2.5 stars. There is so much promise here that is not at all fulfilled in the execution. This book is trying very hard to be Six of Crows, but unfortunately it doesn't come close with either the characters or the heist itself. The most unique element of the story (the vampires) is confusingly underdeveloped. The pacing is really rough - I cannot understand why the author chose to spend so much time talking about the plan and so little time enacting it. The world, the lore, and the themes are extremely compelling in concept but none are well-fleshed out, and I found myself pretty checked out and uninvested overall. I listened to the Faizal's "interview" at the end of the audiobook and she said that she doesn't like outlining her plots, which could partially explain why the heist component was so poorly executed. Some of the descriptions are really well-written, so maybe this specific fantasy-heist genre isn't the right fit.

Props to the audiobook narrator for doing her best on this one, she was a pleasure to listen to!

I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley and Macmillan Audio in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 Stars
I really enjoyed this story and the diverse characters - I loved all the POVs. I had so much fun in this world, the concept of the teahouse was so smart and the reveals left me shocked! The audiobook narrator did a really great job at creating an immersive experience and bringing this story to life. I loved how this book explored colonialism and the generational trauma that comes with that. Truly enjoyed this one and can't wait for the follow-up (and to find out what happens after that cliffhanger!!!).

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC!

I didn't like the authors first series, but the peaky blinders and six of crow comparison got me wanting to try her again. I unfortunately learned this author just isn't for me.

This audiobook was wonderfully narrated and I found myself sucked into the world as I did some menial tasks. Compared to the author's previous series, I found this book to be well structured and better thought out with the plot to the character motivations. The themes about colonization and the parallels of oppressed people to vampires were very clear and strong and I found it to be a good allegory, especially with how vampires are characterized and shaped in the society when all the fantastical paranormal elements are taken away. All the characters had a strong backstory and I enjoyed how all the characters interacted and slowly warmed up to each other over time. All the twists and turns were engaging and I'm excited to listen/read the next book.

I was thoroughly enjoying this audio and was about 80% through when it got archived. I guess I’m just going to have to go buy it to see how it ends… darn…

So far it’s given me Six of Crow vibes. It’s engaging, adventurous, comical ( “tell me have you ever been hit upside the head with an auction paddle?” Omg I laughed so hard I woke my daughter up!) I adore the characters, probably going to misspell this as I am doing the audio but Djinn is my favorite. I love his quirk. All in all it’s a great Ocean’s 11 style quirky fantasy with a bonus of vampires.

A Tempest of Tea tells the tale of Arthie Casimir and her quest to save her prestigious tearoom which serves tea to the elite and wealthy during the day. At night, Arthie and her band of orphans transform the tearoom into a bloodhouse that caters to the city’s vampires. When the tearoom is threatened by the secretive and oppressive government of White Roaring, Arthie strikes an unlikely deal and plans a heist that unveils a multitude of secrets.

As a fantasy novel, A Tempest of Tea is dark, tantalizing, and complex. The story is rich with details and layers. Arthie is a complicated protagonist who isn’t afraid to play dirty or take what she wants. The supporting cast is filled with sly and cunning, morally gray characters. Don’t count on warm and fuzzy moments with any of these characters - this isn’t the world for it. There are a slew of expected and unexpected plot twists that can make the story difficult to follow at times but also entices the reader to pay attention. The small spark of romance tied into the story feels somewhat out of place and unnecessary at times but plays into some of the darker plots. Of note, there is only a small amount of kissing so anyone looking for spice will be disappointed.

Listening to the audiobook adds a level of depth and drama to the story which makes Arthie, Jin, and Flick come alive in new and unexpected ways. While the narrator remains the same for all three characters, the perspective of each character is unique and distinguishable. The bonus conversation with the author enhances the reader’s experience.

Beautifully written, A Tempest of Tea is sure to enthrall readers with its immersive world and dark secrets.

DNF at 35%. This whole book feels like virtual signaling fueled by a contrived plot and that that contrived plot is like someone who heard about Six of Crows but wasn't really paying attention and then tried to tell the author about it for this book. Like they have to go steal a ledger to blackmail people into keeping their tearoom because their building was bought out by the government in an attempt to shut them down? They can't just, you know, move? Seems like it would be so much easier. The world itself felt really underbaked as well, like you have vampires and it's just a secret? But some of them are nobility and one just randomly went insane and that's how a select few people found out about them? Lastly, the characters were so annoying. The constant lines and references to all these real life political issues feels like the author is just pushing their thoughts into the book through the mouths of these characters; it kind of reminded me of the criticism a lot of people have of Sally Rooney in that way. The bigger problem with those inserts is that all of the characters felt the same; like two dimensional versions of the author with varying accents and genders. Since this is so desperately trying to be Six of Crows, I couldn't help comparing the characters from that to the characters in this and it just did not do them any favours. These characters didn't feel as threatening or in depth as any of the characters in Six of Crows -- and I didn't even really like that book that much!!

