Book Review | Spice Road

Whoever controls the Spice . . . controls the Kingdom itself.

The first book in an epic fantasy series for fans of Sabaa Tahir, Hafsah Faizal and Elizabeth Lim, set in an Arabian-inspired land. Raised to protect her nation from the monsters lurking in the sands, seventeen-year-old Imani must fight to find her brother whose betrayal is now their greatest threat.

In the hidden desert city of Qalia, secret spice magic awakens the affinities of those who drink the misra tea. With her affinity for iron, seventeen-year-old Imani can wield a dagger like no other – and for that she has gained a reputation as the next greatest Shield, battling djinn, ghouls, and the other monsters spreading across the sands.

But ever since her brother was discovered stealing their nation’s coveted spice – a tell-tale sign of magical obsession – and disappeared into the deadly Forbidden Wastes, Imani’s reputation has been in tatters. Despite Atheer’s betrayal, there isn’t a day that goes by that she doesn’t grieve him.

Then Imani discovers signs her brother may be alive, and spreading their nation’s magic to outsiders. Desperate to find him – and to protect him – she joins the mission sent to hunt him down. Accompanied by Taha, a powerful beastseer, who enthrals and enrages her in equal measure, Imani soon discovers that many secrets lie beyond the Forbidden Wastes – and in her own heart.

Caught between her duty to her nation, and her love for her brother, Imani must decide where her loyalties lie . . . before it is too late. -Waterstones

Huge thank you to Kate at Hodderscape for sending me a proof copy of the book Spice Road to review. I love everything YA fantasy, so I jumped at the chance to read this one early!

It has been likened to The City of Brass by S.A Chakraborty and We Hunt The Flame by Hafsah Faizal, tow of my fave Middle Eastern-inspired teen fantasies, so I was very excited. It definitely has similar vibes, especially in the way Ibrahim describes the setting, I was equally as enthralled as I was in the two other books mentioned.

I liked this book, although it didn’t stun me as much as I wanted. Perhaps I went in with slightly too high expectations, which is all on me! The setting and magic system were excellent, so well described and created by the author. The thing that slightly let the novel down for me was the characters. I didn’t like any of them at all. I hoped that the would develop and maybe grow on me as the novel went on, but sadly that didn’t happen.

Our narrator and main character is Imani, and she was probably my least favourite character. She is quite cold-hearted, even to people she supposedly cares about, and was also extremely aloof. I totally understood why other characters didn’t like her, and I didn’t really enjoy her voice. Her perspectives do start to change through the novel, but I just couldn’t find anything in her I liked to cling onto while she went through these changes. At the end of the novel we face a slightly different Imani than the one we meet at the beginning, but she is still a fairly dislikable character sadly.

I really enjoyed the setting of this novel. The world-building was excellent, and we get to discover more of the world along with the characters which was lots of fun. The theme of colonisation that was brought into the novel was also really well done, and I really appreciated it! The depictions of the horrors of what was done were really well written, and I think its very important that these themes are not ignored in teen novels.

The novel sets up the rest of the trilogy, and although it wasn’t a surprising ending, I wasn’t too bothered. Spice Road has potential in its sequels, and I may pick them up to see where the story goes, but I was a little disappointed by how dislikable the characters were.

Thank you again to Kate and Hodderscape for the proof copy of this novel. Thank you for reading my book review of Spice Road by Maiya Ibrahim.

Pre-order Spice Road from Bookshop.org or Waterstones here

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