A review by booklore_forevemore
A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

3.5

“Every good love story starts with a bullet to the heart.”

I have some mixed feelings about this one, but overall I mostly enjoyed! The beginning started off strong and I immediately loved Arthie, the main character. She’s witty, strong-willed, and she runs a tea house that caters to vampires by night with her brother, Jin. When a mysterious figure arrives one night with an offer Arthie can’t refuse, she gathers a group together and heist shenanigans ensue. 

 Strangely, once the story picks up I became less invested. Everything was a bit too fast-paced and I wasn’t able to connect with any of the side characters. There is a ton of romantic tension, but again it felt too fast and I didn’t know anyone well enough to strongly root for their relationships. I enjoy some good romantic tension, but it can’t be used as a replacement for character development. Around the 75-80% mark I was pulled back in and the last 10% was great, but the impact would have been stronger if the rest of the book wasn’t so surface level. 

I haven’t read the Sands of Arawiya duology yet, which is set in the same world, but I had no difficulties understanding the worldbuilding. I thought the setting was really fun (at least Arthie made it fun) and I appreciated the anti-colonial themes and the mysterious villain. And of course there are plenty vampires!! Despite some of my issues with this one, I’m still excited for the second installment and can’t wait to see how this story continues.

PSA: There IS a cliffhanger. You have been warned.