⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐.5
I have been so busy all month long that this book took me AGES to finish, and it sucked because this book is REALLY good! I finally had to sit myself down one night and not let myself go to bed until it was finished.
"For Ning, the only thing worse than losing her mother is knowing that it's her own fault. She was the one who unknowingly brewed the poison tea that killed her—the poison tea that now threatens to also take her sister, Shu.
When Ning hears of a competition to find the kingdom's greatest shennong-shi—masters of the ancient and magical art of tea-making—she travels to the imperial city to compete. The winner will receive a favor from the princess, which may be Ning's only chance to save her sister's life.
But between the backstabbing competitors, bloody court politics, and a mysterious (and handsome) boy with a shocking secret, Ning might actually be the one in more danger."
- from Storygraph
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This book was really great and really unique. I was totally sucked in by the idea of a magic system based on the art of making tea. And for a unique form of magic, I felt like I completely understood it from the start and every way it was used along the way made sense to me, which I think is really important in fantasy. I like how things twisted and turned throughout the story, though the character's motivation always stayed the same. I'm still a little bit confused about some of the events at the end and where certain characters loyalties lie, but I guess that's what the sequel is for (that I thankfully don't have to wait too long for! It comes out 8/23). For anyone else like me who loves fantasy based in Eastern mythologies and cultures, this is definitely a great one to check out!
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Prompts Completed:
2022 Once Upon a Book Club Reading Challenge (A book published in 2022)
2022 Popsugar Reading Challenge (A Duology)
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Content Warnings: Death of a parent, Grief, Violence, Murder, Poison
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