I was quite disappointed in this book. I was looking forward to it and it just fell flat. I guess to an extent it’s down to personal preference but I just don’t think it was executed well. It’s not by force for us to like characters but there has to be some level of likability about Imani and there wasn’t any so it was hard to root for her beyond chapter 3 or so. She was a user, a hypocrite, ignorant, classist - though sets her up for hopefully better character development later, was a bit too much for a first book to hook me into being on her side.

Considering she’s supposed to be this incredible warrior with her blade she barely had any actual battles and the fact she has all this talk for everyone else but her sister, made it even more unbelievable that she was actually a good warrior. Also considering she’s a Gen Z and an ethnic minority I found their dynamic hard to believe that Imani let her baby sister run riot and talk to her anyhow.

The love triangle wasn’t believable at all. She had absolutely no connection with either of them only that they did nice things for her and it would have been nice if she had actually chemistry with them.

I did enjoy how the author described the monsters. I could vividly picture them and it felt like I was in a Darren Shan book and I adore him.

Would have been nice if the spice tea was built upon more beyond, it being the equivalent of spinach for Popeye

Many thanks to Netgalley, Hodder & Stoughton Audio, and the author, for the ALC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A book based on tea magic, a walled secluded land protected by that magic and the outer world being colonized by light skinned people from far far away. How do you expect me not to pick this book up. But let me tell you this I have never disliked a MC this much in the beginning of a book. She grew on me is the only way to explain how at the end of the book with a generous amount of character development Imani became much more than the Djinni slayer who was full of herself.

The story follows the journey of Imani, the 17 year old Djinni slayer of Qalia, a desert land blessed by the spirit with the power of misra tea. Imani is on a journey to find her brother Atheer who was previously presumed dead after being afflicted by magical obsession and betraying the land of Qalia by sharing misra with the 'cursed outsiders of the forbidden wastes'. When she discovers that there might be a chance that Atheer might be alive, she convinces the council to send her to find him and bring him back. She is allowed to leave the protected lands of Qalia under the condition that she will be accompanied by Taha, the best beastseer of their generation and Imani's rival. The journeys is arduous and full of unwelcome surprises, at the end of which, all of Imani's world of beliefs might come crashing down.

The story was slow to take off and Imani was so annoying and irritating, so was everybody else. Egoistic with a tone of self righteousness and self-importance to the end where I was absolutely hating her. The story slowly started gaining pace and emotional depth as it proceeded to end, at a place where I was whole heartedly rating it 4 stars. The thrill and tension of the plot was real and it had me on edge many a time. I honestly loved the sibling dynamics and and beauty of people slowly coming into themselves and seeing their perspective about life change. The unraveling of indoctrination is a beautiful sight to witness. Also so much of the story is so real, as from tidbits of history to things happening across the world right now. This parallel was very painful and necessary

I honestly cannot wait for book 2 and will recommend this to tea magic lovers and people who love fantasy based on history, culture and politics.

TW: Death, blood, gore, death of animal, betrayal, Sexual assault, abuse, child abuse, colonization, barbarism, forced labour

Look, I wanted to love this, I really did. I have friends who really enjoyed this, so you can see that my opinion is not the only ine out there and should not be taken as unshakable truth.



For me the book was just a bit...meh. Weirdly nothing really stayed in my mind about this book, and I finished it yesterday. I just found it to be very forgettable.

Now don't get me wrong, I wouldn't call it bad and I would still give it three stars, I had fun occasionally while reading it.

It's just. How do you write a book without a single likable main character. That is also not necessarily a bad thing, some people like characters like this, I just don't. Also not a fan of the Love Triangle we're heading into. The choice is between a bully and a centuries old guy getting creepy with a teenager, so no thank you.



So 3/5 but I'm not really interested in the sequel.

Let me start by saying that the setting of this book reminded me of city of brass, with a city where magic is still alive but hidden from the rest of the world. In Qalia people can use magic but they are sworn not to reveal it to the outside cause they are the only ones the gods deemed worth of wilding. Of course this creates injustices and the people outside live in great difficulty, while Imani, ignorant of this, lives her privileged life as a Shield.

I guess I shouldn’t get too mad with Imani for not realizing she is quite pampered, but it’s also true that it’s not entirely her fault since she has always lived in a Golden cage. In any case I haven’t been able to empathize much with her, even if I really liked her attachment with her family and especially with her brother, who is lost and she wants to bring back home. It’s actually quite interesting the choice of the main character, I think in stories like this the most indicated one would have been Imani’s little sister, who is the one that breaks the rules and already understands there’s something that doesn’t add up in the way they live, still I appreciate the attempt of giving a new perspective to ya.

