A Steeping of Blood

Blood and Tea #2

by Hafsah Faizal

Arthie Casimir's had her tea. Now she's out for blood.

White Roaring is sharpening its fangs after the deadly night that left the city in shambles. The press are dead, the public is calling for justice, vampires are in danger, and amid the turmoil, the Ram announces a celebration.

Still reeling from the bloodshed, Arthie Casimir has no time to mourn anyone's death, let alone her own. She has no time for love, either, even though it saved her life. As Arthie navigates new emotions and new allies, she must reassemble her scrambled crew and scrape together what little they have left to fight one last time—and she will need to face the ghosts of her past to do it.

In Ceylan.

After the jaw-dropping ending of #1 New York Times bestseller A Tempest of Tea, Hafsah Faizal crafts a deliciously twisty and seductive sequel that will leave readers breathless until the very last page.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Vampires, Romance, Paranormal, Audiobook, Historical Fiction

435 pages, Hardcover

First published September 23, 2025

About the author

Hafsah Faizal is the New York Times bestselling, award-winning author of WE HUNT THE FLAME, WE FREE THE STARS and A TEMPEST OF TEA, and the founder of IceyDesigns, where she creates websites for authors and beauteous goodies for everyone else. A Forbes 30 under 30 honoree, when she’s not writing, she can be found designing, playing Assassin’s Creed, or traversing the world. Born in Florida and raised in California, she now resides in Texas with a library of books waiting to be devoured.

Reviews

[ellie]

MatteoArthie endgame when ?????

[hater ★ · Rating 2 out of 5]

i was gonna say the first half was 2 stars, the second half 4 stars and i’d give it 3 stars, but some REALLY unnecessary things happened at the end and i’m frustrated.

[suvi]

On my hands and knees begging for this book to magically appear in my hands asap or I might cry

[Selina · Rating 5 out of 5]

a tempest of coffee?

[jo ୨୧ · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I'm here, Arthie," he replied. Eternally."

⋆☕︎ ˖

happy belated release day to this gem of a sequel

I actually am not okay after this book. I don't know if I'll ever be okay. You can take with that what you will just be ready when you pick up this book that youmight not be okay.

This book follows the aftermath of A Tempest of Tea and all the same characters that you originally know. With the addition of a few new ones. We've got our hottie Jin, bestie flick, girlboss supreme Arthie, dreamboat matteo, and he-who-shall-be-named laith. Oh wait, just named him. Oops!

The entirety of this book I was on the edge of my seat. I did not know what was going to happen, nor did I expect what actually did happen. And what did happen was not really okay! But that's okay! (It's not.)

Some of it was a little slow (yes I did just say I was on the edge of my seat, I'm indesicive *flips hair*) but all in all, it kept me going. Mainly because Matteo was there, who am I kidding...

I'm just a girl 🤭

The found family in this book (and in A Tempest of Tea) is top tier, top notch, 10/10, and it was still strong in this novel. Truly a plus side on the duology.

Managing without spoilers here. Yay, wow, surprised I kept my mouth shut there. The plot of those book flowed albeit a bit choppy at times, espcially with our villain. I truly just wanted the villain dead. Murder, I dunno, like stab through the heart or something? Just ✨death✨. And it took the entire book--but Jo, isn't that how it works? Yes, leave me alone--for it to happen.

Ignoring how a special type of vampires are called "Super Vampires" 💀

All in all, an epic conclusion to the stunning novel that A Tempest of Tea was. Highly reccomend you pick this book up if you liked AToT.


quotes for those who scrolled

⋆˚࿔ ☕︎"𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭-𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘱 𝘣𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴." ⋆˚࿔

⋆˚࿔ ☕︎ "𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘦, 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨?" ⋆˚࿔

⋆˚࿔ ☕︎ "𝘋𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺," 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘥. ⋆˚࿔

⋆˚࿔ ☕︎ 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. "𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢." ⋆˚࿔


🩸huge thanks to the publisher/netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review

🍵 post read: so where do I send my therapy bill?

