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chainsawmochi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
It is very, very rare for me to read a book so good that it leaves me dazzled at the end, craving more, the taste of it lingering on every fold of my brain. "A Tempest of Tea" is one such novel.
Heists. High Stakes. Vampires. Tea Houses. A government rotten from inside. Anti-Colonial Understanding and Exploration. A main character with more tricks up her sleeve than a magician, and a supporting cast so varied and beautiful that they make the perfect found family in the end.
Yet the ending left me in shambles.
"A Tempest in Tea" is the story of Arthie, of her adoptive brother Jin, and the teahouse they own and run together. It is also a story about lies and half truths, about finding the people you belong with, and learning to love them despite their flaws--or, perhaps, because of them. Arthie here plays somewhat of the part of King Arthur, bringing together a full round table of Victorian flavored fantasy knights. Each of them has their own role to play, their own reason for their actions, and all of them are expertly woven into the overall story by Hafsah Faizal's beautiful, tragic writing.
No words were lost upon this book. "A Tempest in Tea" is a delight to read, with pulse pounding action and a wonderful exploration of character. Faizal dives into the lives of multiple characters, with the majority of the main cast being PoC's living in a Victorian-styled, colonizing country. A land that is not their own, and a country that sees them as 'other.' A country where they have carved out a small piece for themselves and planted their hearts. The writing is delicious and tender at times, while being biting and blinding a moment later. Faizal has a way with words that paints a beautifully harsh world; a world so like our own that one could hold it up as a mirror.
This review may be all over the place, and for that, I apologize. I just spent the last hour or so devouring the last third of this book. While it starts off slow, "A Tempest of Tea" ends with a bang--and then another. I await the follow up with hushed breath, eyes wide and mind ravenous for more from this world and these characters. I cannot recommend this book enough.
Heists. High Stakes. Vampires. Tea Houses. A government rotten from inside. Anti-Colonial Understanding and Exploration. A main character with more tricks up her sleeve than a magician, and a supporting cast so varied and beautiful that they make the perfect found family in the end.
Yet the ending left me in shambles.
"A Tempest in Tea" is the story of Arthie, of her adoptive brother Jin, and the teahouse they own and run together. It is also a story about lies and half truths, about finding the people you belong with, and learning to love them despite their flaws--or, perhaps, because of them. Arthie here plays somewhat of the part of King Arthur, bringing together a full round table of Victorian flavored fantasy knights. Each of them has their own role to play, their own reason for their actions, and all of them are expertly woven into the overall story by Hafsah Faizal's beautiful, tragic writing.
No words were lost upon this book. "A Tempest in Tea" is a delight to read, with pulse pounding action and a wonderful exploration of character. Faizal dives into the lives of multiple characters, with the majority of the main cast being PoC's living in a Victorian-styled, colonizing country. A land that is not their own, and a country that sees them as 'other.' A country where they have carved out a small piece for themselves and planted their hearts. The writing is delicious and tender at times, while being biting and blinding a moment later. Faizal has a way with words that paints a beautifully harsh world; a world so like our own that one could hold it up as a mirror.
This review may be all over the place, and for that, I apologize. I just spent the last hour or so devouring the last third of this book. While it starts off slow, "A Tempest of Tea" ends with a bang--and then another. I await the follow up with hushed breath, eyes wide and mind ravenous for more from this world and these characters. I cannot recommend this book enough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Violence, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Blood, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Colonisation, Classism, Genocide, Gore, and Xenophobia
Minor: Deadnaming, Grief, Blood, Murder, Racial slurs, Infertility, Police brutality, Body horror, and Emotional abuse
sophiesmallhands's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Colonisation, Gun violence, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Grief, Police brutality, Gore, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Fatphobia, Classism, and Emotional abuse
kathigh86's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
My first 5/5 of the year!
Hafsah Faizal is such an amazing author. Her writing is compelling and elegant. She is a master at trapping the reader in her worlds.
I absolutely adored the political commentary and how Faizal paralleled her world to the real world. I’m very excited to see how Ettenia evolves in the next book.
I loved the multi-POV in this book. We got a little bit of each character without giving away too much of their own secrets. I really enjoyed trying to guess everyone’s ulterior motives.