Honestly, the most interesting character to me was Taha and not having his point of view and some glimpses of his past really upset me.

In general the story is not that special and I kept having this feeling I had already read a story like this many times. There are some scenes and events that seem important at the beginning but they result in being just fillers and the some result could have been achieved with a more paced narration.

I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an audiobook, the fact that I listened to the book is actually what made me reach the end and the narration is really great.

Young Adult characters deserve a break. I swear they get the most stuff happening to them. Like the protagonists of grimdark novels aren’t as rushed off their feet as the protag of a YA epic fantasy. Worse stuff happens but they like get a breather in between. It is difficult for me to review this book as there are certain things that pertain to the book and certain things that are just me being super picky. The first half of the book you are wanting to strangle half the characters. Theirs horses are SAINTS for putting up with the constant low level bickering that occurs throughout the book. Even the main character comes across as being difficult just for the sake of it. It takes quite a while for the personality underlying the snarky and the sass to come out. At first its just sass with no one really behind it. At around half way through we get to see more of the characters as their bare bones and it was at this point where I started to want to pick up the book more. This is a YA book so the characters are young and make young stupid decisions, which is honestly accurate.

Qalia is a beautiful world of twisting sands, a desert city. Protected from monster worse than nightmares by shields who lay down their lives under the sun, and Misra. Tea that floods magic to your very core. Imani is 16 and has focused herself like only grief can on becoming the best shield in Qalia. But when one her sister shatters her grief with something far more dangerous. Hope. To face the forbidden wastes and ghosts that linger both within and without. Surrounded by allies that are both enemies and friends, Imani does not know who and what to trust.

Spice Road was unfortunately a disappointment for me.

If you enjoy plot-driven novels, you will be slightly more entertained: the plot is well-paced, but follows a very typical YA structure that feels almost formulaic. The characters feel like stock figures, moving through the motions. This book also suffers from a large amount of tell not show. The protagonist is supposedly one of the best and most well known warriors in the army - and yet there are no satisfying fight sequences, and she is almost always being saved by other people.

Meanwhile, the two potential romantic partners for the protagonist are equally uncompelling. The first hates her guts, and not in a fun enemies-to-lovers way, and the second is an ancient being she has bound to her weapon. The protagonist herself construes random summations of the two of them, going back and forth on her feelings constantly without much textual evidence as to why.

The magic system was what drew me in, but it felt underbaked in its construction. The same was true of the worldbuilding. On the surface, it sounded incredibly interesting! After two seconds, it began to feel confusing, messy, and unplanned.

If you're a fan of typical YA books, which require little brain to read, then read this book! I may still be compelled to read the second as I have a feeling that this book suffers first and foremost from being a debut novel. The author has good ideas and a clear idea of the story she wants to tell; it simply falls apart in the execution.

2.5/5

3.5 stars. I enjoyed this, the plot was really good and while some of the characters were stronger than others I did like the interactions. I felt the world could have been fleshed out a little more but overall it was a really solid story. I liked it enough to want to pick up the sequel when it is released. The audiobook was really nice to listen to and definitely helped me with the pronunciation of names and places.

Unfortunately, I really did not like this book and I’m sad about it. I disliked every character but especially the main character Imani. Imani is always the victim in every situation and doesn’t listen to anybody else. She thinks bad things happen to her when actually she is the problem and when people try to tell her that, she just thinks they are bullying her. The romance plot, if you can even call it that, didn’t have any chemistry and I didn’t care about them at all. Finally, the plot was boring, the magic system was underdeveloped and I hated the characters too much to care about what happened. I will not be carrying on with the series.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for accepting my request to read and review Spice Road!

I alternatied between the audiobook and ebook, and found no fault with either. The audiobook narrator was perfect and easy to listen to.

Starting off, I have to say that the beginning of this book had me hooked in REAL GOOD. I was so intrigued by this world, by the magic system through abilities amplified by the tea, and the school for shields. I loved how quickly we got to realising what the main plot would follow, and how quickly we got to meen Qayn (by the way - how dreaamy).

Soon in though, I did find that some of the titles being thrown around e.g. the protagnost is the BEST warrior did not make sense. She is trained as a shield dedicatedly and yet her character shows zero critical thinking nor general regard for the consequences of her actions. She is hot-tempered and goes against what everyone tells her, and we see her asking people for help and not being a good friend nor sister or daughter in her quest to retrieve her brother (seemingly against his will).

I also found it kind of jarring that the other cities existed for this long and somehow no one found out about it?

I did love the conversations regarding white colonizers and the way they destroy countries and peoples in their brutual ways. I think theres alot to be read between the lines there.

