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bebocarrick 's review for:
A Tempest of Tea
by Hafsah Faizal
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this audiobook for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The things I loved about this book I LOVED and the things I hated about this book I HATED. It was a more positive experience than negative, but damn, there were some things I could not stand. The narration was stellar and I have no complaints in that regard.
I'll start with the positives:
1. The world building: I ADORE this world. The steampunk/vampire/cozy tea vibes were immaculate, as well as the recognition and effects of colonialism in this world. I really liked the idea of the vampires in society being less noticeable than your usual vampire and that they were both a respected and a feared social class. The descriptions of Spindrift were so fun and intriguing and it's a place I would LOVE to check out. The idea of the masked rulers was also very cool and unique.
2. The plot twists at the end: I like a good cliffhanger ending on occasion, and this book did that well. I enjoyed the various reveals at the end and found the tying together of Flick, Jin, and Arthie's storylines quite satisfying.
Now onto the negatives:
1. The characters: oh god. I must say, it has been a while since I have read a book and disliked every single character, especially considering they were supposed to be likable. I found all of them rather insufferable, with Flick being too annoyingly naive and Arthie and Jin reminding the reader of their tragic backstories far too often. Not to mention Matteo just feeling like an unfortunate rip-off of Baldur Gate 3's Astarion.
2. The romances: I disliked this the most out of everything. The attraction between any and all parties was nonsensical to me. It felt too quick and instant, with every attempt at building up tension making me cringe. The weird ass love triangle that Arthie found herself in made me absolutely furious because of how pointless it all felt. I had to stop listening at so many points because the way the romance was written made me want to claw my eyes out. All this to say, I know I was supposed to be invested in these characters love lives, but I wasn't in the slightest, and it took a lot out of this book for me.
3. The heist: Far too much time was spent talking about the heist rather than the actual heist. The heist itself felt anticlimactic and I really wished for more. I couldn't help but to compare this book to Six of Crows, which felt far more balanced as far as planning the heist and executing it, and building the slow burn romance between characters.
Despite my mixed feelings about this book, I do want to continue reading the sequel because of the excellent set up. I also enjoyed the writing style a lot. While I'll agree with other reviewers that it is rather purple, I admittedly love some purple prose, so I have no problems with this. I do hope my issues with this first book somewhat resolve in the sequel.
Publication Date: Feb 20, 2024
The things I loved about this book I LOVED and the things I hated about this book I HATED. It was a more positive experience than negative, but damn, there were some things I could not stand. The narration was stellar and I have no complaints in that regard.
I'll start with the positives:
1. The world building: I ADORE this world. The steampunk/vampire/cozy tea vibes were immaculate, as well as the recognition and effects of colonialism in this world. I really liked the idea of the vampires in society being less noticeable than your usual vampire and that they were both a respected and a feared social class. The descriptions of Spindrift were so fun and intriguing and it's a place I would LOVE to check out. The idea of the masked rulers was also very cool and unique.
2. The plot twists at the end: I like a good cliffhanger ending on occasion, and this book did that well. I enjoyed the various reveals at the end and found the tying together of Flick, Jin, and Arthie's storylines quite satisfying.
Now onto the negatives:
1. The characters: oh god. I must say, it has been a while since I have read a book and disliked every single character, especially considering they were supposed to be likable. I found all of them rather insufferable, with Flick being too annoyingly naive and Arthie and Jin reminding the reader of their tragic backstories far too often. Not to mention Matteo just feeling like an unfortunate rip-off of Baldur Gate 3's Astarion.
2. The romances: I disliked this the most out of everything. The attraction between any and all parties was nonsensical to me. It felt too quick and instant, with every attempt at building up tension making me cringe. The weird ass love triangle that Arthie found herself in made me absolutely furious because of how pointless it all felt. I had to stop listening at so many points because the way the romance was written made me want to claw my eyes out. All this to say, I know I was supposed to be invested in these characters love lives, but I wasn't in the slightest, and it took a lot out of this book for me.
3. The heist: Far too much time was spent talking about the heist rather than the actual heist. The heist itself felt anticlimactic and I really wished for more. I couldn't help but to compare this book to Six of Crows, which felt far more balanced as far as planning the heist and executing it, and building the slow burn romance between characters.
Despite my mixed feelings about this book, I do want to continue reading the sequel because of the excellent set up. I also enjoyed the writing style a lot. While I'll agree with other reviewers that it is rather purple, I admittedly love some purple prose, so I have no problems with this. I do hope my issues with this first book somewhat resolve in the sequel.
Publication Date: Feb 20, 2024