🫖 pre- review:
I GOT THE ARC
I FREAKING GOT THE ARC AHHHHHHHHHHH

[niyya نية · Rating 5 out of 5]

"We had a good love story, right?"

no I'm not crying u are. what the hell. hafsah why would u do that. matteo the man that u are.

and LAITH GOT HIS REDEMPTION ARC THANK YOU

that being said though, I ended up loving matteo much more than I love laith so

I loved this book

[Krysta ꕤ]

dnf @ 16% .. I realized that I don’t remember anything from the first book and I just don’t care to continue with this one. the writing is really bland and the characters besides Jin are all one dimensional. I wanted to give this a chance but the series is just not for me.

—— thanks to NetGalley, the author and Macmillan Audio for the arc, all opinions are my own.

[ellie ˋ°•*⁀➷ · Rating 3 out of 5]

➳ 3.75 ☆! ☕ spoiler free + mini review
⤷ dont get me wrong, i still LOVED this

⋆˚࿔ 22nd review of the year

"i suppose we can save the world and have tea.”

🎧 -whos afraid of lil old me
ᯓᡣ𐭩 so whos afraid of me?
you caged me, and then you called me crazy

₊‧꒰my thoughts꒱ ‧‧ 🔪
⤷ ok.. so for the first 60% it was going SO WELL i was giggling, happy w the plot, n everything. i think after some incidents it started not going how i thought it would and felt underwhelming 😔like i totally feel like the story could've ended differently, PLUS this series had sm potential overall

⤷ it's still a series i will recommend tho because i adore the characters!! i just wished better for them + the epilogue was NOT enough + i lowk feel like a 3rd book is needed 😭😭 overall it was a very solid read and a high 3 star rating!! i will miss these characters very much. i cannot wait to see what hafsah writes next!! #i need more ya vampire fantasy books 💌💌

“I suppose I want peace. I want to live again.”

also lowk.. what happened with laith LOL i feel like he could've played a bigger part in the plot

----------------

‧꒰preview ᝰ.ᐟ꒱ ‧₊ ☕

₊‧꒰2.20.26꒱ ‧₊
⤷ OHH I AM NOT PLAYING ABT THIS BOOK, IM SO EXCITEDD !! im alr 50% thru oop 🫢 but its going great so far! after the ending of book 1 this was a NEED, i lowk wished i reread that one but its okay. dedicating this to my girl ava who gave this a 5 stars very recently!! ilysm angel and cant wait to talk about this book when im done 🫂💌

[B 🩶 · Rating 5 out of 5]

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edit: FYM SEPTEMBER 2025 ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?1?1?1??1?1?1?1

edit 2: WE HAVE A COVER I REPEAT WE HAVE A COVER (Also Faizal posted on her instagram an opening snippet and what can I say MATTEOARTHIE NATION WE'RE WINNING)

[✨⚡ Kelcey (felinebooktrovert) ✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

This is the type of sequel I've been craving.

I have been so disappointed with sequels lately, especially of the fantasy variety. Sequels should be nonstop forward momentum and that's exactly what this was. It was so hard to put down and I enjoyed every minute of it.

And the best part was Jin and Flick. Those two are so great together and did not get near enough page time here but everywhere they were was just the best parts to read.

So now the one thing that I didn't like: Arthie and Matteo. I will say that I love Matteo's character (I loved ALL the characters), but their relationship just didn't make sense to me. He saved her life and it seemed that was what pushed them together. I was firmly a fan of Laith and so the ending of the first book suuuucked, but I had a feeling he would be back.

And I just wish that he would have stayed the main man for her. I mean come on, how awesome would it have been to go from shooting each other and almost killing them to coming back together and working together and ending up together?? That would have been AMAZING enemies to lovers. But instead I feel like we got force fed Matteo because Laith doesn't show up until later and it honestly seems like they're going to end up together anyway, so Matteo just ended up being filler for her and that was just a waste of his character.

But even with those thoughts, this book was still so good and I can't wait for Hafsah's next story ❤️‍🔥

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

[vyn targaryen ‎♡‧₊˚ · Rating 2 out of 5]

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ "Stop" Someone shouted from the fort gates. Bloodworth. He was aiming a gun at her. "I will kill you."
"Then bury me shallow, for I will return."

A Steeping of Blood was very difficult to rate. On the one hand, I deeply enjoyed many of the plot twists and all of the character's relationships, and on the other hand, some of the writing was poor and the middle of the book suffered from a lack of stakes and real emotion.

