I just finished reading A Magic Steeped in Poison by Taiwanese Canadian author Judy I. Lin and I loved it. Thank goodness the sequel is due out in August because I can’t wait to see what comes next! If you’re a fan of YA Fantasy, I definitely think you should check this one out.
Overview
Ning’s mother has recently died from a poisoned tea. Now her sister Shu has also fallen ill. The poisoned tea has plagued the country and nobody knows who is to blame. There are rumours, but nobody in the government appears to be doing anything to stop the deaths. Ning’s mother was trained at court as a shénnóng-shi, a magician who unlocks the power of tea. She had begun to also train Ning and her sister before she fell ill. Now Ning’s only hope in saving her sister lies in the capital city where the Emperor’s daughter is holding a competition to find the person who will become the court’s official shénnóng-shi.
But there are politics to navigate when Ning arrives in the capital. Her competitors are not the only ones who seems to have it out for her and she doesn’t know who in the court she can trust. Is the Crown Princess all that she seems? What about the young nobleman Ning meets in the market on her first day of competition? The shénnóng-shi who trained her mother is overseeing the competition, can he be trusted run a fair competition? Through the competition, Ning learns more about this world that her mother survived and ultimately ran from so many years ago. Will she emerge triumphant or go home in disgrace as her mother had?
Personal Thoughts
Initially, the book’s premise reminded me a lot of Elizabeth Lim’s Spin the Dawn, and to a lesser extent Sue Lynn Tan’s Daughter of the Moon Goddess. But the story is a little darker than Spin the Dawn and feels more mature. Like with Spin the Dawn, the story revolves around a small town girl who is talented in her craft and follows a call from the Crown to compete for a coveted job in the court. Unlike in Spin the Dawn however, this heroine competes completely under her own power. There might be help along the way, but there is no supernatural magic beyond that which she channels herself. She succeeds and fails on her own merit and skill.
Romance is not the central focus of the story, although there is a romantic element. Ultimately it is the female characters in this book who held my attention. This book should definitely not be categorized as a YA Romance. This is a fantasy tale about women trying to survive in a world that men control, while they work to undo the damage that has been done to their people. There is a lesbian romance alluded to between two important side characters. It was brought up without fanfare or controversy and just existed as a natural aspect of the story as a whole.
The book does end on a cliffhanger. Thankfully, as mentioned earlier, the sequel comes out in a couple of months. A Venom Dark and Sweet will continue the story of Ning and the women she surrounds herself with. And while the first book did end on a cliffhanger, the ending was overall a very satisfying one. I was pretty nervous around the 80% mark, and even more so as we hit the 93% point with no clear ending in evidence. But the author surprised me with a very interesting, unexpected, and completely satisfying ending to what is essentially the middle of a story. In contrast, I recently read The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah which is the first book in a trilogy. The book itself is excellent, but while the ending was not one I would call a cliffhanger, I found it far less satisfying than the ending I was given in A Magic Steeped in Poison.
I recommend this book for lovers of YA Fantasy, modern-set xianxia dramas, and tea. It creates a rich and interesting fantasy world with characters who are fully-fleshed out. It is not modern-set, but it has a more modern feel to it than most historical Chinese fantasies do. If, however, patience is not your strong suit, I recommend waiting until closer to August before you give this book a go 😉
If you’re interested in hearing my thoughts on another Asian Canadian author, check out my review of Lily Chu’s The Stand-In
If you’d like to read a review of one of Elizabeth Lim’s novels, check out my thoughts on Six Crimson Cranes