The Bookish Mindset

Overview:

Title: A Tempest of Tea
Author: Hafsah Faizal
Published: February 2024
Genre: YA Fantasy
Themes: Vampires, Heist, Corruption

One sentence summary: A tea shop that accommodates the needs of vampires by night is set to be shut down because of their night time guests, but Arthie is having none of it.

One sentence review: A fun read with plenty of drama and tea.

Review:

By day, Spindrift is a charming tea shop. By night it accommodates vampires and their need for blood. Arthie runs the place and is known for taking in the uncared for and having dirt on everyone, it’s how it’s always been. That’s until one day The Ram try shutting her down. Not one to go down without a fight, plans are hatched and the heist begins.

I get the hype of this book, it was a really fun read with lots of drama and twists to keep you interested.

The concoction of characters was a brilliant choice, there’s quite the spread of personalities and I loved that we had all of their POV’s. We heard their back stories and their depths and it was great getting to know them.

There’s also great social commentary on colonialism and corruption as well. They’re not all main plot points but a lot of the characters back stories have clever pieces.

I also absolutely adored all of the tea references – the burn of over brewing green tea was glorious (green tea drinkers know this pain!).

I read Faizal’s other duology after these and while I still enjoyed them, I think Tempest of Tea is my favourite. I will absolutely be picking up the next instalment.

If reading more is something that you’re looking at doing this year then should check my reading challenge out here! Read nine books from nine prompts over the first six months of the year and be entered into a draw to win a bundle of bookish goodies.

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And don’t forget to check out my other blogs and reviews – you can find books with similar themes in the same folder link below, or click back onto blogs to see the whole offering.

Last updated 18/04/2025