Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed this conclusion to the Book of Tea duology. The first book was one of my favorite YA fantasies to date, and this was a great ending to Ning's story! As with the first book, I absolutely love the well fleshed-out world building and the super unique tea-based magic system.
This sequel had the addition of Kang's POV, which was told in third person present tense, instead of just Ning's first person past tense POV. The switching of POVs and tenses was a bit strange for me and took me out of the story a little. I also felt that this book had a LOT more politics than the first, which is great (I love political intrigue), but that made it a bit slower-paced for me, especially at the beginning.
All in all, a great magical read and a great duology overall!

I'm sorry but it was boring. I don't know how to explain but the vibes felt too serious, it reminds me of She Who Became the Sun and it was so hard to concentrate on the narrative. the characters were dry and didn't stand out. the romance didn't have chemistry. literally dragged myself to finish this but at what cost. what a loss since the first book was quite fine for me

I was so lucky to receive an eARC of this after just having finished A Magic Steeped in Poison. I love this duology. While this second installment may not be as high-stakes as the first (which may disappoint some readers), I personally think it was a solid conclusion to the story. I wish it was a bit longer, but I am also only just now starting to get back into reading more fantasy novels/series, so maybe in retrospect I’ll think it was the right length after all, who knows lol. That said, I loved how Lin created such a beautifully layered fantasy world, filled with so much cultural influence behind it. The writing here is phenomenal, so I highly recommend picking this one up if you haven’t already!

***Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review"""

A Venom Dark and Sweet is a great adventure with a unique magic system and complex characters. I found the connection between Ning and Kang compelling if a little lacking in that extra spark. Overall, I did enjoy the book and the ending was interesting. However, I just don’t think this series was quite my thing. The writing was good but not engaging. The characters were well though out but just didn’t make me fall in love with them.

Honestly, I had to wait for the audiobook from my library to finish this because the ebook just wasn’t drawing me back in. The audio narrators did an amazing job and really brought the story to life in a way I didn’t get on the page.

I share all of this as an honest review. I do genuinely recommend this book! I think this was just a case of it not being the book/series for me.

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I absolutely ADORE this duopoly. It's lush, it's beautiful, and these books are something you won't walk away from once you start them. I felt that with A Magic Steeped in Poison and absolutely felt it with A Venom Dark and Sweet. I wish there were more words to describe how much I loved it, but I will simply say: read these books. They deserve the hype.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, the cover is so so pretty!!! Would really love to display it on my shelf! As to the story, I love the world building and the cultural depiction. This book is a great conclusion to this duology. Would love to read more from the author ❤

A great evil has come to the kingdom of Dàxi. The Banished Prince has returned to seize power, his rise to the dragon throne aided by the mass poisonings that have kept the people bound in fear and distrust.

Ning, a young but powerful shénnóng-shi—a wielder of magic using the ancient and delicate art of tea-making—has escorted Princess Zhen into exile. Joining them is the princess' loyal bodyguard, Ruyi, and Ning's newly healed sister, Shu. Together the four young women travel throughout the kingdom in search of allies to help oust the invaders and take back Zhen's rightful throne.

But the golden serpent still haunts Ning's nightmares with visions of war and bloodshed. An evil far more ancient than the petty conflicts of men has awoken, and all the magic in the land may not be enough to stop it from consuming the world...

A charming and colorful conclusion to the Book of Tea duology. A Venom Dark and Sweet picks up where its predecessor left off, but chapters alternate between Ning and Kang, showing us what happens on either side of the kingdom. In this installment, we get to see more of the world, as Ning and the princess flee the capital. Overall, this was an excellent series, with a clever and beautiful tea-based magic system.

Dropped into the action from the beginning, which was exciting. But it didn't keep my interest as the story moved along. I found myself struggling, but I knew I would complete it because I am invested in Ning! Kang's third person point of view read like an out of body experience. It was almost like he was on the outside looking into his own life.

All loose ends were tied up from book one and I appreciate that the romance in the relationship between Ning and Kang never became overpowered the arc of the story.

This book has an absolutely stunning cover, just like the first novel.

Rated 3.5 stars

Best read back-to-back. There were some really lovely things about this book but everything I didn't like was geared to my personal dislike list, unfortunately. I struggled to remember who everyone was and get back to my first book-level of emotional investment. I've been struggling with multiple POVs since the pandemic, as well as short chapters, and this has both. The structure was looser because the second book doesn't have the contest to focus around, and I think that really affects the pacing. The action truly begins over halfway through and then there's a lot of speeding up and slowing down, so when the climactic battle happens, I blinked and it was over. Still, I believe that if I'd read them together, the duology would have been extremely satisfying. I enjoyed the world, the characters, the magic, and the tea.

I really enjoyed getting to walk alongside these characters again. They are full of strength and heart and such a wonderful representation of what friendship and family means. Just like in A Magic Steeped in Poison, A Venom Dark and Sweet has incredible mythology wrapped into the story. It was my favorite aspect of the book! Lin tells the stories of the gods in such an accessible way, I forgot I was reading a story.

It took a bit longer for me to get into this book than the first. Without a map, I found myself not able to root my mind in the story until about 60% of the way through. There were many characters and political and religious positions to keep track of, but those dwindled as the book progressed.

Overall, I felt like the story stayed true the characters from the first book, which I really appreciated!

