Thank you for giving me this arc.

What can I say other than HAFSAH FAIZAL does not fail. Spectacular writing. Captivating storytelling. I am beyond excited to get the hard copy.

Found family ✅
Vampires ✅
Amazing plot✅

I, highly enjoyed this romance fantasy story. I will say it more fantasy/magical realism than romance heavy. The pace was good and the world building was easy to follow. I, look forward to the next book, there are still unanswered questions that I need to know.

I think I need to stop trying out books that are marketed for fans of my favorite books, I have been striking out! Now, I have no problem reading the same plot over and over in different books as long as the characters are interesting and it is written well. A Tempest of Tea does not fall in this category for me unfortunately...

The book follows Arthie and Jin, proprietors of a tea business by day, vampire sanctuary by night. Arthie is immediately portrayed as the Kaz Brekker of this story but she doesn't have that effortless badassness that drips from Kaz.

Faizal does a lot of spelling out everyone's feelings in detail which takes away the ambiguity for the reader to discover for themself what's going on. Beating certain details of characters' personalities over the reader's head over and over does not necessarily endear a character to the reader, rather it makes them roll their eyes at the obvious tactic.

The other duology Faizal wrote is still popular at our library so we'll definitely be ordering it, it just wasn't for me!

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Children's Publishing Group for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A Tempest of Tea is a fantasy book set in a Victorian England style setting. It has vampires, magic, found family, a little romance, intrigue, tea, and of course, a heist. Our female main character is Arthie, an orphan who is a sort of a female Kaz Brekker. She is somewhat emotionally unavailable, fierce, cunning and loyal. Jin is her best friend, who is like a brother to her, and also maybe an orphan. Their relationship is amazing. Together they run a tearoom by day, and a bloodhouse by night. When her tea house is threatened, Arthie will do anything to protect it even if it means infiltrating the powerful vampire society know as the Athereum.

This book was such a fun read. There was always something happening. I loved the world building and the characters were so well written. In the end, I was left with questions, and I cannot wait for the second book. I would highly recommend this to any of my students.

A Tempest of Tea is the long awaited new novel by the brilliant Hafsah Faizal. In it, there are vampires and troublemakers, blood and tea, but amongst them all sits the monster herself, Arthie Casimir.

I devoured this book and enjoyed each bite. I mean page! Written in beautiful prose with glittering characters, Tempest lived up to my expectations and surpassed what I hoped for.

Arthie is a classic morally grey character that I loved for her vengeance and rage. Jin is a good time, but complex enough to have a personality that’s interesting and not just there for comedic relief. Flick is small, but oh so mighty in her journey to discover herself.

I enjoyed getting their three pov’s.

Laith and Matteo? Iconic characters that readers will fall for immediately.

The first half of the book slightly drag, but the second half slayed.

Loved everything about this book.

3.75 stars rounded up to 4!

All in all, I enjoyed this book, but the first 60% of this book suffered from some major issues.

The first half of this book has a ton of similarities to Six of Crows- I was able to match each of the Tempest characters to their SoC counterparts. The author even wrote a line like “Five is the perfect number for a crew,” which felt like her trying to differentiate from SoC.

Additionally, the first 60% of this book suffered from pacing issues. It took me almost a week to read that portion, but I read the last 40% in a day.

I really enjoyed the last 40%, and this could’ve been a 5 star read if the front end had been as good as the back half. However, I will still pick up the sequel!

Thank you for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review!

I'm ashamed to admit this is actually my first Hafsah Faizal book (I know, I know, We Hunt the Flame is staring at me from my bookshelf right now) so I went in with zero expectations and this book blew me away.

A high-stakes heist, found family, multiple POVs, angsty goodness, sexy vampires, calling out the awful horrors of colonialism, morally gray baddies, my new favorite weapon, and a delicious desire for revenge... pick this book up. Seriously, just do it.

The characters. THE CHARACTERS. Sometimes I find it hard to connect with multiple POVs but this book had the opposite problem. Zero exaggeration, I'm in love with every character in this book, especially Jin. Jin is the best boy and I would die for him. And Arthie... the Kaz Brekker vibes were immaculate. This girl took no shit and made zero apologies for her rage, as she should. Felicity, Matteo, and Laith were also great, and dare I say, delightfully horny. This is such a horny book and I was on board with all of it. Horny and rage-filled, which is just the best combo.

And can I just say, there's nothing more satisfying than when a book promises a heist and actually delivers. Give me the twists and turns, the plan going smoothly until everything goes to hell, backstabbing and angst, characters who have to think on their feet. I'll gobble it up every time.

Obsessed. Obsessed with this book, this world, these characters, and this author.

Endless thanks to NetGalley for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Omg where to begin… first I lived the We Hunt the Flame series so of course I needed to read this.

