Hello friends, happy Wednesday! I hope your week has been going well. Today I’m posting my review of Hafsah Faizal’s novel A Tempest of Tea.

A Tempest of Tea by: Hafsah Faizal: Arthie Casimir owns a tea room, that by night turns into an illegal bloodhouse for the vampires who fear society. So when her tea room is threatened, she must make a deal with an unlikely rival to save it, but she can’t do it alone. Arthie then rounds up some of the city’s most skilled outcasts to help with her plan, only not everyone on her crew is on her side. As secrets are revealed, truths are unveiled and it soon becomes a question on whether Arthie’s plan will work or not. This novel had a lot of potential, but it just didn’t live up to this reader’s expectations. They really enjoyed the concept of this, but the execution fell short. The plot was good, it was fast-paced and full of heist and vampires, but there was just too much going on and not enough explanation that it left for a more confusing read, than a pleasant one. The reader wanted to understand and know how the world worked more. The author did do a good job of trying to describe things, like half vampires, that was such a cool concept, but unfortunately this reader didn’t totally get it. Because of that, it felt like the big reveal close to the end felt a little lacklustre because they just didn’t grasp the world properly. The characters were good, but at the same time, they could sometimes sound the same, so the reader had a hard time telling whom was whom. They all had some sort of similar backstory, and they were all trying to overcome where they came from to become better people; which is great for character growth and development, that we did see here, but the fact that they felt too similar left it feeling less diversified. All that aside though, that’s not to say this wasn’t a good book, it just needed some work. It was still enjoyable to read and it’s not a complete loss because the reader is invested and wants to read the sequel when it’s released. We’re hoping that we’ll get more world building and a better sense of things and maybe a better appreciation for this book. For now, this was a read that could be entertaining at times, a little witty at times, but also a little unclear, but it was still a good time.