While I wanted to like this I found the plot, world building and characters something that I was not a fan of and not something I would pick up again.

First I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House Publishers for sending me this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book did not disappoint!! I knew before I read it that I would like, the premise of the story intrigued me, but now I sit here in love with the story and the characters. Filled with action from the beginning, magic, monsters, and an unjust society, we are delved into the world of Sahir.

Every page turn I could feel the sand on me, the beating of the sun, the panic, the pain, and the anxiety as Imani faces the possibilities that her brother may be alive, and what she will need to sacrifice if she wants to bring him back.

I have to say my favourite character is definitely a certain djinni we are introduced to, and I love him so much with his dark and conniving personality.

Spice Road was exquisitely beautiful, as each place we arrived to was described, from the tea ceremony of misra, to the journey across the sands, and the injustice that is brought to the people that are outsiders.

I am eagerly now waiting for book 2.

DNF @ 25%
What I liked: the setting of the town hidden in the desert by magic, & the tea magic
What I didn't like:
The author spent too much time telling us how amazing of a warrior Imani was, yet we never saw it and Imani came across as very naive and unlikable, and while I often enjoy unlikable narrators, Imani was just annoying. Had this been in 3rd person or dual POV, it might have worked well, but because it was first person, I found reading it not enjoyable.
The fact that much of this book is traveling was unfortunate, because very little was happening.
Last but not least, much of the conversations felt cheesy and a bit awkward. However, this is a young adult book, and teen reader probably wouldn't feel the same about the dialogue.

“Everyone hates and distrusts what is unfamiliar to them.”

This quote is perhaps one of the most noticeable driving forces of the plot of Spice Road by Maiya Ibrahim. The first installment of this new series follows Imani, a young woman who is searching for her missing brother. As she embarks on her adventure she discovers the truth about how others view her based on her family’s standing in her community, and is faced to confront how she views others. There is also a heavy theme of colonialism and how it affects an entire race of people.

I absolutely loved the plot and flow of the book. It builds a beautiful and intriguing world without slowing the plot, and the use of magic is unique without being overpowering. The focus is the plot, although there are some romantic aspects to the story that will likely be explored in the sequels. Imani’s search for her brother and her journey also sets up the series’ larger plot in an organic and natural way, and I will be anxiously awaiting book two.

“Not all who are bad are bad the whole way through.”

The characters in this book were fascinating in many ways. The author makes use of labeling them a certain way when introducing a character, and throughout the book their flaws and strengths are explored and show how people are more than their labels.

I especially loved how Imani, our main protagonist, is described as being the best with a blade, and the best Shield, yet, when faced with the world outside the protective bubble of her home, Qalia, she quickly finds herself faced with her own flaws. She is often fearful and somewhat naive, and this leads her to make mistakes that are uncharacteristic of her label. There is so much room for growth for her character that I can not wait to see where the author takes her in the next book.

Overall I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars. The romance is very mild so there is no spice, but the potential for romance in future books is very strong. If you love a good fantasy adventure, I highly recommend this book.

2.5 ⭐ rounded up

I was really excited about this book. The premise sounded great and it was a type of magic system I'd never heard of before. It sounded like it could be similar to The Stardust Thief, which I loved.

Unfortunately, pacing was not this book's friend at all. It was pretty slow in the beginning. The journey to Alqibah dragged on longer than it needed to but it did help you get to know some of the characters and watch them develop. The amount of time they were traveling through the desert was an issue though because I forgot Imani was even bound to a djinni for a while. She didn't talk to him much on the trip due to circumstance but I mean Qayn was honestly the only interesting character. Shelving him for so long wasn't the best plot choice.

The entire first half of the book was just the journey to Alqibah. That's way too much dedicated to one task when there's so much more to accomplish still. Then, shortly after they got there, we got a big info-dump to explain the politics of the surrounding areas.

Character-wise, I had a hard time believing that Imani could possibly be as ignorant to poverty as she is. How is she the only one in their entire group, her sister included, who is unaware of the struggles of others?

Also, Taha'a character was not likeable at all. Does he hate Imani and want to kill her or is he flirting with her? It feels like you're supposed to think he's having some big internal conflict about his feelings for her but it really wasn't done well. It was just so hot and cold that if he really is meant to be the love interest in the end, I'd have a very hard time buying the relationship after everything he's done.

Overall, this in no way needed to be as long as it was and really could have used more editing to move the plot along. Aaannd more Qayn because he really is the best part.

