A review by ghada_mohammed
The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

A candid, brutal story of how a detective and a mindship found unexpected camaradarie as they navigated a murder mystery while simultaneously struggling with their respective troubled pasts. I absolutely loved the worldbuilding and about everything in the Universe of Xuya—always a pleasure to be in an sff world that is not Europe. I also loved how the book depicted trauma and the dynamic between Long Chau and The Shadow's Child: the tart back-and-forth and the startling fact at the end that the mindship was far more relatable than the humans.