Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Honey & Spice

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Honey & Spice by Bolu Babalola

42 reviews

shaipanda's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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? Yes

5.0

I absolutely LOVEDDDD this omgggg - 100% a 5 star read and honestly definitely one of my top romances of the year if not of all time?? I don’t even know how to explain everything was so so good in this but just everything was ughh fucking perfectttt - especiallyyyy the chemistry between the main couple(s)

the only small issues I had with this were that I thought it was slightly weird to just drop the conclusion of the storyline with Rianne in the middle and then never really address it much again? I appreciated why the storyline was there but also I thought the way it was done was slightly stilted. The other thing was I didn’t love that there was a 3rd act break up in this cause I just don’t love those anyways but I did appreciate that at least it was done pretty well

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editoryalizing's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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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blkbookbae's review against another edition

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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

this was everything

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naturally's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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

5.0

the best romance i've read this year - no competition!!!

bolu babalola writes about love in a way that makes my mouth curl into a smile AND my eyes well with tears. her words are so luscious and poetic. her characters are a laugh-out-loud kind of funny, even the villians bc they are drawn from recognisable characteristics/references in black british culture. honey and spice is a book that is for us & by us <3

kiki and malakai are rom-com excellence in all and every sense of the words. i'm so serious when i that i am willing to be kiki's sister wife...kai is 100% a book boyfriend. i don't think i've ever felt this way about a male love interest in a book lmao. and i adore how kiki is bold and beautiful and outspoken and messy. she is a woman of so many multitudes, and i can't wait to see how she evolves and grows in the sequel, sun under skin.

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_m0's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring 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

Things I liked:

Who doesn't love a good fake dating? (which, of course, becomes ~real feelings~) A classic.
I was really, really happy with the female friendships and solidarity by the end. Minor spoilers, but I was so glad that
Kiki and Rianna realized the boy was trash and began to reconnect, and that Kiki also opened up to and ended up bonding with the other girls on campus, like Shanti, Chioma, and even (especially) Simi
I enjoyed Love in Color, so it was great to read a full length story and see more work from an emerging author with a unique voice! Looking forward to anything else she writes next!

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purplepenning's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

Not gonna lie — it took several chapters and an embarrassing number of Google searches for this white, small-town, Gen X American to get the vibe of this one, but it was ultimately worth the effort. If I weren't so old and out of touch, I'm sure I would've enjoyed it even more. As-is, here's what I loved:

a strong, complex, nuanced main character
one of the best book boyfriends I've ever read in recent memory
sizzling banter and gorgeous prose
so much sister solidarity and friend support
Afro-Caribbean, specifically Nigerian Londoner, voices centered and supported with beautifully cast context
a couple of squee-worthy, next-level, book-nerd gestures that were absolute perfection

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kshertz's review against another edition

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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

Sweet romance book with all the ups and downs of life as a Black person just trying to live their lives and be happy. I enjoyed it and think it’s a good beach/light read.

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dalmavatai's review

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emotional 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

3.5

This book is truly an ode to Black (British) joy and love. Malakai and Kiki are dynamic characters with their unique struggles and it's beautiful to see them come together and make each other feel worthy. I loved the tension and chemistry between them, in fact I wanted more, just like I wanted more steam. I loved the commentary on what it's like to be a Black woman at a British university as well as the ways in which the Black women in the story came together despite their differences and stood up for each other. I kind of didn't really care about the university politics that was a big part of the book and I wanted more of the relationship instead, more of the back-and-forth, did-he-touch-me-or-was-it-accidental kind of tension that I felt like we didn't get enough of. I also thought this book was very long and it was more than just a romance so it makes sense but I was mostly in it for the romance so in places it was a bit slow for me. But despite these things this was a joyful, sweet, beautiful story that I'm glad I read, plus it's probably the prettiest book I bought this year!

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sunlit_music's review

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emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring sad 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

4.75

This book is such an underrated gem! Please check this book out if you love reading about books on romance, relationships, and fake dating. This book has so much depth and nuance!! It focuses on Black joy - Black people finding and keeping happiness, making close friendships, and achieving their goals and dreams in life.

Kiki is a marvellous protagonist - funny, smart, compassionate, cocky, tough and no nonsense. I always found her characterisation believable and interesting. She loves her family and friends, and goes the extra mile to defend them and help them out. She has a FANTASTIC character arc, learning to trust people again, make more friends and learns she really is an important part of her university community, standing up for other students, and helping with relationship advice on her radio show Brown Sugar.

Malakai is an awesome love interest! He's actually funny and nice, and not as bad as I initially thought he was. I love that Kiki and Malakai learn that they've been prejudiced and unfair about each other.

Kiki's best friend Aminah is also flat out witty and hilarious!! I love her so much. She is The Best, an absolute joy to read.

Honey and Spice covers heavy topics like grief, Kiki's mother surviving cancer, Kiki healing from a toxic relationship and friend break up, sexual harassment and blackmail, racism and sexism in academia with empathy and tact. Bolu Babalola does these topics justice, and discusses them with wisdom and grace.

This book is extra special to me because it shows that people can redeem themselves, and work hard to be better. My favourite moments are

when Simi is revealed to be on Kiki's side and helps expose Zack's sexually harassing, abusive behaviour.

I love how people from different cliques who start off hating each other, but eventually become friends.

Especially Chioma (Chi-Chi) and Shanti! They're so cute as friends!!

Check this book out if you can, I highly recommend it!

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duckyreads's review against another edition

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emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is the kind of book I wish I had in college. If there's a fake dating relationship where the main couple slowly develops feelings for each other I eat it up!! Kiki was very relatable in her chase for peace but also perfection in her work and Malakai was so sweet and vulnerable. He fell hard for her and had no problem letting her know when he was feeling her. I loved them together.

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