I was extremely excited when I received the ARC- thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me one. This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2025 (among Sunrise on the Reaping, Watch Me, and Every Spiral of Fate), however, when I neared the halfway mark, it began to disappoint me deeply.

Before I delve into that, however, I would like to point out the things I enjoyed.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ "I supposed I want peace. I want to live again." He lowered his voice. "With you. For you."

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ He breathed a laugh, brushing away the hair that clung to her damp skin. "My praecantrix."

1- Arthie and Mattheo were truly very sweet and enjoyable to root for. I'm also very proud of Hafsah for making a difficult decision and killing him off in the end. I loved him, but it felt correct.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ What a delight it was, to be seen.

2- Flick! Her character is truly very relatable to me, with her distractability and loyalty (and attraction to Jin). She never felt flat, even when the other characters did, and her development was lovely.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ "I thought you were a man of many talents," Arthie said.
Mattheo's jaw dropped open. "Are you flirting with me, darling?"
Jin flicked a brow. "Don't get your hopes up."
"Oh, they're up, all right."
"That better not mean what I think it means."
Mattheo gave him a wink.
"I don't know what that means," Flick said.

3- The found family. Even when I grew disappointed, their banter cheered me up. Their connections felt genuine throughout the entire book, and Arthie and Jin are truly special to me.

Now, to what disappointed me:

The writing grew bland- and almost cringeworthy, as much as it pains me to admit. The pacing of the sentences was often off, containing the same punctuational structures 4 times in a row. The diction of the characters varied from formal to casual at random, from phrases such as "does it not" "are we not" to words like "stinky" and exclamations like "by golly". Other examples of poor dialogue are these:

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ "You have my fangs," one said.
"And my claws," said another.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ "...a specialized breed of super vampires."

Yes, you read that correctly, 'super vampires'. I also grew tired of how many times Mattheo said "darling", and how many times the Ram "hmm"ed.

The stakes fell flat, rendering my interest to a low I would never have expected from a book by Hafsah Faizal. I could not bring myself to care when the Siwangs died, because, unfortunately, they had never felt permanent, and their disappearance didn't create a lasting impact.

The characters somehow grew into caricatures by the 50% mark, which frustrated me deeply, because one of the main reasons I enjoyed A Tempest of Tea so deeply was because of the found family.

My last complaint is, unfortunately, how Arthie- and Jin- dealt with those who had wronged her. Only Mattheo seemed to have no qualms about dealing out consequences to people who had done truly horrible things. For example-

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ "I know they're colonizers, but you can't mean to kill them," Jin said, brow furrowed.

It's possible that I may be too harsh when discussing this, but it reminds me of the trope- which Arthie fell into, to my utter dismay- where the hero refuses to kill the villain because it will make them just as bad as their enemy. I could write an essay on all the reasons I dislike that trope.

Overall, I'm truly disappointed. I fervently wanted to like this book- love it, in fact- but it fell flat.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you Macmillan for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. First of all, Hafsah— I’m sorry. I truly am… But it is very obvious that A Steeping of Blood was difficult to write. A Tempest of Tea was one of my favorite books of the year last year. I literally have THREE copies of it. Between the characters, the twists, and the over-arching theme, I was really looking forward to seeing what would come next with a second book.

The writing style, while beautiful and witty, was almost childish in comparison to the subject matter. I mean, we’re talking about colonialism, racism, death, etc… I get this is technically YA, but this book could benefit from the author using a more sensitive tone. A personal issue I had was the dialogue between characters. The one-liners and pet names were unbearably cheesy.

Overall, this book was dull but somehow incredibly heavy-handed. The unnecessary descriptions and random side thoughts during the multiple POVs will probably have most people skimming the pages. I’m sorry, but it’s the truth.

A Tempest of Tea was slower on the pace side, and while this one is much faster paced, it feels like we spend chapter upon chapter reading about a single scene that could’ve been easily put into half a page and still packed the same punch.

I love how we saw more of Flick and Jin but at the cost of the other characters… Which was fine, but the ending of the first book left us with SO many questions that didn’t really get answered.

