A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal is a good fit for those seeking a thrilling and immersive fantasy adventure that combines elements of heists, vampire lore, and complex characters, with a focus on Arthie's journey as a strong and determined protagonist.

I had high hopes, and I tried very hard to like this. I simply couldn't. The problem started with the underdeveloped plot. The world could have been built a little bit better because outside taking the vampire trope, I couldn't see anything original nor interesting in a group of people who loosely don't like each other to finish the job. The world-building was done redundantly, there was a lot of description of nothing really. Nothing that didn't draw me to the story or protagonists. Now, about characters. They are the most bland bunch who are walking trauma with no personality whatsoever. And they are just simply unlikeable. Especially the main character. There is no purpose in anything she does or says. She just runs her mouth to show everyone how badass she is. The tea house doesn't exist, in comparison to Peaky Blinder, and even worse The Six of Crows is nonexistent. The essence of these two creations was completely lost, otherwise we would have something to talk about. One thing, ONE, I appreciate is the anti-colonial themes.

I can't say I didn't enjoy this, but I also don't feel like it really made an impact on me. This just read to me like a very average heist novel and didn't really stand out in its subgenre. The characters are fun, but I never felt emotionally invested in what happened to them. I did like the book more towards the ending, but it's not a new favourite for me, and I probably won't read the sequel.

This book was everything I had hoped it would be and more. Hafsah Faizal’s lush writing and vivid characters, paired with the backdrop of a world where vampires roam the streets and drink from patrons in tea shops at night, A Tempest of Tea was an exquisite read.

This cast of characters was ruthless, swoon-worthy, full of humor and wit. Arthie, our leading lady, is probably the most badass main character I’ve ever read. She will do whatever it takes to defend her own. Jin, her brother by choice not by blood, is so clever and does things to my heart. He’s good with his words and even better with his charm. The accolades go on and on.

This heist tale is full of action and will take you on a ride. The chapters are told from different POVs so the reader truly gets the full scope of the story.

A Tempest of Tea was a fantastic start to this fantasy duology! I cannot wait to get my hands on the second installment. It’s safe to say that I’m absolutely hooked.

DNF at 40%

I like the concept of the plot, but it felt like it is trying to be like Six of Crows and is just not nailing it. It's hard to explain, but I also had trouble following the storyline because of the author's writing style. I can't quite put my finger on what wasn't working for me. Everything felt like too much, but also not enough. The author attempts to weave elements of the Arthurian legend with commentary on colonialism and throws in a paranormal twist. This could have been really cool, and yet sadly the efforts to world build came at the cost of character and plot development. I nearly made it halfway through the book, and almost nothing had happened to move the story along. I just couldn't bring myself to continue.

Calling upon a band of misfits, Arthie formulates a plan to infiltrate the dark and glittering vampire society known as the Athereum. But not every member of her 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. Dark, action-packed, and swoonworthy, this is Hafsah Faizal better than ever.
A Tempest of Tea is an incredibly rich and well-written novel, full of intrigue, suspense and just good ideas. It definitely has its comparisons, but it's still so unique.
Arthie is an amazingly well-realised protagonist - everything a YA lead should be. And as for the romance, Faizal KNOWS how to write one. It was great in We Hunt the Flame and it's even greater here.

Quick summary, this Six of Crows but with vampires!

I loved this so much, so many twists I didn’t see coming, I cannot wait to see where this goes.

Arthie Casimir is the head of a local criminal gang in White Roaring and runs Spindledrift, a house catering to tea lovers in the day and blood suckers by night. After being blackmailed into joining forces with a captain of the masked monarch’s guard to pull off an impossible heist, she must gather allies with specific skill sets, or she’ll lose her criminal empire forever.

A Tempest of Tea had the beautiful writing and diverse cast you can expect from Hafsah Faizal. However, I just think I’m not a big fan of heist novels. For example, I thought Six of Crows was just an okay read, while the majority of people are feral for that book. I think if you’re looking for a more diversity or a heavier fantasy element than what was in Six of Crows, I think this would be a great read. I believe I’m out of the norm here regarding my opinion, so don’t let this review sway you. I will always appreciate this author’s writing style, as it’s beautiful, and her world building capabilities are fantastic. I just think I’m not a heist girly and found this story to be boring for my tastes.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing an early copy, I’m leaving this review voluntarily.

