SYNOPSIS

Jin and Arthie are owners of a lucrative tearoom, named Spindrift, by day. By night, their tearoom doubles as a speakeasy of sorts, but instead of alcohol, they provide a safe place for vampires to drink from humans in exchange for money. Blood houses are illegal and vampires are feared, but the police cannot prove that they’re criminals. Arthie runs a tight ship and discovers powerful people’s secrets in order to maintain her tearoom and her power.

When her tearoom is threatened, she enters a deal to steal a valued item from the exclusive vampire society in town and builds a team to pull of the heist.

What could happen?

RECAP AND REVIEW

This book is a young adult fantasy with some romance and mystery elements and an old-time feel. It is told in the third person from three different perspectives. At first, I didn’t think one of the perspectives was needed, but now that I have finished it, I understand why it was and support it.

There’s three acts: the planning of the heist, the heist, and immediately after the heist. This book is a slow burn and everything clicked into place once I finished the last sentence. The author leaves clues throughout the book that seem suspect, but are overall meaningless, only for it to come back up once the big reveals happen. It was masterful to me, even if one aspect of the reveal wasn’t too surprising.

I would say the book is mainly about the whys and not the whats, including the reveals. We get some backstory on each of the members of the team throughout the entire book, including the three narrators, but Arthie is curious of everyone’s motivations, because she doesn’t trust easily and knows people to be self-interested, which leads us as the reader to wonder about each person and their involvement.

There’s attraction, lust, maybe love in the book, but the book is about the heist itself and the action surrounding it, so I wouldn’t read this book for the romance elements. It’s consistently there, but mainly from afar.

There’s also commentary on colonization and living in a world that doesn’t accept you. Jin’s trauma of losing his parents haunts him. Arthie runs from her past. Flick is finding her way, dealing with her mother’s scorn from Flick’s recent scandal.

The way the third act played out surprised me and left me unsatisfied and wanting more. It left off on a cliffhanger which *screams* but I’m looking forward to the next book and what awaits.

OVERALL

Overall, I give this 4.5 out of 5 stars (another rare half point). I really enjoyed the vibe of this book and I love heist themed media. It is a slower paced adventure about tea, vampires, and heist and I enjoyed the journey.