Reviews

Can't Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne

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lucy_is_reading's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

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

edunbar87's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

losthought323's review against another edition

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The pace was slow and there characters were very flat.

3.5-ish. I really dislike leaving neutral/negative reviews, I know a lot of hard work goes into creating a story, but this was a bit of a "eh" read for me. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't really the cozy I was expecting.
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Good things:
The start was brilliant. Great set up of characters and situations. I also really like Reyna as a character.

A few "Eh" things:
I could not get behind Kianthe's neediness, or the frequent callout about whatever action one or the other character was doing being sexy. I felt like there was some weird timing for the suggestiveness between the two individuals, and reading the phrase "that was hot" in a 'ye olde times' fantasy was a bit eye roll inducing.

Additionally, I feel like the coziest theme of the book (building a tea and book shop) was kind rushed through. There were some time jumps during the building/setup stage that I thought were a missed opportunity.
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This may be the perfect cozy for some, but it missed the mark for me, personally.
I do like seeing more stories in this genre, so I hope to see the series continue on past the planned second book.

pipsqueak_squid's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

brewdy_reader's review against another edition

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lighthearted relaxing 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

3.0

✨ 𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚁𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠 ✨

¢αη’т ѕρєℓℓ тяєαѕση ωιтнσυт тєα 𝚋𝚢 𝚁𝚎𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚌𝚊 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎
𝘊𝘰𝘻𝘺 𝘍𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘺 • 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘍𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 •. 𝘚𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘤 • 𝘓𝘰𝘸 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴
🎧 𝘈𝘓𝘊 • 𝘗𝘶𝘣 𝘋𝘢𝘵𝘦: 7 𝘔𝘢𝘺 2024

Marketed as a “cozy fantasy steeped with love,” this book clearly takes its inspiration from Travis Baldree’s Legends and Lattes and Bookshops and Bonedust series, so if you loved those, you’ll want to read this one. There will be baking of yummy pastries and steeping of aromatic teas, followed up with a little sword play and griffin riding, and maybe a dragon egg hunt. There will be hidden passage ways in the castle and an evil queen and a powerful mage and queens guard who just want to be free of their old lives. And there will be a bookshop.

This is a cozy book about books first, and a low stakes fantasy and love story second and third. Themes of friendship, belonging and found family leap from the pages. You’ll love this one if you value the cozy journey over the destination & suspense. If you’re here for faster-paced action and epic battle scenes, look elsewhere.

🎧 Jessica Threat narrated this one on audio, which I enjoyed as I love a British accent.
Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for granting me early access to this audiobook, which releases May 7!

apparatinglibrarian's review against another edition

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I dnf this book. I made it half-way, for what it's worth, but I couldn't get into it.

For the most part, this isn't a cozy mystery. It says it is, but it isn't. I also don't know if the book is wanting to be a cozy fantasy or high-fantasy. It's both--and I think that's okay--but the writing isn't clear enough that you know it's both. The only "cozy" thing in the story is the romance and the bookstore/tea store. So...take that for what it's worth.

I also felt a lot of influences from Legends & Lattes, but not as great.