A Tempest of Tea is a fantasy set in the fictional country called 'Ettenia', which is inspired by England (in its coloniser era).

Our fmc, Arthie is a South Asian character who runs a tea house known as Spindrift where tea is served and secrets are exchanged, in the heart of a posh area called White Roaring along with her brother, Jin, who is an East Asian orphan. Both of these characters have suffered by the hands of the colonial state of Etenia.

Spindrift is on the edge of falling and so Arthie begings gathering her crew of misfits, Mateo, a vampire, Laith, a soldier of Arawiyan descent and Flick, the not so innocent lady turned forger to carry out a heist.

A Tempest of Tea was an absolute treat to read, with its vivid settings, steamy chemistry, and banter, which made me laugh out aloud and clever writing with even sharp-witted characters.

If you're into colonialism, vampires, diverse characters, and are a Six of Crows fan, then this one's for you.

- A TEMPEST OF TEA is the best kind of heist story. Set in a fantasy world, a ragtag crew comes together, each with their own motives (and desires).
- I love the characters Faizal has created. Everyone has an agenda, but they come to care for each other, sometimes to their own detriment.
- And the action! I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. I cannot wait for the second book.

It took me a while to get into this, but once I did, I enjoyed it! I thought Faizal did a great job with the worldbuilding, and I loved the tea shop. The heist was a little underwhelming but overall this was a fun fantasy read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel. 4.5/5 stars.

Oh my GOODNESS. Okay, so, TBH I really wasn't a fan of Faizal's We Hunt The Flame duology...BUT THIS?? It was so good. The band of misfits making a found family. The twists and secrets and someone always one upping another. The world building. The characters? The slight tension and good lord some of the STEAM (nothing explicit, but....there were some lines where I was like SIR. MAAM).

It's fast paced and keeps you turning the page. I was utterly hooked. Also, the cliff hanger????

Oh, and vampires.

It's a YA Fiction that matches Six of Crows in expectations and delivers. I loved the writing and the pacing. Few of the plot twists in the second half were nicely done and the characters have so much to offer. I need a few chapters from Laith and Mateo too. Arthi is a well executed YA character who might remind you of Kaz at times but it's Jin who wears his personality a lot more. The cliffhanger is massive and waiting for the next book is going to be really difficult.
One thing that didn't work for me was the romance, YA fantasy authors are overdoing the love triangle plotline now and I need it to stop.

I received an ARC of A Tempest of Tea from Netgalley and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Having read and loved Hafsah Faizal's Sands of Arawiya series, I was expecting great things from A Tempest of Tea and it did not disappoint. This book was everything I was promised, and considering how rarely that's happened lately, I'm so glad that this book came through.

Hafsah Faizal creates characters that leap off the page with their personalities, quirks, and secrets. They are vibrant and alive. Mostly. (I had to throw in some vampire humor. Sue me.) I will be the first to admit that vampires are usually not my favorite supernatural creatures to read about. The blood-drinking makes me uncomfortable, and often, it is so glorified that it feels like the author is forcing you to view it as a good thing despite the fact that most of their vampire characters have committed atrocities that they don't own up to. I didn't feel that was the case here. I think the author did an excellent job of having the characters feel their remorse and acknowledge that what happened was wrong, which I really appreciated.

Honestly, all of the characters were great. The plot was great. I loved the heist and getting to see quite a lot of the planning phase, which is usually very glossed over. Of course, I want to get to the action, but when the action happens, and I have no idea how we got there, for me, the heist loses a lot of its credibility. That was not the case in A Tempest of Tea. We got to see the planning. We got to see the pieces fall into place. And I couldn't get enough. I adored how everything came together in the end.

I will say, though, that I spent a decent amount of time confused, and that's why I couldn't give it the whole five stars. There was something about how some parts were written that interrupted the flow of the story to the point where I didn't understand what was going on or how we got to where we were. I had to reread multiple parts, seeking clarification I never found. And the romances felt off as well. Not enough to take away from my enjoyment of the story, but they were stilted, and I didn't really understand how they came to be.

Despite those two things, I really did enjoy A Tempest of Tea, and after that ending, I'm incredibly excited for the next book.

