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linde13's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I cannot stress enough how much I wanted to like this book. Fantasy heist led by a female criminal mastermind? You couldn't sign me up fast enough.
Unfortunately, while I like Arthie, she suffers from a "show don't tell" problem. When I think of other teen masterminds, like Artemis Fowl, Princess Azula, and Kaz Brekker, they're all given opportunities to prove that they're ruthless, manipulative, and brilliant before the story exposes their vulnerabilities. Arthie, unfortunately, never gets that opportunity: most, if not all, of her schemes result in failure or a close call, and she joins the heist in the first place because she's backed into a corner. She's by no means unintelligent, and she'd work if she were a smaller-scale criminal still working her way up the food chain, but for a character who's introduced as as a crime lord powerful enough to threaten the crown itself, she unfortunately falls short.
Arthie isn't my real issue with this book, though.
The book starts with some very awkward and forced flirting/"Admit it, you like him" nonsense between two people who have never spoken to each other before, and unfortunately, the romance didn't particularly improve from there. If any of the romances in this book had anything going for them other than "he's hot, she's hot, it's Just Meant To Be," then I was far too put off by all the awkward flirting, gushing over characters' appearances, and love-triangle-fueled immature sniping to appreciate it.
Which leads me to my next point: there are so many interesting relationships in this book, but other than Jin and Arthie they all feel underdeveloped--not just the romances, butPenn and Artie, Flick and her mother, the Spindrift crew, and Spindrift itself. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish this book focused less on the heist. For all that it takes up half the book, the heist doesn't accomplish anything other than getting our main characters together and setting up some exposition.
It took me two weeks to slog through the setup for the heist, and I was so, so close to dropping this book altogether. Thankfully, once it wraps up the heist and focuses on the vampire intrigue, the story becomes much, much more interesting. Or at the very least, it got me emotionally invested enough to want to read the sequel once it comes out.
Unfortunately, while I like Arthie, she suffers from a "show don't tell" problem. When I think of other teen masterminds, like Artemis Fowl, Princess Azula, and Kaz Brekker, they're all given opportunities to prove that they're ruthless, manipulative, and brilliant before the story exposes their vulnerabilities. Arthie, unfortunately, never gets that opportunity: most, if not all, of her schemes result in failure or a close call, and she joins the heist in the first place because she's backed into a corner. She's by no means unintelligent, and she'd work if she were a smaller-scale criminal still working her way up the food chain, but for a character who's introduced as as a crime lord powerful enough to threaten the crown itself, she unfortunately falls short.
Arthie isn't my real issue with this book, though.
The book starts with some very awkward and forced flirting/"Admit it, you like him" nonsense between two people who have never spoken to each other before, and unfortunately, the romance didn't particularly improve from there. If any of the romances in this book had anything going for them other than "he's hot, she's hot, it's Just Meant To Be," then I was far too put off by all the awkward flirting, gushing over characters' appearances, and love-triangle-fueled immature sniping to appreciate it.
Which leads me to my next point: there are so many interesting relationships in this book, but other than Jin and Arthie they all feel underdeveloped--not just the romances, but
It took me two weeks to slog through the setup for the heist, and I was so, so close to dropping this book altogether. Thankfully, once it wraps up the heist and focuses on the vampire intrigue, the story becomes much, much more interesting. Or at the very least, it got me emotionally invested enough to want to read the sequel once it comes out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Violence, Death of parent, Grief, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Death, War, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Body horror, and Trafficking
Minor: Misogyny, Sexism, Cultural appropriation, and Police brutality
To be clear, the trafficking is non-sexual. I'm not certain which category it would fall under, but there's a toxic parent-child relationship where the parent isn't outright abusive, but certainly manipulative and neglectful.aseel_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Pretty disappointed with this one. The premise should be right up my alley but in practice, it really fell flat. The 'romance' felt forced, the writing was a bit jarring, and I don't really understand all the plot twists and reveals that happened
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Sexism, Death, Colonisation, Slavery, Racism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Police brutality, Classism, and Blood
witcheep's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I like the book a lot: the characters are amazing and the elements of the plot are adding up into an intriquing mystery. Even before reading the book I knew I'd want to have a deep dive into it; I've read Faizal's Sands of Arawiya duology before and enjoyed it so much I had to preorder this book.
