Heavy focus on romance, magic ain't that strong in tea

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chickletz Avatar

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A Magic Steeped in Poison was recommended to me at Barnes and Noble by one of the book sellers. I feel bad that I didn't enjoy this book as much as I would have liked to.

I think the author writes well, and has an interesting idea... but the magic was little to no show through the book. It reminded me an awful lot like the book a year or two ago where the girl must cut / fashion dresses to become the tailor of the princess.

In this, the girl must win a competition to become the honored tea brewer of the palace. Tea can be used with magic (magic usually inherited by the child) to do all sorts of things.

Like most YA fantasies, there is a male love interest... which is fine, but he is pretty bland and his secrets and personality doesn't really give me any romantic vibes. By the end of the book I would have hoped the girl would fall for the princess, alas, she is already spoken for. They at least had better chemistry.

The issues with the book reside in the magic and how poorly it is used through the book. There wasn't really a villain but the villain was talked about and appeared in the last 10 pages of the book. Then, the love interest and the main character had poor chemistry.

To me, because the second book is coming out so fast, it should have been one story entirely since the important bits seem to be coming in the second half. Still, as a first half, it's not bad but it's not amazing either. Maybe one day someone will combine both books into one and maybe it will flow better and seem 'complete'. Until then, I don't think I'll continue it willingly.