I've seen this being marketed as Six of Crows meets Peaky Blinders and it's not really enough of either to warrant it. With that being said, this is a really enjoyable read.

I do wish it was more heist-focused than it was, but I thought the twists and turns the plot took were good and kept me hooked in reading. Arthie and Jin are great contrasts to each other and I REALLY appreciate that this may hint at potential romances - and there is some kissing - but overall this is a YA that doesn't focus on romance (we need more of those).

I'm really intrigued to see where Faizal takes the coconuts as a way for vampires to sustain themselves plot point and imagine that Jin's parents (or at least their research) will be a more prominent feature in the sequel.

Side note - the cover art is GORGEOUS.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, and Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this was a standalone so that cliffhanger did double damage.

Positives:
-i had fun reading this
-i love character driven stories, especially when it’s a weird mix of people with complicated feelings, secrets, and conflicting interests.
-I didn’t see all of the twists coming
-hot vampire artist
-so much betrayal

Negatives
-slow pace
-the tea house was the coolest aspect and we barely saw it
-I didn’t feel the chemistry between any of the “couples”
-not enough vampires doing vampire stuff


It being a dapper heist book, I expected to see a lot of people comparing it to Six of Crows. It’s more similar than I expected it to be but I love SOC so I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan for the ARC

A book about vampires that you’ll actually really love
What I loved
Vampires… duh
Characters you can’t get enough of
Twists and turns for days
Baddass fmc
Heists

Sadly this book just didn’t grab as much as I hoped it would. I put it down and picked it up multiple times but I just couldn’t connect with it. Super bummed.

A new Hafsah Faizal book! That’s essentially an automatic 5 stars but if only I could increase the star rating after reading the book. The amount of insane plot twists that literally kept me on the edge throughout the last 30% of the book, the lovable crew of characters all with their own personal stories and quirks. The heist wasn’t really the most focal part of the book, but it was important to the storyline in general. I do feel like more of the book happened in the lead up to the heist and in its aftermath. Arthie was the best FMC, totally fierce and ready to fight colonialism, which as a POC, I related to so much. Anyways, after that ending, I don’t think I have the patience to wait for the next book!

Oh my gosh, you have to read A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal! It's absolutely incredible, like diving into this rich, wild world full of rebellion and super intriguing characters. I couldn't put it down; it's like she just knows how to pull you right into the story. You’re going to love it!

5.00⭐️

Move over, afternoon tea—Hafsah Faisal’s "A Tempest of Tea" is the only brew you'll need! (I’ve wanted to use this line since forever lol)
This book is an enchanting blend of magic, intrigue, and unforgettable characters that will have you hooked from the first sip to the last. I read it months ago and still think about it every day. That cliffhanger ending (!!!)

From the moment I opened the cover, I was swept into a world brimming with enchantment and danger. Faisal’s world-building is nothing short of spectacular. The rich, atmospheric setting is so vividly described that I could practically smell the spices and hear the whispers of magic in the air.

What Stole My Heart:
- Compelling Characters: Each character is meticulously crafted, with depth and complexity that make them leap off the page. Our protagonist is fierce and determined, leading a cast of equally intriguing and multifaceted characters.
- Magical Plot: The plot is a masterful blend of suspense, action, and heart. The twists and turns kept me guessing, and I was completely absorbed in the story from start to finish.
- Exquisite Writing: Faisal’s prose is lyrical and captivating. Her ability to weave intricate details into the narrative creates a truly immersive reading experience.
- Themes of Friendship and Loyalty: The bonds between characters are beautifully explored, adding emotional depth and making their struggles and triumphs all the more impactful.

Why It's a Five-Star Gem:
- Impeccable Pacing: The story flows seamlessly, with each chapter leaving me eager for the next. There’s never a dull moment, and the tension is perfectly balanced with moments of heartfelt connection.
- Unique Magic System: The magic in this world is both innovative and fascinating. It’s integral to the plot and adds an extra layer of excitement to every scene.
- Rich Cultural Elements: Faisal masterfully incorporates cultural nuances that enrich the story, making the world feel authentic and lived-in.