The plot: a heist wrapped in secrets
Secrets are at the core of the book, the topic comes up repeatedly and often. As Arthie gathers her chosen group for the heist in the Athereum, every one of the five members seems to have their own secrets and hidden motives for their actions – and I loved speculating and later finding out about them! Even the premise of Arthie's business lies in her having secrets as her preferred currency:
The plot: a heist wrapped in secrets
Secrets are at the core of the book, the topic comes up repeatedly and often. As Arthie gathers her chosen group for the heist in the Athereum, every one of the five members seems to have their own secrets and hidden motives for their actions – and I loved speculating and later finding out about them! Even the premise of Arthie's business lies in her having secrets as her preferred currency:
To the public, Arthie Casimir dealt in tea. To those who paid attention, she dealt in blood too. But Flick had read every letter and document she had forged for the girl and knew the truth: Arthie Casimir dealt in secrets.
The characters have multiple sides to them, and they keep secrets from each other. This means their trust on each other is fragile at best, but still they work for the common goal together. While doing so, there are multiple potential romantic relationships developing in the group by the means of shameless flirting, attentive actions and even displays of jealousy. Perhaps it's a little overkill to have every member of the group have feelings for somone in the group, but I enjoyed it regardless.
A hinted destiny for the main character
The main character Arthie is depicted as a cunning criminal mastermind, but an underdog in the bigger picture. She holds her inner circle tight, but cares for them deeply and protects them fiercely. At times it feels like this is relayed to the reader more of as "told" rather than "shown", which makes it a little less easy to believe. Arthie is a loveable character, though, and her intelligence is also shown on the pages of the book. It seems that faith has a few surprises in hand for Arthie, both regarding love, career, and life in general.
I'm not sure whether or not Arthie is interested in love at all. She's quite determined to think that every relationship is transactional, and this will make accepting falling in love with anyone difficult. This brings even more interest into the budding infatuations in the book: will Arthie let herself fall in love? There's a love arrow with Arthie as the main interest of two men (could be a love triangle if the men in question would show clear interest in each other) and her pondering whether she has feelings for them or not.
"Seems your boss has taken a liking to me," Matteo said with a pride.
Chester tilted his head, considering him with a fresh understanding on his way out. "Boss likes anyone with secrets."
Arthie almost laughed at Matteo's pout. "He isn't wrong."
There's also interesting intertextuality in the book: Arthie's weapon, a gun called Calibore, bears striking resemblance to the legends of King Arthur and his sword Excalibur. Both these weapons were held in stone, and have a legend that the one who could draw them would become to rule. In A Tempest of Tea Arthie doesn't show interest in ruling over people, but who's to say that the Arthurian legend won't be foreshadowing and mean that Arthie will end up having to do it anyway?
"Why save the world when you can have tea?"
Oh, and let me just end the review by saying that the ending of the book will be a huge, dramatic cliffhanger that you cannot handle as is. Thankfully there is a bonus epilogue, and at least at the time of writing this review, it was quite easily found online with a quick search. You will need that bonus epilogue in hand right after finishing the book. The bonus epilogue will shed light on the identity of a certain character and bring some ease to the cliffhanger.
________________________________
I made dozens of annotations to the book while reading, and anjoyed speculating the plot while doing so. I also host a readalong for the book here: https://app.thestorygraph.com/readalongs/b85d9fd3-d2b1-4421-9559-7abbe0a34b71 You're welcome to come discuss the book with me in the readalong. I'd love to hear others' theories and opinions on the book!
Review written 31.3.2024
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Racism
Moderate: Classism, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, and Sexism
Minor: Trafficking
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