“I eat kimchi every day. I like kimchi every way!” This picture book is an adorable and utterly charming ode to the delicious Korean dish kimchi. The young heroine gazes with adoration at a Sunday feast filled with kimchi, and flings her head back in Snoopy-like joy at Wednesday’s dish of “kimchi stew, in a pot, bubble, bubble, steaming hot.”

The rhymes are super catchy, and the illustrations just bursting with happiness. Think of a little kid being presented with their favourite treat — that’s this book on every page, and honestly, it’s a joy to see the young heroine get so much of her favourite food for an entire week.

In a lovely touch of additional love for her Korean heritage, author-illustrator Erica Kim uses Hanji, a paper from a native Korean mulberry tree, for her cut paper art technique. It’s a subtle homage that, at least for me, enhanced my appreciation of the fun artwork.

The final few pages also include a kimchi glossary, with a bit of an explanation of the various kimchi dishes featured in the book. Fun facts I learned from the book: November 22 is National Kimchi Day, and there are actually kimchi museums in Korea! Perhaps catering to readers raised on North American cuisine, Erica advises trying kimchi on dishes like burgers, tacos, and fries. I’m glad she included that; I like to think this book can inspire readers unfamiliar with Korean cuisine to try out the flavours by adding kimchi to foods they may be more comfortable with.

Overall, this book is absolutely delightful. Read it with some kimchi on-hand — you’ll definitely be craving the dish afterwards!

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Thanks to Thomas Allen Ltd for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It’s a classic set-up: aspiring actress Ashley Brooks thinks she’s hit her big break when her dog wanders into the home of legendary casting director Louisa Lake George. Louisa offers to introduce Ashley to important folks in the industry, and even offers Ashley the opportunity to do some audition tapes for an upcoming role! Except that a day later, Louisa turns up dead, and to the surprise of her beloved nephew Nathan and her estranged children Charlie and Winnie, she leaves the bulk of her fortune to Ashley.

Each of the parties involved responds to the situation in different ways, and the result is a tight, twisty, and just plain entertaining thriller. Walter does a good job in parcelling out little bits of information about each person’s life and motivations, and the particularities of their relationship with Louisa. Louisa herself is a fascinating character, and the motivations behind her will are TV mini-series gold.

While part of me liked seeing various events from multiple perspectives, there were also moments when the device felt a bit repetitive. I felt this especially with the relationship and quasi-romance between Ashley and her roommate Jordan. While this plot thread eventually pays off and Jordan turns out to have an important role to play, it just bogged the story down in the beginning, when the machinations of Louisa and her family were much more interesting.

A big reveal near the end about what actually happens to Louisa also rubbed me the wrong way. It made sense within the narrative, and the author does a good job in explaining the motivations behind the person who made it happen. But for all Louisa did, I think the person went too far, and their motivation was just plain petty. I wish there had been more of a comeuppance for them, so the ending still left me somewhat dissatisfied.

That being said, overall, this was a fun read. Very much a popcorn kind of book, wonderful for a weekend or after-work treat!

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Thank you to Thomas Allen Ltd for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Blood Atonement is a taut, entertaining thriller that kept me turning the pages. A few years ago, teenager Grace DeRoche and nine other other children and teens escaped Brigham, a fundamentalist Mormon compound in British Columbia, and worked with police to prosecute the leaders. Unfortunately, before justice can be served, the bishop (group leader) convinces the remaining residents to commit mass suicide, and his own body isn’t found amongst the victims.

Grace now lives in solitude, with only her service dog Bella and her therapist Shelby as the main figures in her life. Grace has dissociative identity disorder, caused by the abuse she lived through at Brigham, and when the other Brigham escapees begin dying under suspicious circumstances, some of the evidence suggests that Grace, or one of her alters, may be responsible.

Blood Atonement is a long book at about 400 pages, but very much a quick read. It flips back and forth in time from Grace’s present day situation to her experiences on the compound and the events that led to her alters being formed. I found the present-day mystery interesting, but the most intriguing parts of the novel for me were in the flashbacks.

It’s really troubling to see how women and girls at the compound were treated, and how little agency they had over their lives. In an uncomfortable early scene, a young Grace is ordered by Boydell, the bishop’s son and neighbourhood bully, to get him some lemonade. Freedman does a great job in portraying Grace’s fear as she’s trying to understand exactly what Boydell wants from her, and the moment where he demands, “What are you supposed to say to me?” and she stammers, “I am-am here to do your will.” is heartbreaking. When Grace gets her period at 13 and the bishop has a ‘revelation’ that she’s meant to marry Boydell, the only escape she can envision is that the bishop will make the marriage vows last only ‘for time,’ and not ‘for time and eternity.’ It’s heartbreaking, and makes it even sadder to read about how challenging the lives of the “Brigham 10” were even after they escaped.

Still, beyond all that, the bulk of the story is a fun whodunnit. Freedman keeps up a brisk pace, and provides little clues and red herrings throughout that keep you guessing who the killer could be. I only guessed the big reveal shortly before Grace and the detective investigating the murders did themselves.

TW: suicide, child abuse, domestic violence, rape, miscarriage, addiction, mental illness

[No animals were harmed, and the dog lives.]

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Thank you to Dundurn Press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.