This fun and funny mystery book is about Misha, who wants to be an expert chai brewer and make her family proud. Except that every attempt she makes at brewing tea ends in disaster. She finally gets invited to a prestigious school for tea brewers only to find that disaster follows her there as well. She befriends an unusual girl named June and her luck seems to turn. But maybe there's something more sinister afoot? Not sure who to trust, Misha ends up making a discovery that will shock the whole school as well as the tea making community at large. Readers will enjoy Misha's determination to make things right as well as her ability to persevere, even when things go really badly. This will be a fun addition to any middle grade collection.

Teachers and librarians will find much to admire in this story of resilience and imperfection. Misha is a wonderfully flawed protagonist whose chaotic journey is both humorous and heartwarming, providing opportunities for rich discussions about perseverance and self-acceptance. The clever wordplay and imaginative fantasy elements make this a fun pick for read-alouds or book club discussions, especially for fans of culturally immersive stories.

While the plot slows a little in the middle, this story still charms readers who enjoy magical schools, strong cultural settings, and a heroine determined to brew her own path to success.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins for the ARC.

Chai Jinxed is a heartfelt adventure about an unlucky tea witch. This magical romp through Margaret's Academy of Tea and Brewing is an excellent read for kiddos who want an action packed story but aren't ready to invest in a long series like Harry Potter just yet.

I read this book out loud with my kids and they were really engaged with the story and really enjoyed it. I thought the magic was so much fun and the book is just very cute.

A sweet and Whimsical story about magic and tea. Misha goes to a magical school that uses tea as a form of magic. This is a unique magic system that I have not seen before. As an avid tea drinker I can confirm that Tea is magic, I nice cup of tea can make a bad day a little brighter. This book is perfect for fans of Harry Potter and Katie O'Neill's Tea Dragon Society.

A uniquely witchy story, Chai Jinxed follows Misha, a tea brewing witch who can't make a brew to save her life. After the catastrophic disaster of her last brew landed her another expulsion she knows she needs to make one last ditch effort to prove herself. She finesses her way into Margaret's Academy of Tea and Brewing with the help of a new friend and finds herself at the center of a mystery that will change her life forever.

Chai Jinxed reminded me of The Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents since both main characters can't handle their magic and are considered misfits. Although in Chai Jinxed, Misha is willing to make mistakes and constantly yells out, "I can fix this!" when reader, she can not indeed fix this. There's a lot of humor in her mistakes as well as a great lesson for young readers to keep trying. I was very interested in the different friendships she made from the rival who sabotaged her tea shop, to the mysterious girl who helped her get a gold apron, and lastly to the boy who thinks only gold aprons are worth associating with. I would have loved more time with them. I feel like there was so much more that they could have contributed to the story. For example, the ending would have made more sense if the potential relationship was at least hinted upon throughout the story. I also wish the story was more drawn out and we got to see more tea brewing lessons. I did really enjoy the lessons that can be learned through reading this story and not knowing what was going to happen next. Chai Jinxed is a lovely magical story about chasing your dreams and being yourself, it just needed a little polishing.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of Chai Jinxed in exchange for an honest review.

A sweet, though sometimes a bit disorganized, story about a girl learning to embrace her talents (and sometimes lack thereof) with a spooky twist and a fun magic system.

This is a cute story about a young witch named Misha. She wants to be the like her Idol the wizard of Chai. But due to some unfortunate accidents in brewing tea, Misha has been expelled from more then one tea school. She has one last chance to get it right, Margaret's Academy. But their is something strange going on at the school and its up to Misha to find out what.

I would of liked to see more tea brewing. I don't understand how the others schools didn't know why Misha always messed up. Loved the twists and turns and the reveal towards the end, had me surprised. Some things seemed to come out of no where, like what happened at the very end. I would of liked a bit more explanation on some other things.

The cover art is delightful, and magical books about tea are extremely popular with my tween readers. This story moves quickly and sometimes feels a little disjointed with new elements coming seemingly out of the blue, but it should appeal to younger readers who enjoy magical mishap books like Spell Sweeper (by Lee Edward Födi) or Witchlings (by Claribel Ortega).

This was a fun read. I liked Misha and how determined she is. She doesn't ever give up and it makes her a better person.
We got hints of things that were coming, but I was still surprised when we found out who was behind everything.
I liked how Misha made friends with June, Emery & Percival. They really help each other along the way.
A cute read that kids will enjoy if they love a book with good friendships and magic.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.