A review by brokenrecord
Honey & Spice by Bolu Babalola

4.0

3.5 stars. This was pretty good! Honestly at first I wasn't sure how into it I was going to be because it felt a bit lust-at-first sight which usually isn't my favorite thing, but the dynamic between Kiki and Malakai really won me over. They had good banter were just a lot of fun together. I did get a little tired of the back-and-forth at times (mostly at the beginning, with them taking a step forward with the fake kiss and then immediately a step back, but once they actually committed to fake dating, I really enjoyed them). I also felt like even though this is set in a university, at times it felt more like it was about high school students, with the cliques and president stuff, etc. I did really like Kiki's friendships with Aminah and, later, Chioma and Shanti, and the bit where Malakai and her friends come to her defense against Zack, and she says she's never really had friends stand up for her like that before was both sweet and a little heartbreaking. I didn't get fully sucked into the romance (it was very enjoyable but I didn't find myself swooning over it like a top-tier romance) and wasn't super into all the politics/power structure element of the story which is why I'm not rating this any higher, but I definitely ended up liking it a lot.