A Tempest of Tea is a must-read for anyone who loves a good mix of magic, adventure, and richly developed characters. Hafsah Faisal has brewed a perfect storm of a book that will captivate and enchant readers from beginning to end. Five stars, hands down!

Grab your favorite tea, settle into a cozy spot, and let this book sweep you away into a world of wonder and excitement. You won’t regret it!

I loved the Sands of Arawiya duology so this was one of my most anticipated releases of the year, and now that I've read it I can firmly say, well...it's a book. (This review is going to sound like I hated it, but I didn't. It's just...meh).

This was a frustrating read. A Tempest of Tea constantly treats the reader like you're stupid, refusing to allow you to come to a single conclusion on your own and never trusting the reader to understand what's going on in the plot or emotionally with the characters. The sheer amount of overexplaining happening here had me doing a lot of "I KNOW you don't need to tell me that!" It's not even just a matter of "show, don't tell," it's that the text often *would* show, and then just in case you didn't pick up on the very obvious thing it was showing you it would explicitly tell you too. Please, trust that readers can pick up on very obvious signs of sarcasm, emotional reactions, and plot connections.

Tempest is a heist novel and unfortunately I just don't think the heist is very good. Solutions are entirely too convenient, these characters we're supposed to believe are so smart and cunning that they can plan a heist in the most protected whatever make outrageously stupid mistakes that seriously undermine confidence in their ability to do any of this, and as always I simply cannot take seriously that these children are somehow renowned criminals respected and feared by actual adults. I would love to see a YA Heist novel like this that actually factors in that the characters are teenagers instead of expecting the reader to ignore that and pretend like it's totally normal that they're in these positions and no one questions their age.

The characters hold a lot of potential but because the book is so dead set on explaining every single interaction, there's never a chance to actually settle into a scene with them. This is especially prevalent in the romantic plotlines, which the book focuses entirely too much on in contrast to the actual plot. It often feels like it's ticking off trope boxes for the sake of it and lacks any real tension or sweetness because everything is being spoonfed to the reader. One of my favorite tropes is present in this book, one that usually suckers me right in every time, and the fact that it did nothing for me really hits home that the reasons successful tropes are successful isn't simply for the fact that the thing happens, it's what the author then has a chance to do with the characters in that moment, and I just don't think this book did anything great with them.

The connection to the Sands of Arawiya books too feels completely unnecessary and weirdly convolutes the story. It was a fun little easter egg in the first mention but then it kept going and honestly I don't think it should have. It raises too many logistical questions the book doesn't have answers for. Also a running theme in Tempest. The amount of times that something would be revealed/explained and my first reaction was <i>wait a minute then how does...</i> as it would open up a ton of questions it wants you to just not pay attention to, I guess. Quite a lot in this book feels like it wasn't entirely thought out and the reader is just supposed to accept things without questioning anything.

As always, this three star review makes it sound like I completely hated it and I didn't. Really. I was just wildly apathetic and the most reactions it ever got out of me were being frustrated at the text.

Very unlikely that I will be continuing this series, but we'll see if I've forgotten my frustration by the time the second book comes out.

I loved this author's debut duology! When I saw that this book was about vampires and a heist I was instantly intrigued. The story started out super strong for me, but somewhere around the halfway mark I kind of found myself losing interest? I just wasn't feeling drawn back to read more. I did finish it but it took me almost two months... Not fully the book's fault, life happened too.

The heist wasn't as action packed and I anticipated. Many parts of the story felt slow and drawn out. I will say that I loved the characters and the found family aspect of this story. It's a popular trope right now and for good reason! I think we all need to be reminded that family isn't always about blood. I also have to say that the twists towards the end have me looking forward to reading the follow up and I hope I enjoy it a bit more than this one.

