Series: Blood and Tea, Book 1
Published: 2024
Author: Hafsah Faizal
Genre: YA Fantasy / Heist / Paranormal
Audience: Grades 9–12
Number of Stars: ★★★☆☆ (3/5)
Goodreads Link: A Tempest of Tea
Content Warnings: Mild fantasy violence and mild sexuality.
Publisher’s Summary
On the streets of White Roaring, Arthie Casimir is a criminal mastermind and collector of secrets. Her prestigious tearoom transforms into an illegal bloodhouse by dark, catering to the vampires feared by society. But when her establishment is threatened, Arthie is forced to strike an unlikely deal with an alluring adversary to save it—and she can’t do the job alone.
Calling on some of the city’s most skilled outcasts, Arthie hatches a plan to infiltrate the sinister, glittering vampire society known as the Athereum. But not everyone in her ragtag crew is on her side, and as the truth behind the heist unfolds, Arthie finds herself in the midst of a conspiracy that will threaten the world as she knows it.
From the New York Times—bestselling author of We Hunt the Flame comes the first book in a hotly anticipated fantasy duology teeming with romance and revenge, led by an orphan girl willing to do whatever it takes to save her self-made kingdom. Dark, action-packed, and swoonworthy, this is Hafsah Faizal better than ever.
Review
A Tempest of Tea follows Arthie and Jin, the proprietors of Spindrift, a tremendously popular tea room in the city of White Roaring. Both are orphans—one a victim of colonization and one a survivor of a fire—who have created a refuge and found family within Spindrift’s walls. However, the worst-kept secret in town is that Spindrift moonlights as an underground blood bank, providing vampires with a consensual way to drink blood. When Spindrift is threatened by the ruler known as The Ram, Arthie and Jin must team up with unlikely allies to save their life’s work.
The novel is a fun and quick read, sped along by alternating perspectives that keep you turning pages to get back to your favorite characters. The fantasy elements are ever-present without being over the top, and there is just enough romance to keep young readers interested without crossing fully into “romantasy” territory.
What is most impressive is how the novel serves as a clever introduction to exploring narratives of colonialism. Arthie is a refugee from a country that Ettenia colonized and destroyed to harvest resources. The novel does a nice job introducing the impact of colonialism on displaced populations through the lens of a high-stakes fantasy heist.
🎒 Classroom & Curricular Connections
- Social Studies (Imperialism & Global History):
- Activity Idea: Compare the fictional country of Ettenia to the historical British Empire. Research the “Tea Trade” and its connection to colonization in India and China. How does Arthie’s tearoom subvert or reclaim this specific piece of colonial history?
- ELA (The Heist Archetype):
- Activity Idea: Identify the “Ragtag Crew” tropes used in the novel (the mastermind, the muscle, the infiltrator). Discuss how “Found Family” serves as a survival mechanism for characters who have lost their biological families to systemic violence.
- Economics (Black Markets & Supply Chains):
- Activity Idea: Analyze the Spindrift’s business model. Discuss why “underground” economies emerge when a governing body (like The Ram) restricts access to necessities or labels a specific population (vampires) as illegal.
- Creative Writing (World Building):
- Activity Idea: White Roaring is described as “sinister and glittering.” Have students write a descriptive paragraph of a setting that feels both luxurious and dangerous, focusing on sensory details like the smell of tea versus the metallic tang of blood.
