OH. MY. GOD.

This book was perfection. I am obsessed, I will accept ZERO criticism on this book. The romance? perfection. The plot-line? perfection. The world-building? perfection. The magic system and development? perfection. My entire existence is dependant on the third (and final 😭) book in this trilogy. I will not rest until I have devoured that book. Also, can we please talk about the that Maiya, so perfectly talk about heavy topics in this book?? colonialism and grief being the main two. It's not way she makes her characters perfect and able to overcome everything. She makes them human capable of making mistakes, and letting their emotions take control over the decisions. Then she makes sure they learn from their mistakes. To (begin to) make amends. Then she goes ahead and crushes all your hopes and dreams 😃

It's the way this book was so perfect in every way, shape and form. My go to author for anything, this series (specifically this book) is my absolute fav ever. Maiya can write anything, and I will read it, she is my new favourite author and no one can convince me otherwise. If you thought that spice road was good? this was WAY better, like I. AM. IN. LOVE. more please, now, and thank you.

Go pick up this book (after the first one obviously) now.

I have been eagerly awaiting this next instalment of The Spice Road Trilogy, a YA Arabian-inspired fantasy.

Imani has left her home, hidden in the desert sands of the Sahir, and discovered that the outside world is much bigger than she was taught. An invading army from Harrowland is easily conquering the surrounding cities and they have found out about her people’s magic. Qayn, the djinni king, seems to be their only hope to stop them conquering her home but he needs to get his magic back first. To restore his magic, Imani must go on a dangerous quest across the seas to the Harrowlanders homeland itself. Meanwhile, Taha has been captured and has been sent on a mission for the Harrowlanders.

Full of adventure, Book 2 has many twists and turns. Was Qayn treated badly a thousand years ago or did he deserve it? Is Taha really a cold-blooded assassin…or an abused sweet boy? To whom does Imani’s heart belong? Most importantly, how can they protect the Sahir? I’m always keen for a quest and I loved learning more about the Harrowland culture which is so different from the Sahir. I’m excited that we get to see more of this world.

I loved this continuation of the story and I look forward to seeing what happens in the final instalment of the trilogy.

Finally we have other characters point of view which adds a real depth to the character development of this series - woo hoo!

Maiya has written a YA Fantasy series that is suitable for a Year 6+ fantasy reader. It hasn't got romance beside kissing and it's a fabulous adventure with a unique magic system. This book finds us at sea, and this perilous voyage finds our characters sailing into more interactions with foes. I do love reading about the powerful djinni, Qayn and hope he appears in the third book.

I was so excited to get an advance copy of the 2nd part of this amazing trilogy thanks to Netgalley and Hachette AU. Now I'm just so embarrassed that it took me so long to read it. Term 4 as a Teacher Librarian is crazy busy in a school!

*Thank you to NetGalley & Hachette Australia & New Zealand for providing a digital copy to review*

I started this not long after finishing Spice Road so I still remembered how it ended which was great as this book starts with the characters in the same spot.

One of the first things I noticed while reading is that we now see more of Taha’s perspective. However, I found it harder to read his chapters as they were in third person while Imani’s were first person. It just felt disjointed to me and it felt like you still couldn’t get close to Taha, like he was holding the reader at arm's length.

This is a long book and the plot felt both slow and fast at the same time. I presumed that certain adventures the characters went on would take longer but they ended up being only one or two chapters long. However, the characters really did a lot of traveling in this book and at times it just felt like a lot.

Aside from that, I enjoyed learning more about Qayn and how connected he is to the Sahir as well as everyone else finding out the true history of their home and their ancestors. Imani & Qayn’s relationship changes in this book and I’m interested to see what happens as Taha still holds feelings for Imani.

Imani swore to protect her home from the monsters roaming the desert but now an even worse enemy threatens her home. The enemy marches south with their stolen magic so it will only be a matter of time before the invasion begins. Their only chance of survival is a dangerous alliance with a dginni king.
If Imani journeys with him on a quest beyond the sands to restore his lost powers he promises to summon a supernatural army to save her people. One wrong move could cost her her life and the lives of everyone she loves. But one may find that there is more than meets the eye when crossing the Serpent Sea and betrayal cuts deeper than any dagger.

As beautifully written and engaging as the first instalment to the series. You watch as characters grow and change, as alliances shift and move like the changing sands of the desert and secrets long buried come to light that will change the world. You know betrayal could be round the corner from any of the characters but you didn’t know how deep it would cut until your amidst the chaos yourself. An engaging plot, nuanced and flawed characters and a magical world that will leave you longing for a cup of tea, pun intended.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚 | 𝐇𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐒𝐞𝐚 𝐛𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐲𝐚 𝐈𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐢𝐦

Huge thank you to Hachette Australia and Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really great follow up to Spice Road! The story was engaging, the characters grew and changed even more, and we got to see sides to them we hadn’t seen before.

