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Book Club Questions for Honey and Spice by Bolu Babalola

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Book club questions for Honey & Spice by Bolu Babalola explore the intimacy of friendship and romance, the joy of being in a relationship and the thirst for more, the need for understanding perhaps one of the most complex human emotions – love, while trying to understand why it can hold us hostage.

About the Story

Sharp-tongued (and secretly soft-hearted) Kiki Banjo has just made a huge mistake. As an expert in relationship-evasion and the host of the popular student radio show Brown Sugar, she’s made it her mission to make sure the women of the African-Caribbean Society at Whitewell University do not fall into the mess of “situationships”, players, and heartbreak. But when the Queen of the Unbothered kisses Malakai Korede, the guy she just publicly denounced as “The Wastemen of Whitewell,” in front of every Blackwellian on campus, she finds her show on the brink.

They’re soon embroiled in a fake relationship to try and salvage their reputations and save their futures. Kiki has never surrendered her heart before, and a player like Malakai won’t be the one to change that, no matter how charming he is or how electric their connection feels. But surprisingly entertaining study sessions and intimate, late-night talks at old-fashioned diners force Kiki to look beyond her own presumptions. Is she ready to open herself up to something deeper?

A gloriously funny and sparkling debut novel, Honey and Spice is full of delicious tension and romantic intrigue that will make you weak at the knees.

Book Club Questions for Honey & Spice

  1. How does Brown Sugar influence the Blackwell community? Why do so many students follow Kiki’s advice? Would you listen to her show every week?
  2. Which of Kiki’s relationship or friendship tips stood out to you? If you could ask her a question, what would it be?
  3. Why is Kiki seeing Zack at the start of the novel despite not liking him? How have her past relationships shaped her views on romance?
  4. Dr. Miller says media is about “interacting with people.” Is Kiki’s radio show a way to engage with listeners, or is it a way for her to avoid personal connection?
  5. How do Kiki and Malakai use their art forms to connect with each other?
  6. Kiki says modern romance is about “a thirst to claim” rather than “winning affection.” How has modern dating changed how we get to know each other and what we expect from partners?
  7. How have social media platforms at Whitewell University changed communication and interactions among students?
  8. What attracts Kiki and Malakai to each other? How do they challenge and help each other grow?
  9. What enables Kiki to open up to more female friendships? How does building a community of girlfriends impact her life?
  10. What moment between Kiki and Malakai shifts their fake relationship to something real?
  11. What do you think the future holds for Malakai and Kiki?

Additional Recommendations

Love in Color by Bolu Babalola
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A high-born Nigerian goddess, who has been beaten down and unappreciated by her gregarious lover, longs to be truly seen. A young businesswoman attempts a great leap in her company, and an even greater one in her love life. A powerful Ghanaian spokeswoman is forced to decide whether she should uphold her family’s politics or be true to her heart.

In her debut collection, internationally acclaimed writer Bolu Babalola retells the most beautiful love stories from history and mythology with incredible new detail and vivacity. Focusing on the magical folktales of West Africa, Babalola also reimagines Greek myths, ancient legends from the Middle East, and stories from long-erased places.

With an eye towards decolonizing tropes inherent in our favorite tales of love, Babalola has created captivating stories that traverse across perspectives, continents, and genres. Love in Color is a celebration of romance in all its many splendid forms.

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
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Queenie Jenkins is a twenty-five-year-old Jamaican British woman living in London, straddling two cultures and slotting neatly into neither. She works at a national newspaper, where she’s constantly forced to compare herself to her white middle class peers. After a messy break up from her long-term white boyfriend, Queenie seeks comfort in all the wrong places…including several hazardous men who do a good job of occupying brain space and a bad job of affirming self-worth.

As Queenie careens from one questionable decision to another, she finds herself wondering, “What are you doing? Why are you doing it? Who do you want to be?”—all of the questions today’s woman must face in a world trying to answer them for her.

With “fresh and honest” (Jojo Moyes) prose, Queenie is a remarkably relatable exploration of what it means to be a modern woman searching for meaning in today’s world.

Happy reading! ❤️

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I love to read and I enjoy exploring a range of genres including contemporary and historical fiction, mysteries, thrillers, nonfiction, and memoirs. If you would like me to review your book, feel free to reach out to me!