A tempest of Tea I has pretty much everything I was looking for: suspense, betrayal, heists and vampires!!

“ Why save the world when you can have tea? ”


It was a little slow at some parts but then the action started and it was all I could think about…

I’m actually mad I have to wait for the second book😂😂😂I definitely recommend this book and this author is an immediate buy for me now💗💗💗

I think that the book is fast paced and there is always something to focus on, for me there were too many main characters or they seemed to bleed together for me. Overall a very good book and looking forward to the sequel.

I'm obsessed with this book, and it definitely made me want to go read the author's first duology ASAP. This book has everything--twists and turns, tension, banter, and a found family you can't help but root for. I loved each character from the beginning and that love only grew as I learned more about them and their motivations. The twist at the ending has me at the edge of my seat for the sequel!

4.5⭐️

Once I got invested into the story, this book had my captured. It took a bit to get into this story as the first 30% is bit slower paced but it was really worth it.

I really enjoyed the overall character development and atmosphere of this story. The vampire part of this story is well done. The heist aspect is fantastic. This book did a great job setting up the found family aspect and how each character fit in.

There are times this book gets a little confusing with the number of characters and point of views. This caused the audiobook version of this to grasp the first part of the story and who was who. I ended up restarting the book after 25% thru. I read the first part physically before switching back to the audio. In order to really understand who each character is and how they fit in this story.

I am really looking forward to see how this story progresses in the next books. I really enjoyed the writing and thought it was beautiful. I'm interested to check out other books from this author.

I would recommend this book to readers who love heist and found family style books. The fantasy is light and I think it's accessible to most readers.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Farrar, Straus and Giroux for this advanced reader copy. My review is voluntarily my own.

I didn't realize going into this was set in the same world as we hunt the flame! I've never read those books so I was just a sprinkle confused but I loved it. Despite there being a lot of characters, it was relatively easy to follow and I loved it!

If you love Six of Crows, especially Kaz Brekker, you'll love this.

what a great book and i loved reading this author. . loved the romance and how the couple came to be. Loved that they worked through their issues and found love. Loved this mystery

Richly crafted and elegantly told, a fantasy romance with teeth and claws! This duology is destined to become a new classic!

Mix a heist, a love triangle, a scathing rebuke of colonialism, and sprinkle in some slow burn lip licking, vampire lore, and kittens, and you might come close to what Hafsah has created here. Absolutely enchanting!

I cannot wait to see what happens in book 2! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy. These opinions are my own.

This book blew me away! I really enjoyed Faizal's Sands of Arawiya, so when I saw that she had a new series that was in the same universe I immediately added it to my tbr. In my opinion, this book surpassed her other duology.

A Tempest of Tea is everything that you want in a first book of a new series. It had complex and likable characters, and intriguing storyline, fast paced timing, and mystery. From the first page I was hooked.

Each character, Arthie, Jin, Flick, Matteo, and Laith, was so fun to read. Arthie is the mastermind with more secrets than a diary, Jin is our comic relief who also happens to be somewhat of a rake, Flick is the naive girl who has never felt she fit in until now, Matteo is the flirtatious vampire who has some secrets as well, and Laith is our connection to the Sands of Arawiya series who we have not seen the last of yet. I enjoyed reading about each of the characters, and already saw some development just from the first book. They each have their own reasons for the heist, and I am interested to see how their back stories all unfold further as the series progresses.

Now onto the romance. I was not expecting much in the romance department, and was actually very surprised, in a good way, about how much actually took place. We have one budding romance between Flick and Jin which I am obsessed with. Jin has all the experience and Flick has none. It makes for such a fun dynamic. Plus, Flick makes Jin feel like he is a school boy with a crush for the first time. The next relationship confounds me a bit because it could end up being a bit of a love triangle, unless I am reading all of the signs wrong. It could either be Arthie and Laith or Arthie and Matteo. Laith and Arthie have the hottest connecting, and he did betray her which leads to great tension and having to overcome obstacles in order for a future to persist. Matteo is just a flirt so it makes for some fun banter between him and Arthie. Either way, I am excited to read about the couples.

At its core this was a heist book with vampires. I love both and therefore I loved this book. It was spicy and fresh and all around a great read. I am so excited for the continuation of it and highly recommend it to lovers of vampires and the Six of Crows duology.

Beware: The cliffhanger will leave you hanging and begging for more!

I received an e-arc of this title from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A Tempest of Tea is a fantasy story of the original colonizing nation that is England. In this book, it’s called Ettenia and is ruled by a usurping monarch called The Ram. Just like in actual history, there is plundering, there is pillaging. There is outright murder to gain land and resources. There is also enslavement via the East Jeevant Company, EJC for short. East India Trading Company, you can not hide. The part that makes this book different from actual historical England is the existence of vampires.

