Honey and Spice: A Reese's Book Club Pick

I really enjoyed this story. When a man is truly interested, he will let you know. Period. I would love to read the sequel to see what happens to them maybe 5 years after graduation, or even after the summer.

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆This was our bookclub book & when I tell you I dreaded picking it back up once I started .Then, when I did pick it up, I couldn’t wait for the chapter to be over ( I have to finish the chapter I’m in) . I would just wander off .I even tried to listen to the audiobook , which was only slightly better.Why it got 1 ⭐️ :• The FMC swore she wasn’t male-centered, but literally was• There wasn’t enough backstory on the things that mattered• Who was the audience for this book?• The author was just throwing in things attempting at shock factor ( BORING )• Too wordy• Try Hard• Chapters were Too Long• Not one character was likable• The book did not flow . Therefore, made no sense ( and it’s not even a fantasy book )This book had so much potential, but it just felt like the author wrote this to appease some audience and I don’t know what audience. She over explained every small thing, but didn’t dig deep enough into the stuff that would actually help you connect to the characters and push the plot forward. I found it hard to connect to any of the characters. I love a good side character and even that wasn’t there. It just fell short on so many fronts. It was overdone and in the worst way! Book could have been 200 pages shorter .

It’s about love and compromise. It touches base on not being able to understand your partner because of your own issues and being in your own head. I loved this book. Great read

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️|🌶️This has been on my TBR for years! I remember when KimmyBooks recommended it on her YouTube or IG and I was like “ooo that sounds good to read”. I finally got to read it for Book Club this month and absolutely enjoyed it!I was kicking my feet and laughing the WHOLE time! I love a fake dating trope, but this one was probably the BEST one I’ve ever read! 10/10!This book was extremely well written! I loved KiKi and Kai’s character dynamic. I also enjoyed reading this in a London accent 🤷🏽‍♀️HOGHLY Recommend! Very light spice and suitable for mature 15+ 💖

Laughed, cried, loved it all. This needs to be a series. I would so binge it all, e jor 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

I liveeeeeeeeeeee for this story. It was realistic and raw emotion from men and women. Bolu embodied emotion in ALL characters.

It took me a while to really get into this one. While well-written, at times I found it to be a little wordy and veering into trying-too-hard-ville. Kiki was rather insufferable and I had to remind myself that these characters are over twenty years younger than me. Ultimately, I got to where I was so invested that I wanted to see how things turned out.

Great book! I loved the characters, the way the story flows. The only thing that I slightly cringed at was some of the cheesiness but that’s a me thing😩. The author has said Part 2 is coming soon, so I’m excited to purchase.

This was a sweet & loveable story with good characters!! It felt like a Disney movie to me, some of it being a tad cheesy and some of it being really sweet and cute. I LOVED the first like 60% but the last 40% or so wasn’t my favorite… I feel like I wanted more?? Maybe she was setting up for second book…?

This book is exceptionally, both Kiki and the author have a steal tongue, sharp and grazing and inspiring.I am truly grateful to have read this book because not often do I read fictional books that challenge my knowledge of language and words. I am a film major with a minor in English. I am an African American young woman soon to be graduating college. I also really enjoy reading books, and this book was superb (I hate using that word). I aspire to be able to sit down and create different various fictional works and from now on this is a book that I will greatly fall back on. I will hopefully one day purchase the physical copy. I appreciated the writing format, and I’m interested to see how it differs from the physical version.Also, now I feel compelled to share this book with my Naija college cohorts.

Plenty of laughs, plenty of tears (both happy and sad) and plenty of feel good vibes.I wish there's more to read of Kiki and Kai story cause I'm just obsessed!Overall, it is a feel good book while also touching on the black experience. Happy that this book capped off my black history month.

This book came highly recommended and I completely understand why. Despite being American Black and needing to learn some lingo, I was immediately hooked. I read on the train, on the escalator, on the elevator, on bathroom breaks, you name it. I should be doing MY graduate studies but I said "it's black history month lemme finish this here book."This book is messy in the way you want some mess in a great story that ends well. The way the different cliques within Blackwell are described took me out. I couldn't stop laughing because that was Soooo perfectly described. And blending together by the end felt like the beautiful, natural conclusion. As much as I loved the romance, I was just as attached to the friendships! God. This book was just amazing.