Short and Sweet Review
Arthie Casimir is a criminal mastermind and by day she runs a tea shop but by night it becomes an illegal blood house. When the tea house is threatened Arthie comes up with a plan, a heist if you will to save everything she’s worked for. To pull off this heist Arthie asks some of the city’s most skilled outcast to join her crew. During the duration of the heist Arthie unravels secret after secret and eventually realizes that she’s in the middle of a conspiracy that could change everything.
I’m really not sure where to start with this review. The premise for this book sounds amazing and there’s a lot happening in this book some good and some bad and mainly bad because the idea just missed the target. A stranger approaches Arthie with the idea to steal a ledger that will end up taking down the king and Arthie accepts and starts to get her crew together. The crew consists of Jin which is Arthies right hand, Flick a nobles daughter who is trying her hand at criminal mischief, and Matteo a vampire who just showed up one day. This world is full of vampires and that was interesting, what was also interesting was that our main character Arthie is one but even those closest to her don’t know it. Arthie is a strong female lead and she didn’t have it easy growing up so anything she can do to make sure the teahouse which she built from the bottom up will be safe she’ll do it. We do get the POVs of Arthie, Jin, and Flick, I wouldn’t say I preferred one over the other. I feel like we got to see more of the planning of the heist than the actual heist taking place and at that point the story slowed down for me. There were plot twists but even that couldn’t save the book from the downward trajectory. I feel like this book is trying to be like Six of Crows but in that aspect it just fails. I do think the ending was interesting and from what happened in those last 15-20 pages I may be interested in seeing where this story will go.
Overall, the premise for this book sounded amazing, the delivery didn’t quite reach the mark. This wasn’t a bad book but it wasn’t the greatest either, it lands somewhere in the middle for me.

The perfect read in so many ways! Arthie owns a tea shop that often comes under fire. It's tea for the rich and beautiful during the day, and then at night, it's a blood room for the vampires. However, this is not her biggest crime in this place. It's really because she is an immigrant in a land of colonizers, the people who tore her land and family from her. When Arthie meets a mysterious and handsome ally, she knows she must risk everything just for a chance to keep the life she has built.

This book is about a grand heist, found family, and fighting for what is right. I was right there rooting on Arthie and the others the whole time. I think this will definitely be a favorite book of 2024!

Out February 20, 2024!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

This book was wonderful with a fun group of likable main characters, a fascinating yet easy-to-understand historical urban fantasy world, and an exciting heist! Faizal’s writing is gripping, I felt very immersed in the world and the characters and their motivations. At times the language was a little too flowery, especially the dialogue, but other than that everything was well written.

I loved the take on the world that Faizal has built; there were brief mentions of her other series but you don’t have to have read them to understand what was happening in this book. There are also vampires in this one but it felt very different from other vampire novels, which I appreciated!

I found the heist to be a little bit slow, so this gets a 4.5 from me. But there’s a fun twist at the end and this is going to be a series that I'll be following!

This is like a better-written but less intense Gilded Wolves, so take that as you will!

🌈 Queer rep: no queer characters are mentioned, but there’s a brief moment where a man hits on one of the main male characters and it’s seen as normal. So maybe some room for queer characters going forward, but none in this book.

Hafsah Faizal is one of my favorite YA writers of this generation. I have a soft spot for We Hunt the Flame and We Free the Stars. Her detail to her prose is impecable, and the manner in which she weaves character development into the plot is fantastic. Therefore, A Tempest of Tea is one of my most anticipated novels of 2024, and I’ve been waiting almost two years for this book.

I think my expectations were too high because although this book started as a great idea, unfortunately the execution was lacking.

Faizal’s writing is still exceptional, but I will say that there is a lot of purple prose that it feels that it’s taking away from her writing characters and world building. The pacing was one of the aspects from this novel that suffered tremendously. It was rushed yet it slowed in the middle and then it was fast paced. Additionally, I wished this book was longer. I think it would’ve been helpful in order for Faizal to develop her characters’, their dynamics, and their individual objectives.

Which leads me to another topic — the characters. At the surface, these characters are good, interesting even. However, it feels like Faizal didn’t want to unveil much of the characters for the sake of book 2, but I think it was a confusing decision. These characters’ motives were more tell than show, which makes the novel suffer more.

As for the plot, it was slow and I wished there was more heist and more planning. The heist aspect happened fast and I wished they lingered on it.

Overall, it was a bit of disappointing read but I have hope that book 2 will be much better.

What a unique and captivating book! In the beginning, I was unsure how I would feel about this one. But as the story started to unfold I found myself unable to put this down. The plot was so unique. I've never read anything like this before. It was a very refreshing change from the usual fantasy books I read. Even the slower parts of the story were engaging and full of character development. The world building was rich and beautiful. I loved the characters in this book, good and bad. They were so well thought out. They were deep and felt so real. The friendships and relationships that were made in this were so intense and heartwarming. I highly recommend this for any fans of fantasy, vampires, gangs, and of course, tea!

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This story was a super fun read that will be easy to recommend to patrons. I dare say this is the best YA I have read in quite some time!

First and foremost, let’s take a moment to appreciate the gorgeous cover.

Okay, now onto the book. The gritty aesthetic, the London crime gang vibes, the imperfect melding of upper class and slum dwelling, the grim and cynical self-made girl and her sunshine bestie / bruiser… and that’s just the setup. Add in the balance of a “poor little rich girl” (personally, I love me a poor little rich girl character) and throw in two more people that may or may not be trustworthy - oh and did I mention there were vampires? - and you’ve got a recipe for a fascinating heist.

I loved our POV trio (Arthie, Jin, and Flick) but the other two, particularly in their roles as potential love interests for Arthie, didn’t quite work for me. I think we didn’t really get to know them well enough, ESPECIALLY Matteo, for their respective roles to really play out.