It's really hard for me to dislike this book because I was so excited for it!! I mean, vampires and heists? I will be there every time. But this just fell so flat for me. Everything felt so surface level and boring that I just couldn't care about these characters and their story.

Not only was this book amazing, but the audiobook made the whole reading experience even better! Going into this book mostly blind ended up contributing to the thriller of the story as well. I loved it!

Peaky Blinders vibes but with vampires? Yes please! Also the audiobook is wonderful! 4.5 rounded up. Very thankful to Net Galley and the publisher.

This is one of my most anticipated reads of 2024 and rightfully so! This audiobook was such an enjoyable way to read this content and I already ordered the physical copy for my collection.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for an advanced audiobook arc of this book! When I heard the preference of this book, I knew it was going to be a favorite. I had very much Six of Crows, Twin Peaks vibes with vampires, and I was sold. I loved every minute of this book. I honestly can’t wait for my physical copy to come so I can reread it. If you like Six of Crows. You’re most definitely going to love this book. I absolutely fell in love with characters. I think my favorite is definitely Jin he reminds me a lot of Kaz Brekker and I am here for it! All those twists and turns and twist reveals. I loved this book. And also that ending killed me. Hafsah How could you do that to us?!? I can’t wait for the second one. I literally can’t.

Arthie is a prickly young woman. A woman who has made her way despite the many ways that the society she lives in finds her to be lacking-culture, sex, skin color. When an opportunity to strike a serious blow to the culture that colonized and destroyed her homeland, she is all in. Overall, this a good listen. Maya Soraya brings the characters to life and does an excellent job encompassing their personalities. As far as the book itself, I felt like parts of it were missing. I feel like we should have started the story with the capture of the pistol since it was integral both to the atmosphere and the storyline. The author created some of her own mythology around what is a vampire. While it was interesting to see how she reworked existing mythology to fit in with the story she wanted to tell, the vampire society didn't feel fully fleshed out. Arthie is an interesting character, but not one that I felt particularly drawn to. This is one of the rare books that I was glad to see multiple perspectives because I didn't enjoy the main character. I didn't like either of the main female characters, but Jin, Arthie's found family brother, is amazing. He is the best part of the story in my opinion. Final thoughts are that I feel like this had the potential to be great, but it was missing pieces.

Thank you NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for my honest review ✨

Did I finish the book or did the book finish me?

Vampires, peaky blinders vibes, with the dangers and repercussions of colonialism. This was INCREDIBLE. Hafsah writing vampires is everything I never knew I was missing in my life. Plus every single character is giving me bi-panic 🥵

The dynamics of our cast of characters & the fast paced plot had me on the edge of my seat the ENTIRE time. There were also scenes packed full of TENSION that had me gasping. Hafsah TRULY never misses 😮‍💨

I give this book 4 Stars.
I really enjoyed this dark fantasy about a vampire society in which an orphaned young Lady named Arthie Lasimir. Arthie is the owner of a very unique tea house in the community of humans and a society of vampires. Arthie deals in secrets especially those involving ranks of the hierarchical vampire society that runs the community surrounding Arthie's Tea House. Arthie is the person in the community that knows a number of secrets on those in the Athereum Society in which she uses to gain access to certain things and allows her to run her secret tea house. This tea house has a lot of secrets, and it is open in the hours of night and offers unique types of teas for those in the community especially vampires. Arthie is faced with the closure of her tea house by the head of the Atherum Society led by the Ram. Arthie and her friends who work with her at the tea house come up with a plan for a heist in which they break into the Vampire Society's private office.
It is interesting to read and try to figure out how the author Hafsah Faizal is weaving this dark vampire tale. How as you read more details are exposed, and as the reader you think you know some of the facts that have not been mentioned yet, but you realize that other secrets are revealed you did not see. I really enjoyed this dark fantasy by Hafsah Faizal. It kept my interest and enjoyed this fantasy about a society of vampires. I haven't read a lot of books that it focused just on vampires. If you like a good paranormal fantasy about vampires, heists, and a secret society this is your book. I am so looking forward to book 2 because the ending was major!
I want to thank Netgalley and Macmillian audio for the opportunity to read "A Tempest of Tea."

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

Peaky Blinders meets Six of Crows but with vampires… Excuse me!?

Read this for:

🫖 a rollicking fun heist story packed with vampires, thieves, gangs, scoundrels, outcasts in a setting reminiscent of Victorian London a la Six of Crows
🧛‍♀️ compelling, evocative, delicious prose and a compelling ,twisty story that flies at a wonderfully breakneck pace
🥥 remarkable cast of diverse characters each with rich and fully-developed backstories all against a backdrop of colonialism
🩸did I mention vampires?

I can’t wait for book two!

I highly recommend the audiobook version of this novel! Maya Saroya absolutely brought this story to life AND at the end of the audio book there is an interview with Hafsah Faizal and her husband that you won’t want to miss.