I was sooooo excited for this book. It’s definitely giving Six of Crows. That’s accurate. Where it falls short…the heist and vampires.

I’m a heist girlie. Give me a heist plot and I’m ecstatic. Is there heist planning? Yes, almost the first 60% of the book is the misfit team planning. The actual heist was maybe 10% total and extremely underwhelming. When it’s all said and done, the so called “heist” was basically unnecessary. I can’t say why without spoiling it. The lackluster heist was not at all worth the 60% build up. Not to mention, the first 10% of the book was interesting, but when it gets into the heist planning, it wasn’t really exciting.

Vampires are apart of the larger story arc, however, they’re not really actively present in a meaningful way. It’s more that we know about their existence and the plan to steal from their elite community, but there just wasn’t a major vampire presence/threat. I’m assuming because it’s a duology, maybe they’ll be more prominent in the sequel, but I expected more in book 1.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced eARC.

A Tempest of Tea was a fun fantasy heist novel that sometimes struggles with its pacing. But overall, it was a delightful novel to read.

3.5, rounded up to 4

Arthie Casimir runs the Spindrift, a teahouse by day, and bloodhouse by night, servicing the city of White Roaring's human and vampire population. With her crew, she's powerful and filled with secrets—until she learns that the city's ruler is gunning to shut her operation down. Worse, vampires are going missing. But if Arthie wants to save her home, she's going to need a crew.

There were a lot of things that worked for me, and so many that just didn't land. And I couldn't quite put my finger on why they didn't land.

The world-building is fascinating. Vampires and humans and a city that is the capital of an empire, with heavy analogies to England and its empire and the East India Company. The teas created are described so beautifully, and when the book began I was certain that this was going to be a five-star read because of how beautiful the prose was and how invested I was.

Except my fascination bled out somewhere around the 50% mark, as the plotline devolved and I realized that the relationships, while chock-filled with backstories, just weren't hitting. The relationships felt forced (especially that love triangle), and the machinations were...I dunno. Also, there were a few plotlines that didn't really jive together—the Calibore subplot, for example. And as for the vampires, I wanted MORE.

I think this is another book that should have been aged up to adult instead of YA.

But also, rounding up to four stars because it was a quick and fun and had so much potential.

A Tempest of Tea, by Hafsah Faizal, is the first installment in the author's Blood and Tea duology. If you liked the thrill ride of Six of Crows, you will want to read this book. On the streets of White Roaring, Arthie Casimir is a criminal mastermind and collector of secrets. She runs Spindrift, a tea room that doubles as a bloodhouse for vampires with her adopted brother Jin, who like Arthie, is an orphan. It's not exactly legal, but Arthie holds enough of people's secrets that the authorities haven't been able to get to her yet.

Even when Spindrift, (once a museum known as the Curio boasting artifacts stolen from the colonies), is raided by the Horned Guard, they are always just a minute or two late from catching Arthie breaking the law. But when her establishment is threatened by the monarch called Ram, Arthie is forced to strike an unlikely deal with an alluring adversary to save it—and she can’t do the job alone. Arthie, who is Ceylani, watched her people as they were slaughtered by Ettenia colonists. She was the only survivor. Arthie likes to stir up chaos to get her revenge on the people who wronged her.

Before she ran Spindrift, she was an orphan on the streets picking the pockets of those who could afford it. It is there that she discovered Jin after his home was burned to the ground leaving them both as orphans. She is also the girl who planned a brilliant scheme where she pulled a pistol called Calibore from the stone. Calibore is no ordinary gun. The gun can change into any weapon of her choosing and can kill anything—even a vampire. Arthie's mission is to infiltrate the vampire underground compound called Athereum, run by Penn Arundel, steal the ledger, and guarantee that Spindrift doesn't face any more threats.

Arthie's crew includes Jin, Arthie's most trusted partner in crime, Matteo Andoni, a vampire and shameless flirt who has a delightfully obvious crush on Arthie, Felicity "Flick" Linden, the adoptive child of a female government official who only cares about her public image and very talented at forgery, which she has put to use numerous times. Then there is Laith. Laith is a high guard captain, the complete opposite of Arthie's profession, and the unlikeliest member of their group. He is also mysterious which makes Arthie uneasy as much as it attracts her.

