A Magic Steeped in Poison is ingenious, innovative and has its own unique flavour. This is unlike anything I have read before and stands out amongst the crowd.

Firstly, any book with a magic system based on tea has my whole heart. I loved the way Lin has woven together elements of folklore, mythology and a deeply fascinating story. It is utterly captivating and unique. The delicacy and focus on the ritual of making tea, with its subtle nuances and rich history is so beautiful to see. Also, the way it ties characters together through connections, family and tradition adds this layer of something extremely human to the creative flourishes of magic. In this, Lin has created something so unique, intriguing and thoroughly gripping.

This is well-plotted, with plenty of narrative twists and shifts that kept me guessing. Lin keeps the tension and stakes constantly rising, starting with the shadow of death and the lingering touches of something deeply disturbing going on beneath the surface. Every page has that undercurrent of life or death, with an expectation of surprises in store. I loved how heavily Lin leans into political machinations and the intricate powerplays of the court. This is a book deeply steeped in privilege and the weight of expectations on the shoulders of the characters, igniting conversations about regional and class distinctions affecting perceptions of people and their skills.

Most of all though, I loved the detailed character work and these three-dimensional, flawed and lovable people that resulted from it. Ning is such a lovable and memorable protagonist, driven by a desire to prove herself worthy of the magic and to protect her family at all costs. There is also a weighty sense of guilt from that fateful cup of tea. Her perspective is distorted by her emotional fragility, but she also has that fire and passion to push through.

A Magic Steeped in Poison is a book that reminded me just why I love reading fantasy books. I cannot wait to get the second part in my hands.

The way I ran to the request button for this proof. A magic system based around tea?? Sign me up.

So much history and lore, articulated with beautifully crafted artwork, with vivid enough imagery for me to picture it in my mind. This is definitely something I’d reread in winter, when I can bundle up in blankets with a delicious cup of tea.

I also loved the competition arc, it kept me on the edge of my seat. The protagonist’s thoughts were so rich, I really enjoyed following her story, and her family’s. Each character was flawed and developed in their own way. There was yearning, lies, deception and everything fell together perfectly. The colours seeping from chapter to chapter helped the plot flow just as much as the tea did from pot to cup.

I finished every chapter and felt hungry. I’m gonna go pour myself a cup of tea.

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackwell’s for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Titan Books and NetGalley for the arc of A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I Lon in exchange my honest and unbiased review.

This is the first part in a duology, and I really want the second book now please! That ending!

Returning to the start, Judy Lin takes a refreshing look at East Asian myth and history, turning to ancient medicine to develop a new and totally absorbing magic system.

Ning our key protagonist is living a guilt ridden life because she unknowingly brewed the poisoned tea that killed her mother and that now threatens her sister’s life as well. She looks to a competition to find the kingdom's greatest shennong-shi, masters of the ancient and magical art of tea-making, to win the princess’s favour to save her sister's life. But as Ning progresses through the competition at the palace, she finds that court life, politics and games could be lethal, and that there is far more at stake than just her sister’s life.

I really enjoyed the world-building and setting of the story, which called on fables and myth to supplement and embed the magic system and found the writing and pave to be well delivered. There are some well known and easily recognised tropes, but they weren’t over done and were enjoyable.

The end of the book definitely left me hanging and I really, really want to read the next in the duology now please. A great YA fantasy that will pull you in and keep you hooked, and an ending that leaves you wanting more.

A beautifully written YA fantasy with complex characters and world building, unique magic system.

A young women Ning is a shennong-shi, an apprentice of the art of magical tea making, or at least she claims to be. Ning’s mother recently passed away and her sister Shu is now dying too, because someone in the kingdom is poisoning people with the tea. To save her sister, Ning is forced to take her sister’s place as an apprentice and enter a competition to become a master and an adviser to the princess. Ning believes that if she wins the competition, she’ll be able to use all royal family’s resources to save her younger sister. Little does she know that she will be pulled into royal political intrigues, palace secrecy, betrayals and a heartbreak.

The author did a great job describing surroundings, building the world around her characters, but writing style was a little bit too much flowery, too poetic like, and so it took me a while to get into the book. It was quiete a slow build-up, with lots of room left for world building on a first half. The second finally escalated the stakes of the story. The author infused some Asian mythology, adding another layer of magic and charm. For me, mythology always gives this fairytale like vibes and I become compelled into wanting to read more. However, I cannot help, but think that ending was a bit disappointing. I was left with a question mark hovering above, thinking what actually happens to our main character!

