Scan barcode
A review by sauvageloup
Can't Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
A nice, chill, solid read that wasn't groundbreaking but a relaxing ride.
pros:
- sweet characters with individual personalities and a cute relationship.
- I did enjoy the worldbuilding, with the different cultures/religions, magic, landscapes, dragons and so forth.
- I liked the nice cozy tropes in there, plus the periods of angst and danger that spice it up.
- I enjoyed the vivid imagery of the magical plants, books and tea.
- also the storylines with the griffins were delightful.
cons:
- I thought their backgrounds were pretty flat and under developed. no real friends at all for either of them? no living family at all? they seemed a bit unrealistically isolated for 2 grown women even with the in story explanations.
- though she did get magic drain, kianthe seemed pretty unrealistically powerful.
- I would have liked a bit more exploration of the worldbuilding, like with the dragons magic, what exactly the Stone is, what normal magic is like for other mages, and about the different types of magic.
- I thought the talk with the queen/solution was a bit anticlimactic.
- the pacing also felt a bit off throughout, with the high drama bits like the dragons happening rather randomly and Kiathe just whipping out massive magic in the middle of the book should have been nearer the climatic end.
- of course it depends what you're after but I thought it a shame we didn't even get a fade to black romance scene between them. it wasnt really even implied which is fine but I thought there might be more than kissing so felt a bit let down that there wasn't, I guess!
but overall, a sweet, easy and fun read.
pros:
- sweet characters with individual personalities and a cute relationship.
- I did enjoy the worldbuilding, with the different cultures/religions, magic, landscapes, dragons and so forth.
- I liked the nice cozy tropes in there, plus the periods of angst and danger that spice it up.
- I enjoyed the vivid imagery of the magical plants, books and tea.
- also the storylines with the griffins were delightful.
cons:
- I thought their backgrounds were pretty flat and under developed. no real friends at all for either of them? no living family at all? they seemed a bit unrealistically isolated for 2 grown women even with the in story explanations.
- though she did get magic drain, kianthe seemed pretty unrealistically powerful.
- I would have liked a bit more exploration of the worldbuilding, like with the dragons magic, what exactly the Stone is, what normal magic is like for other mages, and about the different types of magic.
- I thought the talk with the queen/solution was a bit anticlimactic.
- the pacing also felt a bit off throughout, with the high drama bits like the dragons happening rather randomly and Kiathe just whipping out massive magic in the middle of the book should have been nearer the climatic end.
- of course it depends what you're after but I thought it a shame we didn't even get a fade to black romance scene between them. it wasnt really even implied which is fine but I thought there might be more than kissing so felt a bit let down that there wasn't, I guess!
but overall, a sweet, easy and fun read.