Reviews

Honey and Pepper by A.J. Demas

jfreud's review

emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

Delightful! Gentle and hopeful and wonderfully paced, this left me feeling warm and happy (and hungry!)

erinanire's review

emotional hopeful lighthearted 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? No

5.0

vasha's review

adventurous emotional 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? No

4.0

lindzmace's review

4.0

didn't quite understand the sexy-times dynamic between these two but otherwise i greatly enjoyed it (it just didn't make sense within the context of their histories and also they didn't like, communicate it beforehand? idk)

prettycloud's review

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

3.75

This is a very readable book. I loved the way the Greek-inspired world was developed and presented to the reader, and the relationship between the two leads was very sweet.

I just get so frustrated when yet again the darker-skinned character in a couple ends up being big, less educated/lower class, and a top, while the lighter-skinned character is slender, classier, kind of manipulative, and beautiful. I don't think the relationship here is supposed to be interracial (the book doesn't really go into a concept of race) but it wasn't created in a vacuum and won't be read in one, and it reproduces biases in Western culture that I've seen crop up in fictional interracial relationships sooooo often. It's somewhat subverted here in that

they're both former slaves

, but I don't think that makes up for the rest of it. Like, can't the darker-skinned character be the beautiful (and not just hot) one for once? Do we always have to default assume that the smaller person is the bottom?

Apart from the rushed ending this is otherwise a pretty delightful book, and I'm sure I'd be fine with it if there were more diversity in how different types of characters are portrayed in romance generally. But if, like me, you've noticed A Certain Pattern in the portrayal of Black/white interracial relationships, this may be frustrating to read.

blreese's review

adventurous dark emotional tense 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? No

4.25

why_erin's review

emotional hopeful medium-paced

3.75

lian_tanner's review

3.0

The writing is as good as you would expect from this author, the world building is enchanting and the characters are delightful, including the minor ones. It was a good short read, and much gentler than Sword Dance and Something Human, which are still my favourites so far.

Two issues that made it a three star rather than a four for me.

Spoiler

First, the danger was very last minute, so it was mostly a gentle romance with only minor threats, almost up until the climax. Secondly, the deus ex machina at the end, which was so disappointing. I mean, satisfying in one way, because it's always nice when the really bad guy gets eaten by a crocodile. But so much less in story terms than seeing the protagonists triumph over him.

Still a very good book, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.

I was fortunate enough to receive an arc from the author.

fyarae's review

hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

2.25

Kind of boring but it had a good premise

losthitsu's review

5.0

Perhaps not as much of a favourite as Sword Dance but I just love spending time in this world so much, I don't mind.