Reviews with content warning for Violence - A Pirate's Life for Tea: A Cozy Fantasy with Ships Abound

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A Pirate's Life for Tea: A Cozy Fantasy with Ships Abound by Rebecca Thorne

9 reviews

uranaishi's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

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wardenred's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted 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

4.0

“We aren’t in love,” Bobbie retorted hotly.
Enemies to lovers. Or rather, friends to enemies to lovers. Kianthe grinned. That was one of her favorite plots in a novel.

This was a really quick and engrossing read for me. Though I feel I should note that, unlike the previous book in the series, this one hardly read as a cozy fantasy at all. More like, a regular old-school adventure fantasy story with pirates, traveling, heists, magic, searching for clues to a mystery, and helping defeat a bad guy. There were definitely some moments that I’ve come to associate with cozy fantasy as a genre—moments focusing on communities and making each other’s lives better. But overall, I feel like this story would be better described as lighthearted and hopeful than cozy.

I liked seeing how Reina and Kianthe’s relationship has been growing and evolving. It’s honestly lovely to see an established relationship that combines romance and passion and that comfortable familiarity you get from sharing your life with another person. They understand each other so much better now, and they’re so much better at compromising and talking things out and not letting the hard parts keep them from the good parts. Kianthe has also grown on me so much as an individual character. With Reina, it’s more complicated; for the most part, I like her, but some of the conclusions she comes to while dealing with her baggage of being the villain’s guard are things I viscerally disagree with. But, hey, that makes her a complex character who isn’t all black and white, so can’t complain about that, right?

While the story is told through Reina and Kianthe’s alternating POVs, it’s not really their story. Their own goals feel like a mere side plot to the real story where the real protagonists are Serina and Bobbie: respectively, a Robin Hood-ish pirate who steals food from the rich to distribute it to those in need and the constable in the service of the bad guy who tries to be a good person by being all lawful, except she gradually has to accept that in this case, the law is bad actually. Theirs is also the main romance—friends to enemies to lovers, my very favorite trope! And it hits pretty hard, despite being told entirely through Kianthe and Reina’s eyewitness accounts instead of the reader ever getting to delve into Bobbie or Serina’s first-hand experiences. I actually found this approach really interesting: the two narrators actually being side characters in someone else’s story.

The new characters were fun to meet, and I absolutely adored Serina and her determination to do something about the crappy system instead of putting up with it. The thing that rubbed me the wrong way about the previous book was that message that felt like, “There’s evil in the world, but you can’t do anything about it, you can just escape it and start a nice life somewhere else while the evil ruins other people’s lives.“ Which would be one thing if the characters through whom this message was conveyed were, like, regular small folk, not the most powerful mage in the setting and someone who knows plenty of the villain’s secrets and weak spots. Serina cares very much about other people, and that immediately endeared me to her—and I loved seeing Kianthe and Reina embroiled in the plot of actually fighting badness for the sake of others. Combined with the hints about how the evil queen plotline may develop later and what they can actually *do* about it, I’m way more excited for the next installment.

It was also super nice to see all the folks from the previous installment show up, even though most of them were more cameos than returning characters. Diarn Feo got a rather prominent role, though, and they’re my favorite, so yay for that! If only there could be more Matild, too, she’s so awesome. Maybe next book?

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betweentheshelves's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted 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

4.5

An excellent follow up to the first! I might have liked this book better than the first one, honestly. The pirate adventure made for a fun story, and I liked the addition of the new characters that helped flesh out the overall world. Also, the dedication was great. Gave me a little chuckle when I first picked it up.

I appreciate that this is a series, but you could technically read this one without reading the first book. You'd just miss out on a little bit of character background, but the adventure is completely it's own. Plus, there's a hook for a third book in the epilogue, so I can't wait to see what that one entails!

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hailstorm3812's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is a fun followup. It diverges from the cozy genre a little by having more adventure and raising the stakes, but still keeps a fun tone. It was a little odd to have the marketed romance not have an POVs, but it was still fun to see Reyna and Kianthe's relationship evolve.

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suzylit's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring lighthearted 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? No

5.0

After reading Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea, I knew I would not be disappointed by the second book! Rebecca Thorne again gifted us with a delightful novel!
I was so glad to follow Kianthe and Reyna in their adventures again.
Thorne’s writing is an incredible mix of lightheartedness, humor, danger, mystery, and wonderful characters. She has found the perfect balance between adventure and romance, between tension and comedy. The cast of A Pirate’s Life For Tea is very diverse and inclusive, they all have their own personality and are never dull.
Every niche I can identify with is in this book: lesbian crocheter, lesbian pirate, lesbian bookworm, lesbian tea-addict…
This is the perfect novel series for anyone looking for an emotional roller coaster with a happy ending!
I am looking forward for book 3! And, of course, I remember chapter 26!

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shaipanda's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

5.0

I love this series so muchhh!! I think I preferred the first one more still but I generally loved this and wass so happy we got to meet Dreggsss :)

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cozybooksandgoldenembers's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny tense 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

5.0

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mxbluet18's review against another edition

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adventurous funny 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? No

4.0

Trigger warnings for A Pirate's Life for Tea include: violence, oppression, near death experiences, blood and drowning.
☆
☆
While searching for stolen dragon eggs, newly engaged couple Kianthe and Reyna find themselves smack-dab in the middle of a swashbuckling love story.
~
It might just be that I'm not used to the writing style this author uses, but I feel like this reads as a YA with slightly adult themes.
•
Thank you to author Rebecca Thorne for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

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shelvesofivy's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.75

[Thank you so much to Rebecca Thorne for the ARC! I received this copy free, but this is an honest review and I plan on grabbing a physical copy as soon as it's available on February 23]

This was such a joy!! I was elated to dig into this as soon as I finished the first book.
Right off the bat, I will say that even though the epilogue of Can't Spell Treason Without Tea makes it seem like we'll be getting this book in Serina and Bobbie's POVs, it actually still goes between Reyna and Kianthe. I was admittedly disappointed by this at first, but as the story progressed, it was clear that this decision was the only one that made sense; it allowed us to continue following their quest for the dragon eggs and hear familiar names from Tawney.
Even though this is a cozy fantasy at its core, it was full of adventure. It would have seemed like the stakes were higher at times if we weren't promised a happy ending (and I personally prefer it this way).
The characters were all so lively and lovable, even when making questionable decisions. You can't help but fall in love with the cast, old and new. I was so endeared by Bobbie and Serina, and even though I would have loved a story from their POVs, I think there was also beauty in watching it from the outside. I also admittedly squealed out loud at multiple points, including Feo's appearances and Ponder's antics.

I realize that I'm rambling at this point. To sum it up, I highly highly recommend this book. Like the first in the series, this is full of magic, humor, and insightful thoughts on life and love. If I had to choose, I think I even enjoyed this one more than the first.

And finally, I can't wait for the next installment of the series!

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