Overall I really did enjoy this book, I did find that the plot had a tendency to lull between the big dramatic moments and it was quite tropey, but at the end of the day it was super fun and a fast read.

A beautifully written story. Arabian inspired fantasy. I loved the family central element to the story. As some one who’s super close to my siblings I could relate with those bonds within this book. Very much enjoyed and would love to read more!

Thankyou to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton Audio for a free audio arc of Spicy Road by Maiya Ibrahim.

I actually previously read and reviewed this book as an e-book and in that, i said that i had struggled with names and terminology due to my dyslexia and thought i would have liked it better as an audio- AND I WAS RIGHT! The audio book is very good and i end up actually really liking the characters (including ones we weren't necessarily meant to). I thought it was very fast paced, gripping story lines and throughout it i was constantly making assumptions and asking questions, parallel to the main character.

I am really glad I gave the book another go in Audio book format! I originally rated it a 3 stars but have bumped it up to a 4 star rating merely due to how good the audio book was.

This book is great for people who are new to fantasy and like watching adventure unfold before them.
I'm happy to say that this book was very fun to read. There were even a couple of instants that had me in a trance because of all the surprising reveals.

I'll start by saying that the setting, inspired by Arabia, was masterfully done. The author did her research well, and executed perfectly. As an Arab this book was like a warm hug when it came to both the atmosphere and vibes.
Also, The magic system was very creative. Involving tea in the matter.

The plot started off pretty well and at times I even had my heart race out of dread and fear. This fear stemed of the chance that what the characters may have discovered next would probably change them. There was even an eerie scene that I had not expected and I was anxious as to what happens next.
But unfortunately, the reason it lost a star for me was that, at a certain part I felt the plot shift a little from a high fantasy to a more philosophical type of story. I felt a little bored there since I've encountered these philosophies in other books and thus felt it was a little repitative.
Although, whatever happened in the last couple of chapters with the many half reveals that will pave the way to bigger reveals in next books definitely did well to have me forget any boredom felt before.

Another lovely thing in the story was how certain characters were very well composed and developed. I felt the many layers to them.
With how good those characters were written, I was sad that our main character developed a little too quickly for my liking, having a very quick shift in her perspective and demeanor. Also, most of the side characters felt a little flat.

Nevertheless, the writing style was beautiful. Easy to digest and run through but still retaining an aspect of poetry.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and look forward to more.

I'd like to add that I listened to an audiobook copy while following with my eyes. And that the Narrator was incredible. Her voice changes in all the right places. She uses the right intonations and emphasis. I was immensely invested in the story due to her amazing way of reading.
Because of this narration there's an extra (.5) to the audiobook rating as a difference from the book itself.

Thank you to the Author, Publisher and Netgalley for providing an early copy in exchange for a review.

I really enjoyed the premise of this book however I found the magic system a tad confusing and hard to understand.

The characters were all very well written and rounded but I would have liked more of a back story for them. Maybe we will find out more in the next 2 books.

Would recommend but wouldn’t run to buy the next part

Imani leaves her hidden city with a small group of magic wielders to find and bring home her brother, Atheer, who has gone awol.

~ Imani, warrior
~ Qayn, a cheeky chappy (actually a djinni)!
~ Taha, a beastseer and his hawk,
~ Amani, sister to Imani and so cute!
(Sorry if some names are spelt wrong, I lostened to the audio!)

The story was so good, I fell in love with the characters and the world building was spot on.

There was adventure, action and of course.. a triangle?! I mean was this a love triangle? I had a clear fave for most of the book and then I switched in the last quarter!

I need to know what happens, I need the next book so I'll be scouring the authors social media for news!

As a reader who like fantasy story with strong elements from different countries, I cant missed this one. Spice Road was following a young shield warrior name Imani who endure long journey from home to clean up and save her lost brother. She lived in desert city of Qalia, a beautiful mysterious place inspired by middle east world where magic was awakened by special blend misra spice tea.

The writing is good and easy to read even with all foreign name and lore. The premise and magic system sound so cool and promising, but this first installment still open for some improvement. I appreciate the family bonding become main theme in this journey adventure but this kind of plot not really my favorite. It is very details for some small scenes but for important details still lacking and I found my self lost with confusion. I wish explanation and extra depth from this intriguing world.

Imani, Taha and Qayn was strong characters. But all of them wasn't flesh out for me. Their personality is lack of depth and sadly isnt memorable. Alot supporting characters being introducing but I cant feel any connection with them. Their journey was dangerous and they must fight all creatures lurking in the sand. But I feel all those fighting scenes are low stakes and isnt highlighting the best skill of our characters. I wish the next installment will stronger than this one.

