Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Honey & Spice

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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gerlinen's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I still genuinely don't know why its a prerequisite in the genre that the couple must always admit that they started off as a 'fake relationship' — like seriously, whose business is it?! Always do love when it's actually the woman in the wrong in these hetero set-ups but I do feel like Malakai needed a bit more characterisation — just a bit more edge.

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nenaveenstra's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny reflective 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

This book is a beautiful representation of what being a woman in her early twenties can be like. It’s a story of community, of abuse and of finding yourself after you’ve been hurt. It’s also a fake dating romance.

Judging this book as a romance would be unfair, because, no, it didn’t make my stomach flutter like other romance novels have, and it’s not quite as sexy as other romances, and I couldn’t quite get on board with the fake dating side of things. However, the romance in this story was an important part of the character arc of our main character, Kiki, and I appreciated it for that.

Kiki went from a person who’d rather be lonely than be hurt, to someone who collects an awesome group of friends who would die for her, and is capable of talking through conflict instead of avoiding it, and it was beautiful to watch. And the same went for a lot of the other characters in this book, like Aminah, Kofi, and, most importantly, Malakai, all of whom had dealt with painful relationship drama in the past. All of that character development happened in an environment that was like Black Mean Girls, with different cliques all around the university and gossip blogs detailing every student’s love life, and Black slang and Yoruba (and other languages) all around.

This book felt very raw, very real. And yet it didn’t really affect me in ways I would’ve liked it to. I wish I felt more invested in Kiki and Kai’s relationship, and I wish I could connect more to Kiki as a character overall, even though her closed-offness was kind of the point. Maybe it’s because I’m white, or because I’m queer, and neurodivergent. Either way, I felt kind of distanced from everything that was going on. But I still recommend this book for what it does achieve. And what it can achieve for people who don’t feel seen in other pieces of media.

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catlandia91's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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

4.0

So as a general disclaimer, I don't really consider myself a romance reader. I love love, but I generally prefer it to be an addendum to a story, a plot point, rather than the whole point. But I wanted to get out of my comfort zone, and I must say, I'm glad I picked this one.

The beginning was a little rough for me, the clique-heavy nature of the campus was frustrating. The conflict between social groups felt so immature. It felt more like high school than college, and none of my school experiences remotely matched that, either. The social conflicts help drive much of the plot, which didn't always land for me, but I didn't mind much by the end.

Once I got through the setup drama, I was really hooked by Kiki and Kai's chemistry. I also thought their personal hangups felt pretty relatable, but I wanted to scream in Kiki's ear to stop lying to herself (in a good way, I was getting invested in their relationship). I definitely felt all warm and fuzzy by the end, and I maybe teared up a little. And when it finally happened, the spice was spicy, gat damn!

I also loved the female friendships throughout the book, I had a lot of fun when Aminah and the others were on the page.

The pop culture references felt a little heavy handed in some parts, mostly in Kiki's internal dialogue. They felt more natural in the conversations with Kai or her friends, where they helped give us a sense of everyone's personalities.

The cultural references were also a nice touch-- this felt distinctly British, Nigerian, and Black in a way that was effortless and engaging. If you want a romance with Black joy, I think this would definitely fit the bill.

Overall, this was a fun one, even if I felt a little like a cranky old person dealing with teen problems in the beginning.

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