Reviews with content warning for Cancer - Honey & Spice

CW: Racial microaggressions, racism, colourism, misogyny, revenge porn, sexual content, cancer, sick parent, police brutality

🌟 Fake Dating

🌈 Black MCs

This. Was. Perfection. Everything you could possibly need from a romance, this had it in spades.

Fake dating is my ultimate all-time favourite trope. I don't think I've ever read a fake dating romance that I didn't love. So I'm basically already biased, but I promise you it's worth reading. There's just something about those moments when we, the readers, get to see through the fake and into the real. And that light bulb moment when the characters realise it *chefs kiss* I cannot and will not tire of it.

This book is set at a university, and alongside the romance itself, the book explores the existence of systemic racism within the educational system and how communities adversely affected by it overcome, band together, and push back against.

Kiki and Kai were just a match made in heaven. Totally rubbed up the wrong way in the beginning, Kiki hasn't had the best first impression, so this alienation from the start makes the fake dating to lovers so much tastier when it happens. There's never any real beef between the two, but they both have their own hang ups to work through and walls built up to knock down.

I like how their romance unfolded so subtly to them that their realisations were just so pure. And the declarations of love, ugh, I love love loved the ending. 10/10.

The female friendships in H&S were also huge standout aspects of the book. Especially when Kiki had a lot of baggage around female friendships so she sort of sequestered herself away from socialising and actually having a wider friendship group.

My only quibble, and it’s very slight, but the ending felt quite abrupt. Maybe it's just because I wanted the story to continue to see them further down the line, I'm not sure.

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sandonat's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Loved the descriptive writing and witty characters. Kai was a dream and Scotch was a badass and I loved them together. The ending conflict and resolution felt rushed but other than that really liked this book!

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daenerystargaryen's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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carseatwarmers's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny 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

4.0

the audiobook is top tier! anyway

we need to abolish the third act breakup 😫 that setup was so weird but i’m a sucker for grand gestures so i’ll try to let it slide 😇

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catlandia91's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful fast-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? Yes

4.0

So as a general disclaimer, I don't really consider myself a romance reader. I love love, but I generally prefer it to be an addendum to a story, a plot point, rather than the whole point. But I wanted to get out of my comfort zone, and I must say, I'm glad I picked this one.

The beginning was a little rough for me, the clique-heavy nature of the campus was frustrating. The conflict between social groups felt so immature. It felt more like high school than college, and none of my school experiences remotely matched that, either. The social conflicts help drive much of the plot, which didn't always land for me, but I didn't mind much by the end.

Once I got through the setup drama, I was really hooked by Kiki and Kai's chemistry. I also thought their personal hangups felt pretty relatable, but I wanted to scream in Kiki's ear to stop lying to herself (in a good way, I was getting invested in their relationship). I definitely felt all warm and fuzzy by the end, and I maybe teared up a little. And when it finally happened, the spice was spicy, gat damn!

I also loved the female friendships throughout the book, I had a lot of fun when Aminah and the others were on the page.

The pop culture references felt a little heavy handed in some parts, mostly in Kiki's internal dialogue. They felt more natural in the conversations with Kai or her friends, where they helped give us a sense of everyone's personalities.

The cultural references were also a nice touch-- this felt distinctly British, Nigerian, and Black in a way that was effortless and engaging. If you want a romance with Black joy, I think this would definitely fit the bill.

Overall, this was a fun one, even if I felt a little like a cranky old person dealing with teen problems in the beginning.

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