Reviews

Spice Road by Maiya Ibrahim

danielcharlton's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

5.0

bookgroundmel's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Wonderful listen. Imani and her group have great banter and tension. It's very easy to get wrapped up in the plotting and mystery. The outline of the world is very easy to follow and well defined. Imani, like many 17 yr old characters, can be annoying at times and it shows how little she sees the world in the story. The family dynamic is developed and you feel for Imani and her parents and sister. The magic is super unique and I feel like in spots if you are a fan of the plotting with Six of Crows you may enjoy this story. 

beckybingbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious sad

4.5

Spice Road was an enjoyable Arabian inspired fantasy read with tea magic! I appreciated the themes of colonialism and oppression throughout the book. Certain scenes definitely hit harder (Badr 😢). I'm currently team Qayn and looking forward to learning more about his background in the sequel. 

We had a lovely time chatting with the author @maiya_ibrahim and getting her insight on writing Spice Road and telling her our hopes for the next book. She was super sweet and so fun to chat with. This is her debut novel and I think she did a wonderful job and I hope the series receives more attention from the book community. 

jordanleigh's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

sunflowerfoxglove's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

kendallshelfmade's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

cmckayo's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

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

2.75

lucyisalwaysreading's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

eco23's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense 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? It's complicated

3.75

hoffnungswolke's review against another edition

medium-paced

2.0

This one is such a damn bummer.

I wanted to love it. Cause on paper this sounds right up my alley.
But at the end of it all, I was just super frustrated with pretty much everything.

The things I loved where the whole setting of the book, I loved the atmosphere, and the magic was done so very well. Loved that.

But then you have the real important stuff, like the characters. They just frustrated me to no end. Like I love myself some layered characters but the whip lash I got from some of them was insane, and not in a fun way. I just found myself not caring about them and being really meh about their journey and if they could archive their goals.

I also can't believe I'm typing this, since I am such a sucker for family dynamics in books. But good god, these siblings just didn't do it for me at all.