What becomes clear during the heist, is that not everyone is on her side. As the heist progresses, Arthie finds herself amid a conspiracy that will threaten the world as she knows it. Not only will Arthie find out about trusting people, but her own secret will be revealed, and the consequences will linger until the finale is released. It is especially dangerous that vampires have been taken and disappeared. There are so many threads that you have to weave and yet are left with a stunning cliffhanger ending.

*Thoughts* Even though there are clear similarities between Arthie, Kez Bekker (Six of Crows) and Severin (The Gilded Wolves), she's intelligent and sneaky, but also loyal and fiercely protective. I did not read the author's two previous novels, but I understand that if you pay attention to who Laith is and where he allegedly comes from (Arawiya) you might find a connection. Arawiya is a country that is said to have been under a curse until recently. A country that has not fallen to the colonists of Ettenia. One could compare Ettenia to the United Kingdom and The East India Company in this book called East Jeevant Company.

"No," he whispered back. "Destroy me."

I am absolutely living for this quote, fam.

I had so much fun with this book! Sure, it's very YA, the FMC has purple--excuse me, mauve--hair (lmfao), every major reveal was pretty obvious, and the schoolkid crushes were ingratiating to the point where my retinas would've detached if I rolled my eyes for the umpteenth time.

But!

Despite all of that, I still loved the characters and the setting! Also, y'all, I love vampires so I'm biased to all hell.

Arthie, Jin, Laith, and Flick each had their own unique personalities and I'd love to be friends with the gang. For a YA novel, everyone actually reads age-appropriate, which, oddly, isn't usually something you find often. (Teens usually read way too young in the YA fantasies I've been reading lately).

I loved how this is unapologetically BIPOC, with a lead FMC from a colonized nation, Ceylan, living in the colonizer's land, Ettenia, and finding success on her own terms by creating and running a teahouse/bloodhouse. I would absolutely love to read a prequel about Arthie's past. I want her as my ride or die, no lie.

I loved the setting! While I would've loved for a unique world that didn't have to rely on terms in our own world (sari, qipao, etc.), it's totally fine. This isn't high or epic fantasy.

I know this book is only about Ettenia, but the inclusion of Arawiya (which is from the author's other series, which I DNF), and learning about Arthie's childhood in Ceylan, makes me wish for more geopolitics on a grander scale.

But despite that, White Roaring reads like a fantasy Victorian London. So, it feels very familiar despite being set in a fantasy world. I'm also a huge fan of fantasy Victorian England settings, so I might be a little biased here.

Actually, this entire world is a thinly veiled colonial era England, complete with its very own British East India Company. So, if you know your world history, it's very easy to draw comparisons.

There are a couple of quotes/excerpts that I really liked that touched on colonialism:

"She'd [Arthie] spun a business out of tea leaves because the Ettenians had found her tiny island of Ceylan and cultivated it to their liking. What lives the Ettenian soldiers in red uniforms hadn't stolen were claimed either by disease or deforestation that spawned landslides and floods in a country unprepared for such wrath, simply because they wanted to make room for crops like rubber and tea."

"They collected trophies for civilizing countries that had never asked for a redefinition of the word."

Anyway, I'm so glad I snagged a signed Waterstones SE before they sold out!

I'm excited to read the next installment!

Thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) and NetGalley for this arc.

The story just does not pick up. There's an interesting cast of characters, but so much internal dialogue. Normally this is fine but the characters' voices are not distinct and the chapters all blur together. Also, their internal voices do not match their actions or personalities, and I was confused by the almost instant attraction the couples feel for each other.

Really wanted to love this one but I have no idea where the story is going.

I’m not always impressed by stories with vampires, but the vampire lore in A Tempest of Tea proved thought-out and integrated into the rest of the world. Seeing as the world also includes criticisms of colonization, betrayal, found family, Arthurian legend, and more, weaving the supernatural and the historical together is no small feat.

