A Tempest of Tea

It was a slow burn then it got really good, then the plot twist kind of ruined it, then it didn't get any better. But it's done now 🤷🏻‍♀️

I thought this book started to pick up during the heist part, but then it just got weird and I didn't like the vampire plot twist let alone the ending. This didn't grip me as much as I thought it would but it was kind of enjoyable in parts I guess?

🦇 A Tempest of Tea Book Review 🦇

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

❓ #QOTD What's your favorite type of tea?

🦇 On the streets of White Roaring, Arthie Casimir is a criminal mastermind and collector of secrets. Her prestigious tearoom transforms into an illegal bloodhouse by dark, catering to the vampires feared by society. But when her establishment is threatened, Arthie is forced to strike an unlikely deal with an alluring adversary to save it—and she can’t do the job alone. Calling on some of the city’s most skilled outcasts, Arthie hatches a plan to infiltrate the dark and glittering vampire society known as the Athereum. But not everyone in her ragtag crew is on her side, and as the truth behind the heist unfolds, Arthie finds herself in the midst of a conspiracy that will threaten the world as she knows it.

💜 For shame! For shame, book readers, for not praising all that is Hafsal Faizal and her delicious, dizzy, heart-clutching romantic fantasies. Why are we not talking about this book (and the Sands of Arawiya duology, for that matter) more? Why haven't I heard you swooning over Jin's charm, or Arthie's badassery, or the enigma that is Laith? For shame! Let me break down my love of this one for you:

✨ Characters: I love me a crew, a messy little found family, a 'from the ashes of a corrupt world, the self-built and struggling will rise' group of misfits. Arthie is difficult to love but SO damn easy to respect. Her sibling-like relationship with Jin clicks into place from their first interaction; you see that unspoken love in their fierce protectiveness for one another throughout the entire story. While the rest of the crew each has a part to play, it was THIS platonic relationship that truly powered the story. I would have been fine to stick with their dual POV, leaving readers in the dark about what the others were up to.

✨ Plot and Pacing: A heist story is one part planning (bringing together the crew), one part stealing, one part EVERYTHING going wrong, one part secrets revealed. To quote Leonard Snart, “There are only four rules you need to remember: make the plan, execute the plan, expect the plan to go off the rails, throw away the plan." For a little fun, you throw in Leverage's power move: the gloat, when the Big Bad realizes they've failed. Faizal executes nearly every piece of the equation perfectly. I will say the planning stage takes a bit too long (again, we don't need every POV), but it was used to help us fall in love with the characters, to understand their predicament.

✨ World-Building: This world! Let me slip into this world and seep in its magic. The moment I realized we were still in We Hunt the Flame's universe, I audibly squealed (scaring a cat in the process). Faizal doesn't fall into the old comforts of an already established, familiar world; she makes the wicked, ruthless stress of White Roaring its own, with the Arawiya making a special appearance in an unexpected way. I fell in love with a tearoom (Spindrift) and all its concealed secrets the way many of you fell in love with magic castles and a corner of Oregon. Spindrift is its own character, and the threat of its loss empowers the characters to take action in intriguing ways. Usually, vampire books are a bit try-hard and tired, but Faizal redefines the genre with this one, creating a mythology that elevates the story, its characters, and its ongoing suspense. To add an undercurrent commentary on immigration, violent colonialism, and white supremacy only adds to the story's perfection. The strongest fantasy books shine a mirror on our realities. The commentary on our current society is real and relevant within Tempest's fantasy world.

✨ Romance: The romantic interactions in this story don't steal from the plot, but intensify the tension of all that's at stake. Get ready for some heart-fluttering and swooning, bats, because this book has it all. Let me COUNT THE WAYS I swooned over the wit and sass between Laith and Arthie. I rushed through this story only eager for more and more of it.

✨ Mystery/Suspense: Every heist has a mastermind, and every mastermind has a dozen contingency plans hidden in their sleeves. Arthie is no exception. This story could have failed in its mystery and suspense, given that too many writers lean on vampire lore cliches, but Faizal's creation of a unique mythology adds a flare of spice and heat to the story. I will say, again, that including additional POVs was a mistake: I did see the three big twists coming.

✨ Tone/Prose: Faizal's writing is, as always, magic seeped in sublime, amusing wit. There's never a dull moment in the writing, the phenomenal prose drawing you in like a spicy cup of hot chai sweetened with honey and secrets. I could talk about the prose charm and allure for hours; it carries you to the very last page.