I really enjoyed A Tempest Of Tea. I love a good heist story and this one was great. I loved all the different characters and getting to read the different points of view.

The story follows Arthie Casimir, a criminal genius, that runs a Spindrift. Spindrift is a tea room by day and a bloodhouse for Vampires at night. When the Ram, the ruler of White Roaring, threatens Arthie and Spindrift, she makes an unlikely deal with a vampire to save her precious Spindrift. Arthie gathers a group of fellow outcasts to infiltrate the vampire society. However as the heist continues, more and more secrets come to light. Arthie has to keep her team together or everything will be lost.

I had forgotten it was set in the same world as the We Hunt the Flame duology, so that was a fun thing to rediscover. I loved the characters and setting of this one. I loved the tea house aspect of this one too. Hafsah Faizal is a stellar writer and this book is a definite winner for me. Perfect for fans of Gilded Wolves and Six of Crows.

Although I didn't enjoy this book, I'm rating it three stars because I truly believe the YA vampire fantasy genre is just not for me. I think a lot of others will love this one so please try it for yourself. I will say that I did enjoy the eclectic cast of characters but the plot was really slow and I was bored through most of it. I'm not sure what exactly my expectations were, but again I don't blame the book itself for them not being met. At least I know not to request these types of books for myself in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for providing me a digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

"That was the nature of man; born to nurture, determined to destroy."

When I saw that this book had found family, heists, and vampires, I said sign me up!

It was adventurous, fast paced, and entertaining. There was mystery, action, betrayals, and even scenes that had me blushing.

"Aren't you afraid?" She asked. "Fear stops life, not death."

My main and only critique for this book was that even though it was generally fast paced, it took a while for me to get truly into it. Until about half way through, I kept taking breaks and reading other books because it wasn't holding my full attention.

I am definitely going to continue this series when the next installment comes out.

This book was incredible - oh my god.
Peaky Blinders + heists + vampires + found family = apparently a plot I sank into teeth first.

“Do you see how the world looks when you wrong me?”

Arthie is terrifying and beautiful and I am OBSESSED with her. She is a closed book even though we get to see the world through the scope of her POV, and I found that intriguing. IMO- authors often fumble a bit here, where they’re managing to either keep secrets from us readers or the character is unfolding before our eyes--it’s rare that they achieve both. I think this is largely well done in Tempest because of Arthie’s history also been given through Jin who is a biased brotherly character. I would be doing a disservice if I don’t mention the incredible work done with the side characters in the book (not just Jin and Flick who also have POVs), but also Mateo and Laith oh my god everyone in this book is so c u n t y in the literal best way possible.

The setting was done so beautifully and as this was my first time reading from Faizal, I wasn’t prepared for how beautiful and poetic this book’s prose was while still managing heart pounding and jaw dropping action scenes. The book overall was fast paced and majorly enjoyable. I can’t talk much about foils, plot points and twists without spoilers. But I think what Hafsah Faizal achieved here is something I’m going to be pouring over a ton in the future to unravel the threads I missed.

୨⎯ 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒔 ⎯୧
rating: 2.5
narration: 4
plot: 3
characters: 2
writing: 2.5
romance: 1
spice: 0

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

°•*⁀➷ what to expect
“found family”
enemies to lovers ❤️‍🔥
vampires 🧛🏻‍♀️
sindrift “tea” house 🫖🩸
5 characters
3 POVs
coconuts 🥥
a heist
“”betrayal””??

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

this was advertised as being similar to Six of Crows, one of my favorite fantasy and found family reads, to say i’m disappointed is an understatement. i was so excited for this and had high expectations going in but the main quality i had interest in was barely even shown and the characters were so bland and barely explored. don’t even get me started on the romance, or lack of, despite the advertisement of forbidden love and betrayal etc etc.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

°•*⁀➷ the plot
it was confusing. there was this big heist (like in six of crows except this one lasted for a single chapter and they had an in so there wasn’t any danger …

the coconuts. i’m still confused on the significance and i even reread their brief explanation a few times and i don’t understand how???

