that I found inspiring. Definitely read Hawke first, and kid second, it makes more sense that way, and doesn’t give spoilers. Although if I’m honest, i enjoyed Hawke a little more but still enjoyed both.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

hjs_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

kristi97's review

Go to review page

dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

koistyfishy's review

Go to review page

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

3.5

3.5 Norbert 🦆 Stars ⭐
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

I don't think I was prepared for how raw and heavy this book would be. I knew that I had signed up for a dark romance. Still, given that the heavy drug use trigger is quite prevalent and is one of the major plot devices used in this book. I am not used to dealing with heavy, addictive personalities and what addiction does to a person and how it defines who that person is when they are addicted and how they struggle to overcome that addiction. So now I'm left in this weird realm of did I enjoy it or am I just shocked trying to process all of the emotions that I had thrown at me.

Note: This book deals with HEAVY drug use and addiction to substances and people. If this is something you are struggling with or if this is a trigger to you, I would not recommend reading his book.

This is a spin-off of Hawke and can be read as a standalone; however, I would advise that you read Hawke first because certain events will be spoiled because they are kind of touched on in this book and since this follows after the ending of Hawke the end would be spoilt too... Reading Hawke first will also give you a good foundation of who our main characters are going into the story of Kid.

This follows Kid's point of view and is one of the first times that I've actually read a book from a man's perspective. And that is something that I really do want to comment on as I think Jescie Hall did a really fantastic job of being in his head. I didn't feel like I was reading a man written by a woman. I felt as if I was just in a man's head and listening to his struggles and his internal dialogue as he was processing the events that were happening to him.

He has moved in with Hawke and Cole for the summer while he's trying to find out what to do with his life. And in the process, he meets Joanna - Cole's older sister. He is immediately warned off of her because she is very much a "flighty" person. Kid is told that she is just trouble incarnate and that she is ultimately going to break his heart. However, all these warnings seem to make her all the more appealing to him. Kid is basically immediately obsessed with her and drawn to her even before he knows that she is Cole's sister.

What transpires is a difficult and heartbreaking story of him trying to persuade her to be with him while she needs to piece herself together from her internal trauma that has caused her to spiral into the person she is.

I don't think I enjoyed this as much as Hawke. And I think the main difference is because of how painfully tragic and real this felt. Hawke, I felt almost permanently turned on (even though the smut in this is a little more than Hawke) I enjoyed that book due to the cat and mouse chase, but it was almost like "the mouse" wanted to be caught as they were just fighting their attraction to be together. This felt like the mouse was constantly slipping out of the cat's grasp and running miles and miles away that majority of the book was just the chase, and it got boring as I didn't see the appeal in the mouse as much as the cat did...

Kid was just chasing Han, and she didn't really reciprocate. I felt for a large part of the book, I didn't really know who she was. I didn't see his attraction to her besides Insta-lust and battled to understand why he was so drawn, obsessed, and addicted to her personality when I hadn't seen her personality for a large portion of the book. It frustrated me that she was constantly running away and running away from him, even while he was trying to help her. I know dealing with trauma takes time but it just shows that Kid is way more tenacious than I am, as I would have given up...

I am glad that Kid slowly chips away at her and we do end up with a happily ever after in the end.

Overall, though, I did enjoy this and the smut was definitely good.

If you want
▶ A Dark Romance
▶ Reverse Grumpy Sunshine
▶ Golden Retriever/Black Cat energy.
▶ He Falls First
▶ MFF and Knife Play
▶ Rough Sex and AfterCare
▶ Trauma and Mental Health
▶ Bisexual FMC
▶ Dealing with Grief

Then this sinfully delightful book is just for you! 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
More...