A Tempest of Tea

First off, I love this gorgeous cover and that is what first drew me to the book. Arthie is an interesting character carrying a special gun and running Spindrift, a tea house that turns into an illegal bloodhouse that she also got by trickery and keep going with secrets and blackmail. So, cool premise. It tried to be like Six of Crows but with vampires instead of grisha. It did not quite reach that level but had enough twists and turns to keep me reading to see if Arthie and gang could steal the ledger and save her tea house. And while I though the interactions between Jin and Flick were cute, it really didn't need Arthie fall for Laith or anyone else. I liked the kitten. The story did drag a little bit with the setup of the heist but redeemed itself with the ending, much as downer it is with everything going but secrets revealed and I am sufficiently intrigued to find out what happens in the next book with Jin and Arthie and who that mysterious Wolf is.

A Tempest of Tea is a YA historical fantasy set on the streets of White Roaring, Ettenia which has a Victorian London vibe to it. Arthie Casimir, a criminal mastermind who trades in secrets, runs Spindrift, a teahouse by day which, at night, becomes an illegal bloodhouse for vampires. When Spindrift is threatened, Archie is forced to conspire with an adversary and a band of outcasts to carry out the theft of an item from a sinister, elite vampire society. A Tempest of Tea is an engaging story with secrets, vampires, magic, found family, romance, politics, colonialism, gangs, a complex heist and a multitude of twists, turns and conspiracies. It was a little slow to start due to character development and world building, but the last one hundred pages will blow the reader away and wallop them with the cliffhanger ending. The events unfolded through the points of view of three characters which made the story richer and more nuanced. I liked the fantasy map. Sign me up for the sequel.