This book starts out super slow. I was so disappointed because I had such high expectations coming into this book. I truly loved reading the first book. This book lacked the pace, or excitement that the first book had until you go about halfway through. Once you hit that halfway mark the book really started to take off and reminded me why I enjoyed the first book so much. I really sad though because due to the lag in the beginning of the book so much was crammed into a short period of time. You can tell the author realized that as well especially with how she somehow made all the magical icons that Ning needed to help defeat the Serpent be right where she needed them to be. No questions asked, no real adventure or quest to find them. I do appreciate that the story was completed over this two-book arch, and the ending was satisfactory. However, I just wish I had enjoyed this book as much as I did the first one.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.

Loved the ending to this duology. There was a lot of narration which was reminiscent of book two in a trilogy, but the author did a great job of tying it together with some action and progression of our characters. I loved the journey Ning took as she learned who she can trust and how far her friendships extended. I did want more between her, Ryui, and Zhen, but I appreciated the scenes with Ning and her sister Su. The imagery and the tea ceremonies are brilliant. I can readily visualize each and every scene. Judy Lin is definitely on the auto-buy list going forward and forever.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for giving me this ARC, and this does not influence my review. I also received and reviewed the prequel's ARC and enjoyed both books. This sequel focuses more on the art of teamaking whereas the first novel was more on the process of the MC going through the competition and the mysterious events. Additionally, this book was told in dual-POV (which I don't like).

In this sequel to A Magic Steeped In Poison, Ning is in exile with the princess, her sister Shu, and the princess’ bodyguard Ruyi. They contend with rising dark magic as they fight for Princess Zhen’s throne.

As with the previous book, the world building is top notch. The attention to detail made reading this novel an immersive experience, where you could imagine yourself in the room with the characters. This is a slower paced novel than its predecessor, but as the pieces came together it was never boring.

I highly recommend this novel to fans of YA fantasy! Thank you so much to Macmillan Children’s Publishing and Net Galley for providing me with an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the first book and couldn't wait for the second to come out. Lin has created a unique magic system and a rich world full of magic, gods, and humans. Her characters are lovable, the plot engaging, and the the mystery of who and what the evil is intriguing. It's the perfect blend of genres between mystery, love story, fantasy, and myth.

Kang's inner turmoil at wanting to please his father and finally getting his father's respect, but being unable to reconcile the cost to the people for their rise in power shows his journey from dutiful son to hero and protector of the realm. He does what he must to save his people and prevent a great evil from taking over, even though it means destroying his father, a man he loves and respects. It also shows his good soul and heart as he is not corrupted by the pull of power from the bone sword, instead choosing to side with his cousin, Zhen, and Ning.

Ning has her own internal struggle. She's saved her sister, but is unsure if she can continue to save and protect Shu if it means giving the evil and corrupt Chancellor what he wants to maintain his power. How can she save one life and condemn the country? But she knows she must find a way to unravel the mystery of the serpent and find a way to defeat him no matter the cost.

Zhen proves herself a capable and kind ruler. She flees the palace yet, but lives to fight another day gathering allies and investigating with them how her uncle has managed his rise to power. Her dedication is to saving her people, not to consolidating her own power. She doesn't attack her uncle's troops, or sacrifice the lives of her own troops in a needless battle. She chooses strategy and benevolence over strength and a power play.

We get a duel perspective here of Kang and Ning. However, while Ning's is in first person, Kang's was in third person present. Which was a bit odd. So instead of Kang stood at the gates it was Kang stands at the gates. I found my self correcting the tense to make it make sense in my mind. It's a stylistic issue that I don't understand the choice to use. I do wish we got Zhen and Ruyi's journey as well, but that would have made the book too long, and we really didn't need it since they didn't have as harrowing or important of journeys as secondary characters. But a chapter or two from their perspective would have been nice and helped to deepen the understanding of the characters.

Overall, the story and writing are superb. The descriptions of magic are almost lyrical and really bring the world to life. The attention to detail with the herbs and teas and their uses shows the Lin did her research while also adding in how they are used in this world's unique magic. I give this sequel Four and a half Lightsabers and can't wait to see what she writes next.

This was a really enjoyable read! While I wasn't super involved in the first book, I found this one exciting. I loved the higher stakes, and I loved exploring more of the world. I definitely preferred Kang's POV, so I loved the switch to dual perspectives. I do wish we had a bit more romance between them, as they would've been a cute couple. I feel like all of the side characters could've been explored a bit more, but I'm happy this stayed as a duology instead of forcing an expansion. I really liked this one, and I'll be keeping an eye on the author!

Thanks to TBR Beyond Tours for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

A great conclusion to this duology. I enjoyed the first book and the use of tea as a vessel for magic, but also all of the political intrigue as well and the second book continued with everything the first book did well. The Book of Tea duology was an intesting take on the fantasy genre, with A Venom Dark and Sweet wrapping up the story quite effectively.

Having jumped into this book without reading the first one, I can say that I recommend you don't do that. The context and plot is so much better when you have the information from A Magic Steeped in Poison. I had a hard time getting into Kang's side of the story, but I loved Ning's chapters. And the Magic system is amazingly inventive. The action and plot never felt pushed but it also never fell flat. There was always something happening to enhance the story, and the author's attention to detail was captivating. I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. I was not required to leave a positive review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.