A Magic Steeped in Poison

Book Title: A Magic Steeped in Poison

Author: Judy I. Lin

Series: The Book of Tea #1

Date Started: August 17th 2022

Date Completed: September 4th 2022

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Romance, Historical

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Three Star

Final Rating: Three Stars

Review:

◆ Thank you to NetGalley for this ebook for review ◆

A Magic Steeped in Poison isn't the best but enjoyable enough. I found it very predictable, had seen it all before, but the magic system, while patchy in places, was really interesting to learn about. who doesn't love the idea of tea being literal magic?

Overall, I just wasn't very convinced by the plot. The court politics was flimsy, with power dynamics that weren't totally believable, though served their purpose in the story. The competition part of the story felt a little obsolete as Ning was clearly written as the best to the point where it seemed silly no one else noticed. There was a lot of angst, very little threat. It suffered from the typical 'you just almost died but let's have a completely unrelated casual conversation immediately after' YA trope.

There were also moments when I didn't fully understand what was happening on the page. Things would happen and people would appear and, from the set-up and staging, I thought it meant one but then a few lines later, I would be told it meant something else and wasn't as significant as I'd expected. It made things hard to follow at times and also missed out on a fair few opportunities for drama.

I really hate cliffhangers, especially if they happen without finishing off the initial story at all. Unfortunately, I think I'll leave this series not knowing how the story ends since it decided to essentially cut off in the middle, and I didn't enjoy it quite enough to read the second book when it arrives.