This book captured my attention because it involves Chinese folk lore and tea. I-m a tea drinker and I love books that focus on mythologies and folk lore from different countries. Let's take a moment to appreciate the beauty of this book's appearance. The cover is so bright and whimsical and the chapter page details just added to the aesthetic. The story hooked me from the start. There was no easing into it, just bam mom's dead and sister is dying, we're headed on a journey to enter this competition. I did find some of the metaphors a little over done. Not everything needs to be compared to something else. Sometimes a flower can be beautiful without it being compared to the beauty of something else. I could have done without the instalove romance. Because this is a young adult story I never really enjoy the romances but I know many who read it will so it is just a personal preference. Overall I liked it and seeing as the next book releases relatively soon I would definitely continue reading to see what happens next.