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

°•*⁀➷ the characters
they lacked personality and connection.

𝜗𝜚 arthie: is the it girl who’s so special and young and unique and has pink hair and is so tiny but fierce and terrifying and has so many secrets. she’s supposed to be the kaz brekker, key word is “supposed” because she’s none of them. her face is always straight and annoyed or emotionless and always planning ahead and who to throw under the bus. i was so excited for her character, the potential she had to be a little menacing heroine and it just didn’t.

𝜗𝜚 jin: i’m seeing everyone gosh about him and he fits my usual fictional boyfriend type but i found him to be a bore, too! he is entirely normal and his story is that his parents were taken or killed, it’s unclear, but he still has trauma from that and that’s what guides him to do what he does. he also has a thing for flick so he follows her like a lost puppy basically.

𝜗𝜚 flick: she wasn’t terrible actually but i don’t have much to say about her. i’m not sure why she had her own POV chapters when laith and matteo didn’t, she wasn’t that interesting.

𝜗𝜚 laith: and his kitten. another character that had so much potential but was written sloppily and poorly. he was supposed to be full of anger and revenge and apparently was attracted to arthie the moment he met her, and is her enemy but working with her and it’s entirely confusing and didn’t have the effect the author was wanting. laith could’ve been such a great character if he was given more personality aside from having a damn cat sidekick and liking arthie.

𝜗𝜚 matteo: i think i liked him the most?? he’s the vampire of the group and it’s appalling he didn’t get his own POV chapters because he seemed interesting and actually had personality to me. he has a thing for arthie which i was excited for in the beginning but arthie didn’t care.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

°•*⁀➷ the writing
bad. i’m sorry, but the more i think on it the more i realize that this is written like a rough draft of the book because it feels incomplete and lacking so much depth. there was a lot of saying and not doing, instead of saying they did this and that, i want to see it play out. arthie and flick barely interacted together on page but it was said that they apparently had a good long chat or heart to heart about her mother but it was briefly mentioned that they did. same with everything else. arthie mentioned that she would think of laith often but it was mentioned while she was talking to him, not during any other time.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

°•*⁀➷ the romance
nonexistent. i thought this was going to have forbidden love and be swoony like kaz and inej in Six Of Crows but it was incredibly forced with no buildup except for Jin and Flick having some slight flirtations but that is it. Arthie and her two love interests happened so suddenly that i had whiplash from the shock that after meeting each other they were suddenly breathless with their affection and so confused because they were supposed to be enemies???? it was written so poorly. there was no chemistry between Arthie and either of her love interests.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

°•*⁀➷ in conclusion,
i’m disappointed and sad because i got the fairyloot edition and it’s so stunning. k was so looking forward to a 🩸tea house for vampires and found family with a bunch of misfit characters but was let down.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

ᯓ ᡣ𐭩 do i recommend? — ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 nope.

A Tempest of Tea is a fascinating book in theory, but it fails to deliver on this potential. The tea house for which the book is named is only relevant for a chapter or two. The first half of the book is almost boring. It takes so long for the story to get started with a lot of time spent planning, gathering characters, and flirting. The heist itself happened very quickly with a lot of new characters and information crammed in at the end.

The writing is weighed down by a serious case of "telling" rather than "showing." If the book had spent less time monologuing about what the character's personalities were supposed to be and more time actually showing them in action, maybe I would have cared about at least one of them. World-building infodumps or extensive moral reflections were shoehorned in the middle of random scenes making the story feel clunky and awkward.

Almost from page one, the book is drowning in romance subplots that are underdeveloped and out of character. I love a fantasy book with a romance subplot but these felt forced into the story to grab the reader's interest. It made no sense that Arthie, supposed criminal mastermind, would be so easily distracted by mediocre men.