🦇 Recommended to fans of The Fragile Threads of Power and Six of Crows. Definitely on my top 10 for 2024!

✨ The Vibes ✨
🩸 Paranormal/Historical Fiction
🫖 Young Adult Fiction
🩸 Vampires
🫖 Found Family
🩸 Duology
🫖 Heist
🩸 POC Characters
🫖 Sands of Arawiya Universe

💬 Quotes
❝ It’s easy to look at the errors of a few and blame an entire kind." ❞
❝ “Let me bleed for you.” ❞
❝ “And then you would use your mouth to cut me down in the most wicked of ways, and I realized I’d met countless men and women but never my mirror.” ❞
❝ “Why save the world when you can have tea?” ❞
❝ No, beautiful wasn’t quite the word to describe her allure. She was cutthroat and deadly, the way a rose appeared entirely different when you saw its thorns. ❞
❝ It was rare to hear praise for her intellect. It was only ever treated as something that was overgrown to the point of recklessness; she was always told she was too cunning, too corrupt. Never brilliant. ❞
❝ “Family isn’t who we live with but those we would die for.” ❞
❝ Roohi. If I begin to tell the world how I feel about you, I may never stop, but here is my attempt to be concise: Every day with you is a joy. ❞

Although one plot twist about the main character was predictable quite early on in the book, i still very much enjoyed it. spoilers i even had a theory Laith was the Ram no spoilers I don’t normally read something like this, but i absolutely love the dynamic. I loved the setting and i loved all the characters. The dialogue especially being so witty and creative. All those little comments before they had a risky fight scene. The end really has left me wanting the second book, and it most definitely will be a priority. I loved how the main character was more cold and calculating.

I was so excited to begin this book, but it was kind of disappointing. It’s good, but the pacing is awful, learning things that should have been used for the world building at the very end is not a good experience. The romance between Arthie and Laith felt so forced too. Flick made me hold on, and Flick and Jin are really the characters that made me hope it would turn out good.

I had to restart this audiobook twice, I think it might’ve been better to have the hard copy of this because there’s a lot of atmospheric set ups and cast of characters to get through. Not that any of that is bad necessarily, it’s just having to pay attention or missing something important if you don’t. That said, this was an interesting story (book one of a planned duology) and the crux of the story revolves around planning and executing a heist, so that was fun. The world building is good, the characters are multifaceted, there’s a nice jab at the horrors of colonization, there are interesting politics, vampires, lots of tea & pastries (seriously, it’s going to tickle your cravings if you like teas and pastries) and an intriguing mystery swirling within. It ended pretty much with a series of bangs, so can’t wait for the sequel. There was also a really fun interview with the author at the end of the audiobook as a bonus!

Loved the plot and main group of characters! I was pretty much hooked from chapter one. I feel like the plot developed at a great pace. The ending had me stressing though!

There was a lot I liked about this book: the characters I LOVED - the tension, perfect - the world, interesting. I enjoyed the plot but honestly I just wish there was a bit more. I felt the story could have used another 100 pages to really dive into the heist. Usually they have so many more pieces and things were just all tied up fairly quickly. Even the heist itself was over before I knew it. I think if it was given a bit more space to breathe, we would have gotten to see the characters interact with each other a bit more and it didn’t have to be action all the time straight from the jump. It would have allowed the reader to sink deeper into the racism and colonization the author was deftly portraying as well. I do think this was very well-written and entertaining though and I will definitely be reading the sequel.

I need the next book asap

love that i got spoilered by a tumblr post i read ages ago, kinda fittng ngl

Of you like six of crows or peaky blinders then this is the book for you. I immediately got six of crow vibes from this book

Our five characters are coming together to do a heist and oh boy there's a lot of action and twists in this book.

All the characters where diverse and eell written. Tje plot was fast paced and the chapters were shirt.

I really enjoyed this binged it in two days. I listened to an audio as I read.

