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rachelblair's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-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
2.75
This entire book had me saying "wait, did I miss something?" I kept feeling as though the characters had conversations that I, the reader, was not privy to, or there were background details that the characters knew about but were never explained in the actual text of the book. There's a difference between leaving some secrets until the end for plot, and just being too vague. I came close to DNFing this book. Ultimately I decided to finish it and honestly I needn't have bothered. I'm still scratching my head going "HUH?" Not because the ending was a vague cliffhanger (it was) but because I wasn't given enough background to actually connect with any of the characters or care what happens next. Disappointing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: War, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, and Panic attacks/disorders
salma_175's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-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
Love Hafzah’s writing and world, an easy five star read
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Violence and War
Minor: Death of parent and Panic attacks/disorders
deductionist's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The Good:
- The book was a fast and fun read. I like the setup of the heist and all the character’s involved with it.
- White Roaring and the world surrounding it was fun to read. Its real-world influences were noticeable, but the care handled with it whilst involving the magical and supernatural were nice.
- I’m a sucker(ha) for anything vampire related, and felt this book gave me what I was wanting.
- This definitely does take SoC influence/Leigh Bardugo’s style in that you’ll learn about the world as you go along; it won’t be exactly spoon-fed to you. An in-world word may appear one page, to be explained pages later in dialogue. I didn’t mind that, and I personally like this style once I know the author can reliably ensure we’re not lost.
The Bad:
- Every now and again I’d find myself needing to reread passages in hopes of understanding what just happened.
- I’m mainly thinking of action sequences. Sometimes they were hard to follow.
- Not a bad thing for me, but could be to someone else, the book ends on a cliff-hanger.
- I have to agree with an earlier review… not sure what the point of Laith’s cat was. Maybe we might know in the next book?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Blood, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Colonisation
Minor: War
skylarkblue1's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
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
3.75
Representations: https://trello.com/c/nsqzygec/93-blood-and-tea-1-a-tempest-of-tea-by-hafsah-faizal
Thank you Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!
I'm conflicted on if I should recommend this or not, but overall I think I had a good enough time with it that I would. The only issue I really had with this book is how it handled romance - especially with a bit at the end.
The way I'd describe this book is vampires and tea meets assassins creed and heists. I know the order of assassins was a thing but the way it's portrayed in this book I'd really say is more from the IP assassins creed specifically - there's a ton of similarities and tbh I found that quite fun as someone who loves AC a ton. This whole book revolves around this one major heist, around 60% setting up and 40% heist and the aftermath.
I quite enjoyed the characters mostly, they all had their own goals and motivations which clashed quite nicely throughout the story. The only negative about that is not everyone was clear on that specifically with side characters. This is one thing the book did throughout the whole thing but was more clear in terms of character motivations, but important information was just drip-fed to you. So important info that's critical to the overall story, that's just not told to you until it's needed. Does help with making it a bit less predictable, but the twists then feel a bit undermined as it's not really a twist then it's just "you had no idea about this and this is what it is!".
The romance was quite a weird one in this. The less romance in fantasy, the more I enjoy it. I thought at first this was going to be pretty light on that and it both was and wasn't. Thoughout the middle section of the book it's just constant "oh these feelings are weird but I'm going to ignore them" and that's *constant* in the middle section and often feels really forced in. Like every couple pages kinda thing for all the POVs. The ending quickly changes it up though for a more intimate scene (though there's a shorter scene in the middle that's also more intimate, and that bit feels even more out of place. But gotta get in that description of water running down a bare mans chest....) just because it can kinda. It sorta has a reason in-universe, but the way it's written is just 100% for the romance only. There's many different ways the motivation could have been done other than suddenly ramping up the romance which hadn't really been near that point.
It's in that weird limbo between if you want to read it for romance you might be disappointed and if you want to read it for the low-romance you'll be disappointed in the ending a fair bit.
Also Jin, you gotta stop wanting to sniff women's hair. Please. It's kinda creepy how often it's mentioned.
I did love the heisting, I loved certain parts of the ending (the action parts) and I absolutely loved the kitten. The kitten really made the book for me they were super adorable, really well described, and I absolutely loved how they were used throughout the whole book. Honestly recommend reading for the kitten alone hehe.
Thank you Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!
I'm conflicted on if I should recommend this or not, but overall I think I had a good enough time with it that I would. The only issue I really had with this book is how it handled romance - especially with a bit at the end.
The way I'd describe this book is vampires and tea meets assassins creed and heists. I know the order of assassins was a thing but the way it's portrayed in this book I'd really say is more from the IP assassins creed specifically - there's a ton of similarities and tbh I found that quite fun as someone who loves AC a ton. This whole book revolves around this one major heist, around 60% setting up and 40% heist and the aftermath.
I quite enjoyed the characters mostly, they all had their own goals and motivations which clashed quite nicely throughout the story. The only negative about that is not everyone was clear on that specifically with side characters. This is one thing the book did throughout the whole thing but was more clear in terms of character motivations, but important information was just drip-fed to you. So important info that's critical to the overall story, that's just not told to you until it's needed. Does help with making it a bit less predictable, but the twists then feel a bit undermined as it's not really a twist then it's just "you had no idea about this and this is what it is!".
