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A review by lakeofstars
A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.0
perhaps it's because i'm not a romantic (and also not the intended teenage audience lol) but i truly felt like the non-platonic interactions were the weakest part of the book. did not feel much chemistry nor find the trope-laden progression believable. which sucks because i do really want to care for each individual character but the sheer Presence of romance that i was so duly uninterested in was really putting me off.
but believe me when i say i drank up (hehe) what we were given about the world and enjoyed arthie as a protagonist. this book had a fun plot outline with relevant themes, and i LOVE a good arthurian undertone. it really is a shame that the contrived romantic tension was so egregious. i had other (pretty major, hence the 2⭐️ rating) issues with the painful pacing, characterization choices, stakes (hehe), lack of expansion on most ideas introduced, and certain plot points but none had my eye twitching the way it did every time a m/f duo that didn't explicitly view each other as siblings interacted. the tropeification of writing is killing us all.
but believe me when i say i drank up (hehe) what we were given about the world and enjoyed arthie as a protagonist. this book had a fun plot outline with relevant themes, and i LOVE a good arthurian undertone. it really is a shame that the contrived romantic tension was so egregious. i had other (pretty major, hence the 2⭐️ rating) issues with the painful pacing, characterization choices, stakes (hehe), lack of expansion on most ideas introduced, and certain plot points but none had my eye twitching the way it did every time a m/f duo that didn't explicitly view each other as siblings interacted. the tropeification of writing is killing us all.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and Colonisation