“Why save the world when you can have tea?” My thanks to Macmillan Children’s Books for sending me an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. This does not affect my thoughts about the book in any way. Hafsah Faizal is back in this new, riveting installment, the first of another incredible duology perfect for fans of Six of Crows and Thieves Gambit! I’ve never felt this way about another book in months, but A Tempest of Tea certainly pulled me out of my miserable slump. Set in the same world as We Hunt The Flame, we now travel to Ettenia and meet a new and equally diverse cast while still seeing remnants of our beloved Arawiyan characters. Not only is this brewed with tea, but it also has vampires, magic, tension, and thrilling politics with a plot that mainly ventures into the effects of imperial colonialism, illegal settlements, and exploitation. The story itself astonishingly mirrors the genocide Palestinians have been experiencing for over 75+ years, so this book was impressively a statement as much as it’s a YA fantasy novel with lots of unpredictable twists that will keep you hooked. Therefore, no one can tell me that reading isn’t political because it most certainly is. It was a very entertaining read for me, and I’m already looking forward to the sequel! There was no dull moments throughout the book. The humor-filled banter within the found family and character dynamics were truly delightful to read. It was without a doubt, worth the wait and hype. Hafsah is a really remarkable storyteller. It’s high time readers actually support authors who know what they stand for.

"We were made for trouble, you and me."

3.75 ⭐

This book was one of my most anticipated reads and unfortunately I feel a little bit disappointed. There is no denying the Hafsah Faizal is a brilliant wordsmith, her words read like poetry and she is able to weave convoluted heists in with an interesting setting, a fascinating storyline and a diverse cast of characters. I loved the way this story painted a world that isn't very different from our own, the lands were very obviously inspired by real world locations, Ettenia is England, Ceylan is India, Jeevant Gar is a country in Africa, Arawiya is a country in the Middle East etc, this made the story accessible because the world building wasn't too difficult to unravel. But I also did struggle with a few things too unfortunately.

There are three main POVs, Arthie, Jin and Flick, and I enjoyed how they all came from different walks of life. I liked that Arthie's character had a bit of gender role bending in a patriarchal world, she is feminine in ways but hard and cold in others, she keeps her hair mauve but she wears a suit, she has to get by in a male dominated industry and she does it skilfully. Jin was a lot of fun and probably my favourite character, he reminded me a lot of both Kaz and Jasper from Six of Crows and I thought that was fun. Flick was very sweet and resilient, she showed almost unconditional care and loyalty, even to those she shouldn't have trusted. Unfortunately though, I did really find myself struggling to connect with any of the characters, normally I don't mind whether a book is third person or first person, but I think this story really suffered being third person. It made everything feel a bit too superficial, I was longing for more depth, more passion and tension, but most of the really touching moments just felt brushed over.

To the public, Arthie Casimir dealt in tea. To those who paid enough attention, she dealt in blood too. But Flick... knew the truth: Arthie Casimir dealt in secrets.

The storyline itself is quite complex and sounded like something right up my alley, vampires, a heist, a mystery of disappearances, found family, a magical weapon, corrupt politics and a commentary on colonialism and oppression, but this is another aspect that let me down a tad sadly. There were so many interwoven threads all intersection at different times but not quite connecting together just yet and some of those threads were really, really interesting. But it also felt a bit like too many ideas were crammed in and it made the pacing feel a bit off kilter as each new convoluted puzzle piece was snapped into place. I also felt like some of these threads were left hanging for too long. We got a good look into Spindrift, the tearoom, right at the beginning but then it was closed down for the majority of the story and only mentioned in passing or as their end goal for completely the heist. I wish that this setting had played more of a role within the storyline but instead it was just in the background.

The romance was a bit one-dimensional as well, I think it could've done without the love triangle - sometimes these work but often I find they don't - and I don't think enough time was really spent building up romance between the other characters either, aside from a lot of blushing, snarky flirtatious remarks and rather trope heavy displays of affection. The best relationship in this book was sibling bond between Jin and Arthie, their love for each other was written brilliantly and genuinely believable, which made certain betrayal's of honesty hurt quite a bit, and I wished this same level of care had been put into the romantic relationships as well. I found the dialogue a bit stilted as well, it almost felt like it was trying a bit too much to be sassy and sometimes the conversation just didn't make sense because of it.

Overall, I was entertained by this book but I felt a few key things were missing that meant it didn't grip me quite as much as I hoped it would. I am looking forward to how the loose ends are tied up in the following sequel and I am intrigued enough to carry on reading the series, hoping that I will form more of a connection with the characters and story as the full scope unravels. The ending definitely left on a good cliffhanger, revealing another loose thread right on the very last page, and I think without that, I might not be so motivated to carry on.

Ignorance had always been a defining feature of the privileged.

