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A review by hippolyta_vi
A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal
Did not finish book. Stopped at 54%.
DNF'd at 50%, why not just finish it?
Oh, I did. I really, really did. I had high hopes for this book and it ended up falling flat on its face.
A lot of the other reviews here perfectly encapsulate this novel. It's just boring. Somehow, with such an intriguing idea and plot, it's so very boring. Every night I would sit down to read this and every night my mind would wander, thinking about everything except for what was on the page.
Where to begin. It seems as though the author tells when she should be showing (don't *tell* me Arthie is a hardened criminal, SHOW ME! you're trying to make me believe she's on par with Kaz Brekker and yet she's made her name in Ettenia by not being violent? What does she do, brood until people quiver?) and showing when she should be telling (the lack of description...I stg).
I failed to be immersed in any capacity into the world. Ettenia is clearly some sort of England, so I guess the author is just trusting that you can imagine a psuedo-London instead of describing the atmosphere and culture.
Why only include the POVs of 3 characters when there are 5 members involved in the heist, I do not know. Having POVs from just Arthie and Jin I could understand, but adding Flick into the mix just made me question the exclusion of Laith and Matteo:s perspectives. Additionally, I couldn't get a full grasp on the characters. The way they are portrayed in their POV didn't seem to match up to how they acted in the other characters' POVs which could actually be intriguing. It could've been purposely depicting how people are duplicitous and/or complex. Instead, it just muddled the characters and gave us incomplete portrayals.
My goal was to finish this book, but nothing about it made me want to turn another page or reach the heist. Yes. After over 50% of the book, I still did not reach any form of heist. The plotting and preparation takes up so much time and is so convoluted and dry. What I find magic about heist stories is what happens off the page. I don't want the semantics. I want action! I want to see how the meticulous planning of clever criminals and their niche skillsets unravel an excellently executed heist, even better when something goes awry and the characters have to think of their toes. Any forms of that in this novel were just so underwhelming.
TLDR: just (re)read Six of Crows
Oh, I did. I really, really did. I had high hopes for this book and it ended up falling flat on its face.
A lot of the other reviews here perfectly encapsulate this novel. It's just boring. Somehow, with such an intriguing idea and plot, it's so very boring. Every night I would sit down to read this and every night my mind would wander, thinking about everything except for what was on the page.
Where to begin. It seems as though the author tells when she should be showing (don't *tell* me Arthie is a hardened criminal, SHOW ME! you're trying to make me believe she's on par with Kaz Brekker and yet she's made her name in Ettenia by not being violent? What does she do, brood until people quiver?) and showing when she should be telling (the lack of description...I stg).
I failed to be immersed in any capacity into the world. Ettenia is clearly some sort of England, so I guess the author is just trusting that you can imagine a psuedo-London instead of describing the atmosphere and culture.
Why only include the POVs of 3 characters when there are 5 members involved in the heist, I do not know. Having POVs from just Arthie and Jin I could understand, but adding Flick into the mix just made me question the exclusion of Laith and Matteo:s perspectives. Additionally, I couldn't get a full grasp on the characters. The way they are portrayed in their POV didn't seem to match up to how they acted in the other characters' POVs which could actually be intriguing. It could've been purposely depicting how people are duplicitous and/or complex. Instead, it just muddled the characters and gave us incomplete portrayals.
My goal was to finish this book, but nothing about it made me want to turn another page or reach the heist. Yes. After over 50% of the book, I still did not reach any form of heist. The plotting and preparation takes up so much time and is so convoluted and dry. What I find magic about heist stories is what happens off the page. I don't want the semantics. I want action! I want to see how the meticulous planning of clever criminals and their niche skillsets unravel an excellently executed heist, even better when something goes awry and the characters have to think of their toes. Any forms of that in this novel were just so underwhelming.
TLDR: just (re)read Six of Crows