My main issue was the end… I’m not the type of person that always has to have a HEA, but the twist at the end felt inorganic and added purely for shock value and nothing else. Maybe to create buzz online when people talk about their experience reading it? I don’t know, but wow… I felt very thrown off by everything that happens in the last 100 pages. It truly felt like the author’s heart wasn’t in it completely.

I gain no pleasure from making such a review. I’ve been a fan of this story and these characters since I got the ARC of A Tempest of Tea in late 2023.

[riddle · Rating 5 out of 5]

the chokehold this woman's books have on me is insane

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

⥼~-✰-~⥽ ☽ ˚•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙˚＊☾ ⥼~-✰-~⥽
.𖥔 ݁ ˖༘⋆𐦍⊹₊.𖥔.“𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝙸 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎.”𖥔 ݁. ˖༘⋆𐦍⊹₊.𖥔 ݁

 ┊✦ Okay this. Book was far better than tempest of tea like the prologue is what got me the most this one just seemed way more interesting with the world building like I legit could not put this one down there just seem to be more going on now thee characters got more ruthless than they once were before. The story just got so much more interesting in this where it left off on the first book where it needed to be and to make more sense too.


┊✦ the worldbuilding was less complicated in this one to follow it was so much faster paced in this one it was almost hard to put down there was no little slow burns in between.
I adored all the characters in here including Arthie and Jin there characters also shined in this but Arthie was more badass in this one completely she was grown more!


˚┊✦ Romance - Epilogue

I loved the romance in here so much like it was much more on the slow burn side ngl but you can literally sense all the sexual tension chemistry between all of them that gives you the edge of your seat that will they finally kiss? Even in the battles scenes was so hot together !

I loved how the story was so complex about vampires it wasn’t too much of the vampire world either. It was so unique how it was written too!

the ending !!!??? Please tell me that did not happen 😭😭 the way I’m now getting emotionally attached to books I never used to cry in books but now my whole attitude has changed that it’s okay to let your emotions out like bruh WHY DID THAT HAPPEN 😭😭😭😭😭 I’m not okay! I really need the other book because holy fuck 😭😭😭😭

It’s not one of my biggest reviews but without revealing any spoilers in this book 😭by far my favourite vampire book yet! I cannot wait for more of this to come out!

𓏲ּ𝄢⋆˙⟡⋆꙳•̩̩͙❅*̩̩͙‧͙ ‧͙*̩̩͙❆ ͙͛ ˚₊⋆Side characters⋆꙳•̩̩͙❅*̩̩͙‧͙ ‧͙*̩̩͙❆ ͙͛ ˚₊⋆𓏲ּ𝄢⋆˙

 ˚┊✦ Matteo -
Matteo was the fucking king of sidelines characters his character literally did it for me in this one like holy shit he did come out of his shell at lot from the first book!

╭ ✦ • ⥼~-✰-~⥽ ☽ ˚𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 & 𝚂𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐✩•̩̩͙˚＊☾ ⥼~-✰-~⥽
│ ⊹ ⭐️4.3

│ ⊹ 🌶 2
╰ ✦ •⥼~-✰-~⥽ ☽ ˚•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙˚＊☾ ⥼~-✰-~⥽
❄️⭒˚.⋆ ❄️ ⋆⭒˚.⋆⋆⭒˚.⋆ ❄️ ⋆⭒˚.⋆⋆⭒˚.⋆ ❄️ ⋆⭒˚.⋆⋆⭒˚.⋆ ❄️ ⋆⭒˚.⋆⋆⭒˚.⋆ ⋆⭒˚.⋆⋆⭒˚.⋆ ❄️ ⋆⭒˚.⋆ ❄️ ⋆⭒˚.⋆ ❄️ ⋆⭒

﹏﹒✦﹒✶﹏﹒✦﹒﹏✦﹒

Pre read:🥵💋🍷🧡🫖

Let’s continue this worldbuilding complications 🤣😳cannot wait though see how it all folds out I’m frankly scared about this ending in this book more I’m so connected with some characters here 🤣😭🧡I’m excited !!! 😜

[Yusra ☾ · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I suppose we can save the world and have tea.”