Our character Ning was capable young woman who just wants to save her beloved sister. But it was easy to forget that she was a little bit naive, but selfless, love struck girl, who kept getting involved into palace intrigues.

I really liked magic system, which revolves around brewing tea and the components that go into it. Talented shennong-chi's can brew tea like potions that can give strength, see the future, heal someone. In some, more complicated tea brewing, a shennong-chi can even force people to tell the truth, read one's mind or poison a person in a terrible way. But all magic comes at a cost, especially to the shennong-chi, and Ning learns this first hand as she competes in the palace tournament.

I enjoyed this book, even though it took me some time to get involved in plot. Ultimately, I would definitely give this book a chance as it was a well told story, and I’m waiting for the sequel.

A Magic Steeped in Poison had a promising start. It was fast-paced, and the author's writing is quite beautiful. I loved the way they described tea and how it's made, plus all the kinds. I was so looking forward to the tea-making competition in this book and I really liked the magic system involving it. The food descriptions were also so lovely — one of my favorite parts of the book.

I wish the author focused more on this aspect of the book, because honestly, the tea-competition parts were the ones I truly enjoyed. This plot point loses its spotlight to political drama that feels half-hearted at best and didn't capture my interest at all. Some plot points introduced in this arc also seem a little well, pointless, because of how they ended up and were carried through. I also felt like the author relied a lot on plot convenience when it comes to certain things.

I liked Ning, but the other characters felt a little flat for me. There were too many introduced that weren't fully fleshed out and seemed interchangeable. The romance was interesting though, even if it was a bit insta-lovey.

This is the author's debut, so I'm quite sure they'll improve in the next books they write. It's clear they're talented and have great writing, so I'm looking forward to any other books they write.

A Magic Steeped in Poison-Review
Author: Judy I Lin
Genre: Fantasy
Page Count: 384 pages
Age Rating: YA 13+
Representation: Asian inspired setting and characters
Publication Date:6th of September 2022 (UK)

A beautiful start to a duology!!

Thank you to @netgalley for providing me with this e ARC before publication

Review;
I loved this book so much and will defiantly be reading the sequel. The magic system was so cool and interesting I wish we had magic tea that would be so cool. This book gave me major Spin the dawn vibes and was to be honest very similar to other YA fantasy books but it still manages to be its own version.

The story overall was ready good however I would have love to see more the magic tea. I honestly would love to have learn more about the magic rather than just having it there. In terms of the political side of the world I did get a bit lost I just felt it could have been developed more but we may get some more in book 2. I adored the characters they were just very lovable.

I would recommend this book because it just a lovely diverse YA Fantasy that isn’t too complimented and can be enjoyed by all.

Rating;
3.75 stars

TRIGGER/CONTENT WARNING
-Violence
-Death of Parent
-Injury
-Illness

Preliminary 5-star review. Will post a full review and adjust the rating accordingly after I finish the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC copy of this book, in exchange for this honest review.

I had the pleasure of being able to read both parts of this duology directly one after the other. "A Magic Steeped in Poison" caught my interest because of it's very cool premise: Tea magic! I love tea, I love magic, what could possibly go wrong? The duology as a whole and the first book specifically turned out to be a charming young adult fantasy with exciting ideas that often lacked in its execution of said ideas. I still had a good time reading it.

The book tells the story of Ning who enters a tea magic competition in order to save her little sister's life. The idea of tea making as a magical art is amazing and I loved reading all the parts that involved it. I found it really interesting. The writing is beautiful, too, though it always seems a little... detached. Distanced. Which leads to gorgeous prose but takes away from the emotional punches of a story because you never really feel them as a reader. The characters, especially Ning, are well-written but not very complex, and there are some discrepancies in how our protagonist describes herself (socially inept, almost socially anxious) and how she acts in a lot of scenes. The love interest is rather bland, too, and the romance is incredibly instalovey and lacks actual development - I didn't feel any chemistry because the two characters never got the chance to build up chemistry between them.
The story itself is definitely intriguing and at times exciting. I loved the competioion elements, I loved the mythological themes. There are some parts of the plot that didn't make sense, especially when reading the second book in the duology (one slightly spoilery example: There is no reason whatsoever for two characters to announce their betrothal, or get engaged to begin with, other than one miniscene of extra drama for the romance that goes absolutely nowhere and is never mentioned again). Some plot points like this one felt superfluous, as if they should have been edited out but were forgotten and now are kinda there.

