The Beast of Kukuyo by Kevin Jared Hosein

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For the second time in her life, 15-year-old Rune Mathura comes face-to-face with a brutal murder when her classmate Dumpling Heera goes missing and is eventually found dead. 

Dumpling’s murder drags the small, rural village of Kukuyo into the national spotlight, revealing a darkness curdling in the town. But Rune knows that the memories of the villagers and police are short. Inspired by her love of detective television shows, she launches her own investigation. 

Yet, Rune soon learns that real life is not the same as television and neither justice nor evil appear in black and white. Her journey takes her along a bloody trail of chicken feathers, down a muddy ravine and into a grimy den where she encounters dark secrets and a terror that is very, very real. 

In this gripping new novel, Kevin Jared Hosein topples the tropes about truth and justice created in television shows and childhood detective novels like Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. Along her journey Rune learns that the road to justice can be paved with ill-intentions, and that truth is always complicated.

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First of all I have to say that I know practically nothing about Trinidad. All I knew before going into this book was that it used to be a British slave colony and that it is in the Caribbean. And this book isn't really about Trinidad, but it is set there, so you can say that I had to Google many many things in order to understand what was going on. But that was actually one of my favourite things, as the author used Trini slang and hindu words to authenticate Rune's perspective. 

One of my favourite aspects of this book is that it is just as much character driven as it is plot driven, so it's kind of perfect for me. I loved watching Rune grow and learn and really just become who she needed to be. The other characters are also really well written and each one has their own complexities. Nothing is black and white. Nick, for example, is irresponsible and an alcoholic but as we see him through Rune's eyes it's clear that he's not all bad. 

There is only technically a romance element to this book and that's really just an awesome friendship that could lead to more at some point in the future. And I liked that. It was realistic, not all fifteen year olds have ever been in a relationship, in fact most haven't.

SPOILER! My one gripe (except it isn't really) is that we never get to find out who kills Dumpling. Rune laments that people will forget about Dumpling but along the way she stops being fueled by that death as well (in her defense she does have some crazy other shit going on).

I absolutely loved this novel and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good YA thriller.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Blouse & Skirt Books and most of all Kevin Jared Hosein for giving me the opportunity to read this awesome book. 

Vegan Yack Attack On the Go! by Jackie Sobon

*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Vegan Yack Attack on the Go! is an exciting new vegan cookbook with creative recipe ideas. Sobon created this book to give readers “a wide variety of meals that are fun, tasty, and quick to pull together”. Included are sections on pantry basics and appliances, which are pretty run of the mill, preceding the recipes. The recipes are split into seven chapters:

- Quick breakfasts, snacks, and treats: As with most cookbooks I find that the breakfast inclusions just take more time than I’m willing to take each morning to prepare. But that doesn’t mean the recipes don’t look awesome and that  I won’t try them at some other time.

- Prep-ahead recipes: This chapter includes thinks like granola, dip and veggie crisps (kale, squash etc.).  A lot of this you will have seen before in some form but the author always manages to put her own twist on it. A great example would be the White Bean Rosemary Hummus.

- Lunch box stuffers: I wanted to make pretty much everything in this section as I’m always looking for new lunchbox recipes. While some of the recipes take quite a while to make, they are also mostly usable in bulk so that I could meal prep for the week. How often am I going to eat 4 sandwiches or bagels anyway?

- Meals in 30 minutes or less: While most of these meals are true ‘30 minutes or less meals’, there are some which expect you to have pre-prepared sauces that would clearly make the meals take much longer. For example, the butternut squash mac and cheese wants you to already have the sauce on hand and takes its prep time out of the equation by putting the sauce in the ‘basics’ section. I don’t know about you but butternut cheese sauce is not something that my family actively has around. The other recipes which I have prepared from this section have come together in 30 minutes with prep time included so the preparation of this sauce may be included, however it is not made clear in the book itself.

- Bulk cooking:This section is filled with some great recipe ideas, which despite the title only make a small number of servings. The author says that the intention is to make multiple servings at once which is fine but I think that the only reason to have these recipes in a separate section to the others is because they don’t come together super quickly, and therefore fit into the title of the book.

- Food on the move:Some of these recipes are really unique, it is rare that I look through a cookbook seeing new types of foods (at least new to me). The grill packets especially look like something I should give a shot.

- Make your own staples: While I'm personally unlikely to use this section (as I'm a lazy f*ck), I think this could be useful for some people.

I tested two recipes for this book, both from the 30 minutes or less category. Both were well written and easy to follow. In fact the whole book was well-written and beautifully formatted, with amazing photos for most of the recipes. As a plus the food actually looked like pictures (sorry for the terrible ones of my versions which are below) .

The Summer Stew turned out great and used up some of the foods that had been sitting around the fridge for a while (like zucchini). I'd definitely make it again. The Kale Raspberry Grain Salad did not do so well, although I didn't follow the recipe exactly. I subbed agave for maple syrup and used defrosted raspberries rather than fresh since that’s what I had on hand and the whole thing ended up being a bit bitter. I probably wouldn't make this again. 

Overall I'd really recommend this book for those looking to explore vegan cooking and even for longtime plant-based eaters who are looking for fresh ideas.

***4.5/5 stars***