Overall, this was a decent read- a bit disappointing but also not bad 🫶🫶 I would still recommend this duology if you're looking for: Blends traditional tea-making with familiar tropes about magic and medicine to create something that feels wonderfully new." — Paste Magazine Ning is desperate. In a society where tea isn’t just important, but magical, she accidentally gave her mother and sister poisoned tea, and she’s consumed by regret and grief after watching her mother die. She has one chance to hold off her sister’s death: she must pretend to be her mother’s apprentice and enter a royal competition to find the kingdom’s next shénnóng-shi. This was a beautifully laid out Chinese mythology-based tale of Gods, monsters, & the legends of shénnóng-shī. I cannot express enough how lush, beautiful, yet absolutely readable prose was! I fell even harder for this story than I could have ever imagined! Judy I. Lin’s take on the magical tea makers of Chinese legend is just SO original— an absolute breath of fresh air. I look forward to reading so much more from her!

China imperial. Una competición por ser el maestro del té del emperador. Una conspiración en el imperio y té envenenado.Der zweite und letzte Band der Dilogie geht schon in eine andere Richtung als der Vorgänger, wo der Wettbewerb viel Platz einnahm, wodurch der Handlungsort eingeschränkt war und man auch ein langsames Tempo hatte. Hier fand ich es schon schade, dass Nings Magie und auch die Teemagie nur noch eine kleine Rolle spielten. There are multiple instances throughout the book that we see hints of Ning’s magic at work without the use of teas, such as her listening to the flow of the world around her, taking notice of nature and asking it for guidance to find certain objects. The book makes hints that whilst the teas are the most obvious and practised form of magic in this world they’re not the only one, and that there is more beauty and horror hiding just out of sight. Because of this, it’s one of the more subtly engrossing fantasy worlds I’ve read. It draws you in slowly, and will occasionally add more elements into the mix, though it never seems to want to overshadow the tea brewing itself. Much like the shennong-shi crafting their teas, it seems like Lin has carefully crafted and curated what we learn of this world to give us the best result. A childhood favorite that I revisit every so often is the Crown Duel duology by Sherwood Smith. It has action and romance and adventure with a little bit of magic, but I liked how a lot of times the heroine Mel had to rely on her wits instead of magical solutions to her problems.

too many gratuitous food descriptions for my taste (this might be a plus point for you, but I started rolling my eyes a bit at all the glazed things drizzled with this and that)All in all, I cannot recommend this duology enough! Also Princess Zhen is my fave along with her bodyguard. Never forget, she told us. The world began with a dream. Our lives are the same. Keep dreaming, my daughters. The world is greater than you know.” I believe in you,” she says, echoing last night’s ferocity, when she told me I had to go to the capital and leave her behind. “I’ll tell Father in the morning you are visiting our aunt. That will give you some time before he notices you are gone.” This came for us today,” she told me with an intensity I’ve rarely seen from my mild-mannered sister. “An imperial convoy carrying a decree from the princess.” pre-read: the first book JUST dropped and this one comes out in august. nobody is working harder than judy lin.