Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - Honey & Spice

This was a slow burner and I loved it!
Honestly it took me a while to get into it and I almost put it down completely, I wasn’t connecting with the characters or the setting, BUT I am so glad I stuck with it, it’s a beautiful slow burn that eventually had me so hooked, I couldn’t put it down.
The characters were delightful and I want to be their friend! I feel like the author let us in on them just enough to keep me guessing at what would happen next, the twists were unexpected, yet believable.
The issues in the book were handled with care & thoughtfulness.
A delight of a book that I throughly recommend.

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tiredenglishteacher's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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

4.25

fun little enemies to fake romance to lovers story. bolu babalola is a fantastic writer - story is as much about kiki’s character development and friendships as it is about her romance. highlights the Black post secondary experience and focuses on Black friendships and excellence. broad variety of characters all told authentically.

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lilawsahar's review against another edition

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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

3.5

I listened to the audio and the speaker was amazing! She had great voices for the female and male characters and I could feel her real get into character.

The beginning was enjoyable because they’re sarcasm and flirting and confidence but it gets old when the main character does not realize her flaws. She holds herself like she’s better than others which isn’t cool. I like how she learns to soften up and not be sarcastic all the time. Let people in. I think Makai was her perfect match. I also liked the social dynamics and plot throughout the book. They talk about race and power and feminism and I was eating it up.

I liked the ending the most and how they spoke about loving each other. I found the detail throughout to be a little much but the ending details about what they felt smelled and tasted added to the special moment of the two making up.

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nebraskanwriter's review against another edition

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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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mandkips's review against another edition

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emotional 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? Yes

4.5

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kirstym25's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted 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

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brie_is_reading's review against another edition

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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? Yes

4.5

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cady_sass's review

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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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