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Read 2/1-2/2

Four Stars

I enjoyed Hafsah Faizal's previous duology The Sands of Arawiya and I have been eagerly anticipating A Tempest of Tea since its announcement several years ago. I always feel a little trepidation when books are compared to Six of Crows, it just became so popular that any book with even a hint of a heist had Six of Crows slapped on as a comp title. A Tempest of Tea really delivered in the right ways for me. There's a heist, there's a lovable but morally gray crew, and there's some fun twists throughout the way. Add in some vampires and I'm fully sold on the concept of this book!

Arthie was a great protagonist. She is the owner of a tea shop that is often on the wrong side of the law due to nature of the tea she sells. Arthie is a lot of fun, she's highly intelligent and always have a trick up her sleeve. One of the first few scenes of the book where we see her outwitting the people ransacking her shop was so tense and I adored seeing her smarts shine through so early on. I also enjoyed slowly discovering her secrets throughout the book, although I do feel there was a twist that felt quite easy to spot early on. I really enjoyed Jin, Arthie's adoptive brother. He's a charmer and I loved all his interactions with another major character, Flick. Flick's storyline was maybe my favorite of the main characters. I really enjoyed her growth throughout the book. Rounding out the our heist crew are Matteo and Laith. I have opinions on both but they're quite spoilery so I'll have to simply stop at they exist you'll have to form your own opinions about them.

While the majority of this was very fast paced there were a few moments where I felt the flow of the story got a little odd and moments that dragged despite the action that was happening. I was also just not into Arthie's romance in this book. I felt like it occurred way too quickly and did not feel organic at all. While I wouldn't classify this currently as having a love triangle because one of the character's interest did not read as anything more than lightly flirty for most of the book, I do think at the end there are two characters who seem to be set up as potentially both being love interests for Arthie in the next book. In contrast I was 100% here for every interaction between Jin and Flick and I do honestly think the book would have read much better if they were the only characters displaying romantic feelings, at least in this installment. Part of that is because Jin and Flick are shown to have a history that Arthie simply did not have with the characters set up to be her partner. I would have needed more time and slower development to even start to believe in Arthie's romance.

All in all this was a great read and I had lots of fun. I cannot wait for the second book!

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Read 8/13-8/16

Four Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Saga Press for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I'm so happy vampires have been getting a resurgence the past few years. I've loved reading vampire novels since I was a young preteen who definitely shouldn't have been in the paranormal romance section of the bookstore but had a mother who was happy to let me read whatever interested me. This book was everything vampire books should be. It's dark and gothic, with amazing moments of political intrigue, and queer as hell. I really enjoyed how the story unfolded, while there are certainly moments that are not the most shocking it's because Chupeco laid the clues out for us to discover and work out along the way. Remy was a great main character. I really enjoyed being in his head as he struggled with his loyalties and personal desires. I also really loved Xiaodan and Zidan. They are the epitome of grumpy/sunshine and their interactions were always so cute but their interactions with Remy were just pure gold. I think a lot of people will struggle with the world building with this and I've read a few reviews that mention it. The setting feels Victorian-esque. with horses and buggy's and a lack of electricity but there's also a strong medical science presence with recent developments of analyzing DNA from blood samples and genetic modification. It's not something that particularly bothered me but I can see how it would frustrate others. I think based on how vampires have plagued the human population it makes sense why medical science would receive more attention than other disciplines. It's even seen very early on in the book when Remy describes the medicine he and other Reapers must take in order to remain strong enough to fight vampires. Another aspect of the world I'm endlessly fascinated by is all the different vampire courts and I hope we get to see more of them and how they differ from each other in the next book. I can't wait to hold this chunky book in my hands, luckily the release date isn't too far away!

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Read 7/20-7/20

Five Stars

It's very important to take the authors warning about the books potential triggers seriously because they happen quite early in the book. The main character is sexually assaulted in chapter 2 and it is graphic. He then attempts suicide for the first time in chapter 3 and for a second time at the end of chapter 9 into chapter 10. The second attempt is from another characters point of view so while it is still shocking and upsetting it didn't read as raw to me as the first attempt did but your reading may differ. Throughout the book the sexual assault is referenced as well as the suicide attempts and suicide ideation. There is also a significant animal death in chapter 14.

I really fell into this story. I immediately connected with Velasin and felt his emotions so deeply. There are so many lines from him that just really hit me and I wanted to write down and save for later. I've been thinking more and more lately about annotating books and this is definitely one, on reflection, that I wish I had made the attempt at least. I love a smart character and one who just knows how to play the political game and once Velasin arrives in Qi-Katai we really got to see him come alive in this way. Caethari read like a himbo and you know, I'm not mad about it. Just let the man follow his smart husband around and do his best to protect him. The side characters are equally great I really enjoyed Velasin's best friend Markel, who uses others prejudices against his mutism to spy for Velasin. Caethari's ex-lover and friend, Liran, was another standout. He was a scene stealer in all the scenes that he was in and I enjoyed the energy he brought to the book.

I also found that I really enjoyed the world this is set in. The book is primarily set in the country of Khyte, particularly the city, Qi-Katai, where Caethari's family acts as the lords of the town. I loved the acceptance of Khyte for both gender and sexual identity. There are third gender characters, trans characters, gay characters, lesbian characters, the list goes on. Their inheritance laws were also so interesting to me. One character discusses them fairly early in the book but I loved how it wasn't the basic eldest child gets everything. Also, as the book is about Velasin and Caethari's marriage there were some fun wedding traditions that made for great scenes. Particularly a certain ceremony that is had to welcome the new partnership into the community.

I do think the weakest part of this story was the mystery element. Yes, going along with Velasin and Caethari as they tried to figure it out was entertaining but I had an inkling of who was behind everything about a third of the way into the story. I also would have preferred a better reveal than what we got. Especially considering comments made about the character's intelligence.  I was much more interested in watching Velasin learn to trust himself and figure out his place in his new world. His personal character journey was very well done. The relationship that develops between Velasin and Caethari was so incredibly sweet it may give others a toothache but it was just what I was looking for.