For starters, the best part of this book was having an amazing buddy reading group, Yusra, Evie, and Aaiza. THE LAITH HATERSSSS. I had such a fun time reading with you guysssss 🥹

I’ve been waiting for this book to come out since Yusra and I first read it back last year, ESPECIALLY the cliffhanger Hafsah left us on. And I’m going to be so honest, this book DELIVERED. I enjoyed every second of it (well….most seconds).

Okay spoilers from here out (but they’ll be marked probably)

WHY THE ACTUAL HELL DID MATTEO DIE. HE WAS THE LOML AND THE BEST CHARACTER IN THIS ENTIRE BOOK AND HIS DEATH WAS SO UNNESSISARY AND THE FACT THAT LAITH IS LIVING HIS LIFE JUST HEHEHEAHAHAHAHAH HAVING FUN ABOVE THE GROUND IS INFURIATINGGGGGG. I’M GONNA KILL HAFSAH GUYS

Some extra things to note: I liked Flick a lot in this book! (Aaiza and Evie won I GUESS) She wasn’t babyish and actually knew what she was doing this time around and she was lowk a badass.

Another thing: Jin and Arthie’s relationship was peak once again. JIN’S PARENTS DYING WAS EVIL ONCE AGAIN. WHAT IS WRONG WITH HAFSAH GUYS.

I loveddddd the colonialism and the heavier themes in this book, it was literally real life problems in a fantasy way. Colonialism got everyone in the East a certain way and it was definitely relatable, the idea of never feeling at home, not fitting in, all of it.

Random note, but the way Hafsah describes blood, I honestly think she might be part vampire herself. It was....VERY detailed.

Overall, (bc I’m too tired to actually structure this review 😭) I loved this book despite all the anger it has caused me. When Matteo died at the end, we all cried together on call since we read the last chapters out loud together. Great trauma bonding experience!

“I had forgotten what it was to live until you, I forgot what it was like to have purpose.”

[⋆｡°·☁︎ sydney ⋆｡°·☁︎ · Rating 1 out of 5]

this was just a bad life choice in general
i knew going into it that i aggressively don't like this writing style
it makes me feel like a four year old who needs everything spelled out for them
like i literally didn't have the chance to guess or use my brain at all reading this book
which felt like a missed opportunity?
idk, im not the brightest by any means, but i do feel dumber after reading this?
im sure somebody out there loves this book, but its not my cup of tea.

[Yusra يسریٰ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buddyread with The Laith Haters: Evie, Yusra, and Aaiza

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every book by Hafsah Faizal was 5 stars so this for sure will be as well
Laith and Arthie endgame is needed

[Azanta (azantareads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

wait lol i’m actually devastated this is over 😭😭😭 Arthie and the gang you will always live in my heart oh im gonna go cry myself to sleep

i can always trust Hafsah to break my heart and put it back together with her books. i loved Arthie’s story so much and im devastated it’s come to an end and i have to part ways with them. i loved getting to see these characters grow into a family and into their arcs through another exciting plot that was reminiscent of all of my favorite stories - SOC, King Arthur, with a big f you to colonization and the evil that runs the injustices of our world. the ending was truly heartbreaking and this might be the first time i actually wish a series was longer bc i really was not ready to part ways with them. ily Arthie will miss you!

[Eden · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted so badly for book 2 to not fall into the same pitfalls as book 1. I wanted so badly to love it. Then, I wanted so badly to appreciate it. Then, I wanted so badly to like it even a little bit, but I just didn't. The world and character relationships were super intriguing, but nothing had good follow through. The world needed to be explained more, but instead the author just kept adding more rules to it. Also, the plot lacked focus. There were 3 interesting plot ideas in here, but that did the story a disservice because too much was trying to be wrapped up.

There was simply too much telling and not enough showing. I kept being told "the Ram is so evil" "the Ram" this and "the Ram" that, but she felt so much like a caricature rather than a real villain. There was potential for great emotional moments both with the Ram and Jin's parents, but we don't get enough of those characters together for us to care about their dynamics when things go badly.

