A review by _kiratune
A Venom Dark and Sweet by Judy I. Lin

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Way better than the first book, in my humble opinion. I almost dnf the first one because i felt that i dragged on and on and we were just waiting for the next competition rounds without much happening in between. Yes, I still think Ning is inexplicably overpowered but at least this time around I understood the scope of what tea magic can do much clearer because rules and repetitions started appearing. I think the first book would have greatly benefitted from already including the cosmic scope of the threat and not just play it as a political intrigue, I still didn’t care for the romance, but I think it did the writer a lot of good to have this quest and all the mythical lore to explain and to show, almost like a Ghibli x Lotr mash up, in a sense. Pacing was a big wonky and the climax was too short and quick, but oh well. I had a good time 🤝