But where this story really shines is in its twists. There’s a few you definitely call early on or at least before they happen, but it keeps the momentum and the tension high, particularly in the last 1/3. Though I think there’s going to be a bit more backstory needed for some of these in the next book to help cement their impact.

Tried twice to read, just could not connect with the characters in a way that made me want to care about what happened to them.

"Every good love story starts with a bullet to the heart."

I've been desperate to get my hands on this novel since Hafsah Faizal announced that she was writing A Tempest of Tea. When I tell you that I screamed when I was approved for an ARC, I screamt. Heists, vampires, and Arthurian legends with a twist. . .yes, please. And oh-my, I was not disappointed.

Arthie runs a teahouse by day, and an illegal bloodhouse by night, think bootleggers and prohibition but with blood and vampires. Immediately I could taste the tea, and smell the rich blood laced with coconut. The atmosphere feels like an industrial fantasy laced with historical elements.

When Arthie's teahouse/bloodhouse is threatened, it's time for a heist and what happens next is nothing short of secrets upon secrets, and conspiracies that threaten everything.

My only gripe, and it's not really a gripe, it's just a trope or element in books that I don't enjoy personally is that there is a love triangle of sorts. I'm not a love triangle type of reader, but whatever, it's fine. I'm also rooting for one in particular so we'll see how that pans out.

Overall, I really enjoyed this fun and fantastical new outing from Hafsah Faizal and can not wait for the sequel. If you are looking for a well-written book with elements that feel familiar while being entirely rich and new, then you seriously need to pick this one up.

Thank you, NetGalley and the Publisher for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NerGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
I absolutely adored Hafsah Faizal’s first series, so I was so excited to hear about her next book, A Tempest of Tea. And once I read it, I was blown away. Faizal’s concepts always feel so unique, even if she’s playing with concepts that have already been seemingly explored to death in the YA fantasy genre, and that’s absolutely the case here.
As anticipated, the world building is the most interesting. I was curious about the role vampires would play, and I loved the idea of vampires covertly living in within a Victorian England-esque society. And the duality of the teahouse, the Spindthrift, at the center of the book, also serving these vampires, was super cool, with Arthie at the center of it.
While there are a few POV characters, Arthie is very much the protagonist. She’s one of a crew of orphans, and the most determined to bring down the colonizers who took over her home country. She’s tough and ruthless, but she also can be very loving to those close to her, and it was fun seeing what made her tick and let her hair down a little.
Jin, who is Arthie’s foster brother, is also a delight. He’s very charming, and uses it to his advantage. His partner-in-crime relationship with Arthie is absolutely a standout.
Flick, the third POV character, made a bit less of an impression by comparison. She’s not unsympathetic, but she’s definitely more of the typical “naive girl who grows more competent over the course of the book,” who got overshadowed by some of the other, stronger characters.
The romances were fine, but didn’t really blow me away, especially the attempt to give Arthie a love triangle. It’s especially underwhelming, given that Faizal wrote a much more interesting romantic plotline in her prior duology. However, the romance aspects are mere subplots, so they’re not grating.
With a lot going on, it’s fairly action-packed and evenly paced. As a result, the book kept me on the edge of my seat and constantly turning pages, wanting to know what would happen next. If you’re a fan of YA fantasy with a heist plotline, I recommend checking this out!

A Tempest of Tea is an enthralling, gritty fantasy for fans of Six of Crows and The Last Magician but with vampires. This book really hits the mark for vibes with excellent characters, fun banter, heist shenanigans, found family, vampires, magical artifacts, a love triangle, 1920s Victorian London aesthetics, all the romantic tension, and a female protagonist that’s loosely based on King Arthur.

While most of the book follows the crew planning an elaborate heist, the action picks up at the end with enough exciting twists and reveals to sate any voracious readers’ appetite. And that ending will definitely leave readers eager for book two.

This book will appeal to both teens and older YA readers and is sure to be a top book for 2024.

Even though I wasn’t a fan of her first duology the hype for this one got to me and I couldn’t help but request it! The blurb about a heist and the cover really got to me too! Unfortunately, it started slow and never got better for me.

My biggest gripe is that everything felt so bland. The characters were bland, the vampires were bland, and even the heist was bland. There is so much that the blurb offers when it comes to the tearoom and heist, but I never got anything out of those two things. The tearoom was really only discussed. I think they were there for one scene and that was about it. I wish that since some of the characters owned it that it would be more prominent to the story. Give me it as a setting!

The same could be said for the vampires. We meet a few and hear about their mysterious disappearance all the time, but there wasn’t much that was expounded upon. I think this also leads into the problem of world-building. There wasn’t much to go off of.

For the heist, there was more talking about it than doing. The blurb made me think this would be a book that was fast-paced but it was very slow and I lost interest quickly.

The positive is that I did like the narrator. She did a great job!

Overall, this was okay but wasn’t for me. I really wanted to give this author another chance as I tend to do but I think it’s time to call it quits.