This arc was provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Spice Road by Maiya Ibrahim, 464 pages. Delacorte Press, 2023. $20.
Language: R (27 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Sahirans keep to themselves in the desert, protecting their magic and their people from the monsters in the surrounding area and the people beyond. Imani (17yo) is part of the Shields, like her older brother before he went missing a year ago. She’s given up on him for dead, but Amira hasn’t. And Amira might be right after all.
I had a difficult time reading Imani’s story because Imani felt more like an antagonist than a protagonist – she’s arrogant and selfish. When Imani went on her mission, she faced obstacles that continually cut her down, which meant I was watching an unlikable character fail over and over again. I didn’t find any enjoyment in that. Eventually, Imani started to change due to her character arc, but she still made choices I couldn’t relate with. I started enjoying the book three-fourths of the way in, but I can’t decide whether or not I’m willing to read a sequel. The magic system is cool, and it seems like there will be more of it to come; that’s the biggest draw for me.
The majority of characters, including Imani and her family and Taha, are either described as having “tawny” or “brown” skin or else are implied so. When White characters are introduced, it’s as outsiders. The mature content rating is for partial nudity, mentions of alcohol, and sexual assault. The violence rating is for weapon use, mention of suicide, fantasy violence, hanging, mentions of murder, and descriptions of corpses.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

A very fresh and different fantasy novel, Ibrahim is definitely a rising voice in this space and this book is going to land on a lot of top 10 books for the year. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free advance copy.

Young Adult with super minimal romance (I did receive and ARC for my review)

The main plot is VERY politically driven. The main characters live in a magical society away from the rest of the world (purposely secluded). They get their magic from a special tea that they have to drink daily to maintain their gifts. Each person's gifts are specific to them even though they all drink the same tea. 

The mention of familial hierarchy throughout the entire first half of the book happens A LOT. This isn't usually my "cup of tea" but the magic and the djinn makes it interesting. The main character, Imani, is fairly annoying in the beginning with her whole "I'm better and my family's better than you" mentality. She basically looks down on the rest of her traveling companions and doesn't understand why they aren't groveling at her feet. I will say there is some character development for Imani but there's still a lot to be desired by the end of the book. (but there's very obviously going to be more books)

There was a part that surprised me about the main male character Taha...and the ending had a nice little twist. While this book didn't have my most favorite tropes, I did enjoy it and would likely read the next one. 

So main points: 
- Political Hierarchy- Magic- Djinn- Love Triangle (ish)- Prison Break- Secluded Society- War

I absolutely loved this book! The plot was really strong and the way the story developed was just the perfect balance of adventure and magic. It has all the elements of a perfect fantasy novel.
I loved watching Imani's character development throughout the story and I really enjoyed the flow of the writing. The author is very talented and I can't wait to read more books by her!
Thank you netgalley for the eARC!

this book, THIS BOOK!!!
it was literally everything i wanted and MORE!! like no matter what, i couldn't predict what would happen next, and it just had my head SPINNING, i literally couldn't breathe, couldn't put the book down AT ALL!! i could go on and on about how much i adored this book and how much i hated that it ended because i need book 2 like NOW, but let me give you a few bullet points of everything i loved:
• fast paced
• amazing worldbuilding
• TEA MAGIC
• enemies to ???? to enemies
• important themes
• middle eastern inspired
• monsters and djinni
• strong family bonds
• plot twists upon plot twists
• political intrigue
• love, loss, betrayals, pain, complications
• road-trip vibes
• well written characters
• a fallen king
• morally grey characters

i could never praise this book enough!!!

Y’all, Spice Road hit me out of nowhere. It was on my list of anticipated reads for 2023, but it exceeded all of my expectations in every way!

The writing is beautiful (seriously I think I underlined every other paragraph), the characters were relatable, and the twists were *chef’s kiss*.

Imani has a reputation for being the best jinni slayer around. While her heroic feats bring her praise from some, they also bring her disdain from some of her peers. A previous family betrayal/tragedy has already brought her family under scrutiny, and she has no intention of caving under the pressure of the city’s eyes on her.

But when new secrets come to light, everything that Imani, and the city, believed about her older brother’s disappearance is brought into question. Imani sets off on an epic quest to discover the truth, although she is shackled with a band of peers who do not hide their dislike of her.

The twists in this book will keep you flipping the pages well into the night! I can’t wait for the rest of the series!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I felt that Imani was a flawed yet sympathetic protagonist and I really liked being able to see her struggle and change as the story progressed. Her development was well paced in my opinion. The magic system is very intriguing and I loved the setting. I look forward to the sequel. I felt that this book handled big issues in a good way that showed the problems without coming across as preachy. I would definitely recommend Spice Road, especially if you like middle eastern inspired fantasy.

