A Tempest of Tea

arthie casimir runs spindrift, a tearoom that transforms into a blood house for vampires at night. her business is threatened and as a result, her and a ragtag group of outcasts have to set out on a heist.

this novel has:

a heist

high stakes

vampires

talks of colonialism and racism

found family

and a set of diverse characters

i think this book really shines when it comes to the characters and all the complex dynamics between them. i especially loved the dynamics between arthie and jin. there is always something special about found / chosen family in fantasy books for me. i liked that it had multiple POVs as well. it really helped get to know the characters since we do follow quite a few in this book.

the romance was always super fun to read. the tension and slow burn was a very enjoyable aspect. i liked the push and pull that was going on that made me want to yell at the characters at times (in the best way).

the action scenes were very well written, in my opinion, and kept me on the edge of my seat. i find in books like this, the action scenes can really make or break the book and thankfully they made it in this case. there was also plenty of twists and surprises thrown in that added a lot of fun to the reading experience.

the audiobook narrator captured the characters personalities very well and kept me engaged the whole time. there were rarely times that mind wandered while listening.

overall, i had a really fun time reading this book and, especially with the ending, i cannot wait to read the next book! would highly recommend this one.

2.5 and rounding up
This has an intriguing premise, but it was a lackluster read, and something about the writing style was very disorienting. I was listening on audio, and by the time we were half way through I still was having trouble differentiating between the characters. They all felt like the same person, and there were many times within a POV that it felt like the POV switched even though it didn't. It was a frustrating listening experience.

The comparison to SIX OF CROWS has been mentioned to death, I do agree they have similar vibes, which I certainly would have counted it as something in it's favor, however, the things that make the found family/heist thing work in SIX OF CROWS, just didn't come together very well in this one.

I think a young YA audience will probably love it, more than someone like me who only dips in and out of YA and is comparing it to something like SIX OF CROWS.

I do want to mention that the voiceover did a great job, and it was nothing on their end that made the listening experience difficult, that is fully the responsibility of the author's writing style.

***Thank you to Macmillan Audio for providing me with the Audiobook for free via NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

I wanted more of the tea house, but the focus was more on the characters. We see quite a bit about how they all get to where they are. There are some surprises about who they are and how they got to where they are. Now that I know all that about them, I want to read the next one to see what is going to happen next.