From the bestselling author of We Hunt The Flame, comes a new and intoxicatingly addictive YA Fantasy that completely stole my heart. 

Masterfully blending the criminal swagger of Peaky Blinders and whirlwind action of Six of Crows, A Tempest of Tea is an insatiably lush and emotionally depth-filled tale of vampires, found family and vengeance —that heist obsessed fantasy lovers really don’t want miss! 

Set in the same world as We Hunt The Flame (in the city of White Roaring) we follow criminal mastermind Arthie Casimir, proprietor of a popular Tea House which,by night transforms into an illegal speakeasy catering to the city’s vampires.

But when her beloved business is threatened, Arthie has no choice but to strike a deal with an enemy —by putting together a misfit group of criminals to infiltrate the vampire elites’ most secure organisation and steal a book. But not everyone in her crew is on her side, and there are many who would kill for the knowledge contained within the book’s pages. 

I loved every second of this heady and atmospherically compelling tale, the prose was breathtakingly beautiful and the dialogue both witty and thoroughly entertaining. Hafsah Faisal masterfully explores themes of power, corruption, colonialism, class and family with such thought provoking vividness that I did find myself tearing up more than once whilst reading—especially during Jin and Arthie’s backstory reveals.

The complexity and depth of our POV characters (Arthie,Jin & Flick) was phenomenally well done too and the emotional growth we see from all of them was incredible.

Arthie, our mauve-haired Queen of chaos (and keeper of secrets) was definitely my favourite. Her ability to keep her cool, even in the most dire of situations was impressive. But it’s her decade long commitment to avenging her family and homeland (by cleverly sowing chaos in the colonising Ettenia’s upper eschelons—like a gun-toting Robin Hood) that made me love her the most. Her enterprising schemes and skill at extracting secrets (as well as keeping tons of her own) had me on the edge of my seat, eager to see what she’d do next. Though, I do admit Arthie’s charismatic second, Jin (and Laithe’s unnamed feline companion) were also firm faves. 

There is some romance, which I found swoon-worthy in its slow burn intensity (which includes a bit of a love triangle) and the jaw-droppingly suspenseful twists leading up to THAT ending already has me excited to see how things develop in the sequel—which I’m desperate to get my hands on. 

As high octane and pacy as this was, you’ll definitely want to savour every moment, as little there’s quite a few hints/clues that you may miss if you’re not paying close enough attention. 

If you love heists, drama filled historical fantasy or vampires, then you simply must add this to your TBRs—it’s fabulous! Just be sure to check TWs beforehand

Also, a huge thank you to BookBreak and PanMacmillan for the proof.