Nothing in this story was earned. The romances weren't earned, but were instead plopped in. I loved some of the lines for the romances in the first book, but most of the romantic lines in this one were cringey. The "twists" weren't earned either. I also reallyyyy disliked in the Author's Note how the author said "sequels are the bane of [an author's] existence" like, huh? This is a duology?? You hate writing all books after the first one? Write standalones then! The first one honestly could've been tighter and an amazing standalone! But also in the Author's Note she said one of the big twists was one of her editor's ideas and you can tellll because of the absolute LACK OF FOCUS OF THIS BOOK. It was traveling, hairbrained scheme that shouldn't work but does, traveling, weird ambush that wasn't explained well, planning, blah blah blah, and then two random, unearned twists. It was either 1) the editors didn't do enough bc this book lacked focus or 2) the editors did too much bc this book lacked focus.

I didn't start this review meaning to crap on anyone, but I am actually mad that this book had such an interesting world and such lovely characters but lacked focus in every aspect. The potential was great. The execution was terrible.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an early copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Sophie (lambsbooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Darling, I’ve held your heart in my hands and begged it to beat for me again; what more do I need?”

You'll find:
🩸Vampires
🩸Found Family
🩸Heartbreak
🩸HEARTBREAK but in capitals
🩸Down with the colonizers
🩸Fantasy with 1920s vibes
🩸Tea 🍵

Oh.

Oh noooo.

I... I don’t read books without HEAs, are you kidding me??

This book dragged so much, and every time Flick's POV happened I wanted to scream, but that ending?? Heeeelll no. Any good I thoughts I had were immediately ruined. Because while I was bored for a bunch of the book, it wasn’t bad or anything. But the end? Nope.

Saved his parents who had been captives for like 10 years. Oh, they’re IMMEDIATELY killed when they get back home. IMMEDIATELY. Matteo, second love interest and would have fit great for Arthie, and clearly loved her, KILLED. Nah. Jin and Flick, who I gave zero fucks about, normal ending, of all the people.

So, what a disappointment from book 1. Also, a disappointment because I was invested in the first few chapters, then it just wouldn’t end??

Thank you so much to Colored Pages Book Tours, Fierce Reads, and the author for this eARC and PR package

[akacya ❦ · Rating 5 out of 5]

2025 reads: 258/300

i received a complimentary audio copy from the publisher as part of their influencer program. i am leaving this review voluntarily.

in this conclusion to the blood and tea duology, arthie doesn’t have the time to mourn people’s deaths, not even her own. she has no time for love, either, even though it’s saved her life. as she navigates new emotions and new allies, she must reassemble her crew to fight one last time.

i was a bit surprised that this sequel was slower-paced than book one, but looking back at the sands of arawiya duology, i think this is just hafsah’s style. that said, this book was amazing! i loved seeing the crew get back together. similarly to the first book, we get multiple POVs, while the focus is still clearly on arthie. there was just one narrator, maya saroya, but i never got confused as to which POV we were in. i loved getting to know everyone even better and seeing them grow in this book. the romances were particularly interesting to me! there was soooo much tension between arthie and matteo; i loved it. i’m still processing that ending, but i highly recommend this to anyone who enjoyed the first book!

[CarlysGrowingTBR · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.75

General Thoughts:
I have seen some mixed reviews for this book (and the duology as a whole) and I gotta say, I don't get it. This was a fantastic duology and follow up book. I'm not saying it was perfect because there was definitely some pacing issues for me within the first book, but honestly solid overall.

I really enjoyed the character development that happened with all of the characters in the second book. I felt like the character development was a little shallow in the first book and this took it to a whole new level. It was a fast paced story where there was always something exciting happening with at least one of the POV's. I really enjoyed the development of the relationships between the characters. I thought it was really fun and fresh. A lot of of the problems I felt with the first book. I definitely did not feel with the second book. The pacing was on point to the character development with stellar, and I felt really invested in the plot.

Loved it.

Book Stats:
📖: 448 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Format: eARC from publisher and NetGalley
Series: 2/2 Blood and Tea Duology

Audiobook Stats:
⏰: 14 hours 26 minutes
🎤: Maya Saroya
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Format: Multi POV/Single Timeline

Disclaimer: I read this book as a gifted physical ARC from the publisher and a gifted audiobook from the Hachette audiobook program. All opinions are my own. This is my honest and voluntary review.