I am disappointed that I did not enjoy this one because I think it had a lot of potential.

I thought I was past the time of vampires and that ilk, but all of a sudden 2024 is thorwing book after fantastic book at me with them. A creative, and artfully built world, a little bit of romance and found family? I'm in.

This was such a fun read and so different from Hafsah's first duology!

I loved the found family and the way that Arthie took control of her own life. The politics and the way the world was portraied kept me entertained and wanting to learn more. Also I am all about hiests! So the moment the team started planning the hiest I was all in!

The love kinda triangle was very well played and I cannot wait to see how this is going to play out in the next book!

Hafsah is definitely a must by author for me!

Excellent, Hafsah Faizal has done it again! A great adventure with excellent characters, it's fun and emotional and a wild ride. They really have such a talent for creating layered characters and interesting plot lines. I truly think anything more would ruin the delightful surprises. Hafsah Faizal is a must read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

""To be left adrift, a fraction of a whole. To be surrounded by others and no one, at once. We are the same, Arthie. We understand what it's like to grieve with fire and not tears. What it's like to do anything for those we love.""

⭐⭐💫

Thank you Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) for a copy of this book for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Content warnings (from Storygraph): blood/injury, murder/death (including parental), war/violence (including guns and fire), colonisation, racism, grief, classism

I had seen this book compared to Six of Crows meets vampires and was already intrigued. I then saw the gorgeous cover and the involvement with tea brewing and applied for an ARC instantly. Once approved, I started reading this book the moment it fit a readathon prompt! It is mostly a triple POV following Arthie and Jin, orphans and siblings by way of found family, and Flick, the daughter of some sort of important member of society. Arthie is desperate to form a team to heist their way into the Athereum (a vampire haven) in order to steal evidence against their kingdom's current ruler. Flick, a figurative bird in a gilded cage, is willing to break her lawful good ways if it means finding a way to right her family's reputation in the end. Can they, and the other characters they attempt to recruit actually pull off this daring heist?

The first half of this book was a delight. I couldn't put it down, although some of this was out of a nostalgia factor. The majority of the cast feels like exact or almost-exact matches of the Six of Crows cast. In retrospect, that does seem a little odd, but I was having a great time. What we learned of the kingdoms/nations was intriguing, but we didn't learn nearly enough. I felt the same way about the characters. Jin and Flick were my favorites, along with Matteo, even though we barely learned anything about him by the end.

Around the halfway point, once we reach the heist scenes, this book seemed to fall apart before my eyes. The scenes and reasoning for the characters doing or saying were difficult to follow, and it seemed to get worse in every chapter. Some of the romances progressed with so little development it felt like I'd gotten whiplash. I'm still not entirely sure what the over-arcing plot ended up being. The tea aspect of the book was also mostly irrelevant other than a few tea descriptions of the main characters in the beginning.

I felt like the first 50% was 4 stars and the second 50% 2 stars, so this is a sort of compromise rating. I don't think I would continue the series, but I did enjoy three of the characters enough that I might be willing to skim book 2 for them...

If you liked the book Six of Crows I feel like this is a very comparable story. Our quest begins in a tea shop and follows a group of misfits as they work together to bring down a corrupt power. The first half of the book is definitely more of a slow build but the ending was really fast paced and fun and grabbed my interest.

There are vampires, elements from Arthurian lore, British colonialism, and diverse characters looking to reclaim their power.

While this story had many appealing elements, I do think I loved the writing style and overall vibe of the book the most. There were several plot twists that took me by surprise that makes me want to know what will happen going forward in the series.

There is also a light romance element I enjoyed and am curious about for future books.

The narration was really well done. However because this was multi POV, I would have loved more narrators. There were times when the switch over created confusion and I had to make sure I was paying close attention so I didn’t get lost.