Name: Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop
ISBN: 9781984803276

Roselle Lim

From the critically acclaimed author of Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune comes a new delightful novel about exploring all the magical possibilities of life in the most extraordinary city of all: Paris. Vanessa Yu never wanted to see people's fortunes--or misfortunes--in tealeaves. Ever since she can remember, Vanessa has been able to see people's fortunes at the bottom of their teacups. To avoid blurting out their fortunes, she converts to coffee, but somehow fortunes escape and find a way to complicate her life and the ones of those around her. To add to this plight, her romance life is so nonexistent that her parents enlist the services of a matchmaking expert from Shanghai. After her matchmaking appointment, Vanessa sees death for the first time. She decides that she can't truly live until she can find a way to get rid of her uncanny abilities. When her eccentric Aunt Evelyn shows up with a tempting offer to whisk her away, Vanessa says au revoir to California and bonjour to Paris. There, Vanessa learns more about herself and the root of her gifts and realizes one thing to be true: knowing one's destiny isn't a curse, but being unable to change it is.

Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop

It was so hard not to dash out and grab a box of pastries with all the delicious food descriptions in this book. I loved how whimsical and playful the story was, giving a fun glimpse into everyday life on a Paris vacation. What didn't do it for me was the overall pacing. It made the story feel a little erratic and didn't seem to flow well.

Cynthia

Sarah Sammis

Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop by Roselle Lim starts in Palo Alto but is mostly set in Paris. A small quibble, the novel should be Evelyn Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop as the titular tea shop belongs to Vanessa's aunt.

Vanessa and her aunt come from a long line of clairvoyants. Her aunt can predict people's futures accurately and at will. For Vanessa the visions come when she drinks tea. They are painful and unwanted and most often bad news. She feels like she's cursed and she doesn't want to spread her curse to others.

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2021/comm...

From the critically acclaimed author of Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune comes a new delightful novel about exploring all the magical possibilities of life in the most extraordinary city of all: Paris. Vanessa Yu never wanted to see people's fortunes—or misfortunes—in tealeaves. Ever since she can remember, Vanessa has been able to see people's fortunes at the bottom of their teacups. To avoid blurting out their fortunes, she converts to coffee, but somehow fortunes escape and find a way to complicate her life and the ones of those around her. To add to this plight, her romance life is so nonexistent that her parents enlist the services of a matchmaking expert from Shanghai. After her matchmaking appointment, Vanessa sees death for the first time. She decides that she can't truly live until she can find a way to get rid of her uncanny abilities. When her eccentric Aunt Evelyn shows up with a tempting offer to whisk her away, Vanessa says au revoir to California and bonjour to Paris. There, Vanessa learns more about herself and the root of her gifts and realizes one thing to be true: knowing one's destiny isn't a curse, but being unable to change it is.

Colleen

4 Stars
 
*A scrumptious story about destiny, love, and finding a purpose in life*


Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune really struck a chord with me last year, so I was excited to read Lim's next book. Plus it had the added bonus of the Paris setting which was great given how badly I've been craving some vicarious travel.

Vanessa Y’s Magical Paris Tea Shop tells the story of a young woman with the ability to see people’s future in tea leaves. But Vanessa sees this ability as a burden not a gift and tries to suppress it as much as possible. After a particularly embarrassing negative prediction, Vanessa agrees to go to Paris to train with her aunt. But Paris is a city with magic of its own, and it just might be able to help Vanessa find her path in life.


  Despite spilling others' fortunes, I refused to believe fate dictated my life. I believed in revolt, in breaking away from what was imposed upon me, and my fundamental rejection of my power proved that I rejected destiny too.”

I love how well food and Magical Realism go together. They make the perfect pairing. And although it isn't an entirely new idea, I loved that Vanessa’s predictions came with a sort of synesthesia. She could literally taste her visions. It added an extra layer to the experience. 

The Paris setting was lovely, but what was most vivid about Vanessa Y’s Magical Paris Tea Shop was the food descriptions. This story was literally mouth-watering. At one point, I ended up glaring at my leftover lunch and thinking, “Why the hell aren’t you fresh gourmet food?”

What fell short for me was the romance. I did not care for the love interest, so I wasn’t invested in whether or not they ended up together. The family dynamics and journey of self-discovery were endearing, but at the end of the day Vanessa Yu did not have as much of an emotional impact on me as Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune. Nevertheless this was a charming story and the perfect little escape.

I do have to note that it looks like the publisher’s synopsis is not up to date as it is inconsistent with the actual content of the story.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 5 Stars
Writing Style: 4 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 3 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 4 Stars
Level of Captivation: 4 Stars
Originality: 3 Stars

Toni Turner

Did I cry at the end of this while driving home today? That’s my business.

Jennifer

I probably landed myself to one of the most difficult situations of reviewing a book as I finished up reading Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop: while it's a fun read & got through the whole thing quite quickly, there are numerous glaring technical issues in the book. 

So here's a quick backstory: I rarely read chicklit books as the premise and the writing rarely catch my attention so I was kind of surprised that I was enjoying the writing style of this one. It gives the book quite some pastel & dreamy feel: in particular I highly enjoy the visual elements which somewhat drived the story. As a foodie myself I rather enjoyed how Roselle Lim described the food mentioned. I also found the overall atmosphere of the book qhite heartwarming and cute. So I think as an easy / quick to get through read, Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop did a good job. 

But beyond that, I didn't feel really sold onto plot nor the characters. In terms of the plot, I felt that the pacing is really uneven for example the romance was too fastracked and then there are several sections which could be cut. Instead, I think more could be explored about the special abilities because at the moment they made little sense until it's being directly told towards the end of the book. My biggest issue with the book is definitely the character development: They felt pretty one-dimensional to me and it's hard to like them because of the insufficient character development. I found that the story was pretty predictable due to this lack of character exploration: like stuff happened but the writing doesn't go beyond the depth of the literal.

I also want to point out that I'm not the intended audience for the book (as I don't normally enjoy books heavy with romance). Despite my concerns with the technical issues I believe this could nevertheless be a pretty fun & smooth read if you want something lighthearted with a whimsical writing style: it has plenty of delicious sections as well as some emotional family stories. 

N.B. This is not a trigger heavy book but there are a few to be aware of: vomit, accidents, and death (mentioned but not directly in the plot).

(2.5 stars out of 5)

Kath Lau

Vanessa can predict and see people's fortunes at the bottom of their cups. Unlike her Aunt Evelyn who embraces the same gift, Vanessa sees it as a curse. She even stopped drinking tea but her gift is strong. Her Aunt Evelyn offers to teach Vanessa how to control her gift but she has to go with her to Paris and help her with her tea shop. The writing is captivating! I loved the food description, art references, the magical elements, and the family dynamic. The romance between Vanessa and her love interest fell short for me. I also felt like I didn't get to know him and even forgot about him until he showed up again. I thought Aunt Evelyn's romance story overshadowed theirs. Overall, I enjoyed this one more than Natalie Tan. Also, fair warning. Never read this if you're hungry.

Check out my other reviews here.