Arthie Casimir is the lovely but feisty girl on the cover of the book and Jin, her adoptive brother. Arthie and Jin found each other as children. Both orphaned from traumatic events. Although Jin is two years older than Jin, Arthie is the more experienced street kid. She takes Jin under her wing and gives them both the last name Casimir. Insert all the heart and love emojis here. They grow up very protective of each other. They also grow up on the streets, so by the time of the present story, they own a teahouse called Spindrift by way of blackmail. They did what they had to do to survive.

Now, this teahouse is not just any other teahouse. It’s a teahouse during the day, and a bloodhouse at night. Vampires come and pay humans for the service of dining on their blood. Arthie and Jin are at the top of their game until The Ram makes plans to buy the Spindrift from their proprietor in two weeks time. Whatever are they to do? In comes Laith, a mysterious young man who appears to be one of The Ram’s top guards, and he has a proposition for Arthie: help him steal a ledger from the well-to-do vampires in the city so he can take down The Ram. Arthie agrees because this means she can keep the Spindrift. From here, we get a story full of twists, turns, backstabbing, secret keeping and reveals as a crew is from a la Ocean’s 11.

This book is told from three points of view, Arthie, Jin, and another character introduced about twenty percent into the story called Flick. Flick or Felicity is the adopted daughter of the founder of the EJC. All three of these characters have very distinct personalities. Arthie is the unemotional hardcore strong female. Jin is the pretty boy tinkerer. I was honestly picturing any of the dudes from BTS as Jin. Flick, on the other hand, is the sheltered newcomer. She is brought up in privilege and isn’t used to the hard knock life. Out of all three POVs, I initially could care less about Flick’s character. Her POV was the weakest. Then, her character began to grow and develop while Arthie’s stayed the same. Then, I couldn’t really care less about Arthie’s POV. She was brass, crass, and almost a little too self-righteous.

The other member of the heist, besides Laith, is Matteo Andoni, your typical hot vampire. Matteo seemed like every other sexy vampire but only initially. He too had great character development. While his flirty quips made me roll my eyes throughout the entire book, he did show tremendous depth of character that would not have been foreseen in him. Laith was as enigmatic as they come. I couldn’t really form an opinion about him because we never really got to know him or his true motivations even though it was actually explained. It just was a little hard to interpret and a little harder to understand.

The pacing of this book was even throughout. It started at the speed limit and stayed there from beginning to end. One downfall that cannot be overlooked in this book is the tremendous amount of romance tropes. From the vampire sexiness to a love triangle, to unbridled first love nerves, it just wouldn’t stop. I swear every other paragraph was someone growing hot from looking at someone else’s body. Excuse me as I skim these parts and get back to the story.

Even with all the romance, Hafsah Faizal can write some beautiful prose. There were so many passages I found myself highlighting because of how she summed up my internal feelings about colonization, enslavement, and forced immigration.

RTC - but in the meantime, seeing the overall rating of this book makes me feel like I’m taking crazy pills

<I>First, a thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an eARC of this book.</i>

Y’all, what the hell happened here?

I requested this on NetGalley because I saw how high the average rating was and thought it <i>had</i> to be good, surely. By the time I actually got around to reading it, several of my friends had already read… And their reviews did <b>not</b> match the energy of the overall rating.

Suffice it to say, I ended up where many of my friends/mutuals did… This was just not an enjoyable read. I wouldn’t even say it was a worthwhile read in a <i>I can’t look away from this train wreck</i> sort of way a là Tommy Wiseau’s <i>The Room</i> (which I have watched [and enjoyed!] many times).

Frankly, this book felt to me as if Faizal was sitting around one day, thinking <i>hmmm, what do the people like? What do the people CRAVE?</i> and thus came up with a list of some of the more popular themes/tropes of our current time:

1. Love triangle (sort of?? What the hell was going on with that?)
2. Multiple POV (but only sort of, and frankly, the divide between POVs didn’t really make a ton of sense)
3. The Heist™ ([book:Six of Crows|23437156], anyone?)
4. Vampires (I mean, [book:House of Hunger|60052118] & [book:A Dowry of Blood|60521937] did all right)
5. A super extra special teen/young adult who’s <i>not like the other girls</i>
6. And I don’t know this <i>for sure</i> but it seems like tea itself is something the cool kids are doing now (listen, I <b>did</b> like [book:A Magic Steeped in Poison|56978089], and maybe it’s a stretch to compare the two, but…)

And Faizal thought hm, got to have some “original” ideas, and that’s where things started to go into “what the actual fuck” territory; I’m going to put this behind spoiler tags so reader beware, etc etc -

<spoiler>Okay can someone please explain to me the fucking coconuts? I had to read that MULTIPLE TIMES because I was like, I must have missed something, surely, this makes absolutely no sense - and maybe this is somehow racist/me showing how much of a bland, white American I am… Like in other folklore is coconut magical? Have healing properties? If so, please tell me, and I will rightfully so apologize for my ignorance). And Jin’s…. Coconut scientist parents? W H A T ??