The plot in this one is consistently exciting and awful and genuinely had me on the edge of my seat. I kept having to remind myself to slow down because I kept skipping over sentences in my eagerness to find out what happened next.

Qayn is my absolute favourite and I really loved what this book did with him. Honestly I just love him so much and he gained so much more depth and intrigue in this book.

This book has so many complex characters. The inclusion of characters like Ulric, Skerrick and Bayek really made this story so much more rich and layered.

I honestly think this series could be 5 stars for me without the love triangle? I just hate them so much. But regardless, I am really enjoying this series and I can’t wait for the last book.

So excited to have read this book as an arc. Having read the first book spice Road and collecting numerous editions of it because it was my favourite read of 2023, I patiently waited for serpent to be announced.

I was so excited and I was not disappointed at all. Maya you have excited me and I thoroughly enjoy reading this absolutely gorgeous conclusion to this amazing duet

The romance. The action. I even cried a little bit. 😂

I love this book so much. And have already bought a finished copy to read it again.

Imani needs to save her people from an invasion - and needs to restore Qayn's stolen powers to summon an army to save Sahir. They must go on a journey to find the jewels needed to restore his power, but the path is a dangerous one, where one wrong move may cost her her life and her people.

Serpent Sea was a real journey - in a sense of the characters' physical journey across their world but also the fact that I just had no idea who to trust throughout this story. I was second guessing everyone's motives. It was fantastically written.

I love the expansion of the world and that we got to meet more characters and see more parts of the world. The world of The Spice Road series it definitely one of my main focus points for me, and one of the reasons why I loved the first book so much.

I love this series so much so far, and it's an amazing adventure that we go on with Imani, Qayn, Taha and the gang!

Thank you to Hachette Australia for an e-arc of Serpent Sea, all opinions are my own.

Maiya Ibrahim's 'Serpent Sea' is notably slower than in the first book, but this allows for an expanded exploration of the world. The narrative takes its time, but truly explores more of the world.

I'm not a huge fan of love triangles--particularly when very firm and ongoing--however, that is more personal taste.

The family dynamics truly shine here, with the bond between the three siblings standing out as one of the story's strongest aspects (and certainly realistic of true siblings).

The inclusion of dual points of view in this one was also a nice surprise, adding dimension across the narrative.

Thank you to NetGalley, Hachette Australia & New Zealand, Hodderscape, and Maiya Ibrahim for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Siblings, Imani, Altheer and Amira, along with captured Taha and his cousin Rezi, plus Taha's falcon, were heading out of the city, desperate to escape. But Harrowlander soldiers spotted them, and their escape was foiled. Taken to their king, who was gleeful with their capture, he and the Harrowlanders continued rampaging through city after city, pillaging and murdering anyone who didn't yield control. The spice magic was their greatest weapon, and as King Glaedric obtained more of it, his power grew. But the powerful djinni, Qayn, was with Imani and the others, and the plan was to find and gain the crown with the jewels intact, which was stolen from Qayn millenia ago, so his power was returned.

Crossing the serpent sea was a danger in itself, but they needed to do it to get to where the crown was housed - on Prince Kendric's head. The challenge which was set was a fight to the death - was Imani confident enough in her skills to join the fight? And who would be her partner? Treachery and terror followed them around - would they survive to see the saving of their land?

Serpent Sea is the 2nd in The Spice Road Trilogy by Aussie author Maiya Ibrahim and it was awe-inspiring; as brilliant as the first in the series. Over 500 pages long, it took me awhile, but the pages sped by. Filled with power, magic and plenty of human responses, I highly recommend this, and book 1, to fans of the genre - and I'm looking forward very much to #3.

With thanks to NetGalley & Hachette AU for my digital ARC to read and review.

This novel was a rollercoaster and stressed me out - in a good way!

We return to Imani, Qayn and Taha's battle across the sands and sea to save their home. Imani and Taha risk losing their home to invaders and they both have different ideas of how to do this.

While I loved Imani in the first novel, I'd say Taha's journey was the most intriguing and heartbreaking in this second novel. We get more exploration of his complicated relationship with his father (and for Imani of course). When Taha was captured, the descriptions and storyline of his capture were haunting and (I assume) based on various real-life events. It was harrowing and realistic and I appreciate what the author was doing. Taha's experiences and development were the highlight for me. Again, I love Imani but in comparison, her development felt slower and Taha's had complexity which I enjoyed.

The plot was fast-paced and in hindsight, I realised that so much was covered in this novel. I enjoyed all the additional world-building and development of the magic system and knowledge we got. However, I thought at times it was a little bit too much, the whole book felt like it was giving me a lot of world-building, constantly and I felt fatigued after a while. In saying so, when I read the ending I think I can understand why there is a lot of development.

In the end, while one villainous King is defeated another magical enemy rises and I am already looking forward to the next instalment of this series! I enjoyed this second novel more than the first novel so I am excited to see where the rest of this series goes.