Spice Road, Book 1

Characters have a range of mostly brown skin tones and eye colors are umber, amber, green, and "wet clay." Most characters' hair is brown with several different textures mentioned. Villains are White with blond hair and blue eyes. Author Maiya Ibrahim is Arab Australian.

Violence in the real world includes fighting with swords, knives, arrows, punching, kicking, choking, and getting boxed in the ears. Blood and pain are described but not in gory detail. Characters see a man running his hand up a woman's thigh and fear on the woman's face. Gladiator-type fights to the death are mentioned and the beginning of one is described. An injured horse is put down with a sword; some sounds are described but nothing visual. A grotesque pyramid of dead bodies and hanging corpses are described briefly. Fantasy violence is mostly characters in mortal danger from magical beings and large-scale destruction they cause.

Some romantic tension and a couple of kisses, one passionate and described briefly.

"Damn," "horses--t," and "what the hells?"

Lots of mentions of people smoking pipes and using spiced tobacco in water pipes, including an apple shisha (a tobacco product that gets heated in a hookkah (water pipe). A pouch of tobacco is a prize in prison. A magical substance if abused has a debilitating effect on the body and mind. An adult swigs wine, a group smokes, drinks, and plays dice, and a minor character's home smells of liquor and has lots of empty bottles lying around.

Parents need to know that Spice Road, by Maiya Ibrahim, is the first of a planned fantasy trilogy about a young woman's search for her missing brother as she learns about the larger world she's part of. Her brother has been presumed dead, so there are strong themes of loss, grief, and separation. Real-world and fantasy violence includes fighting with swords, knives, arrows, punching, kicking, choking, and getting boxed in the ears. Blood and pain are described but not in gory detail. There's scariness and suspense from characters in mortal danger from magical beings and creatures, some grotesque images, gladiator-type fights to the death, and an injured horse is put down. Lots of background characters are seen smoking pipes, and there's mention of spiced tobacco in a variety of water pipes, including an apple shisha (the tobacco product heated in a hookah). There's a lot of romantic tension but only a couple of kisses. The only strong language: "damn," "horseshit," and "hells." Adults drink wine occasionally, and one character's home smells of liquor and has lots of empty bottles around.