I think I should start by saying that I pre-ordered this book way back on the 3rd March 2022 (basically as soon as I was able to) having waited patiently since it was even hinted at over on Hafsah Faizal's IG so my anticipation was already through the roof when I requested it, and got it! I GOT IT!!! (Thank-you so much to all involved in making that happen!)

I have deliberately savoured this, taking over a month to finish something I could have devoured in mere days, hours if I didn't have to adult. Let me tell you, it did not disappoint.

The world building was a delightful extension of what we know from the truly beautiful Sands of Arawiya duology, skilfully bringing to life an else world London type town. The - often - savage, thieving, and heart breaking history of colonialism laces through the story heavily, and it's truly vital to the story as a whole, to our character motivations, their presence in White Roaring and, in each instance, the why for saying yes to the heist.

Arthie, Jin, and the rest of our main characters are a true wonder. They are fully formed, each with history, secrets, love and pain, Faizal writes them into being, laying for them a path towards our dislike of the ones that deserve it, love of the ones that capture our little reader hearts and we cause us to fret over our feelings towards the morally grey.

The pace is good, with a steady introduction leading quickly into the planning and the heist itself. While the whole book takes place over barely 2/3 weeks, its peppered with the history of our characters (which just makes us love them more) but that last 20/25%, you are in for a ride.
I was blindsided thrice - having to pick my chin up off the floor, wished for something different at least once (okay, maybe 10 times!) and had my heart crushed and repaired multiple times...and the ending. Just cruel.
Please can I have more?

5 huge stars

SABC April pick

I actually really did enjoy the read for this one, despite how hesitant I felt with a fantasy book involving vampires. This was a fun fantasy heist book in a colonized world parallel to that of Britain and the East India Company. This heist, led by adoptive sibling teahouse-slash-blood-fix-speakeasy co-owners Arthie and Jin, was quite the ride in its leadup, execution, and aftermath. Loved the worldbuilding, loved the twisty twists, and absolutely loved Arthie and Jin's characters.

The romance in this book was so SENSUAL and full of innuendo, which I personally enjoyed and found hilarious. But I also found weakness in developing nearly all the relationships formed except Jin and Arthie. There were a number of instances where I kept wishing I got to be shown more than told - i.e., Matteo and Arthie, P*** (hidden in case of spoilers) and Arthie, Spindrift and the community.

There was potential for Spindrift to be more prominent, especially in explaining why the Casimir siblings have become so feared among the living and the undead of Ettenia. I just couldn't help but keep thinking this thought as I read the book, since as soon as the heist prep begins, Spindrift just... closes. The teahouse can be a character in itself, if given the chance, I desperately believe.

Despite this frustration, that cliffhanger certainly left me hanging 😭. And it really was a ton of fun! Yeah, I'm thinking I'll read the second book whenever that comes out.

** spoiler alert ** This was my first foray into Hafsah Faizals writing! And it was so so good! lt was more good then bad, there was very little bad actually. I think what I liked, besides her writing which was so elegant and pretty, just on a word by word level, was her character work. It wasn’t that her characters were filled to the brim with depth or complexity but they were so enjoyable! I especially loved the relationships, especially the romantic ones because of how much tension there was for all the couples. I think that’s why I loved the first half of the book so much, because we got to sit with the characters and see them just interact which made me so giddy😭. Laith and Jin were my favorite and I think Laith is the most interesting out of all the characters. He seems to have the most potential writing wise and I love the idea of him and Arthie being mirrors of one other which I was thinking as I read this book. I didn’t give this a 5 star though BCZ I think the heist wasn’t handled as well as it should’ve. I liked the beginning half also because of how she set up the strings that’d lead to the heist but when the heist happened it fell flat for me. The writing is beautiful but I wish it would’ve been more..? Fast paced and urgent writing wise during the heist. Hafsah faizals writing lends itself to dialogue and description but that ‘elegant’ ‘lyrical’ writing could’ve been switched up for the action scene. I assume it would’ve been more impactful too if she’d done that. To add to the criticism, I wish the romance between Laith and Arthie could’ve been pushed more towards the second book. As in, have the scene where she takes his blood and leave it at that. No confessions. No, I want you. I think, besides me being a loser for slow burn, it would’ve made more sense for the twos reserved and untrusting characters. Besides that, great book and I can’t wait to see more from her!

I feel like different POVs only make the entire book confusing. I don't think Flick's POV is necessary to the story.

Reminded me a lot of Six of Crows. With the whole rag-tag group embarking on a heist. Except this book has vampires.

Cliffhanger definition