Additionally, what is up with the fucking SWOR-I MEAN GUN IN THE STONE ?? Um hello?? This also made no sense to me?? That whole subplot made me feel like I had been high for at least half of the book, but that was not the author’s intent, nor my expectation when reading the book… I am all for fucking crazy shit but only if that was the INTENT and not, like, some weird byproduct of the author not being very good at writing.</spoiler>

And then on top of all that, I just think the writing wasn’t good. The pacing wasn’t good. The dialogue wasn’t good. The relationships weren’t good, the weird flirting between literally everyone who was attempting to flirt felt like it was written by AI “trained” to write flirtatious interactions (so much cringing on my part, and I don’t think it was the I-am-too-old-and-not-the-target-audience cringing).

Normally my dislike of a book is really just a taste preference and I try not to yuck someone else’s potential yum, but this was just… objectively not good in my opinion.

To me, this read like the author had a wild ass dream one night and could only remember bits and pieces of it, and then decided “hey this would make a cool book”, and then had to fill in the gaps to make… some sort of an attempt at a cohesive story.

And then like that story got posted to tumblr or for NaMoWriMo or something and a few friends/relatives/grandma read it and were like “yeah!… that was… good!” And no other editing was done whatsoever and somehow it just got published as-is, nothing more done to it.

And this is a series/duology?? (I can’t be assed to look it up, sorry) Once again… um, hello? There were way too many plots that got unfinished/hastily finished/sort of… addressed?? In this book so like… yeah, I <i>suppose</i> (grudgingly I say) you’d have to write a next book but like… Woof. I ain’t gonna read it.

This is by far the longest review I’ve written in a long while, so I do have to say I feel like a mean person since this is quite a long-winded and rambling diss track… But frankly I feel lied to by all of the 4/5 star books. <b>DID WE EVEN READ THE SAME BOOK EVERYONE WHO GAVE 5 STARS?? BE HONEST.</b>

From the initial impression, I can already tell that this book will be imensively popular amongst its target audience. Vampire gang? BIPOC leads? Found family? Vengeance? My teenage self would have been overjoyed to discover something like this on the shelves.

Current me happily followed along and nodded in appreciation of the author's clear dedication and passion for this story. I know it won't stay with me. The book doesn't speak to me beyond 'fun'. The characters are okay; Arthie, of course, is a compelling highlight, the rest serves a purpose and then tapers off instead of being memorable. Again, I want to reiterate that there is nothing wrong with the book, it feels wrong for me to rate it less than four stars -- a reread and or sequel have a very good chance of changing my mind. But, for now, A Tempest of Tea isn't for me, and that's okay. I will happily reccomend it to those that would enjoy it.

(A big thank you to the publisher for the enthusiastic approval :)

A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal is a fun YA heist novel! The novel features a diverse and lovable cast of characters you quickly root for. The world-building is well done and creates a fascinating realm that is, at turn, gritty and elegant. The heist plotline kept me engaged and was full of twists and surprises. As in any good YA novel, the romantic plotlines were full of yearning, and I look forward to seeing how those grow and progress as the story continues. I recommend this book to fans of the Six of Crows duology.

A Tempest of Tea is an interesting and original story, merging ensemble heist tropes with vampires and colonialism. In a Victorian World where vampires live alongside humans, all Arthie Casimir wants to do is run her teashop. An immigrant orphan herself, the Tea Shop represents a place of safety and independence within a colonial world that threatens to literally suck you dry. When Arthie's lease on the teashop is compromised, she assembles a crew of humans and vampires to break into the heart of power in the city in order gain the leverage needed to keep what she and most of her crew call home.

While the story is full of action and adventure it also takes its time in developing each of the characters and setting the stage for what is ahead. You care about them all as Faizal gradually lets us into the source of their insecurities and the secrets they hold. The writing is fabulous and keeps you guessing up until the very end. It's an incredible, yet painful, ride.

I enjoyed listening to this story as an audiobook. The narrator does a great job of giving each character a distinct voice and heightening the tension as the fight scenes and action progress. She also knows when to slow down and really help us feel for the characters, especially Arthie and Jinn. I am grateful to Macmillian, Macmillian audio and Netgalley for allowing me access to an early listening copy and e-copy of this book. Having both made it enjoyable all the more.

I certainly recommend this book be on your TBR and I will be excited to see where this story goes in future books.