The characters fascinated me the most. Arthie Casimir is the clever, loyal, intensely intimidating protagonist I’ve been missing since Six of Crows. Like Kaz Brekker, she assembles a ragtag crew of characters from all walks of life—and from often competing loyalties. I admired the banter between her and her brother-in-crime Jin Casimir, whose charisma nicely complements her abrasiveness. His developing romantic relationship with Felicity “Flick,” a highborn young woman who talentedly dabbles in forgery, was also wholesome, and I looked forward to their flirtatious interactions. I didn’t expect to be as invested as I was in Arthie’s love triangle with Laith, a high guard and Arthie’s opposite, and Matteo, an artsy, even pretentious vampire. They both teased out new sides of Arthie’s personality, and I liked that it’s still unclear which of them will end up together.

To accommodate this unique worldbuilding and wide cast of characters, the plot occasionally slowed. The writing dwelled on the gang discussing and planning for the heist more than them implementing it, so by the time it happened, I felt a bit disinterested. The aftermath, though, threw me for one satisfying loop after another. I enjoyed the characters’ snark and the Victorian-meets-vampires atmosphere, but the ending is what’s driving my anticipation for the sequel.

I have been waiting to read this book since it was announced in 2021 and it truly does not disappoint. I loved Arthie and her crew, especially Jin, and the way vampires were included in this world was so fresh and unique. This was everything I wanted it to be and more, the reveals at the end completely shocked me, even if I had a little inkling of what was going to happen I was never able to guess the full scope of the events. One of the best heist books I have ever read!

How refreshing to be so absolutely entranced by a setting and pulled back into a world of vampires and tea. What a combination topped off with the legendary Arthie as a main character. Tearoom and spilling the tea. Heist-like activities. Plots and counterplots. Fighting back, taking charge. As I'm a season into Peaky Blinders, I can see the connections but I also love the old-world feel while bringing modern flairs too.

The alternating POVs of Arthie and Jin worked but I adored Arthie enough it could have been her full-time and I wouldn't have been mad. What creativity and genius with an underbelly world that also reminds me a bit of [book:These Violent Delights|50892212].

I will definitely read the second!

A full review has been posted on Eulalie Magazine.

3.5 stars
The world is the highlight of the novel. It's such a rich world, and I wanted to spend even more time in it and learn more about it. The romance/love triangle did not work for me, and I'm not sure it needed to be a multiple-POV novel, but, overall, I enjoyed A Tempest of Tea.

4 -⭐⭐⭐⭐

"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."

A Tempest of Tea is the first novel in the YA Historical Fantasy series, Blood and Tea. The premise follows Arthie, a criminal mastermind who runs a tea shop by day and a blood den at night. As one who deals in secrets she surrounds herself with a group an eclectic people help conduct a heist that will save her establishment. Yet as she further navigates the vampiric society to prepare she is confronted with conspiracies and revelations that will force her either accept the change in the world she knows or succumb to the imperial presence that seeks to destroy her.

This is an incredibly fun and easy book to dive into! It has a Six of Crows vibe alongside Peaky Blinders and I felt both comparisons are given justice here.

Arthie is a woman determined to protect the only home she knows but she is also a dealer of secrets. I found her story evolving truly grabbed my attention and the secrets she keeps are tantalizing. She is fierce and a power in her own right...but she's still learning.

Jin is Arthie's adopted brother, a boy she saved when a fire destroyed his life. He is a charmer but steadfast and loyal. He is a tinker of mechanics and watching his romance bloom with Flick was adorable.

Flick is the disgraced daughter of a noble...and also happens to be an excellent forger. She is brought in to help with the heist with a hope she can uncover something to bring her back into the good graces of her family. I found her innocence of the underbelly to be quite sweet despite her rather illustrious career. Also...her and Jin are the sweetest of slow burns.

Matteo is a vampire who connections. Not fully a friend of Arthie...so she blackmails him. In a world where vampires are feared, Matteo is reluctant to reveal himself but he sarcasm and banter made him a fun addition to the bunch.

Last, but not least, is Laith is a royal guard with a vendetta and is willing to help Arthie with her problem...if she steals something from his superiors for him. He also has an adorable cat companion that stole the show. I found the layers of Laith matched Arthie in many ways so their antagonistic romance worked so well and I have hopes for the future.

This book is young adult so do not expect spice. There is kissing. The book follows three POVS and there are two romances but there are side plots. I found Flick and Jin's to be the sweetness to the spice of Laith and Arthie's.

