Disclaimer: Thank you to Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing A Steeping of Blood by Hafsah Faizal for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
A Steeping of Blood is the second book in the Blood and Tea of Duology by New York Times bestselling author Hafsah Faizal, following the New York Times bestselling A Tempest of Tea. This young adult fantasy romance follows Arthie Casimir and her crew, a group of scoundrels surviving in White Roaring, Ettenia, as they work to take down the oppressive Ram.
In this seductive sequel, Arthie, Jin, Flick, and Matteo reel from the jaw-dropping ending of book one. Her crew has one goal and one goal only, after the deadly night in the Atherneum, they’ll stop at nothing to bring down the Ram, no matter the cost.
Arthie and the others chase down missing vampires, search for new allies, and dive headfirst into the ghosts of their past, this time in Ceylan, Arthie’s homeland.
A Steeping of Blood is a captivating heist adventure filled with crimson-red secrets, bloodshed and bittersweet moments. You’ll want to follow the turmoil Arthie’s crew endures until the very last page, bringing an epic conclusion to this gritty fantasy duology.
Read our ARC review of A Steeping of Blood.
A Steeping of Blood
Description
Tropes
- Young Adult
- Vampires
- Heist
- Found Family
Review
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Overall Impressions 😊
I love me a good book about a cast of endearing characters trying to pull the heist of their lives. Six of Crows is my favorite book of all time after all.
A Tempest of Tea and subsequently A Steeping of Blood pull you into a deftly built world with magic weapons and take you through a riveting page-turner. I enjoyed all elements of this book, the charm, the adrenaline, the fangs, and a heist-fueled plot.
This was a great time. I was excited and invested the whole time. I love Arthie, Jin, and Flick, and I wanted to know how their story ends. However, there were times where the heist definitely fell short, and I was looking for more “aha” moments where big reveals made me marvel at plot lines I didn’t see weaving together. At times, this book read more like an action thriller (one with a lot of claws) rather than a well-executed masterpiece of a heist plan.
Perfect For Fans Of… 🌟
If you enjoy young adult fantasy romance novels with phenomenal prose and twists, this duology is for you.
The plot is very similar to the Six of Crows duology, so fans of Leigh Bardugo would enjoy this series quite a bit.
It also has the charm and prose of authors known for impeccable world building, like Holly Black, author of The Cruel Prince series, and Rebecca Ross, author of Divine Rivals.
Characters 👥
As before, we follow Arthie Casimir, Jin Casimir, and Felicity “Flick” Linden.
Arthie Casimir, the orphan girl turned crew leader, is giving Kaz Brekker from Six of Crows at every chance she gets. I like Arthie, her ruthlessness, resilience, and determination. She’s a character driven by her desire to get revenge for what was done to her island, but she also clearly cares about the crew around her. Arthie gets some strong character development here, exploring new emotions and adjusting to her new reality.
Jin Casimir, Arthie’s brother, stole the scene every time he was on the page. A charming boy who has stolen plenty of hearts, he was determined to achieve his goal in this book, and he left my heart in shambles a few times with his reactions and his growth throughout the story.
Flick has the most growth of them all, as expected, as she navigates the world outside of her mother’s shadow in this book. I liked seeing her become the person she’s meant to be.
I loved seeing the relationships between the characters deepen. Old and new conflicts were resolved and created, steamy kisses were exchanged, and a hint of romance developed as the story progressed, without ever clobbering the plot or stealing focus from the heist.
Plot 🗺️
In its 60-ish chapters, A Steeping of Blood follows the events of A Tempest of Tea directly, building on the smoky foundation of revenge laced with a wicked blend of secrets.
However, I should note, if you’re looking for a heist where all the seemingly obscure pieces come together at the end, this book isn’t it. Instead, it reads more like an action thriller that takes the reader through the emotional fallout of everything that’s come before. It’s meant for readers who’ve grown deeply invested in the characters and want to see how the story ends.
I liked seeing Arthie face her past in Ceylan, and I appreciated that Jin got some closure on things that have been bothering him. That said, there were quite a few loose ends for me to feel fully satisfied, especially when it came to the magic system. There seemed to be no point to some stuff, and i’m not sure if the author is intending to write more about them.
I did not quite get the overall plan that gets them to the celebration, it felt like we were driving to a confrontation without the punch to back it up. The last time the crew had tried something similar we know how it all went, so I don’t think it was realized that they were trying to do way more with much less. But this book was always about Ceylan trip from what I can tell, so i can see why the rest was potentially overlooked.
Some plot points also felt very similar to the Six of Crows duology, and because of that, they irked me quite a bit.
I would’ve loved to see more unique exploration of the Prince Arthur retelling woven into the story. As it is, it almost felt like the journey wasn’t fully complete, even though the duology is. (It is, right?)
Either way, it was a good time, but the ending left me lukewarm. While I liked the yearning and heavy tension that often comes with young adult fantasy, I feel like the book would’ve benefited from an extra 100 pages, just to give some of the new developments space to breathe.
I did really enjoy the found-family cast, thrills of an ocean voyage and lots of coziness sprinkled in between the notes of romance.
Writing Style and Narration ✍️
The prose in A Steeping of Blood is perfection for a romantic vampire fantasy novel. The writing style is what I’d describe as ethereal and islandic. I could practically feel the island breeze in every sentence, as corny as that sounds, and I mean that in the best way.
I had never realized that We Hunt the Flame and the Sands of Arawiya duology were set in the same universe (I imagine they are, since that’s where Laith is from?), but I’d be curious to learn more about this world if I ever want to escape into a cozy island adventure.
Spicy Chapters
How Spicy is A Steeping of Blood: Blood and Tea Book 2: 🌶️
The tea is elegant, the revenge is eternal. 🩸👑
A Steeping of Blood is a decent follow-up to the commercially acclaimed first book in the Blood and Tea duology. Although it steers away from the heist it delivered so eloquently in the first book, it is still captivating enough to follow the found family’s adventures and see where their story takes them.
The ending is a bit lackluster, and the plot sometimes doesn’t come together, but the journey to Ceylan and the answers to lingering questions are interesting enough that I believe you should consider finishing the duology.
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