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chainsawmochi's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
blewballoon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I think my problem is that more than anything I'm a character driven reader and I need to like the characters. Apart from Jin, I didn't really care for anyone, and so it was hard to care what was going on with them. Jin deserved better friends, honestly. He spent a lot of time having information kept from him and having to work around Arthie's love interests.
I wanted to DNF a few times, and I knew I was going to come away from this book displeased when I remembered it was the first in a series and seemed like the kind of book that was going to end on a big cliffhanger. That assumption was correct.
I think that if you're the type of reader who connects with the type of character that Arthie is, and you don't feel like the romance elements get in the way of the rest of the story, you may enjoy this. The audiobook narrator was okay, but it seemed like she was kind of whispering the whole time.
Graphic: Violence and Blood
Moderate: Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Child death, Gun violence, and Death
Minor: Racism, Trafficking, and Stalking
riverlasol's review against another edition
4.5
It fully delivered on the premise and I can't wait for book two!
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Xenophobia, Colonisation, Violence, Racism, Gun violence, Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, and Abandonment
mousmoulo's review against another edition
3.75
i generally enjoyed this, i wasn't exactly dying to read but it was easy to pick it up whenever i actually had time to read, which is a miracle because i haven't been reading a lot these past few months. i liked the world-building and the characters were interesting
(it also took them around 300 pages to pass the bechtel test, which is 300 pages too many methinks<3)
other than that though, the book was good! from chapter 47 onwards it took some wild turns and it was very entertaining. the plot twists were pretty good too. i also liked the themes of colonisation and imperialism and how they were used in the book.
that's all, now i need to pretend it didn't end on a cliffhanger and survive until the next book is out
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Colonisation, and Blood
Moderate: Violence and Death of parent
hdunscombe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, Violence, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Murder, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Trafficking
Moderate: Classism and Injury/Injury detail
itsjustbethg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Colonisation
Moderate: War, Blood, Genocide, Violence, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
sophiesmallhands's review against another edition
- 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
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
tea_time's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Colonisation, and Death of parent
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, and Violence
Minor: Stalking and Racism
kathigh86's review against another edition
- 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
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!
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
- 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
Moderate: Blood, Racism, Xenophobia, Grief, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent