Q U I C K S T A T S
Characters: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Setting: ⭐⭐⭐. 5
Writing style: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
// Content Warning: Car accident / Cheating / Death (mentioned) / Gambling / Racism //
Publisher: Berkley
Age group: Adult
Genre(s): Romance, Contemporary
Published: August 4th 2020
Become enamoured with the splendour of Paris in this heart-warming and delightful story about writing one’s own destiny and finding love along the way.
P R E M I S E
Vanessa Yu never wanted to see people’s fortunes -- or misfortunes -- in tea leaves.
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.
M Y R E V I E W
Set in the infamous city of love, Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop follows Vanessa, a Chinese-American taking a well-deserved vacation with her aunt both to learn how to control her fortune telling ability which had somehow plagued her love life and to avoid a matchmaking appointment.
Vanessa was a fascinating character and I loved watching her grow from absolutely hating her abilities to embracing them. And although I am a bit wary of the insta love trope, the dynamic was beautifully played between her and Marc and yes, I did find myself swooning over this couple. Her aunt was also an interesting character and I found her relatable on terms of a supposed-to-be-functioning-adult-but-instinctively-bought-a-tea-shop-in-another-continent-because-her-life-was-falling-apart. I think she perfectly summed up adulthood and frankly, I am terrified. However, I did find Vanessa and Marc falling in love in the span of three days very unrealistic because, that's- it's only been three days. That's not enough time to judge their character and everything else along those lines. And for that I had to take off one star.
The magic realism sector was probably my favourite (apart from the romance). I loved how Roselle Lim had built on this without actually building on it- if that makes sense. It was really easy to understand and the author had made sure not to overcomplicate it which was pretty cool.
The writing style is oh-so similar to the one you'll find in other adult romance novels which has minimal/ no sexual content which is amazing! The author drags the attention away from sex and rather focuses on the build-up of the romance and showing the other parts of a relationship. Absolutely loved the writing style.
T R O P E S
Insta love
Second chance romance
R E P R E S E N T A T I O N
Chinese-American main character
Filipino-Canadian main character
M/M romance (side characters)
S I M I L A R B O O K S
Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon
In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
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