A Venom Dark and Sweet

I once again wish you could do 1/2 stars on Goodreads, for while I enjoyed the second book in the Book of Tea Duology, I don't think I liked it quite as much as the first, but also think it was better than just a 3. Judy Lin continues to weave a wonderfully fantastical story of magic and adventure and ties everything up quite nicely in the end. In fact I think the last 1/4 of the book was the best as it amped up the action and stakes felt more urgent than previously. Her writing is sparse, but still manages to weave a world I enjoy reading and delving into. I think I felt the relationships lacking more in this one though. There were a lot of segments strung together and no time for us to care about anyone really deeply before being propelled to the next task or event. I think in that way I wasn't as invested as I was with book 1. But still overall a worthy read and happy to see more Asian fantasy getting out there.