All in all, this is a fun and very quick read with an amazing magic system and beautiful writing. It has its flaws that make it not that much of a memorable experience, but it's stuill a solid 3 star story.

thank you to netgalley, titan books and the author for sending me this arc.

3.75 stars.

i cannot believe the end of this book, wow. it will surely haunt me for the unforeseeable future but that's okay, it makes me want to read the next book. like, now.
this book started off a little slow for me, and i had to take my time with it. it might be because of all the - to me - foreign elements, but regardless of it being slow, i found these cultural differences to be very interesting. i enjoyed that, getting to know about the folklore and fairytales, stories that i might not have ever heard of had i not read this book.
this book had well written characters, and even the side characters kept me interested. i hope we get to learn more about them and their histories in the upcoming book.

now, i really enjoyed this book. i really did. but there were a couple things that didn't really work for me, which is why i didn't rate it higher. some events didn't make much sense, or weren't really contributing to the story. and, eventually the constant deception started to bore me a little, because most of it wasn't necessary to the storyline. and then a few other little things barely worth mentioning, but that still added up.

despite this, i really look forward to reading the sequel. i understand that a lot of information has to be dumped throughout a first book, which makes it slower, so i hope the second book can be a little faster paced. this author has such a way with words, her writing is beautiful, and i'm excited to see how ning's story advances.

While I liked the concept of this and it was an enjoyable read, I just couldn't get invested in the characters. I would still recommend checking it out if it interests you.

This book is the start of something bigger and I cannot wait to come along for the ride!
A Magic Steeped in Poison is the first in The Book of Tea Duology and packs a real punch.

You follow 17 year old Ning on her journey to becoming a Shénnóng-tu ( magical tea brewer)
as she journeys out of her village and into the city for the first time on a quest to save her sister
After poisoned tea bricks have been showing up all over the empire.
Once there Ning becomes involved in a plot far bigger than she ever imagined all while trying to
keep her identity hidden. A Magic Steeped in Poision has all of the things I love Mythology, Romance and
Magic.

This was a really unique read and a great debut and I cannot wait to see where it goes in book 2
This was 4 stars for me I could have only asked for the pacing in the middle to have been a little bit faster but overall I loved this read and would highly recommend it!

While I found A Magic Steeped In Poison to be a good, albeit quite easy read, with some likable characters and a nice enough plot, what I really liked about this book was the world building and in particular the ceremonies and rituals involving tea. I’ve never thought about tea as a form of art until I read this book. I’m not even very fond of tea to be honest. I want to like it but I’ve yet to find a tea where the taste actually meets my expectations. From my experience tea often smells way better than it tastes.

However, reading this book with it’s vivid, rich descriptions of the ceremonies and preparations it was impossible not to see how tea can be a form of art. I’m thoroughly impressed by the intricate magical system based around the art of tea-making. How the methods and rituals shifted depending on where the tea was prepared and for what purpose. The vivid descriptions of the ceremonies and preparations of tea made it seem so magical and real. I could almost smell the different leaves and spices they used, taste the hot tea.

A Magic Steeped In Poison was a fun and easy read with a really special magical system and a bit of a romantic subplot (although it’s absolutely YA).

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘛𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘈𝘳𝘤 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺!

This book was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. The magical System was fascinating, how different tea’s can have magical effects. Such as truth potions and seeing someone’s memories. The main character, Ning, has a sister who falls ill to poison. Ning must go to the capital, compete in a competition and win the favor of the princess to find the antidote to the poison killing her sister. Along the way there is a mysterious boy, who I LOVED. The dynamic between them was so well done, and I had butterflies at certain moments.
“His touch stood at the soft place under my jaw, where I am certain he can feel the frantic beat of my pulse”… I MEAN, AGH.
There is sapphic representation in this book, which was surprising! The plot was great, and I found myself truly immersed into the world. I cannot wait to see where Lin takes the second book! I really recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for this eARC. All thoughts are my own.

Judy I Lin was able to catapult me right into the story in this first book of The Book of Tea series.