What can I say… this love story was so refreshing I just 🥰. I’ve had the physical book forever and never got around to reading it until today and I’m already done!!! Kiki and Kai’s relationship was so raw and true and light hearted!!! I just loved this read so much and would recommend this to anyone looking food a quick good read and true black love 😍😍😍 The only reason why I’m giving it 4.5 instead of 5 stars is because it kinda sped up at the end and I wish it was more4.5⭐️1.0🌶️

I really enjoyed this book! I’m almost 40 years old, so it does feel the intended audience is for a younger crowd, but it reminded me of the books I loved so much when I was younger. I could only dream of having the fire and self assuredness of Kikiola at that age. It was fun peeling back the layers on her and the other characters and learning what made them tick. The author did a good job bringing us into the Nigerian-British culture which I enjoyed reading as a Nigerian-American. We have so much in common from parental expectations to a deep love for plantains!

It’s hard to put this book into words. I have read a lot of romance, and I find that it can be repetitive or cliche in a way that frustrates me. Or characters are in toxic relationships, or I can never quite believe the men… no matter how much I want to.Honey and Spice is none of these things. It is a literary delight. Some of the writing feels like poetry. It’s beautiful and so far from cliche, whilst sitting deep in the romance genre. This book has reinstalled my hope for the genre. Beautiful characters, smart people who grow and develop, a healthy relationship that goes through trials and tribulations, honouring black culture in a nuanced way. Babalola knocks it out of the park.

Ok so this definitely grew on me the more I read. I was ready to DNF because it felt like such a struggle to read. Once I hit the main plot it suddenly clicked that it was London and African slang I started getting a weird mix of love island games mixed with crazy rich Asians (rich African edition), bluffed high, sorta gossip girls, hot 105 radio tones and something else. I grew attached to the characters and was able to understand their flaws way more LOL. I found myself wanting more. This review will really only make sense to me

This is a NTMA so despite the high # of reviews, I did not expect such a ridiculously stupendous excellent read! Kiki is that chick and you will feel and cheer her superpower! This book encapsulates the intelligence and romance of Love Jones, the trials of sisterhood from Waiting to Exhale, the School Daze identification and rivalry of life at universities, and the idealistic thoughtful hip hop sensibilities of Brown Sugar…all while dishing on how to own your truth, walking through fear, and be your sister’s (and communities) keeper. Add multi layered love story while providing hilariously smart, sharp, sometimes deliciously shady, political commentary on coming of age, family dynamics and all the ‘ism’s …feminism, racism, elitism, sexism, and so much more. Beautifully intellectual, simply sweet and savory story specifically from the female lens. Did I mention smart? Smartalicky? I have added Wastemen to my lexicon, for sure. 🤗 Enjoy!

I LOVED THIS FROM COVER TO COVER... Actually, cover graphic image to book details requesting a rating & review, e-book that it was.I appreciated the MELANATED european collegiate experience WITHOUT the overwhelming intrusion of racism that lies beneath most literary & media offerings allotted to the 'OTHERED' population of this rock. A tale can be told BY us, TO us & FOR us without the non-othered being a collective main character in not their story.Honey & Spice drew me in quickly and unfolded in realistic and relatable ways that make it my crush at first sight, guarded hearts favorite of all time.

If I could give this book more stars, I would! I loved this book. The title, Honey & Spice, was so appropriate in every way: their cultural food, their myths/folklore, and for the sweetness and spiciness that was the two main characters. Kikiola and Malikai have such an easy, yet difficult time being together. I loved that they decided to fake date for their uni projects, but found that they so easily were meant to be together. They learn so much about themselves and each other while navigating through their relationship via working together on their projects. Not only are the main characters great, all of the other characters were wonderful too. Just read that Ms. Babalola is coming out with a sequel to this book and I hope and pray it is about Aminah. Can't say enough good things about this book other than to recommend whole heartedly!

I've been following Bolu Babalola on Twitter for quite some time. This book is clearly written in her blend of multinational pop culture references and love of the romantic. Aptly titled, the romance in this book is sweet without being too syrupy and a little spice: we never get to the point of consummation, but I have no doubt that should the author choose to go that route in the a future, it would be handled well.All told, this is the book you can feel good about gifting the younger (15+) people in your life without sacrificing your rep AA the cool one in their life. And, it isn't too chaste and hip for us Aunties to enjoy as well.