Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Honey & Spice by Bolu Babalola

15 reviews

shaynicole's review against another edition

funny 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, and Misogyny

dylan_tomorrow's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Racism, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Medical content, Racial slurs, Classism, Abandonment, Sexism, Terminal illness, and Misogyny

Minor: Violence and Bullying

carseatwarmers's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Police brutality, Infidelity, Cancer, Hate crime, and Medical trauma

kirareadssometimes's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

4.25

First off this author uses a lot of adjectives! Otherwise, nicely written story. A few aspects reminded me of the movie Dear White People which was a fun call back to a movie I really like. Kai was so sweet and wonderful. I found Kiki so wonderfully complex being inexperienced while also being so helpful at sharing relationship advice. The social aspects of the end of the book were a bit of a surprise and while super engaging and important, I wished more time was spent on Kai and Kiki in the end. 
Not very spicy. Just one descriptive scene. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Racism

jillaay_h's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse

mollyrook's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

The writing in this book, first off, was outstanding. Babalola's prose reads like poetry, and I was completely absorbed by the honey and spice (wink wink) of her words. Just gorgeous.

I also really loved the characters and relationships, and I thought the backdrop of the politics at their university was great.

If I had two small complaints, they would be that 1) these characters didn't feel like they were 19/20—they felt too eloquent and mature. Certainly moreso than I was at their age. And 2) I wasn't convinced by the third-act breakup in this one. The resolution at the end was fantastic, but I think the break-up part could have been toned down to just a fight, since neither of them actually had that much individual growth to do that they couldn't do together.

On the whole, loved this book, and I can't wait to see what Babalola writes next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse

gabyhat's review

emotional funny hopeful 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Cursing, Emotional abuse, and Alcohol

viwilliams's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Racism, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death of parent, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, and Racial slurs

halfbloodprincess_hogwarts's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Racism, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Cursing, and Sexual assault

nebraskanwriter's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Outing, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship