I received a digital advance reader’s copy (ARC) of A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal. Since this version is just a proof and not the final version, I won’t quote directly and will keep my comments general.

In A Tempest of Tea, Arthie Casimir has been making a bit of a name for herself in the criminal underworld of White Roaring. She runs a teahouse by day, and a bloodhouse for vampires by night. The latter is, of course, very illegal, as relations between humans and vampires have always been frosty, nearly hostile, and it’s only getting worse. However, when her teahouse’s survival comes into question, Arthie makes a deal she never dreamed of—to team up with a member of the city guard, who is as handsome as he is suspicious. So she and a motley crew agree to help him steal a ledger from the Athereum, the famed exclusive hangout spot for prestigious vampires. But there is treachery everywhere, perhaps even in Arthie’s own crew, and as the heist progresses, secrets will be revealed that will change everything.

First of all, I have to talk about how cool the setting of this story is. A city inspired by Victorian London, but with vampires and magic—what more could you want? I do wish we’d gotten to learn more about this place, especially the vampires, but still, the settings felt vivid and alive. Which is kind of funny, considering there are so many undead in residence.

However, for all the intriguing settings, the vampires were kind of lacking to me. I would have much rather seen different types of otherworldly creatures in action, rather than merely getting an explanation in the form of Arthie’s inner monologue. I feel like I instantly forgot most of the lore and vampiric attributes. Since there were also half-vampires, I wanted to see the two types interact, to get a better handle on what they’re like and how they’re different. But instead, I feel like vampires were kind of on the periphery of the storyline.

As for the rest of the storyline, though, the heist elements were pretty good. The idea of infiltrating a fancy vampire estate is wonderful, and I liked the scenes that focused on how they were going to pull this off. I also think the fact that most of the characters involved didn’t fully trust each other was a great extra layer of complexity, adding to the sense of danger surrounding the whole situation.

And speaking of the characters, the best part of this book, for me, is the found family elements. Arthie’s bond with Jin is my favorite thing. They’re essentially siblings, choosing each other time and time again, and that’s wonderful to see. I also liked Flick, the forger who joins the team, and though we didn’t see Matteo as much, I found him entertaining enough. I didn’t really like Laith insofar as I had any opinion of him; I feel like his characterization was kind of lacking. And therefore, I really didn’t care about his and Arthie’s complex relationship. There’s attraction mixed with distrust, which should have made for compelling interactions, but I just… felt nothing. Which is unfortunate, and possibly just a personal problem. You might have a completely different view. I liked Jin’s flirtation with Flick well enough, but it was such a minor subplot that it also didn’t really do anything for me.

As for the end of the book, there were a couple of plot twists that I really didn’t see coming. However, I’m not sure they made any sense, due to the less-than-ideal way that information and lore was presented in this book. I think if I’d spent more time with the pertinent characters, these twists would have been much more impactful. Still, I was interested, in a vague way.

In the end, A Tempest of Tea was kind of a mixed bag for me. A really solid world, a fantastic sibling duo at the center, and the promise of intrigue with the plot gave me a decent amount to enjoy. However, some lackluster worldbuilding and uninteresting romance made this a lot harder to love. So really, I walked away from this thinking that it was just okay, which is such a shame because I wanted to adore it! I still think it might just be me, though. So if you like vampire stories, historical fantasy, or heist novels, try this one!

A Tempest of Tea is available now!