The romance elements seemed a bit half baked but the world building left we wanting more. Can definitely see how it’s the first in a series with more left to tell

This was an amazing YA magical medical fantasy - the MC is from a region/country where people use spices in tea to harness their inner magic, and this region is cut off from the rest of the world on the order of a "Great Spirit" who wanted to protect this magic from others who might use it in a corrupt manner (a Wakanda situation, but where the decision to isolate supposedly came from the gods, and where the people have to use their magic to fight monsters). When the MC discovers that her (presumed dead) brother has stolen magic to help the world beyond their region, she starts on a quest with her enemy to bring him back.

What I loved about this story was how the MC Imani's world view and opinions slowly changed as she gained more knowledge - at the beginning she is extremely rigid wrt the rules she's been taught, and she is ignorant of many real world things. As she gets first-hand knowledge of the world and the people around her over the course of the story, she has wonderful character development. We don't often see these kind of MCs in stories, and I'm glad that this story had it. I also loved her interactions with her family, particularly with her younger sister.

The world building is exquisite, and the author has written a very realistic and raw portrayal of colonization, my heart is still paining from that (💔).

As for the romance, it's a sort of love triangle (?), although there is not a very explicit romance element in this book. I'm particularly hoping for the second ship to be endgame, so fingers crossedddd.

--- ty to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy!

This book was completely enchanting. I was completely entrantsed. This is so good!! I can't wait for the next book to come out!! And the cover is to die for beautiful. All around perfect.
I just reviewed Spice Road by Maiya Ibrahim. #SpiceRoad #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

As 2023 begins, a lot of books set to come out in January have been in my eyes, and Spice Road is definitely one that made it's way up the ranks to capture my attention. At least in the tea magic aspect.


Because how exactly do you pull tea magic off? I initially thought that heading into this story, it would be a similar road to Swati Teerdhala's The Tiger at Midnight (Because book 1 was excellent despite the rest of the journey being more rocky) but we are met with a VERY different story.


So, here we go.


Short Summary: Girl with dagger hunts down her lost brother who stole some magic and is on a journey with two guys that pull her heart in two directions.



Long Summary: Imani is the youngest shield in the land of Qalia and with a trouble-making sister, a disappeared brother and expectations to remain the best, she sets out on a journey to find her brother to reveal his secrets and to stop the trouble he may cause that can cause more conflict. Along this journey, she is teamed with Qayn typical himbo #1 and Taha, himbo #2 (and yes, both are himbos and I will die on this hill) so she deals with the usual emotional turmoil as she explores that the world is not as honest as she thought it was and that lies are everywhere and can appear at any time.



It was a slow start for me to get into the book, but eventually, the plot picks up and it is heavily focused on the plot and the journey itself, and less about the characters. The tea magic gets explained a bit, but not as much as I would have liked, but it still made for an amusing read and hopefully, it will be more promising in book 2.



Overall: 4/5 stars

The Spice Road takes you on an adventure through the sands to a city that no one even knows exists in order to find Imani’s brother who is accused of stealing misra. From the beginning this book was very fast paced and pulling me through this journey. While the characters took some time getting used to, the plot truly held this book together. There were so many quests and mystery pulling you along that it was hard to put down.

I also really loved the family aspect found within this book. We get to see the interactions between Imani and her sister. See their different perspectives on what happened with their brother and we get to slowly watch these siblings start to understand eachother and become close again which was really heartfelt.

Imani was often times reckless and impulsive which made it hard to sympathize with her character. She often times spoke without thought. As the story progressed Imani began to question everything which really was the turning point of her character that made me start to love her.

I really loved the last 30% of this book and how it left off in order to prepare for the next book in this series. I can’t wait to read the next adventure.

Rating: 5/5
I received an eARC for my honest opinion.

This book will be on my top books of this year, I loved everything about it. Spice Road is the first book of a YA fantasy trilogy, where you will follow Imani on an adventure of her life. She goes out searching for her brother, who everyone has assumed dead, but Imani and her sister have found proof that he might be alive somewhere outside of their magical city. You will be transported through ghost cities of the desert, fight against soldiers who are abusing their power, break in and out of the prison, then an epic battle right to a great ending of this part of the journey and left wondering what will happen next.

I loved the character in this book, I loved how you really got to see the character development throughout the whole book. I think my favorite character would have to be the Djinni named Qayn. I really liked how Imani didn’t just change her ways of thinking, it was slow and she wouldn’t just jump into anything without thinking about it. This and other reasons is why I think the characters in this book are so easy to connect with. We have all known someone in our lives that has acted in some way like the characters in this book. I enjoyed the hint of a possible love triangle in this trilogy, it's not out in the open but just a little hint throughout the book and I can see that happening. I hope I am right and, in the 2nd, & 3rd book we will see more of that.

