I saw this book in the upcoming releases at the beginning of the year, and right at that moment, I knew I had to read it. It was advertised as Six of Crows but with vampires. I loved Six of Crows, and I love to read about vampires. I bought it as soon as it came out, and it waited on my nightstand until I finished the other books I had to read first.

A Tempest of Tea is about a girl named Arthie. She owns a teahouse that transforms into an illegal bloodhouse for vampires at night. Her establishment is threatened, and she has to go on a heist to save it.

“Why save the world when you can have tea?!”

Hafsah Faizal, A Tempest of Tea

We follow Arthie as she finds and recruits her crew, which she does with many ups and downs. They must get inside the most complex and dangerous to infiltrate building protected by the vampire society.

It’s a story full of character development and plot twists. I found this book to be more about the characters than the plot. I like character-driven books, but I would have liked a bit more plot. I was also a bit sad that there were barely any scenes at the teahouse itself, and this was definitely something I was expecting. I would have been interested to read about how they handled the vampires. I learned that this book will be a duology, so I hope we will see more of this.

The character I loved to read about the most was Laith. I hope he returns in the second book, and maybe we will even get a chapter from his perspective. I think he is an interesting character, and I love his relationship with his cat, who always goes with him everywhere he goes.

“Aren’t you afraid?” she asked. “Fear stops life, not death,”

Hafsah Faizal, A Tempest of Tea

I enjoyed reading this book and couldn’t put it down in some parts. The short chapters made it easy to read between chores or on my work break. I can’t wait until the second book in the duology comes out. But I will have to wait a while. It is set to come out on January 1, 2025.

In the end, I gave this book four stars.