Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Honey & Spice

Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Honey & Spice by Bolu Babalola

31 reviews

cady_sass's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

3.75

Took quite a while to get going but once the story finds its groove you can’t put it down! For the first time in my life I think I’ll say that the audiobook is the way to read this- I probably would’ve DNFed this because I was having a hard time reading it and engaging with the characters and lexicon (British/Nigerian) but the narrator does a FANTASTIC job.

My only critique of this is that I think it should’ve been YA, which is a weird thing to say but hear me out: there are only two spicy scenes, one is literally the first paragraph of the first chapter and the other places a heavy focus around “being ready” for it. I think tone it down like 2 notches and you could expand your audience! The characters are so young and dealing with complex trauma from their adolescence, while trying to navigate love and the college experience. Smart, well-crafted, and the perfect blend of sweet and spicy (hey, like the title!). I definitely recommend, I think if you’re in your late teens-early twenties this could be a 5 star read for you.

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jencolumb0's review

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emotional hopeful 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

A surprisingly meaty coming-of-age book about relationships, love, and finding oneself. I love (love, love) Babalola's use of language. She has an absolutely phenomenal talent for packing detail and nuance into a single sentence without it spanning pages. I also love her broad and varied cultural references. Know that those two things (appropriately, given Kiki Banjo's character) conspire to move the reader through this work at Babalola's pace, not theirs. It took me a bit to catch on to that reality so, after the initial exhilaration around how she crafts a sentence died down, it was a little bit of a struggle to find the pacing of the book. I got there, though, and it was a worthwhile effort.

Also know that she does some unpacking of patriarchal gaslighting, the use of revenge porn, and related abusive relationship tactics. These subjects are taken on with such astute care and compassion that it was healing and not triggering, but those with particularly recent experiences with those things may prefer knowing that it's a topic discussed in this novel. There's also a bit about parental infidelity, in case someone needs a heads up about that.

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kayladaila's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted slow-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

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aparizo704's review

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funny inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

There is a part of me that wishes I read a book like this in my college years. The growing pains of life and overall character development of Babalola’s power couple, Scotch and Kai, is inspiringly reflective and honest about the hard truths and persistent effort it takes to become a better person each day. Honey and Spice breezily immerses the reader into an emotional vulnerability boot camp and “How To” guide on holding yourself - and others - accountable to show up as the best version of yourselves.

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amandalorianxo's review

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

4.0

This was a cute romance intertwined with female friendships and empowering one’s self. The 🥵🌶️ was towards the end ish but steamy 😏 I loved the banter and the way they knew they were flawed but trying to work through their trauma in a somewhat healthy way.

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berodatheelf's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted tense 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

4.0

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purplepenning's review

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

Not gonna lie — it took several chapters and an embarrassing number of Google searches for this white, small-town, Gen X American to get the vibe of this one, but it was ultimately worth the effort. If I weren't so old and out of touch, I'm sure I would've enjoyed it even more. As-is, here's what I loved:

a strong, complex, nuanced main character
one of the best book boyfriends I've ever read in recent memory
sizzling banter and gorgeous prose
so much sister solidarity and friend support
Afro-Caribbean, specifically Nigerian Londoner, voices centered and supported with beautifully cast context
a couple of squee-worthy, next-level, book-nerd gestures that were absolute perfection

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caseythereader's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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? No

4.0

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dalmavatai's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted 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

3.5

This book is truly an ode to Black (British) joy and love. Malakai and Kiki are dynamic characters with their unique struggles and it's beautiful to see them come together and make each other feel worthy. I loved the tension and chemistry between them, in fact I wanted more, just like I wanted more steam. I loved the commentary on what it's like to be a Black woman at a British university as well as the ways in which the Black women in the story came together despite their differences and stood up for each other. I kind of didn't really care about the university politics that was a big part of the book and I wanted more of the relationship instead, more of the back-and-forth, did-he-touch-me-or-was-it-accidental kind of tension that I felt like we didn't get enough of. I also thought this book was very long and it was more than just a romance so it makes sense but I was mostly in it for the romance so in places it was a bit slow for me. But despite these things this was a joyful, sweet, beautiful story that I'm glad I read, plus it's probably the prettiest book I bought this year!

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shector1's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

4.75

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