Ning is planning to become a doctor like her father, but when her mother dies and her sister is on her deathbed too due to a poisoned tea that Ning served them accidentally, she doesn't know what to do. Someone is poisoning tea and giving it to unsuspecting victims, and the officials of Ning's village are not doing anything. So when the crown princess of the empire requests all shennong-shi, the masters of tea making, and their disciples to present themselves at the palace to find the best one among them, Ning doesn't think twice and makes her way tot he capital. Here she encounters more shennong-shi all ready to gain the favour of the princess for their own ambitions, while Ning just want the princess' help in finding a doctor who can cure her sister. However, things aren't as easy as they seem. The politics are court are threading on a thin line with winds of corruption and treason coming from all around the palace. Ning also realises that things are not what they seem and enemies can easily disguise themselves as friends.

I devoured this book from page 1 'till the end. I read it all in one sitting because it was impossible to put down. The book takes its readers on a wild journey in this mythical land where gods and magic disguised as tea making exist. I can't wait to find out what Ning will do next.

First of all, the cover is so pretty!

I really enjoyed the magic system of this one, with tea!

That cliffhanger at the end though, now I need the next one to get closure!

Wow, an engaging read! This was a refreshing exploration of East Asian myth and history. It had a wide range of underappreciated folkloric elements which lured me to finish the novel.

To begin with, Ning wallows in guilt for losing her mother because she unknowingly brewed the poisoned tea that killed her, and such a drink now threatens to take her sister, too. When she hears of a competition to find the kingdom's greatest shennong-shi—masters of the ancient and magical art of tea-making—she travels to the imperial city with the intent to win, since the winner will receive a favor from the princess, which may be Ning's only chance to save her sister's life. But things turn out to be more dangerous than it seems: courtly games, lethal mysteries, and a mysterious boy may only be some of the reasons she can’t accomplish her goal (which is, again, to save her sister).

The beginning absorbed me and the ending did more than arrest me with its rational cliffhanger. The last act was a perfectly reasonable set-up for the sequel. The first act also piqued my interest but what fascinates me is how the first-person POV is not awkward (because some authors who use it end up producing an unrealistic and cringey narrative). Simply put, it was well-paced and well-written. But there some parts of the story that are way too typical, like the political intrigue (I mean, there’s nothing really new about the premise of that part), and some subplots are simply unnecessary (or maybe they will be resolved in the sequel, hopefully). And the romantic tension between Ning and Kang is sensible, although a bit superficial at times. Even so, the protagonist often poses insighful questions, which I like.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Titan Books for the copy!

I loved this book honestly.

Firstly the magic system was incredible. I think it was such an interesting idea and I enjoyed every moment reading about it. The plot was simple but effective. It had a large amount of things I didn't expect as well a plot twists.

The characters were really likeable and usually I have issues with main characters but I really was rooting for Ning from beginning to end. The side characters were also very likeable. I was invested in the wellbeing of everyone and even characters that were in a only a few scenes I liked.

I think the only thing is, I wish there was a little more political intrigue. It becames clear that connections and politics were a huge thing when Ning went to the capital but I feel like for its importance it wasn't explored enough.

Overall, I really enjoyed this and I look foward to reading the second book when it comes out.

I am an avid mythology reader and lately Chinese Mythology has taken the forefront of many of the books I have read.
Magic inspires me and this was the first book I have read where tea is magics starting point. The descriptions, the flavours, the taste comes through in the writing alongside the magic of lies, truth, spells and posion.
Royalty, commoners and magic welders moving together create a very likeable story.
A great forst novel, I look forward to the next.
And what a great cover, I have already pre ordered the physical copy.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC

This novel looks absolutely stunning, sadly it doesn't live up to its looks.
Structurely the beginning is a convoluted mess. It has a fluent writing style, though I quickly realised that every second (if not more) sentence starts with 'I' (or a different subject) and I quickly became tired of the formulaic structure after only 20 pages. There are also no transitions between singular actions, everything is happening out of nowhere, which contributes to the messiness.
I'm also not into the aspect of tea magic and had hoped everything else would carry the story, but it doesn't, its just bad.

This book had one of the best magic systems out of ant books I’ve read! It’s based on different types of tea!?!? So creative, not to mention the amazing heroines, mythology, and beautiful storytelling. I loved it so much, I would re read and recommend to anyone who loves books in this genre, 5 stars it was amazing!