A review by leari
Spice Road by Maiya Ibrahim

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

The book offers an interesting world, a cool magic system with tea-infused abilities matching individual strengths, a beautiful sisterly bond, and an alluring djinn! I loved those parts of the story and can't wait to see how they will be expanded upon in the sequel. I hope it will also have more fantasy aspects than the first book had, since the second half of the book felt a bit lack-lustre in terms of magic and fantastical encounters. I also did not think that searching for Atheer would take up the whole book, but here we are. On the one hand, some parts of the journey were very intriguing, such as the parts in the desert, the market, and the prison, but sometimes, it felt a bit dragging.

Qayn is my favourite character by far! When he was present in the book, I knew that I would enjoy whatever was going to happen. The characters come to some weird decisions sometimes, especially concerning the 'romance' and the mission in general. Speaking of, the romance made absolutely no sense to me. The male love interest is not loveable at all in my opinion. But I might be biased because of Qayn...

Will I unhaul my copy? No.
Will I continue the series? Yes!