Description: A deadly disease. A vanishing remedy. A breathless journey.
All her life, Niya's known she will die young from the fatal rasp. She survives only with the aid of vitrisar spice and a magical, curmudgeonly fire salamander named Alk. Then an ambitious princess burns down the vitrisar grove in an effort to steal Alk so she can claim her rightful throne. Joined by Jayesh, a disgraced monk, Niya and Alk must flee to the faraway Hidden Temple with the last vitrisar plant, or all who suffer from the rasp will perish.
But even as Niya’s frustration and banter with Jayesh deepen to affection, the rasp is stealing away her breath and life.
For a girl with limited time and a crippling quest, love may be more painful than death.
My Thoughts: Starting out this book, I was not sure that I would enjoy it. The lizard, Alk, has a fairly obnoxious attitude through most of the story and it was the first thing that stood out to me while reading. But I had seen another review that mentioned this, and they had said that it got better, so I gave the story another chance. And the story did get better, though not because of Alk.
Both Niya and Jayesh were strong characters, more than making up for Alk's peevishness. I enjoyed Niya's strength in persevering despite the fact that it would be so much easier for her to just give up. And even though she personally gains from her successes, she is not given a cure-all, easy win the way most protagonists are in fiction these days. Which gave her and Jayesh's relationship all the more depth.
However, there were some other things that, while they didn't make me dislike the story, did hamper my enjoyment of it. The first is that, for a YA, I thought there was too much thought and discussion of sex. In the author's novel, Coiled, I had appreciated the discussion because it came as part of the theme of inward vs outward beauty, but in this it was just something that Niya was upset about the thought of not having done before dying.
The other was my confusion over the religion. There was clearly an Indian polytheistic set up to the world building, however it relied heavily on a Christian point of view. Having only three gods: the Kind god, the Just god, and the All-knowing god, made it seem like the author took the idea of the trinity and transferred it into polytheism. My problem with this wasn't that it was too Christian or else not enough, but that it no longer felt like a true religion to me, as polytheistic pantheons come with a much grayer outlook on life that results in at least one deity ruling over a darker side of human nature.
What made Spice Bringer stand out, however, were the conflicts. Beyond Niya's struggle with the rasp and her quest to protect the vitrisar, was the Princess's goal to protect her sister and the kingdom from a despotic ruler. And though these goals were set up to cause one or the other to fail, neither's motives were wrong. Wanting both to succeed meant that I was more engaged to find out what happened in the end. So, though I did not love this read, I did enjoy it.
I have provided an honest review after having received an ecopy of the book from the publisher.
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