I have read the Sands of Arawiya duology. I felt like I was in on a little secret. It definitely added to my reading experience but not necessary to understand the general plot.
Overall this book was amazing. It was very slow in the beginning but once you hit part 2/the 60% mark everything is full steam ahead. I was not able to put this book down for the last 25%. So many things left unsaid too. I’ll be waiting on the edge of my seat for the next book!
Hafsah Faizal is such an amazing author. Her writing is compelling and elegant. She is a master at trapping the reader in her worlds.
I absolutely adored the political commentary and how Faizal paralleled her world to the real world. I’m very excited to see how Ettenia evolves in the next book.
I loved the multi-POV in this book. We got a little bit of each character without giving away too much of their own secrets. I really enjoyed trying to guess everyone’s ulterior motives.
I have read the Sands of Arawiya duology. I felt like I was in on a little secret. It definitely added to my reading experience but not necessary to understand the general plot.
Overall this book was amazing. It was very slow in the beginning but once you hit part 2/the 60% mark everything is full steam ahead. I was not able to put this book down for the last 25%. So many things left unsaid too. I’ll be waiting on the edge of my seat for the next book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Blood, Classism, Grief, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death of parent, Gore, and Trafficking
Minor: Alcohol, Genocide, Stalking, Colonisation, and Confinement
probablytoolate's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Racism, Xenophobia, Grief, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent
stitchbooks22's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Classism, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence
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.chapters_and_pages's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
When I saw the cover of this book, I was intrigued. When I read the synopsis, I knew I had to have it.
Arthie Casimir is a criminal mastermind, whose prestigious tearooms transform into bloodhouses at night to cater to the needs of vampires. When her business is threatened, she must strike a deal with an unlikely ally, and form a ragtag crew to infiltrate the vampire society.
I really wanted to love this book. We have a badass, morally grey heroine in Arthie, as well as a range of interesting crew members in Jin, Flick, Laith and Matteo. We have an interesting storyline featuring vampires, heists, mystery and secrets. Unfortunately, despite wanting to love this book, I felt very, for lack of a better word, meh about this book.
There wasn’t anything wrong with it, nothing that I can easily identify and say, yes that’s what I didn’t vibe with, unfortunately I think it’s just one of those cases where both the characters and the storyline didn’t leave to much of a lasting impression.
I will say, this book feels very similar to Six of Crows, just with vampires.
I do plan on reading the sequel, and I hope I enjoy it more than this one, but I’m glad I read it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, and Grief
kayceeisbookish's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
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
4.25
Six of crows + Vampires
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Abandonment, Blood, Death, Gun violence, and Violence
noxa's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Blood, Grief, Gun violence, Child death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Racism, Trafficking, and War
sandwiiche's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
3.0
this tried too hard to be like six of crows, but it just didn't work 🫠
i didn't really like the main character, arthie, and it felt like none of the other characters were explored enough. weirdly, there were only three povs, but five main characters, and i seriously wish there were more povs so that i could've seen what the other two characters were doing as well.
also, this book just tried to fit so much in such a short book - i think it would've benefited the narrative if the story had been told in a way that spent more time exploring each of the characters in depth, and building more of the world. everything just felt brushed over and rushed.
my favourite character wasmatteo , but i feel like we got the least of them 🥲
the twists at the end were pretty good tho - ill admit that's what made my raise my rating to a 3. based on the ending, i will also be reading the sequel. this series has a lot of potential, and im looking forward to seeing what the hafsah faizal comes up with!
i didn't really like the main character, arthie, and it felt like none of the other characters were explored enough. weirdly, there were only three povs, but five main characters, and i seriously wish there were more povs so that i could've seen what the other two characters were doing as well.
also, this book just tried to fit so much in such a short book - i think it would've benefited the narrative if the story had been told in a way that spent more time exploring each of the characters in depth, and building more of the world. everything just felt brushed over and rushed.
my favourite character was
the twists at the end were pretty good tho - ill admit that's what made my raise my rating to a 3. based on the ending, i will also be reading the sequel. this series has a lot of potential, and im looking forward to seeing what the hafsah faizal comes up with!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation
Moderate: Grief and Racism