I'm here with my post on the Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop blog tour, hosted by Shealea from Caffeine Book Tours! Very excited to share this one--Vanessa Yu is a wonderful novel and I had fun creating content for this tour. Thank you to Berkeley Publishing for sharing an ARC for my review. The Book and its AuthorBecome enamored with the splendor of Paris in this heartwarming and delightful story about writing one’s own destiny and finding love along the way. Vanessa Yu never wanted to see people’s fortunes—or misfortunes—in tea leaves. Ever since she can remember, Vanessa Yu has been able to see people’s fortunes at the bottom of their teacups. To avoid blurting out their fortunes, she converts to coffee, but somehow fortunes escape and find a way to complicate her life and the ones of those around her. To add to this plight, her romance life is so nonexistent that her parents enlist the services of a matchmaking expert from Shanghai. The day before her matchmaking appointment, Vanessa accidentally sees her own fate: death by traffic accident. She decides that she can’t truly live until she can find a way to get rid of her uncanny abilities. When her eccentric aunt, Evelyn, shows up with a tempting offer to whisk her away, Vanessa says au revoir to America and bonjour to Paris. While working at Evelyn’s tea stall at a Parisian antique market, Vanessa performs some matchmaking of her own, attempting to help reconnect her aunt with a lost love. As she learns more about herself and the root of her gifts, she realizes one thing to be true: knowing one’s destiny isn’t a curse, but being unable to change it is. Roselle Lim was born in the Philippines and immigrated to Canada as a child. She lived in north Scarborough in a diverse, Asian neighbourhood. She found her love of writing by listening to her lola (paternal grandmother's) stories about Filipino folktales. Growing up in a household where Chinese superstition mingled with Filipino Catholicism, she devoured books about mythology, which shaped the fantasies in her novels. An artist by nature, she considers writing as "painting with words." ReviewFor those of you who don’t know me, I was supposed to be in Paris this summer, and my trip was cancelled due to COVID-19. I expected reading this to be bittersweet, and I expected to feel hurt. Surprisingly, none of that happened! Instead, I completely fell in love with this love story. Vanessa’s “gift” is more of a curse to her, and she spends her life coughing up predictions at inopportune moments while lacking the dashing romance her aunts so desperately want her to have. That is, until she travels to Paris with her aunt Evelyn in hopes of taming her gift, for Aunt Evelyn is also a clairvoyant. This is a quieter romance, more introspective-contemporary than bodice-ripper, and we see a lot of Vanessa’s self-doubt come through while she adjusts her perspectives and considers the implications of her gifts. I enjoyed Vanessa’s character over the course of the novel, and I think her narration will be fun and engaging for many readers. My favorite part of the book, however, was the blend of magic and foodie culture in one of the most culinarily respected cities in the world. Food is important in the Yu family, so readers are treated to mouthwatering descriptions of dishes that Vanessa eats as she explores Paris. Lim’s worldbuilding is simply… magical, for lack of a better word! From the art museums Vanessa explores with her love interest to Evelyn’s well-stocked tea shop, I truly felt like I was exploring the Marais along with Vanessa. It’s one of my favorite districts in Paris for a reason—there’s so much to see and do! Even though the book is billed as a romance, it’s a bit on the subtler side as I stated earlier. Readers will appreciate the romantic tendencies, but those interested in a simple contemporary will also love Vanessa. I didn’t mind this too much, the lack of “heat,” so to speak, left room for the novel to explore family relationships and Vanessa’s mysterious gifts more fully. Sometimes a simmer works just as well! Overall, I quite enjoyed Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop! It’s a sweet summer read that will have every reader head over heels, as I’m sure Lim’s 2019 debut did as well—I’m for sure going to pick that one up soon. 4/5 stars for this lovely novel. Creative Content
3 Comments
Your moodboard and quote graphic are both so amazing! They complement the book so perfectly, and I'm just in love with them.
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1/1/2021 06:16:56 am
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The BaronessHey, I'm Shreya! I love to read, write, travel, and drink tea. Disclosure: I am an affiliate of bookshop.org and I will earn a small commission if you click the above link and make a purchase.
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