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uranaishi'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
3.75
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Blood
Minor: Toxic friendship, Outing, Sexual content, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, Vomit, War, Violence, Confinement, Abandonment, Bullying, Alcohol, Classism, and Death
caseythereader'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? No
3.75
- Like half the bookish internet, I am absolutely here for the blooming cozy fantasy genre. CAN’T SPELL TREASON WITHOUT TEA is for those of us who wish we had a hundred more books like LEGENDS AND LATTES.
- I loved Reyna and Kianthe’s dynamic. The ongoing thread of learning to let go of the idea that you need to prove your worth to be allowed the things you love is just beautiful.
- The town Thorne created is straight out of a cozy video game. We’re building things, we’re buying things, we’re finding lost items. On top of that, though, it what’s actually a really interesting political setup, and I hope future books from Thorne will explore what happens in that aspect of the world.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Alcohol and Sexual content
kayceeisbookish's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Death, and Fire/Fire injury
sarrie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Minor: War, Death, Death of parent, and Misogyny
noriboo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Good thing that this is a cosy fantasy story, and we as readers never really have to worry about their wellbeing. Although both ladies do like to keep us in our toes every now and then.
There were word puns that I found amusing, and this really is a story that is best enjoyed under a cosy blanket with a warm beverage.
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Death
lotte5322's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent
ifoundcallie's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.5
Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Vomit
Minor: Vomit, Death, and Fire/Fire injury
wickedgrumpy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
2.75
If it were a romance it skipped all the fun parts of the forbidden nature into the growing pains of the relationship where they move in together but don't really know each other that well because they've been sneaking away previously. So, no pining, they're in love but not quite the fluffy happily ever after love. One is the super powerful mage with a penchant for puns and is perpetually horny and loves reading (the brains) and the other is a palace guard who bakes and loves tea along with battle sense and quick analyzing skills (the brawn). They are very much in a ride or die mindset and it's a bit repetitive until the cast of character is expanded to include neighbors/townsfolk and start to develop more of a found family.
The world building was... Both sparse and complex somehow. Imagine some nuggets of lore just dropped and seeming like it means something but is never fully explained. That is the majority of the book and while some of it can be figured out with context clues, there's still a lot of questions and I suppose I am used to a first book in a series spending adequate time establishing everything to reduce confusion through the remaining volumes.
As for plot, there were so many threads everywhere and only one was really tied up. I presume more will be addressed in the future but it seemed like a lot of plot for a book that was vibe heavy.
Finishing this and all I can think is that it was fine. The things I have issues with weren't particularly bad but I might hesitate to read more in the series.
Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Classism, Death, Abandonment, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Outing, Vomit, Violence, Confinement, Deadnaming, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Panic attacks/disorders
saintyeehaw's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, and Violence
_forestofpages'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? No
4.5
Also, the plot parts were interesting, it wasn’t as plotless as Legends and Lattes, it actually felt like ‘things’ were happening and there were a small handful of epic fights including a dragon brawl in the sky.
I related hard to Kianthe and fell headlong for Reyna. Their relationship was honestly goals, and they had incredible and believable chemistry. They also were not perfect and did have to deal with the growing pains of being in a real relationship, navigating business and living together especially when neither of them had a lot of experience in any of it. The side characters were wonderful too! And the diversity was so good, most of the cast were POC, there was also body diversity and non-binary rep.
If you love cozy fantasy with romance, this should be your next read!
Graphic: Death