Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin

120 reviews

xvicesx's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

This was surprisingly good. I picked it up in the library after I'd been in two minds about it online several times thinking that it would not be my cup of tea (see what I did there? 😜) but after I read the first paragraph, I couldn't put it back. How powerful an opening! 

They say you can spot a true shennong-shi by their hands - palms colored by the stain of the earth, fingertips scarred from thorns, a permanent crust of soil and blood darkening the crescents of their nails.
I used to look at my hands with pride.
Now, all I can think is, These are the hands that buried my mother. 

The pacing was really good throughout, every scene purposeful and leading the reader through the baffling world of court politics and intrigue from the eyes of a girl of simple goals. All Ning wants to do is save her sister. 

The romance was cute, although brief, so I'm hoping for a bit more in the follow-up, and the end does come to a bit of a cliffhanger overall but I enjoyed it all enough to not argue too much. 

Strongly recommend. A love letter to Chinese myth, food that is a form of art, and most of all, tea.

On a side note, because I've seen this flagged as LGBTQ elsewhere and it's not necessarily clear if it's the main focus of the book or there is representation.

It's the princess who is a lesbian, not Ning, so the queer romance is not the main focus of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Bullying, Deportation, Classism, and Chronic illness

Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, Death, War, Animal cruelty, Torture, and Blood

I flag a note on animal cruelty because a snake dies as a vehicle for one of the trials, but all other animals featured in the book do just fine.

solarel's review

adventurous hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I enjoyed the world, though the first half of it felt very similar to other books I’ve read. 

The ending was a cliffhanger but didn’t manage to give any sense of finishing to the story arc? That’s just my thoughts. 

Overall I think this was pretty middle of the road. It was a fun read, enjoyable and mysterious. But there were parts I found fell short of what they could have been. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, War, Blood, Death, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Police brutality, and Torture

fscherlie's review

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Violence and Physical abuse

alrightlauryn's review

adventurous inspiring medium-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? No

4.5

A cosy book focused around the art of tea making - be warned this is not just focused on a tea competition but the political fares of the setting. 
An enjoyable read that ties imagery with real life matters, through the art of tea making. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death of parent

livvya's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Animal cruelty, and Terminal illness

Minor: Grief, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, and Medical content

jes_reads00's review

adventurous inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Vomit, and Death of parent

Minor: Blood

vixenreader's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-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

3.75

Despite some plot thread being left unresolved, and some overstuffing, this debut is impressive in its concept, sensitive protagonist, and strong female relationships. The tea has been spilled. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Animal death, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, War, Classism, Medical content, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Medical trauma, Death, and Drug use

Moderate: Gaslighting, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Bullying, Colonisation, Confinement, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, and Abandonment

Minor: Alcohol, Excrement, Cursing, Pregnancy, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

There is a heavy amount of poisoning and a conspiracy theory driving the plot.

mariavdl's review

adventurous hopeful relaxing sad

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent and Terminal illness

Minor: Alcohol, Vomit, Torture, Misogyny, and Grief

mariebrunelm's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring tense fast-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? Yes

4.75

Ning is apprentice to her father, a physician, while her sister Shu follows in their mother’s footsteps and prepares to become a shénnóng-tú, a student in the magic of tea. That is until a brick of tea, similar to the hundreds of bricks gifted by the emperor to his subjects, kills Ning and Shu’s mother and leaves the latter in a state close to it. Ning has practiced tea magic as well and developed promising abilities, but she can’t save her sister. Her only hope is winning the attention of the imperial palace and securing the help of a royal physician. To do that, Ning enrols in a competition to become the future empress’s shénnóng-shī, master of tea.
This high-stake, Chinese-inspired fantasy novel is easy to love. With a stubborn heroine devoted to saving her family, tea-magic and a magic tea competition, there’s no time to lose and the chapters fly by. I love that the author still took the time to introduce plenty of details describing the culture (the clothing, architecture, traditions) and the art of tea. It made for a very thoughtful narrative that was quite intense and fun. As usual, I didn’t care for the hint of romance, but by now I'm used to it and I don't hold it against the author.
Just so you know, this is the first volume in a duology and by the end you’re strongly encouraged to pick up the next one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism

Moderate: Sexism and Death of parent

biobeetle's review

adventurous hopeful inspiring fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Terminal illness

Moderate: Violence