I thought Ibrahim's writing style was beautiful. It was so easy to follow and understand everything that was on the page. The attention to details was amazing, for me to be able to picture everything that the author is saying really helps to bring a book to life. I loved that this book is set in the Middle East, and you get to picture all the beauty and magic. I loved the magic system in this book, to have tea used to enhance the magic that natural flows but not everyone can access it…or can they and they just don’t know. I can not wait to read the next book of this trilogy and to dive deeper into this wonderful world that Ibrahim gave us.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves YA fantasy, great world building, and connectable characters.

I want to thank NetGalley and Random House Children’s for the opportunity to review this book.

A huge thank you too NetGalley and 'Random House Children's, Delacorte Press' for the digital ARC of 'Spice Road' by Maiya Ibrahim.

This has been one of my most anticipated reads for 2023, mainly because when I first read the description, the magic in the book made me think of a crossover between the 'Mistborn' and 'Dune' series.

I will admit in the first few chapters it was hard for me to initially engage with the book, but as the story progressed it was so easy to fall in love with this book. I absolutely loved the development of Imani throughout the story, and watching her learn to look at the world with not such a narrow focus. Her privileges, and isolation had blinded her from seeing how daily life was like for the majority of people in their world. I was happy when she starts to realize she has "gone too long with a full belly and ignorant heart". It would be nice to also eventually see this same growth for Taha has well, but he has a lot of emotional damage to undo first.

Overall, the only wishes I have is these books going forward is for them to avoid the enemies-to-lovers cliché for Imani and Taha... for Imani's family to be whole again... and for Qayn's outcome to be a good one.

I definitely believe this is a book my students would enjoy, and I can't wait to share this with them... as well as add to my own personal library.

1/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book doesn't deserve even 1 star, but I can't rate it zero. Sad.

Buckle up. I've got some things to say.

Spice Road follows Imani, the best Shield, the youngest Shield in history, the djinni slayer, the not-like-other-girls main character that we should have left back in 2010. We're told over and over that she's amazing and special and The Best, but there is one (1) singular scene where Imani uses her dagger at all.

The book is basically what would happen if the author took a dart and threw it on the most overused YA tropes and tossed them in a blender to make this book. Lying government? Check. Speshul MC? Check. Love triangle? Check. "I didn't mean to kiss you"? Check. I'd say more, but this is getting repetitive.

I predicted at about the 20% mark that Imani, Taha, and Qayn have themselves a cliche love triangle, Imani discovers the council is lying, and joins the outsiders. Spoiler alert: that is exactly what happens.

Why did I not DNF this book, do you ask? I don't know. I asked myself the same question.

Imani isn't necessarily dumb for sticking to what she knows, but it's so painful because the reader is constantly 10 steps ahead of her. The Council is obviously lying. Amira isn't just a stupid little sister. The outsiders aren't the bad guys.

You know what else was painful? Imani's relationship with Taha and Qayn. Let's start with Taha. He's a classic "oh he's mean to you because he likes you!" terrible dude, but Imani likes him because he's really just a traumatized, misunderstood man. Please, no. A douche is a douche. I did think it was pretty funny when Imani was trying so hard to think about how Taha hated her and he was like "lol I just ignored you" and he was so right. Imani also gave me whiplash when she was mad at Taha for killing Badr and putting her out of her misery (again, the reader clearly knew he was doing it out of mercy but Imani is far behind), but suddenly tells him it's alright after he says one (1) nice thing to her.

And now Qayn. Imani hates him because she's been taught to hate all djinni, sure, but at some point I just couldn't help but roll my eyes. He's obviously trying to help, he's never done anything to her, and she continues to hate him and yell about how she's going to kill him. Also, they're bound and she goes into his mind knowing he won't like it and is shocked when he's upset. Sigh. Qayn is also the cliche 1000+ year old handsome love interest, and yet he's still the best part of the book, which is saying something.

Lastly, I couldn't stand how agonizingly slow Imani's development was. She insists on spending most of the book thinking Atheer has just been mislead, not realizing that she's the mislead one, and I really wanted to slam my head against a wall. Even after she supposedly understands, she still treats Atheer's girlfriend, Farida, with animosity, since she "stole her brother away."

I'm going to end this review by saying that this was honestly one of my most anticipated reads this year. I can't believe how far it fell from my expectations.