I really enjoyed the audio version, it enrich my experience with the story and help me learn to pronounce all the name correctly. The narrative is clear and I can hear hint of the foreign accent I adore. The narrator succeeds pull me faster into the book atmosphere and she interprets all characters in this book nicely.

Thank you Hodder and Stoughton for provided me another great book. I truly enjoyed this one and my thoughts are my own

SPICE ROAD is an enjoyable fantasy about a girl seeking her brother - and the truth of his disappearance.

The first half of the book can best be described as a road trip with very suspicious, unfriendly characters. And a boy who acts one way in front of others and another way on his own. (I have to say, I really did not like Taha because of this - it's a massive red flag for me - so where he ends up at the conclusion of the book was immensely satisfying.)

There's all sorts of danger on the way, turning the desert into a dangerous barrier that protects Imani's home, but can be penetrated, undermining the safety of it for future books. There are monsters to threaten their path, a strangely deserted city, and a wasteland of sand that tries to lead you astray. I really liked the more "natural world" (albeit it a magical natural world) element of danger there.

It contrasts nicely to the second half, where the setting is urban, giving a difference sense of threat and danger. it helps keep the tension rising as, having at least got a bit used to the desert and some of its rules, Imani now has to face down an entirely new sort of danger - and in a land that she is unfamiliar with.

In both halves, there is the continuing uncertainty over her companions and how well she can trust them. Pretty much all of them are hiding a lot and are push agendas of their own/given to them by another, leaving Imani more or less on her own when it comes to being sure of her safety, despite having people around her.

I alternated between physical and audio ARCs of this book, which was very useful as it let me keep reading when doing manual, brainless tasks, but also kept the audio portion down to manageable amounts for my brain. Probably 1/3 of the book was listened to. The narrator is great (and it also meant I learnt how to pronounce the various names correctly!) and I enjoyed the bits I listened to.

SPICE ROAD is the start of the trilogy, and I suspect the next book will be quest-like, and the final book a bit fight to save the various countries Imani finds herself connected to now.

This is a delightful pacy epic YA. It's incredibly rich for a debut but does have A LOT of ideas in it which might have been thinned into two books. That said, my main criticism is that I would like to pick up the next book now, please. It reminds me of The Wind Singer and Girls of Paper and Fire series, which are both favourites of mine. Think intrigue, messy families, ongoing peril, magic. Can't wait for Part II.

It was starting so well, I loved the idea, but at the end of the book I just had an "all of that for this?" feeling...

I loved the idea of getting powers from specific magical spices drinken as a tea, with a tea ceremony every day. I loved the djinn legends and all other monsters, specially when we started getting some at the beginning and I really thought we'd get so much more and I was expecting a lot. But in the end I feel like the story was poorly executed: we travel, we get to the city we were meant to be, nothing happens as expected, and the end. I felt like the characters did so much, traveled for so long, only for going somewhere else but still knowing exactly what would happen to Imani's brother and knowing exactly what Imani would do at the end of this book to continue the trilogy - because it feels too much like an introduction.

By the way I disliked Imani, she was insufferable, selfish, thought she was better than everyone and thought she had the rights to do everything she wants. Taha was truly interesting as a character itself because of how he played in the story, but I disliked him as a love interest. Our djinn Qayn was the most interesting character and the only one who actually made me smile by some of his remarks and the way he acted, but I felt like him as a character, with his powers and story was badly developped, or maybe too confusedly for me to catch everything in audiobook?

I don't think I'd be reading the next book, I sadly didn't find any interest in the characters nor the story to get me to want to continue.

Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for the ARC 🫡

First of all : I am in love with this book!! Every other book I read this year better be ready to fight for first place on my list of favorite 2023 books ⚔️

Spice Road is a YA Fantasy set in an Arabian-inspired world filled with magic and mayhem✨ it’s unlike anything I’ve read in terms of fantasy inspired by the Arabian culture and I loved every aspect of it. The magic system was a breath of fresh air and tbh I’m just jealous of the worldbuilding 👀

The action filled plot and the lush writing style were what drew me into the story but it was the characters, and their relationships with one another, that ultimately made this book speak to my heart. I love the way the story centers around siblings who’ll do anything for each other. And I also loved how flawed they were but at the same time everyone was just trying to do ✨their best✨

If you like dashing adventures, plot twists that’ll keep you at the edge of your seat and nuanced characters that will make your heart bleed and sing at the same time, this book is for you 😌

Spice Road comes out on January 24th, don’t forget to grab a copy 💜

This is a fantastic young adult fantasy. The story has a mix of magic djinn and those who don’t have magic. The story centres around a quest to find a missing brother who has become a traitor or so his sister thinks.
It was fantastic as a audiobook as the characters really came to life. This looks set to be a great series.