"I loathed you...I hated you for the span of a heartache before I realized how much I craved you. And I know you yearn for me the same."

In terms of story and world, I found the story fascinating and draws you in. The lore around vampires and imperials powers also piqued my interest in many ways. There is still so much to unravel as we navigated this gritty world of the industrial age. I enjoyed the banter and interactions of all the characters. I will say this book is a slow pace...so the heist takes a while to even happen and not must feels like its happened...then you get hit with LOTS of twists and turns. It has me incredibly excited for book two.

Overall, if you want a heists, a light romance, and vampire society in a fantasy world, and grit, this story will be your cup of tea!

Thank you Farrar, Straus, and Giroux for this ARC!

It's always the hardest for me to write reviews for books that I found to be just alright. This is the sort of book where it was a good time while I read it, but ultimately not going to be a tale that I find very memorable after a little time has passed.

Conceptually, A Tempest of Tea sounds really fun. There's a place that's a tearoom by day, bloodhouse by night that's run by a crew of orphans, who find themselves involved in a heist in order to save the place they call home. And there's certainly fun to be had when it comes to the witty remarks exchanged, the logistics of the heist (and its preparations) and the moments of revelation (especially in the latter portion of the book).

Unfortunately, it's in the execution where this one fell a little flat. The plot orchestration was perfectly adequate, if also convenient and haphazard at turns. The characters were certainly portrayed to be unique with their different physical attributes and backgrounds, but I didn't feel like they really popped off the page or like I had any personal investment in any of them (and subsequently, that meant my interest in the relationships was very light at best).

Honestly, this book is fine, and though it did fall short of my expectations, I may eventually give the second book a shot just to see how things continue from where it end.

I’m actually quite blown away with Faizal’s writing style because it’s been so long since I’ve read “show not tell” in a book. Each character is incredibly well-rounded with clear representations of their intentions and motivations, and I’m kind of obsessed with Arthie’s character?? I didn’t expect her to hold such a resemblance to Kaz Brekkar but with a little immigrant narrative thrown in. I am totally in love with her character!

The anti-colonial presence is very strong within this story and I appreciate how Faizal has created an accurate fictitious representation of the East India Trading Company and the havoc they wreaked on the Global South. I do feel that the presence of the vampires/vampirism in the story is a bit underdeveloped and think we could have used some more lore about the presence of vampires in this world to form a more complete picture. (But to my understanding, this was set in the same world as We Hunt the Flame so I could just be missing some context!) The characters are so well-written that this becomes easy to overlook. The world-building in the industrial revolution setting is done fantastically and I appreciated the amount of detail!

Highly recommend to fans of Six of Crows, folks who are looking for more POC representation in fantasy, and those of us who are healing our inner child with stories that accurately represent our histories. 🫶🏾

🫖 POC Vampires
🫖 Gang rivalries
🫖 Heists
🫖 Found family
🫖 YEARNING

3.5 stars!

There were definitely some strengths to this book, but there were also some things that fell just a bit short. To start, I wanted more of the world. I wanted to know more about what vampires were like and honestly, I wanted more of the tearoom/bloodhouse. Personally, this book was missing some excitement, especially for the heist. There didn't seem to be much at stake and I think that's part of the reason why the middle of the book was almost a little too slow. There also wasn't much struggle so it didn't have me on the edge of my seat or anything. Another thing I struggled with was the character development. I still don't really know the characters all that well and I wish we saw more of the connections/relationships developing. The characters could be more complex and I would have loved to see more of a found family trope. In terms of characters, they can definitely be stronger and unique.

Though the middle of the book wasn't all that exciting to me, the ending of the book was thrilling. I would say the last 10 chapters was when I started to get nervous and I really got into the story. There were some things that were pretty predictable in the book (I knew what direction the author was going with for Arthie right from the start), but the ending did have some interesting twists. As we got to learn about more secrets, I really wish we got more about the characters' backgrounds (Arthie and Jin's connection, for example) because it would have created a more emotional layer and it would have hit harder. The pacing was a bit odd at times too. I do plan on reading the sequel but I'm very much hoping that we get more of the characters (individually and together) and I'm interested to see what happens. Oh and also, I was expecting a lot more with tea! I'm kind of disappointed we don't get much of it.