The romance was quite a weird one in this. The less romance in fantasy, the more I enjoy it. I thought at first this was going to be pretty light on that and it both was and wasn't. Thoughout the middle section of the book it's just constant "oh these feelings are weird but I'm going to ignore them" and that's *constant* in the middle section and often feels really forced in. Like every couple pages kinda thing for all the POVs. The ending quickly changes it up though for a more intimate scene (though there's a shorter scene in the middle that's also more intimate, and that bit feels even more out of place. But gotta get in that description of water running down a bare mans chest....) just because it can kinda. It sorta has a reason in-universe, but the way it's written is just 100% for the romance only. There's many different ways the motivation could have been done other than suddenly ramping up the romance which hadn't really been near that point.
It's in that weird limbo between if you want to read it for romance you might be disappointed and if you want to read it for the low-romance you'll be disappointed in the ending a fair bit.
Also Jin, you gotta stop wanting to sniff women's hair. Please. It's kinda creepy how often it's mentioned.
I did love the heisting, I loved certain parts of the ending (the action parts) and I absolutely loved the kitten. The kitten really made the book for me they were super adorable, really well described, and I absolutely loved how they were used throughout the whole book. Honestly recommend reading for the kitten alone hehe.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Violence, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Blood
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, and Racism
Minor: Stalking
esme_bonner's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
3.75
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book!
I find it hard to review A Tempest of Tea because on the one hand, I loved the premise, I really enjoyed the take on colonialism, the way cultures are built and spoken about, and the twists (even thought I had guessed a few of them!) On the other hand I found some of the world building quite clunky and hard to follow, there a few instances that I am hoping are maybe just errors that will be caught before the final version goes to print were interactions just don't seem to make sense. The sentence seems to run into something new, or the speech doesn't seem to got together. Similarly, I found the action sequences a tale of two halves. Some of them were excellent, cinematic and lyrically described. Others were difficult to track, I was more assuming than understanding. However, overall, I really did enjoy A Tempest of Tea a lot.
The romances in this book are beautifully built, I am not anti-love-triangle, but this is the obligatory warning that there is something of one in this book! I really liked how Faizal built romance into the characters; Arthie was resistant to romance in exactly the way you might expect her to be; Flick was enamoured by romance in exactly the way you might expect her to be. It was really refreshing to see an author consider how romance fits into the wider characterisation of a person, and consider that in how the relationship progressed.
I loved the ending, I think the last 1/3 of A Tempest of Tea is the strongest. I had guessed at some of the twists, but I think that just shows the success of Faizal's foreshadowing. Other twists were genuine surprises, and some sat in the middle, not totally shocking, but not expected either. Regardless of the category they sat in I would describe all of the twists in this book as deeply satisfying.
This is a twisty, romantic, well-plotted adventure of a novel. Whilst I have some niggles with the writing, overall I think it is a brilliant start to what I am sure will be a spectacular series. I am looking forward to the next one!
I find it hard to review A Tempest of Tea because on the one hand, I loved the premise, I really enjoyed the take on colonialism, the way cultures are built and spoken about, and the twists (even thought I had guessed a few of them!) On the other hand I found some of the world building quite clunky and hard to follow, there a few instances that I am hoping are maybe just errors that will be caught before the final version goes to print were interactions just don't seem to make sense. The sentence seems to run into something new, or the speech doesn't seem to got together. Similarly, I found the action sequences a tale of two halves. Some of them were excellent, cinematic and lyrically described. Others were difficult to track, I was more assuming than understanding. However, overall, I really did enjoy A Tempest of Tea a lot.
The romances in this book are beautifully built, I am not anti-love-triangle, but this is the obligatory warning that there is something of one in this book! I really liked how Faizal built romance into the characters; Arthie was resistant to romance in exactly the way you might expect her to be; Flick was enamoured by romance in exactly the way you might expect her to be. It was really refreshing to see an author consider how romance fits into the wider characterisation of a person, and consider that in how the relationship progressed.
I loved the ending, I think the last 1/3 of A Tempest of Tea is the strongest. I had guessed at some of the twists, but I think that just shows the success of Faizal's foreshadowing. Other twists were genuine surprises, and some sat in the middle, not totally shocking, but not expected either. Regardless of the category they sat in I would describe all of the twists in this book as deeply satisfying.
This is a twisty, romantic, well-plotted adventure of a novel. Whilst I have some niggles with the writing, overall I think it is a brilliant start to what I am sure will be a spectacular series. I am looking forward to the next one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation
Moderate: War, Xenophobia, and Violence
Minor: Racism
This book is very inspired by the colonial history of the UK and Asia (specifically the atrocities committed by the UK against Asian countries), and there is a fantasy re-imagining of the East India Company. More than one of the characters in this book have been directly impacted by racism, xenophobia, and colonialism. It is also a heist novel with criminal elements, and features violence within the parameters of that. I would say that this book is not worse than Six of Crows, as a point of reference.
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