A Steeping of Blood

De: Hafsah Faizal

Narrado por: Maya Saroya

"Brewed to perfection.” —Rebecca Ross, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Divine Rivals

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. A romantic vampire fantasy novel for fans of Immortal Dark and Heartless Hunter.

Arthie Casimir has 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 the death of anyone, let alone her own. She has no time for love, either, even though it had saved her life. As Arthie navigates new emotions and new allies, she must reassemble her scrambled crew and scrape 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.

"Maya Saroya gives an expressive performance in this thrilling historical fantasy filled with vampires, action, romance, and tea." —AudioFile on A Tempest of Tea

Don't miss these other titles from Hafsah Fazial:

—We Hunt the Flame, the commercially acclaimed first book in the Sands of Arawiya duology
—We Free the Stars, the second book in the Sands of Arawiya duology
—A Tempest of Tea, the instant #1 New York Times Bestseller!

A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

Found family, secrets, danger, intrigue, & heists

This is the second half of Hafsah Faizal’s Blood and Tea duology of historical fantasy with vampires, and it picks up right after the events of the first book, so you should read them in order. I love a good heist story, political intrigue, and secrets, all of which you’ll find here. There’s also a sense of found family that I appreciate, although this family is definitely going through some rough times and having big feelings.

This fast-paced story is told in chapters that alternate between Arthie, Jin, and Flick’s points of view, which I think helps to ratchet up the tension. I was absolutely gutted by the ending of the first book, so it was a relief to find that, while this book subjects the characters to terrible events, in the end, things mostly work out. I don’t want to spoil anything, but be aware that it gets really dark at times, and not everyone will get a happy ending.

The audiobook production was excellent. I loved the narration by Maya Saroya. She has a pleasant voice and accent, good pacing, and clear pronunciation. The story works well as an audiobook.

I received a free ARC of the ebook through NetGalley, and I purchased the audiobook. I volunteered to provide an honest review.

Loved the start - hated the bitter-blend end. (full of salt and spoilers, cos I’m disappointed)

Let me start by saying — I loved the idea of this story: the anti-colonial setting, the diverse cast, the complex characters. Like hello?? Actual historical world with layered conflict?? That’s my jam. But then the second book happened, and wow — I did not expect such a bitter aftertaste. I really enjoyed the pacing of the first book. It only felt a bit rushed toward the end, but otherwise was dynamic and engaging. We waited literal years for the heroine to slowly chip away at her emotional walls — only for all of them to suddenly crumble in book two. Where she was sharp, perceptive, and ready for anything, now she can only predict what’s already happened. I get that it was supposed to show her vulnerability untangling in dire situations, but it came across as her caving (literally) just to let others shine and the plot unravel.
Some characters felt like afterthoughts — introduced briefly and then removed just as fast. (Looking at you, certain parents — it’s like they’d have been too smart to keep around, so… off they go?) Others seemed important for a moment, then completely forgotten when the focus shifted again. Take Lace — after all that time in the torture chamber, the big bad’s idea of “villainy” is just kicking him and trashing his sister’s things? I might’ve hyped myself up too much thinking he’d have a darker arc — maybe being turned into a vampire or reaper, his bond with Arthy used against her — something that would mirror their dual-lead setup from book one. But nope. Lock them up, guard leaves, that’s it.
The whole Flick storyline felt… lazy. “Let’s go off alone in the middle of nowhere, surely I won’t get caught!” all for the sake of ✨character development✨. The idea of her losing her only reputable skill and still being accepted could’ve been powerful, but the setup was just… baffling. I thought her character meant to be naïve, not utterly reckless.
And what did she even gain from it? The coordinates still confirmed the ledger’s location, and somehow the “there’s stuff underground” revelation was treated like a breakthrough — she gathered NOTHING and doxed the crew in the process. The dynamite plot could’ve easily been used for Lace instead (just the stealthiest Aravian spy, but nvm). Then she gets spotted by her mother — because apparently Mom just knows her daughter’s face even when not looking directly at her — and still gets to run away? No guards, no follow-up, no nothing. And discovering your mother’s a literal darth vader and still feeling emotionally connected to her as a teenager? Okay.
Also, if I hear even ONCE again the word gingerly, I may gingerly punch somebody till they gingerly shake their gingerly stature into the gingerly grave. I genuinely felt like you were being paid to use this outdated figure of speech eVERYWHERE.
The whole Ramm character is a flat Disney villain, with multiple routes that start to develop some depth (her desire to be a mother for whatever reason, the endless remarks about her being too young for her age, her coldness ‘cos she’s an aristocratic bitch). But at the end, her being power-hungry and heartless for the sake of being hungry for power and having no heart because she embodies colonialism and colonialism sucks? Yea wow that’s so deep bro.
There was so much potential to make her tragic: with your scarce repeated remarks, you could at least have written her to be turned young against her wishes as a business deal, because her family was in business-monetary relations with rich vampires (maybe even Salani — this country HAD riches and there was a whole time her estate fell into shambles). Turned as a child herself, she could never bear children, and just as her body was a commodity to her parents, she’d see vampires as an alien enemy to exploit for power — “get to the top or get toppled.” Or play into dynamics of her arranged spouse being older, of another race or class — anything that would make her cruelty feel rooted in something real. But oh well, that’d be too sympathetic, so let her be a flat-ass monarch who massacres everybody and doesn’t stop before anything, ‘cos that’s so deep and not cheap at all.
I understand she’s meant to embody the evil capitalist-colonialist machine, but even those people in history had delusions of divine superiority rooted in something: upbringing, religion, war, trauma. It’s not their inherent need to do so — it’s the repeated choice to turn to horrible acts again and again for personal gain without repercussions. That’s what makes you loathe the person, yet still paints her as human. Something still has to spin the first wheel of the machine.
The Anoty arc? Honestly, what was that. The telenovela wolf reveal, the “we’re the same” parallels, the sudden romance scenes clearly meant for BookTok — all building to a tragic end, and suddenly there’s no trauma over massacring half the city he knew about for 100 chapters? No? K. Cool of him being an advocate for vampire rights though.
Also, you barely even bother to write a supportive cast, which is why you keep twisting the main ones into doing out-of-character things.
And that ending — “You can save the world and drink tea too.” Seriously? I waited for some reference to how the spices and tea were extracted or a callback to colonial roots, but nope. The phrase refers to nothing.
Overall, it started strong but ended bland.
I’m giving the stars for the beautiful narration — and so maybe more people read it, then I’ll have more ears to vent to about it.