A review by chris_reads
A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin

adventurous mysterious relaxing slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

The magic and atmosphere were the standouts here. I love what they did with the tea brewing and Chinese mythology. There were aspects I really admire, like the lead being a healer, which we don't see a lot. The rest however... Well let's just say I've read a fair amount of ya fantasy in my time. The genre has some well established tropes, so a lot of the plot points and archetypes felt very familiar. I still think it's a good book, and perfectly adequate debut. But I'm not particularly charmed by it. I wasn't intending to read the next one either, but it ended on a big fat cliffhanger, so now I gotta. 
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