Hello everyone,
New year, old challenge! Today I am looking back at all the most notable books, authors, characters, and settings beginning with ‘K’ in everything I read from the beginning of 2018 to the end of 2022.
I have not read many ‘K’ books, so the list this time is mostly made up of fictional characters. Let’s get started!
Kacen Callender
The author of Felix Ever After, a moving story about a teenage trans boy who wants to fall in love and goes through lots of conflicting emotions. I think that Callender might be the only trans author I have read so far.
Karemzin
The Ravkan town where Alina Starkov and Mal grew up together at an orphanage, becoming best friends and falling in love with each other.
Karen M. McManus
The queen of young adult thrillers! She writes gripping mysteries that are full of twists, especially at the end of her books. Best known for her debut, One Of Us Is Lying, the first in the Bayview Trilogy, she writes all her stories in multiple perspectives. I have read six of her books so far.
Karen Serko
One of the band members in Daisy Jones And The Six. Originally part of another band, she is convinced to join the Six and she has an ongoing relationship with Graham Dunne. A very outspoken, headstrong character, Karen is a fascinating one to read.
Kate Lynette Jordan-Ferreira
The main character in Dead Popular by Sue Wallman. Arriving at an island boarding school, she aims to be a bit of ‘queen bee’ but never seems to have the personality for it. To make herself popular, she wants to organise the biggest party the island has ever seen.
Kate Metyard
The daughter of a villainous shopkeeper who appears evil at first, but then marries and employs Ruth as her maid. She is a suspicious character, and you never feel like you can totally trust her. This is in The Corset by Laura Purcell.
Kate
I cannot remember her last name, but another memorable character called Kate appears in The Waiting Rooms by Eve Smith. She is a nurse in a dystopian society where it is forbidden to provide medicines to people over the age of 70. The start of the book sees her get lots of hate from protesters.
Kate Quinn
Author of The Huntress, a thrilling historical fiction which I read at the end of 2019. Written with such detail and complexity, Quinn’s long novel was one of the best Second World War stories I have read. She has also written The Alice Network and The Rose Code, which I would also be interested in picking up.
Kate Weinburg
The author of The Truants, which I read for a blog tour in 2020. It was a unique concept for a domestic thriller, with some interesting characters and themes, although some of the plot was a bit far-fetched.
Katherine Arden
Author of the Winternight Trilogy, a stunningly beautiful fantasy series inspired by Russian folklore. Beginning with The Bear And The Nightingale, all three books are magically immersive and just transport you to a different place entirely. The main character Vasya remains one of my favourites, too.
Kathleen Lang
A cousin of Juliette Cai in These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong, and an informant to the Scarlet Gang. Her real name is actually Celia, with the real Kathleen having died years previously. She is a fun character to read, almost like Juliette’s closest confidant, but much more cautious.
Kaz Brekker
One of the most iconic characters in young adult fiction! Kaz Brekker leads the Crows in the Six Of Crows duology – unsmiling, devoid of outward emotion, and endlessly pragmatic. He is always one step of everyone else – including the reader – with his schemes, and the amount of depth to his character makes him truly compelling at all times.
Keith
A young man in A Different Time by Michael K. Hill who loves collecting old fashioned videotapes. In one, he discovers a diary of a young woman called Lindsay from years ago, who he can somehow communicate with. They fall in love through the television screen, but the videos eventually come to an end.
Kelly Brotherhood
The husband of the main character Jen in the amazing Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister. On the face of it, Kelly is the most relaxed person on earth, and a total non-conformist. However, the truth is something much more unexpected.
Kenneth Cooke
A serviceman who miraculously survived for weeks on a small lifeboat, as detailed in How To Be Brave by Louise Beech. The book offers a fictionalised account of his real-life story in an extremely powerful plot.
Kenya
A large country in central Africa, but in this case a character in The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. He is the innocent, unarmed victim of a police shooting which is witnessed by the main character, Starr.
Kerch
One of the nations that make up the Grishaverse. An island in the True Sea, ruled by the Merchant Council, it is full of ruthless financiers and underhand dealings.
Kerry Postle
The author of The Woman In The Painting, a historical fiction about a favourite muse of the artist Raphael and one of his apprentices. I interviewed Kerry for a blog post after I read the book from Netgalley in 2020.
Ketterdam
The capital city of Kerch and the home of Kaz Brekker and his Crows. Its criminal underworld is run by Pekka Rollins.
The Key In The Lock
Another book that I received via Netgalley, which I read in January 2022. Written by Beth Underdown, it is an immersive and haunting Gothic novel told over two timelines.
King Pyotr
The letter ‘K’ is so full of Grishaverse related terms! Pyotr is the decadent king of Ravka, until he is killed by the Darkling’s forces and Nikolai takes over.
Ms Klapper
The next door neighbour of Linus Baker in The House In The Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune. Like everyone else, she pays him short shrift until he comes to the island home of Arthur Parnassus.
Konstantin
A fanatical clergyman in The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden. He makes it his mission to stop Vasya as he believes her actions ungodly, but becomes increasingly erratic in his pursuit.
Korede
The narrator of My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite. Korede is the one who has to clear up after Ayoola’s crimes, and when she is not doing that, she works as a nurse at the local hospital.
Kristin Ward
The author of four books I have read for blog tours. Kristin likes to write books inspired by environmental issues, but also loves folklore, as shown in her Daughter Of Erabel trilogy. I have connected with her on social media too, and she is a lovely person with good humour.
Kya Clark
Otherwise known as the Marsh Girl, Kya Clark is the main character in Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. She has to fend for herself at a young age after her family leaves, so makes a living in the marshland of North Carolina, becoming a local curiosity and developing a relationship with the ecosystem around her. Years later, she is the prime suspect in a murder case.
Of all the characters I have read, Kya is among the ones I have connected with the most. Her story made me cry.
Let’s Chat
Have you come across any of these books, settings, authors, or characters? Let me know in the comments!
Happy reading 🙂
Stephen Reads Books 