Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Honey & Spice

This was a perfect blend of sweet, angsty and funny. There’s nothing better than a book that makes you laugh, cry and pine. Please make this into a miniseries or a movie so I can live in this world forever 🙏🏻❤️

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katiemack's review against another edition

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funny hopeful informative 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

4.25

Some of the writing is too flowery/cliche for my taste, but overall I adored this. Bolu Babalola really captures what it’s like to be a university student—the dialogue in particular is delightful and authentic—all while addressing pertinent issues such as racism, colorism, classism, etc. The romance is a delicious slow burn (not always my thing, but this one is so charming and vulnerable it’s tough not to fall in love with Kiki and Malakai’s relationship), but Babalola takes care to cultivate some sweet and grounded platonic relationships throughout the book as well.

This reads very New Adult, obviously, but it’s more than worth a read even if you’re not twenty years old.

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chilivanilli28's review

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emotional funny lighthearted 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? Yes

4.5

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bookcheshirecat's review

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emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

“But allow me to ask a question, my sisters. If he is a player, are we games? Or are we consoles to be used to help a guy navigate his way to being a man? Our buttons being pressed, being turned this way and that for his progression?” Aminah hummed louder and raised her hands in praise.”

➽ Honey & Spice is about Kiki Banjo and her student radio show Brown Sugar. I really like the premise of that! Kiki keeps herself far away from the cliques of the African-Caribbean Society and hosts her show to help out her fellow girls. Every week she gives advice on how to avoid players and other types of guys that would take advantage of them. Kiki loves her show and is a firm believer in standing up for herself and not letting shitty guys get away with hurting women. Her character voice is really strong and Kiki herself is determined, no-nonsense and sometimes a bit brusque. She’s not good at opening up to others and has so far isolated herself, reporting on the events from the comfort of her radio show booth.

➽ Kiki and Malakai’s dynamic also had great chemistry! Malakai Korede first appears as just another player and Kiki roasts him on her show, to warn the girls away from him. But it turns out that he’s got a good heart and is willing to learn from his mistakes. His good humor and authenticity set him apart from the other guys and circumstances push them to fake date. Their banter and the tension between them was great, you could see that they had good chemistry as a couple. Both of them keep growing closer together and discover new facets of the other. There’s more to Malakai than meets the eye and Kiki herself is hiding a painful past that makes her push most people away.

➽ Despite the positive aspects, I wasn’t really vibing with the book. This is more down to personal tastes, as there were some things that I wasn’t a big fan of. One of them was the slow pacing. The audiobook was 12 hours long and depending on the edition, this book is on the longer side. The fake dating plot didn’t even start until 30% into the book and I felt like some interesting plot points like Kiki’s scholarship and personal project were often pushed to the side. After a while things to a bit repetitive and the ending felt rushed in comparison, with some things neatly wrapped up in the epilogue. Despite liking the character, I never felt as invested in the story as I wanted to. I also struggled with the writing style because it was dense and overly descriptive at times. The audiobook narrator was fantastic, but the beginning was rough because of all the references and run-on sentences.

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taryngoehrig's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

5.0

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bxcvi's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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trips's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring 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

5.0

Wow, this book was great.

Finally! I've found a romance I whole-heartedly was into and not icked out for the entire story! (Guess I'm picky when it comes to romance)
Kiki and Malakai's relationship was a treat to read about, all music references were super fun, and the rest of the cast felt well-rounded and fully fleshed out, too. Honestly, I'm going to continue to explore the genre throughout 2023 but I don't know if any romance novel can top this.

I was pleased to see that although Kiki comes off as being confident to the point of arrogance at the begnning of the book, I was happy to see her true layers to her personality and self reveal themselves over the course of the story. Malakai is a true gentleman through and through with his own traumas that I don't feel like were handled in their entirety but well enough that I was satisfied with the ending!
(also, a love interest fully into the MC's nerdy interests???? heck yessssss)

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