[Zana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't realize that I was one out of a small handful of people who actually liked the first novel. It was a fun read, good enough for a young YA intro to colonialism, and the characters were cool and lovable.

So, I'm not exactly sure what happened here because this read like a bunch of tropes thrown into a blender with dull blades.

I read this about a month ago and barely anything stuck out to me. Halfway through, it felt like I was watching a mid Marvel movie. While the action scenes were fun, I had to turn off my brain to actually enjoy what I was reading. There was this weird imbalance of deep scenes and comedic moments, so it was difficult to take anything or anyone seriously.

There was a new subplot a little more than halfway through and it reminded me so much of X-Men that it sent me so far out of Earth's orbit. What the hell was that plot line?

I honestly wish I would've just skipped this one and kept to the first book. I finished this, but at what cost?

Thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) and NetGalley for this arc.

[Sue Miz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gave me all kinds of emotions
AND I MEAN ALL KINDS

it made me swoon
excited
livid
happy
angry
hot and bothered
hysterical
agitated
nervous
calm
sad
in love

It was perfect
so sooo sooooo much better than book 1 which I till believe that it should have been 2 books

If this story had been a trilogy, this book would have been the perfect ending

it is the perfect ending though I shouted at a certain part .....whyyyyyyyyyyyy
everything came together
it was well planned and executed to the T...no pun intended

and for a YA story, it was so hot



=======================================


Act 1 : from p 5 to 179 was amazing
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

let's hope it continues like that

but let's also take a moment to appreciate that awesome dedication 😁

Act 2: from p 183 to

263: ooooh, a little bit of horror! I like that 👌

Then bury me shallow, for I will return
I loooove this act

Vengeance had steeped in her blood long enough. It had changed, grown, morphed. It was retribution now.. ..pure Literature 😍😍😍

[Anisa Daniel-Oniko]

SO SO HYPED!!!

[Annalie (Taylor’s version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Macmillan publishing and hafsah Faisal for an arc in exchange for an honest review

⭐️4.5 I loved the first book in this duology so when I saw that I got accepted for the arc I was extatic. This book was all I needed it to be and more. A steeping of blood starts where a tempest of tea ends and has you wondering what will happen next at every page. I never wanted to put this book down with the plot twists at every chapter! This book is the perfect ending to the series. Just be prepared for an emotional rollercoaster.

[Ellie🐉✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you so much NetGalley and Macmillan for this eARC!
2.5⭐️ Wow this book was a whirlwind. I have some conflicting feelings on this second book considering I really enjoyed and flew through the first one !

I will say this second book almost feels like it was written by a completely different person. The pacing was the biggest issue I had with this book. Considering this book was over 400 pages, and I feel like there were so many words for absolutely nothing to happen for the first like 80% of the book. We blew through important character development, and then dragged through the most mundane things? I feel like there was so much detail that was attempted to be slotted in but it was done in the most bizarre way, and that it would have been more beneficial to just make this a trilogy and really flushed out some of the more overarching themes and relationship dynamics.
The pacing for characters was also weird. We had characters in love with people, all of a sudden hate them, and then be in love with someone else like all in the same chapter it felt. We had someone who was raised practically like a princess, and then all of a sudden she’s a badass and can withstand torture and practically self mutilation? Which is all fine and good for her but it was just such a flip of the switch transition.
A big thing I felt like that bothered me is that our “villain” seemed to have ZERO motive to be so horrible. Sure she was a vampire and she hates them all so much. But even so, she was unnecessarily violent, power hungry, and overall horrible. It just made no sense, there seemed to be no drive behind it besides just the fact she was a “villain”, a vampire, and powerful and wanted everyone to know that? I have no idea.
Overall I didn’t HATE this book, I just found it to be super disappointing after the high praise I had for book one. It just felt like we were trying to shove SO MUCH in the last 20% of the book, and Include as many buzzwords and tropes as physically possible to the point it was almost enough to take you out of the story. Also the end felt super unnecessary and like forced. She needed to kill someone off so basically just picked someone who she dangled as a HEA, then said SIKE. Idk , I hate to give a bad review but this was just not it for me.

[Ellen ✵ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only here for Jin as a vampire

[maddie's reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc!

Rtc