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Favorite of 2019!

Monique 16 september 2019
Elizabeth Camden is one of my autobuy authors. I see a new book, I click “add to cart” and then patiently wait 6 months for it to be released. This time I got extremely lucky as I was able ro read an advance e-copy and the waiting was cut short! And I’m so glad it was... because The Spice King is AMAZING. It’s the best christian historical fiction I read this year. I’m gonna tell you why.

First, I couldn’t stop reading. I read so much my ereader actually overheated. Did I wait for it to cool down? Nope, I continued on my phone. It’s very addictive and there are so many twists and turns! And it starts very original, with Annabelle trying to persuade Gray Delacroix to donate his collection to the Smithsonian, and Gray’s letters were hilarious. The actual introduction made me laugh out loud, and their banter brings me life. It starts so well!

Annabelle and Gray have a connection, and their wonderful courtship is developed very early in the story. And they are a perfect pair. But of course, it’s not all fun and laughter, there is much more at stake... hearts will be shattered including my own. I honestly had no idea how on earth this was ever going to end up well in the end. There were many suprising plots and subplots and the pacing was perfectly balanced between lightness and heavy stuff, action and introspection. Annabelle is a wonderful cheerful character with much resilience and I respect her a lot (even if I’m not agreeing with certain actions). Gray seems a bit broody but he totally is very sweet and caring on the inside and a righteous man.

Elizabeth Camden has a way of making relatively boring jobs sound so exciting! This book gives a lot of insight in the food industry, and makes it thrilling, and you actually come to care a lot about ingredient labels! So, so interesting!

What makes the story more vibrant are the fabulous side characters. Gray’s much younger twin siblings are amazing, even if he has trouble seeing it sometimes. I just wanna hug my cinnamon roll Luke and Charlotte is so interesting! The next installment better be about them because I kinda need it badly because some plot points were left open.

My heart always beats faster when there is disability representation and since that kind of is my thing I’m going to mention it. Gray has malaria, and has flares with crippling high fever (and other symptoms), and it is so well written! I love how it isn’t an obstacle to overcome or a plot point, it just is and everyone’s OK with that (well as far as being ok with a chronic illness is possible of course). And Annabelle’s sister became blind three years ago and I love how this is portrayed. You can imagine her fear very vividly and yet she fights for an indepent life, she is extremely brave yet very realistic. We need more of this kind of writing, it is so important for people to see disability treated as normal in books/media, this makes me very happy.

Also, I love that the (gorgeous) cover features a man. My dad and grandfather will be very happy to see this, they are normally slightly embarrased to be seen reading this genre, as it is generally marketed towards women, but don’t underestimate the men reading these books! ;) When it is released in my own language I’ll definitely be handing out copies to both of them.

Overall, I loved every minute of it and I can’t recommend it enough and I have all these feels....

I’ve got a free e-copy of this book from Bethany&Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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