3.5 stars ( )

I wasn't sure about it at first but it was really good and an interesting look into what British university is like. ( )

3.5 ( )

Kiki Banjo is the ice queen of Whitewell College. She notoriously doesn't date, but she does play excellent music and dispense even more excellent dating advice on her Brown Sugar college radio show that she runs with her best (and only) friend, Aminah. Kiki's one vice is her hookups with Zack, who she's sworn off anyway. But then, a new guy enters the scene: Malakai Korede, transfer student, and he seems... different. When Kiki's mentor professor encourages her to partner with a new student in order to increase her radio listenership and gain admission to a study abroad opportunity in New York, Kiki is skeptical. She's even more skeptical when that new student turns out of course to be Malakai. But as they start talking, Kiki realizes she may have misjudged him. Soon, the two have entered into a fake relationship that will hopefully benefit them both by helping Kiki boost listeners and Malakai use the material for a new short film he's making on relationships. But as their friendship grows, Kiki starts to wonder just what's so fake about their relationship -- and she just might be forced to drop the ice queen front.

This book had a lot going on. The writing is stylistically really pretty and interesting; almost poetic in some spots. I really enjoyed the prose overall! I did have problems when the stylized prose bled into the dialogue; I have a lot of trouble believing that ANYBODY talks like these characters, let alone 20 year old college students. Overall, I enjoyed the story a lot, but was taken out a few times by the dialogue and a few plot points that felt very first novel-y. I would still read another book by Babalola, though. And I want the fake fantasy book series that Kiki likes to be real! 3.5 stars. ( )

Gobbled it up, it was just that good. A sweet, sweet romance. ( )