Thank you NetGalley and MacMillan Audio/Macmillan Young Listeners for the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first half of Hafsah Faizal’s Blood and Tea duology, and it ends on a cliffhanger, so you should plan to read the books in order. I had high hopes for this story, which it didn’t quite live up to. I love a good heist story, political intrigue, and secrets, and in those areas I was satisfied. I also love stories of found family, and we get some of that here. However, the characters are so busy keeping secrets from everyone (including themselves) that it takes a long time to get to know them. Like a good cup of tea, this brew requires some patience.

I was genuinely enjoying this story right up until the end. The end is brutal. Bad things happen, and I will have to wait for the sequel to know if this journey was worthwhile. I haven’t read any other books by Hafsah Faizal, so I don’t know if I can trust her to bring this story to a satisfying conclusion. I’m sufficiently invested that I will probably have to find out.

The audiobook production was excellent. I loved the narration by Maya Saroya. She has a pleasant voice and accent, good pacing and pronunciation, and distinctive voices and speech patterns to suit each character. The story works very well as an audiobook. As a nice bonus, there is an interview with the author at the end.

I received a free advanced listener copy of the audiobook through NetGalley. I volunteered to provide an honest review.

What I liked:

Characters: Arthie is such a fun, unique character. I am a sucker for a main character with some secrets. The supporting characters were also really fun - I enjoyed getting a bit of their backstories. If a book has a good found family, I am most likely going to love it.

Pacing: The pacing was well done - I got hooked early on, and the plot kept me interested throughout.

The setting: A tea house that also deals in blood, gangs, a heist, vampires - truly a delightful combination.

Discourse on colonialism: A Tempest of Tea isn’t just a heist story. Faizal weaves in discourse on colonialism and its wide and damaging implications.

What I didn’t like:

Audio narration: I liked the narrator, but there are multiple POV’s and I wish there were different narrators for each one. Every once in a while I got a little confused as to which POV I was listening to.

I had the pleasure of receiving the arc for the audiobook. I was very excited to read it as it was in my most anticipated reads for the year.

First of all I would like to mention that the audiobook narrator was great and made the reading experience very smooth.

If you read Six of crows and are looking for the same vibe with high stakes, found family and badass underdogs, this is the book for you.

It has the added bonus of vampires and tea which hits all the spots for me. Vampires are making a comeback this year and I love it.

Would recommend picking up this book. I am going to try to get my hands on the Waterstones special edition as it looks amazing 🤩

I picked up A Tempest of Tea on a total whim, basically seeing the beautiful cover and the pre release hype and decided to give the audiobook a try. I was intrigued by the various concepts that are thrown in and work well together, with a world of vampires, a thrilling heist story, along with plenty of twists along the way.

All three POV characters had intriguing motivations. Arthie, the heist leader, was my favorite with all of her bottled up rage and revenge on the colonists that took over her land and ruined her life and not about to lose another home. And she has quite a lot of secrets, especially in the last chapters! Felicity, aka, Flick, joins the heist team and I love her arc in being someone in high society interested in crime, and shakes up the otherwise lower class group. Jin was a great anchor to the group, and is dealing with the government tearing his own family apart. The other two members, Matteo the artsy vampire and Laith the high guard, are there, but I found Matteo a bit interesting, but Laith didn't grab me as much as I wished. I think because they didn't have a POV chapter, these two got lost in the character shuffle for me.

I enjoyed the world with various vampires and "plasma" drinking, as well as the posh tearooms, and it felt lived in honestly. It feels like a fantasy 19th century England with a clear divide between the rich and poor and the rulers being masked people. It's clear there's a bunch already here and more to explore in the second half of the duology! The whole plot about trying to save Spindrift, this tearoom nightclub, was fascinating!

Wasn't too much of a fan of how much time was given to the romance arcs, and cut into the high stakes of what the group was up to. Much of Arthie's arc being focused on romance drama, and were clearly my least favorite parts and I tuned a lot out in these chapters. Part of me wished it wasn't there since I thought she wasn't available for that type of relationship. The other romance was fine.

The heist plot was swift and engaging with some surprises surrounding it. Though the last few chapters and the cliffhanger was super engaging and makes me want to read the next book ASAP! The prose was very lyrical and painted a great picture of the setting, with Maya Saroya narrating it well and with this posh British accent that fit perfectly.

If you like vampires, heists, and plenty of twists, this is for you!

What a ride this book was. I was enticed by the different boxes it checked. I loved the story and the characters. They reminded me a lot of Six of Crows. The MC, Arthie, is scrappy and not someone to be trifled with. I can’t wait to read the next one.

I feel like personally, I would’ve preferred reading the physical copy of this instead of listening to the audiobook. It was fine, but with this kind of book, I want to imagine it myself and the audio put me off of that a tiny bit.